SPORTING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 140, 31 October 1912, Page 7

SPORTING.

TURF TOPICS.

(By "Moturoa.")

After many weeks of wintry weather, during which quite a number of bunsci'iiniblcs and suchlike tiresome outings .were utterly spoiled or damped beyond repair, the sun shone brilliantly in a cloudless sky and a gentle noi'th wind tempered the heat on the occasion of the Waverley races. Sportsmen rolled up f in full force, crowded trains from 'New Plymouth,' Wanganui, Palmerston, : and intervening mud-spots bringing hundreds. Motor tiars'.there were in scores, and ; ci;owd§ of.other vehicles, and it is .doubtful if : there wais eter such a large concourse of people on the Waverley racecourse,. , The grandstand was taxed to its utmost capacity and even then the crowd slopped- over everywhere. Extensive additions to the present structure njust be made before next year if the Waverley Club js : going to, hold the support given to it by. racing folk from all parts. Another, matter . that wants remedying-is the miserable totalisator house. On Monday hundreds of pounds must have been shut out through wouldbe punters' inability t,p. get near.the machine. At a busy, moment it was worth •12 .to struggle ,in for a...tick,et and those in the "races" did not have their tempers improved by. the way. late-comers came up on "the blind side" and had their money accepted, while those entering by .the proper, channels had to wait. .The general management of the meeting left little to -cavil at.- but the press would .have...,appreciated' a little more consideration.regard ing-jl lie supplying of . totalisator figures and completed .returns.,. /frequent •; applications for /•figiirijs" failed., to-elicit, anything further than t-hat Mr. ■ Somebody-or-other •had.(lie books elsewhere.,..,■ •

. ;:Mr. Skipwith;a-t. the ; barrier was in his best form and a sequence of excellent starts, particularly 'when big fields faced the tapes, vfaft ;a, igkaswg ,-feature. The horses were, on the whole, a remarkably Well-behaved lot. The same coukl not be said for many of the spectators. About eleven o'clock it was a shame to see the number of "tin sports" who scrambled oyer the lawn fence adjacent to the to'talisators and sacrificed their self-res-pect all to save a paltry five shillings admission fee. - ... The man in the box was set a few difficult tasks during tiie ,afternon, the finishes in .the Cup, Flying. Handicap, Wilson Stakes and Momohaki Stakes being particularly, close. There were many who thought Ivatua.just landed the Flying Handicap, but this scribe, who was in a good position to judge, heartily concurs with the official verdict. The opposite is the case Tegardirig.lh'e Cup dead heat,. Master Laddo appeared to win a head. After all it is a good thing that there only one judge, and that his decision is "the last word." Princess Flo, as forecasted in these columns, was landed very fit at the post for the opening event, and ran right up to track form, winning easily from White Crane who finished fast after being badly placed. Sir Donald ran a, great race, and after making all the running to the distance just failed to see it out. Eastwind was a warm order, but shaped poorly. The bad ridng which was noticeable in this event continued during the day, and it a long time since such a crowd of indifferent horsemen were gathered together on one course. Royal Simon paid a handsome price in the Flying, the fact that lie was 'piloted bv an unfashionable boy. Antis, causing the public to overlook his past excellent performances. Katua ran gamely as usual, and just failed to reach the winner on the post. Glenfeni 'was- prominent to the home turn, but eoukl not go on with it over the last furlong.

Timothy was ridden a nice race in I lie Hurdles, and Meagher timed his run splendidly. Smilax hit a couple of fences hard and was eased. Shoemaker was never dangerous, and was a long way behind when he fell. Aviatrix races best in front, but Timothy cracked up the opposition in the first mile, and Aviatrix did not run kindly. Smilax might have been placed if pushed, and the Hawera horse is a very promising hurdler indeed, and may be. worth watching after a little more experience over tke sticks.