CAP AND JACKET

Observer, Volume 4, Issue 82, 8 April 1882, Page 62

CAP AND JACKET

■j

MY NOTE BOOK,

By "Ariel."

" Tot homines, quot sentential*

I tipped the double last week for Taranaki "Hurdles, and J,C. Handicap — Catchem and Larry. Catchem must be a good one. He has made a big splash by winning the double jumps at Taranaki. ' The racehorses Mischief, Mavis, Soukar, Louie and Angler arrived per Eotomahana on Tuesday, and have gone into work at Elleralie. The N.Z. Grand National, will be held in Christchurch during " Ye olde Englishe fayre," and not at Ashburton, as at first settled. There has been a great rush on Catchem, Larry, and Slander filly, since their performances at Taranaki ; all the money to be got about the former for our Steeple having been snapped up. . Virginia Water was a passenger per Eotomohana on Tuesday. She looks well, and attracted considerable attention during her walk up. Queen? street. Eandwiek incurred 31bs penalty by winning the Autumn Handicap at Taranaki. Larry has an extra 51bs to hump for his win in the J.C. Handicap. Their weights are now 9st 51bs and 7st lllbs respectively. • The general entries for the Canterbury Autumn Meeting have closed with a very small number of nominations. No doubt this is caused by the unwillingness of owners to trust their animals to the tender mercies of Mr Griffiths. Somnus has not made the final payment in he great Autumn, owing to his bad condition. This does not excuse Mr Griffiths one iota, as had he been well, he had the race literally at his mercy with bis ridiculously light impost of 7st. 7. Mr Walters has had a good turn of luck at Taranaki. Larry won him the big money, the . J.C. Handicap of 300 soys., and the County Handicap of 50 soys.; while Slander filly won the Cup of 60 soys, and Fanny Fisher filly the Champagne Stakes of 50 soys. The Easter Handicap should be won by Maid of Honor (if sent), but Slander filly, King Quail, Larry, Tim Whiffler, Louie, Dew-drop, and Lone Hand, are all so well in that any one of them might win the event. In the absence of the Maid j Slander filly, Tim, and Lone Hand should fill the places, with Lone Hand for a savier. The news per wire of the disqualification of Barney Coyle and Eandwiek for ever, and the rider, Joe Williams, for two years, by the Taranaki Jockey Club, caused a great commotion in sporting circles on Tuesday. The charge is supposed to be weight shifting in the Taranaki Autumn Handicap. The goodness of the Handicap has been proved by the fact that out of an entry of 24, 16 have cried content in the Easter Handicap ; and of those who have dropped out, I don't think a solitary one missed because he was over-estimated, but for other excellent reasons. The non acceptors are as follows : Libeller, Othello, Lara, Paramena, Comet, St. Patrick, Harkaway and G-ilderoy. The final payments for the Canterbury Great Autumn Handicap have been made on behalf of the following horses, viz ; — Sii* Modred 9st 3, JNatator 9dt 1, Lure Bst 10, Lady Emma Bst 10, Chancellor Bst 8, Luna 7sfc 11, Libeller 7st 9, Salvage 7st 7, Mataka 7sfc 7, Tasman 7st 5, Legerdemain 6st 9, Poet 6st 9, Holdness 63t, Emir Bey Gst. Of these I prefer the chances of .Lady Emma, Luna, Libeller, Salvage, Tasman and Poet and shall expect the finish to lie between Libeller and Poet. Eandwiek must be a clear horse by this time. He was beaten by Larry in the J.C. Handicap at Taranaki, giving the latter 37lbs ; bat subsequently won the Autumn Handicap, 150 soys. (reversing the order with Larry, who he met on I7lbs better terms), and the Ladies' Purse of 40 soys., in which ho carried list 21bs, and beat the Fanny Fisher filly with Bst 61bs up, or at a difference of 381bs. The. handsome chesnut's whole performance in the " garden of New Zealand," two wins and a second, shows of what quality he is. The sporting Press all over the Colony complain bitterly, and with reason, of the wretched j .attempts at reports of races Sent along the wires by the Press Agency. The East Coast is far the - worst of a very bad lot in this respect. It is high : tune some reform in this matter was carried out, .as at present if we get the names of the first, .second, and third horses, it is all we do get. No -riders, weights, or time ; and as to breeding ! it would be thought a miracle if we were to get the name of sire and dam of a winner, much more so of a second and third. The general entries for our Autumn Meeting •compare most favourably with those of Christ•ohurch> and show conclusively how little difference it would make were the C.J.C. to hold a meeting at the same time as our Summer, as has been proposed. From the excellent way in which the entries have filled, we may reasonably gather that the few Southern horses we do get atChristjnas could be well done without ; the more so," as we have so many promising youngsters coming on as to give excellent ground for the expectation of larger fields in the immediate future than we have ever had. The Otago Witness, in its column devoted to Australian sport, contributed by " Warrior," ha 3 the following : — "Mr Byron Moore, the new secretary to the Victoria Racing Club, is making an , immense number of improvements on the Flemington course. ' Augur,' the Australasian's sporting writer, does not, however, give Mr Bagot's successor any credit for these, but sneers at anything he does;; This is. easily accounted for, because ? Augur, ' was one of the unsuccessful candidates for the position now so ably filled by Mr Moore-. 'Augur.' will be remembered by many in Dunedin .as^the-^decidedly. snobbish representative of the ■:j_ Aust^lasia^tQ/t our. races three or four seasons

This is what " Sir Launcelot" says about Larryl the hero of Waverley, Egmont, and Taranaki, (of whom, by-the-way,,T have'seen it stated that Mr Walters 1 had bought him, whereas I believe the fact is he has only leased him till after the Auckland Autumn) :— "lt will be noticed that at the Waverley meeting a fresh aspirant to big events has cropped up in the Dead Shot gelding Larry, who won two of the chief handicaps, one immediately after the other. This animal started last season as a hack, winning a race for that class at Patea. He then ran second to Morning Star in the Waitars Maiden Plate, won the Publican's Purse at the same meeting, and finished up the season by running unplaced in the County Handicap at Taranaki. He is evidently an improving horse. • . " Sir Launclot's " analysis of the Great Autumn Handicap (?) is one of the most scathing articles of the kind I have ever read. It is also indubitably correct in all its inferences and conclusions, and shows up to the utmost the absurdity and Utter unreasonableness of the way in which the weights are allotted. He concludes his three - column criticism thus : — " Finally, the best half-dozen appear to me to be Lady Emma, Libeller, Somhus, Tasman, The Poet, and Emir Bey. All fit and well at the post and the money down, I should think the race was a great a gift to Somnus as the C.J.C. Handicap was to drip, but 1 believe a decided ' leg ' may interfere with his appearance at the post. This, however, has nothing to do with handicapping considerations, and tbe fact still remains that he is simply thrown in at such a weight that he could hardly lose it, if sound. In the event of his absence, however, I shall expect Libeller and The Poet to fight out the finish, and I think, if a three-year-old is to win it, it will be Emir Bey. The " Welsher" nuisance is increasing instead of abating in Melbourne. " Warrior" writes as follows to the Otago Witness : — " For the last three nights that portion of Bourke street known as the Opera House and the 'Victoria House (the rendezvous of honest bookmakers) has been completely blocked up. The foot path and portion of the street has been taken possession of by some of the biggest vagbonds to be found in Melbourne. A large number of them are what you might term the small fry, ' vonting to lay on the Australian Cirp.' The police seem to be afraid to interfere. On Monday night' there must have been 500 people outside the rooms, gaping with their mouths open at the windows of the bettingrooms above, waiting patiently to knew what were the latest favourites. Several fights took place during the evening. One man, William Cooney, was knocked down by a welsher, and when the poor fellow was taken to the Melbourne i Hospital it was found that he was suffering from concussion of the brain. Eeally something must be done by the Legislature to put down the betting mania. I I purposely omitted going into the chances of the Steeplechasers, partly from want of space, and i partly because I wished to await the acceptances. I shall now give a little space to reviewing this Haidicap. Lone Hand has not accepted, and I can't blame Mr Ellis, as the brute was crushed at 12st at his age, and with his temper. The top weight left in is therefore Grey Momus, Ilst7lbs. At that weight I don't fancy the old grey, nor think he can win it. On his Taranaki form, Catch'em should hold him safe. Te Whetumarama, though showing considerably at Napier in his win. from Clarence and Lone Hand, I do not fancy, as he then had only 9st 81bs up, and hurdles are not country ; he will hardly stand the 3| miles over Ellerslie hills. Matau, I think, is badly treated with list on him, after his wretched performance at Christmas. Hard Times, lOst 51bs, is fairly let off, but is not quality enough to pull this off. Harkaway, lOst 51bs, is to valuable over sticks to be knocked about over country, and, in spite of liis game heart, I don't expect to see him finish among the first three, as he w ill scarcely last tho distance. If he should do so, his foot will tell in the spurt home, and, on the supposition that he stays, he looks as likely as anything in it. Catchem, lOst (the Taranaki surprise), looks the best on paper by a long chalk, and I shall expect to see him declared the winner. Wild Dayrell, 103t, is reported to be a fast one and also a true jumper. If report speaks truth, he should be about at the finish. Eakau is an almost untried horse, and will probably be a non-starter, as Mr Joe Gallagher has better representatives in To Whetu and Catchem. I shall expect the finish to lie between Catchem, Harkaway and Wild Dayrell, with, perhaps, old Te Whetu to make a surpise.