GOSSIP BY "HIPPONA."

Observer, Volume v, Issue 115, 25 November 1882, Page 164

GOSSIP BY " HIPPONA."

— Horses from other provinces are already f tin" in an appearance to fulfil their engagements at c Summer Meeting. Profit arrived early in the «« with Mr Allan McLean's string, consisting of Virft Water (engaged in the Cup), Kingask (engaged in ' Cup and Derby), and the two-year-old colt, BobiniM Kingsborongh — Etiquette, who, it will he remevnben easily won the Trial Plate (for two-year-olds) at the \i Hawke's Bay Spring Meeting. Proffit has also jb* under his charge. The four horses all look well, and the time they are wanted, should be fully " strung-nj Fred Carrington and two other jockeys, Harris a Williams, also came with the team. The following from the Christchurehlwc^ Victuallers' Gazette throws some light on the fasfc_^ alleged to have been made by Turquoise^t M Canterbury :— " We are informed that the eojwse been measured by order of the committee abouft t!" and a-half feet from the inside, with the result tß*» J mile course is one chain twenty-six links short oW distance. At a rate of sixteen yards to the second,;, would make a difference of about 3|secs. in a two-i race, and, consequently, rather more than 24secs. i one mile and a half race. The time made by Tnrqufi in the North Canterbury Cup, 2 miles, and Publics Handicap, 1$ miles, should therefore read as dm 44-i-sec. and 2min. 45sec. respectively." „. „ . —One of the features of the late Christchu4>| Meeting was the bad starting, and so gr e^ t ',!' as Tl^ feeling in the matter that a petition, signed by the ng G McLean, Messrs Mason and Yallance, Mr B ate^ Proudfoot, and other owners, was got up on the a||

IB'tr'tlis fivst day's races, protesting against the Hr-^'of M l ' Coventry, and requesting the Club to ' Hr^anotbi?!: person in his place. It was presented Hfr ' "Wins ot * the Stewards that night, but they deHT ! '-j* wfi rtoo late to put on another starter at the ■»/•!,* Jlr Coventry was, however, called before the H.t'lj aU( J interviewed on the matter. A writer in ■ft? refer l " 1 ? to the subject, says :'* The most 18 hV thing is, that mostly Messrs. Robinson and ■K Worses reaped the advantage. In the C.J.C. w-^p, Welcome Jack was over 12 yards inside the ■P. post when the horses were sent away. It seems He «e&ow tnis s ' ioal(i De . allowed to happen, and the Wf tfds act wrongly in giving the winner, under the fflp^ 5 ( flI1 oes, the race. He certainly did not go the wEjfed 'distance." tHf-Ike Wauganui Jockey Club's Autumn Sf'jf bill of faro j 3 an attractive one, "and I hope 'HT?e 'Auckland horja owners respond liberally, and fflo»cutin for some of the valuable, stakes- offered by fHwiciids- complaint can now be made at the rHpfcjjient of the several events in the programme, iHJitViUk* 5 noticed the Cup is set down for decision sß'.Lgjsfc day, while the weights will not be issued till S «[ii of January. The programme issued i& as folMt. .-First clay : Wanganui Derby, 100 soys., 11- miles Mf'sdl 1 Hurdle Race, 75 soys., weight-for-age, 2J- miles; ■■Sni C«P Handicap, 500 soys., 2J miles ; Sapling fflSw 60 sovs., t mile; Flying Handicap, 125 soys., 1 tflfc'and a distance. Second day : Maiden Plate, 60 WStL 1| miles ; Handicap Hurdle Race, 75 soys., 2\ Tmt. Wanganui Stakes Handicap, 250 soys., 2 miles; gßfcg'rj- Handicap, 60 soys., f mile ; District Race JffrWpi 20" soys., 2 miles; Consolation, 40 soys., 1 SB.aiida distance. Nominations for the Wanganui Ms (2 soys.), Plying Handicap (2 soys.), and Wanganui jßtg (3 soys.), nmst be made to the secretary, Mr s«K[nan K- Jackson, on Tuesday, sth December, before Wjlie weights for the Auckland Cup and aßtfilecliase were declared on Friday night, and while, jaKjfdbly received in some quarters, it is the general ißUja the work in the Cup is hardly so good as JRfioiis efforts. And this is fully confirmed by the Hj^ who have had the pen run through aKjr name. Taken on the whole, however, I IHistis not a bad handicap, none of the horses being dSfcoirti in," therefore we should see a good number fftoi acceptance night to fight out the battle. The JBU treated animals of the lot, undoubtedly, are BunjHtj, Bst -lib, and Prim, 7st 71b, and the owners, sStl"jHy Mr Vallanee, were fully justified in scratch - Jtttheir horses on Saturday ; while Libeller, Bst 51b, jjßfiMt been forgotten. Until the acceptances appear, Senseless to go into the chances of each candidate [fflijwd. so I will postpone further remarks till then ; JBjttlie present time, of those that haveßst and over, SLferthe prospects of Piseatorius,Bst 81b,Fitzhercules, SB 41b, Tim Wbifller, Bst, and Louie, Bst; among the JSyie'dmsion, Hippodamia, 7st 131 b, Welcome Jack, Si Sib, Hilda, 7st 71b, Turquoise, 7st 41b, Soukar, JKi>;' while of the light weights, commend me to the jHtjc«sof Pish woman, Gst 101 b. Dewdrop, 6st 101 b, and Wfc g 3 t 71b. In the Steexsleehase, Clarence occupies '■twist of honour with 12st 101 b, not a bit too much for aRia brilliant performer, and if he is sent, the impost 'aEnot stop the son of Eavensworth ; while his most Jftrerons opponents, on paper, ax>pear to be The Agent, jRj > ;]h,Qusuaiby, list 21b, Canard, list 21b (in the same fffile as Clarence), Tricotriu, lOst 81b, and New Year, Mtflb, and I expect to see the winner come from one 38i5 six, Canard for choice. fl-A great deal of business has been done ■jpny the week by the local metallicians on the Takal®i Meeting, Auckland Cup, and Steeplechase. For 'SSiSt. Andrew's, Handicap, Yuba Bill and Dewdrop THieniet with the greatest support, but Nigger has ffcy fanciers, while Fitz Hercules has hardly a backer. ifEtettiug, however, is mostly confined f o the double — 'ftiicap and Hurdles— Lone Hand and Tuba Bill, ftfaway and Yuba Bill, Dewdrop and Tricotrin, being "&ti i n demand. For the Auckland Cup, Welcome ■Wiis favourite, but at present the books fight shy of Mm* inuring laid most of their money. Rewi's "rads arc numerous, and he has been backed Wirin £500 at 100 to 5; while 500 to 35 was ■mailed abaut Piscatorious, and £200, at 100 to 6, has 'afedown on Hilda. Dewdrop is also meeting with a s ftii support. In the doubles, Cup and Steeplechase, Sootrin is the principal horse incked for the latter, Elehas been selected with nearly everything. The Kit quotations are : — l g ST. ANDREW'S HANDICAP. S 3 to 1 on the field (off). Rouble — hurdles and st. Andrews b handicap. mSO to 8 Lone Hand and Yuba Bill (tkn,) 3 50 to 7 Tricotrin and Dewdrop (tkn) Ba to 6 Harkaway and Yuba Bill (tkn) SffloO to 4 Lone Hand and Nigger (off). m AUCKLAND CUP. 'W IOO to 12 Welcome Jack (tkn and wanted) 8100B 100 to 8 Piscatorious (tku) M IOO to 8 Fitz Hercules (tkn) 1 100 to 7 Libeller (oif) HiWto 5 Rewi (tkn) M IOO to 5 Louie (tkn) 9 Rest from 100 to 4 to 100 to ' 2. 1 DOUBLE— STEEPLECHASE AND CUP. 88 100 to 5 Welcome Jack and Clarence (tkn) M ICO to 5 Welcome Jack and Agent (tkn) HwO to 10 Rewi and Tricotrin (tkn). B-On Thursday next, the Takapuna Jockey Wihold their Spring Meeting, and if the " clerk ofWTeather " will only take it in his head to smile on wjitheriug, there is every prospect of an enjoyable Bffloon for those who cross the water. The Club ah gone to a deal of expense since last season to make Bconrse a decent one, and have fairly succeeded in afc efforts, while a commodious grand stand has also Sperected. The first event set down for decision is Sfiesidents' Plate, G furlongs, weight for. age, there w-2 Jour entries — Nigger, Marquis, Chanticleer, and wlin; and if sent, the latter should have no difficulty Witting home first. This will be followed by the HJllo Eace, 2 miles, and the acceptors are as follows : — n st lb st lb *elland 11 12 Chandler 11 4 Hiaway . ... 11 12 Ellerslie 10 >0 j»!er 11 7 Whitefoot 10 0 giotrin 11 5 Miss Walton 10 0 JB'ie eight, I still like nothing' better than my last B^b selection, Harkawat, who, I hear, is going well, Jlshall name him to furnish the winner, with Lone j»4 and Angler close up, in the order named. The Iff-event is the Settler's Race (four entries), which l»be followed by the St. Andrew's Handicap, li miles, JSwho paid the acceptance money being — 8 st lb st lb iff Hercules ... 8 8 Dewdrop 7 2 Waßill 8 0 Nigger 6 12 j»i 7 4 Lyric 6 7 jfcKand .;. ... 7 7 Katipo 6 7 9j field should produce both an interesting race and Hp finish, and owing to rumours being afloat that Jp Hercules, my last week's selection, is an improbable w%p, I will give my vote to Ywba Bill, and expect to mXigger and Dewdrop follow him home. The Novel w^ (four entries) follows ; then comes the Steeple«p, distance about three miles, for which the followfcßtave accepted : — % st lb ■ st lb flPtrin .ft ... 12 1 Ellerslie 10 7 flf-tway ... ... Ul2 Chanticleer 10 7 •'•(Her- 11 10 Tempest 10 0 \m-it 11 4 Miss Walton 10 0 jftop weight, IVico'iitix, is my fancy, and he should TB'fom (.he field opposed to him, if we except Chandler. ffl'Hsoiution will terminate the meeting. 1 CJONDENSBD ITEMS. M-Avicjdand Spring Meeting was a financial Spore bin is now owned by Mr E. K. Cox, of Hri'ometheus' scratching for the Melbourne j Sk 'i owing to symptoms of influenza setting in. Bt has been decided to hold a race meeting H)tiki on New Year's Day under the Auckland R.C. m/Lv Pilbrow won about £1200 by Welcome Hk'e victory in the C.J.C. Handicap. Mr E. Cutts Sa about £300. |H£v Hately, as expected, lias not forgotten ■■Hock's hordes in the Taranaki J.C. Spring and BaHandinaps. HKri the last day of the Christchurch Meeting, BJBkWattie, Derrett, and Butler were fined £5 each J^}"^ the starters's' orders in tlie Flying

— Foul Play lias been put to the stud at Poverty Bay by his now owner. — At Christchurch last week, Snider in one pop, Jaia 1000 to 100 about Vanguard for the Dunedin Cup. — Mv R. Ray was part owner of Welcome Jack till a week previous to the C.J.C. Meeting. He sold his interest to Mr J. H. Imim (Pilbrow's trainer). — Most of the horses that ran in the Melbourne Cup had plates on to keep them from slipping, while the jockeys appeared on the course in overcoats. — Hon. E. K. Cox made the jockey Piggot a present of £500 for winning "the Maribyrnong Plate on Narina. — The weights for the Wellington and Dunedin Cups have airpeared.but owing to shortness of spaoe.l am compelled to hold over comments this week. — Lady Emma, Gitana, Matanaka, and Legerdemain, advertised for sale by auction, have been withdrawn, and are open for sale by private treaty. — Since taking over these columns, I have been highly flattered by " Cheval," of the Stf.r. My opinions and 'most of the matter are "re-hashed" by him weekly. — The erstwhile New Zealand trotter, Native Cat, at a recent Melbourne meeting, was second for the principal event, Captain Dearborn being first. Native Gat showed the most pace. — : To venture an opinion, I like nothing better than Lady Emma, Bst 51b, for the St. Andrew's Handicap, run at the Duiicdin Spring Meeting on Thursday next. • v — The Helensville Turf Club have decided to hold their annual meeting as usual on January 29th — Kegatta Day. A good programme of events has been prepared, the in'ises being 1 much in excess of last year's. — "Augur" thinks that had Sweet William not been so severely kicked at the post by Cunnamulla, the Cup would in all probability have gone to Mr De Mestre. — The committee of the Takapuna Jockey Club should stop the horses from working on the course. I had a look at the ground during t'.ic week, and it was in a bad state, principally from this cause. — G-uesswork ran second in the V.X.C. Mares' Produce Stakes, won by Calrua, and although he had the assistance of Hales, was never dangerous. It is said he looked jaded. - — Prim and Bundoora were scratched for the Auckland Cup on Saturday, the whole of the RobinsonLance team on Monday morning, and Mischief, Tuba Bill and Amazon on the same afternoon. Te Whetu was struck out of the Steeplechase on Saturday. — The stewards of the Canterbury Jockey Club, after a consultation, sent the following reply to Mr "Bates" re Natator's running at the late meeting: — " Having heard Mr Bates' complaint, the stewards consider it unnecessary to hold an inquiry .— L. Walker, chairman." — The Auckland Sfcutl Company have named tbe following youngsters : — B. c. by "Musket — Rans*i, Rsiniugton ; eh. f. by Bolton Green— Pearl Ash, Gretna Green ; eh. c. by Doncaster — Atlantis, St. Leg-er ; b. c. by Musket— Eryeina, Gatling- ; br. f. by Scottish Chief — Rosette, Highland Lassie. — The Melbourne Sportsman of the 10th November, says books have been opeued on the Norinanby Stakes and Champion, but at present find little favour. For tbe big weight-for-age lace, Navigator's price is 2 to 1 (offered;, while 5 to 2 is taken and wanted about Commotion ; 10 to 1 can be got about anything else. — A big newspaper war has been raging at Wanganui for some weeks past over the much-vexed question, " Handicapping and Handicappers." It aro3e through a letter that appeared in one of the local papers defending Mr Hately's handicapping, and the writ or has come in for some nasty knocks from several prominent sporting men there. — The undermentioned blood stock, the property of the late Mr Win. Walters, will be offered for sale by public auction after the Auckland Summer Meeting:— Three-year-old filly, by Hippocampus — Venus Transit; two-year-old colt, by Yattendon — Peeress; yearling filly, by Maribyrnong — Peeress ; yearling colt, by Musket — Yatterina ; yearling colt.by Musket — Fanny Fisher ; yearling filly, by Hippocampus— Venus Transit ; yearling filly, by Hippocampus— Slander. — Weights for the principal events of the Thames Meeting were issued on Thursday. Angler is well treated in both the fiat races. In the Handicap, I like the chances of Randwick, 9st., Libeller, Bst 71b, Dewdrop, 7st 41b, and Angler, 6st 121 b, and those four also read well in the Plate. Tricotrin, Hat 101 b, and Chandler, ] I.U 51b, should be dangerous in the Steeplechase, if s'j.it, and tiie latter, with list, cannot complain of his impost in the Hurdles. — The disqualification of Ringleader, winner of the Hnck Hurdles at Waverley races, on the ground that he was a trained horse, and had won a Maiden Race (says a Wanganui paper), has caused some enquiry as to the definition of a. hack hor&c. It appears that this is a matter about which Jockey Clubs are not very clear. However, the definition adopted by the Wanganui Jockey Club, under whose rules the Waverley event was run, is simply " a horse that has never icon an advertised race." Mr Powdrell intends testing the matter in Court. — There was some surprise in Auckland the other week at the sudden scratching of Betrayer for the C.J.C. Handicap, but this letter, handed to one of the Christchurch papers on the day of the race, states the cause .—"To the Editor: Sir,— The following letter explains why I deemed it advisable to scratch Betrayer for all his engagements. — lam, &c, Geo. G. Stead: — " Christchurch, Nov. 6, 1882, 1 p.m. Dear Sir,— l am still of opinion that Betrayer's 'leg ' is from the effects of a blow, and although I hoped it would not interfere with his preparation, I now find that his last gallop on Friday has caused the leg to fill, and, therefore, I think it will be safer not to run him to-morrow. — I am, &c, E. J. Brook.— Mr G. G. Stead." — The Canterbury Plate, 2j mile?, weight-for-age, run on the last day of the V.R.C. Meeting, is said to have been a great contest between the two first horses, Commotion and Darebin. Pulling his rider out of the saddle, Darebin led for a vnile, when Commotion headed him, and carying him along at a great pace never giving him any peace and fairly wearing him down, beat him easily at the end. The pace the two leaders travelled can bo understood, when Sweet William, who was third, was beat«n by about 40 lengths, and Cup winner, Assyrian, was about the same distance behind Sweet William. Time, 4min. -Jsec. Mr Pearson, the owner of Commotion, took 2 to 1 in thousands about his horse, and won £8000.