RACES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume II, Issue 54, 20 February 1869, Page 3

RACES.

Day. First . „ r"~r "~ "* of sport Fortunately for aty love tceptional Thursday proved one of the t>^ •-? have days to the summer weather », afc s# k suffered under for the last six we.. X This was taken advantage of by crowcu fmpf pleasure seekers, and Lawrence prean unwonted scene of gaiety. L^jfTrom an early hour in the morning, ji I people dressed in holiday attire poured c attto the township, and all- the bars g appeared to do a considerable stroke. r J { About ten o'clock a general movement to t i the race-course }>egan, and Peel-street i I «bone with the gay colours which i '; characterised the dresses of the ladies, a !& wue the air was rendered musical by g ||#*i r sweet laughter. On the course the t HLtiLvi. W^y waa kept up, and we could p wondering wh*t vno.^>f the old 1

Maori lords of the soil wakened from the long sleep of death would have thought of the noisy crowd of Saxons, Celts, and Teutons who ahnuted, yelled, and gesticulated during the finish of each race. A race-course wa* no new aight to us. ; w* w«r» proof against the wiles of the tempter who wished us to prick the garter, or bet on iha "on« little pea." Nor did we feel at all inclined to make a bet with a flash gentleman who offered fifty to one against anything, and introduced a respectable friend who would not mind holding the stakes. We had encountered members of the Welch er fraternity before, and gratefully declined hit offer, assuring our liberal friend in tha words of the immortal poet " that although we might be a young man from the country he could not come over us." But while swindlers were numerous more legitimate amusements were not wanting, consisting chiefly of eating lollipops and paring apples. One individual had erected a shooting gallery on a small scale, where marksmen could, with no more deadly weapon than a pin, win at once fame and nuts. Another gentleman guaged the physical force of all who could raise the small fee of sixpence, and from the crowd which surrounded him we should say he made a very nice little pile. Sweepstakes were numerous and both winners and losers appeared equally willing to encourage native industry in the front of bars, and of these there was no lack, the three booths occupied by Messrs. Donovan, Mcßride, and Bastings being at once commodious and comfortable. All appeared to enjoy a fair share of custom, and we trust that the enterprising owners are no losers by the Tuapeka races. The grand stand was not particularly well patronised, but as most of its occupants were ladie3 it formed a brilliant feature on the course. We trust all the fair ones were fortunate in their innocent bets of gloves and nick-nacks, for without them the scene would havo been dull and sombre enough. The stewards had done their duty well, and the day's sport passed without any unpleasantness. The only protest lodged was against Tommy, on the ground that he did not complete the distance in the Trotting Handicap. This was at once dismissed, as it had not tho slightest foundation. Another blemish was the fact of several jockeys riding under the same colours, which caused a great deal of confusion. Mr. Simpson was a most efficient judge, and his decisions gave general satisfaction, while Mr. Sheath sustained his reputation as a starter. The first race was the Maiden Plate, for which there were eleven startera. In this race Fairy Queen made the running . " "thereby; wc-belfijv«7"d6priving her of any chance in the race. Plover was viust judiciously ridden, but Orphan proved too much for him : however it was a clever second. MAIDEN PLATE, of 30 soys. ; entrance, 2 guineas ; weight for age ; distance, one and a half mile. For all horses that never won an advertised prize exceeding £10. Mr. Bradley's Orphan ... (Groves) 1 Mr. G. Williams' Plover (O'Brien) 2 Mr. Cotton's Fairy Queen (Owner) 3 The horses were got away to a tolerable start, Fairy Queea. rushing at onca to the front and making the pace a buster. Will o' the Wisp took second place, supported by Morgan, while Orphan marshalled the ruck. After the first round Orphan joined the leaders, Plover taking its place, while Morgan cried- a go and fell back to the rearground. Fairy Queen continued to lead until within a furlong of the distance, when Orphan's rider called on him, and he answered right gamely by at once taking the lead. Fairy Queen was evidently in difficulties, but persevered gamely and held second place till close to the finish, when Plover c»me with a rush, but failed to collar Orphan, who came in first by a length and a-half, Plover second by three quarters of a length, Fairy Queen third, and Will o' the Wisp a good fourth. Yetminster headed the ruck, which was whipped in by Freedom and Gatherer. Time, 3 mm. 6 sec. DISTRICT HANDICAP, of 60 soys., with a sweepstake of 2 soys. each ; the second horse to receive amount accruing from the sweepstakes. Distance, two miles. Mr. Pollock's Lady Ellen (Kelly) 1 Mr. Pritchard's Skyonian (Gillam) 2 Mr. Turnbull's Golden Cloud (Foote) 3 This was the most exciting event of the day. Stormbird was made a hot favorite, level backers not finding a taker. When the flag dropped to a fair stark Dewdrop took up the challenge and rushed ahead. She was soon collared, aud Skyonian and Banjo past the winning post on the second round neck and neck. Stormbird now began to show some play for its money, and Golden Cloud lodging a demurrer the two raced together. When half way round Lady Ellen put in a word for the ladies, and passing the rest took the lead. The rest of the race was Lady Ellen against everything, the mare ooming in a winner by two lengths and a-half, Skyonian winning second honors, Golden Cloud showing third, and the favourite only claiming fourth honors. During the second round Welcome bolted off the course, thereby putting the Peter on his chances, which before looked tolerably blooming. The result will add fresh laurels to .our sporting friend, who gave Lady Ellen as his tip in last week's paper. Betting even on Sfcormbird (off). 10 to 6 against Skyonian (t). 3to 1 against Lady EJJen and Golden Cloud, and 20 to 1 against Deffdrop (off). HANDICAP TROTTING RAOJ3, of 30 jjovg ; distance, three miles'/ entrance, 2' Bova - Optional Kiddle C? harness. Z? Q weight under AQst. " 111 b. Mr. Basting's Tommy ... ...(Lees) 1 Mr. Pollock's Sfcruggler (o7^ er ) 2 ' fair start was effected, and Pn 2102 10 .econa* r °^ d Jommy made Struggi b j 'tv nacca *' ■• c chesni1 * breaking and 3uSn?il<O* on Tom ™y's Flora Sffjl' beautifully but during ;he M secJ nd to*?* 8 * ha M rather thau gained. P™ 1*?1 *? J™ *W round Tommy said good-.^ 6 \ io doubtful, aid after this the race bC loi *g?d -to *»« ;elding. Struggled and Dou^" 1 " broke ime after time, but nobody a&jwed to >ay any attention to 'their misdeeds. . Commy caj^a in on the fourth^ round -

winner by at least 150 yards, Strnggler a bad «econd, and both the others distanced. A protest was lodged against Tommy on the ground that he had only gone three times round, but this was at one dismissed, and Our reporter requests us to Btate that a more unfounded objection was never brought against any horse. The time for this raco was 9 mm. 25 sec. , and' Flora Temple was a hot favorite. Flora Temple was backed to win a large stake, and she showed herself worthy of her backers' confidence by considerably decreasing the distance from the gelding during the last two rounds. Tommy only broke once, and the mare was never challenged at all. The other two, however, galloped a good deal more than they trotted. MINERS' PURSE, of 20 soys. ; mile heats ; weight for age. All horses in this race must be the bond fide property of a working miner three months previous to the race. Entrance, 2 soys. Post entries. Mr. Clayton's Will o' the Wisp .... 1 Mr. S. White's Yctminster 2 Yetminster was the favorite at starting, but Will o' the Wisp was hard held all through, losing the first heat simply because his rider wished to reserve his powers. In the second "heat he showed what kind of stuff he was made of by sailing away from Yetminster and winning as he pleased. The third heat was a walk over for the ignis fatuus, who earned a goodly pile for those who were wise enough to back him. He was most admirably ridden by Laing, who displayed great judgment in piloting his horse. The winner ran fourth in the Maiden Plate, and we believe if his effort had been made sooner he would have been close to the judge at the finish. In the Hurry Scurry race five horses ran, and ptist the winning post in the following order : — Daborali, 1 ; Rufus, 2 ; Romeo, 3. Second Day. A Scotch mist fell during the night of Thursday, and rendered the second day of the races pleasant. Unlike the Dunstan races, dust was far from annoying ; indeed many persons thought " down with the dust" far from a pleasant cry. The course was even more crowded than on the first day, at least twelve hundrjcl persons forming the spectators. The Celestial race mustered in large numbers, and appeared to bet heavily among themselves, although how they could discriminate the horses appeared to us a tolerably tough puzzle . Still John proved a good customer to the booth holders, i and if he had kept off the course would not have been an unwelcome visitant. The inevitable dog was— present, and caused the usual amount of excitement, and drew forth the customaiy amount of profane language from the stewards. In spite, however, of chinamen and dogs the day passed without an accident, the diachylum provided by tli3 medical attendants for the hurdle race finding no customer, rather to the disgust of the profession we suspect. Before each race started a great demand for silver prevailed owing to the large number of halfcrown and crown sweeps which were written, folded, and drawn from a hat much to the delight of tae daring subscribers who paraded tho course with all the airs of might}'- bookmakers. Two protests were lodged during the day, one against Banjo, who was weighted as a maiden welter, but who, it was alleged, had won a welter race in Victoria. This protest was decided for Banjo, much to the disgust of those who admired the plucky running of Lady Ellen under adverse circumstances. The other objection was against Black Prince, who came in first in the hurdle race without turning a hair. The protest stated that he had bilked a hurdle, and the stewards decided in favour of the second hor3o. This decision was unquestionably correct, but great sympathy was expressed for the gallant rider of the Prince, which was unquestionably the best horse entered. The result of the racing was a hot un for the backers, the favorites turning out duffers in every instance. The first race was the LADIES' PURSE, of 25 soys.; entrance, 3 soys. ; gentlemen riders ; welter weights ; distance, two miles. Mr. Howell's Banjo ... (owner) 1 Mr. Pollock's Lady Ellen (Hewitt) 2 Mr. Wright's Hatter ... (George) 3 Betting even on Lady Ellen. 3to 1 against Banjo. The weights in this race were altered, Lady Ellen being credited with 12st. 71b. instead of I2st., and Bairp being re- > duced to 12st. This alteration wa3 most unwarranted, as the public had put on their money on the faith of the advertised weights, and we question whether any bets hold good on this race. Had we put our money on a horso at a cer- j tain weight we certainly would not have held to our bet when additional weight was piled on. Fairy Queen (owner) played up considerably, and Lady Ellen was indnlged in a gallop half round by her rider. Cotton's mare caused some trouble at the starting point, but Mr. Sheath got them off to a good start. Fairy Queen at once rushed to the front, Lady coming nejcfc " longo intervallo," and Hatter close up in company with Banjo, Gipsey tailing off from the start. Cotton's mare kept the lead for some time, giving way to JBa-njo, closely attended by Lady Ellen. At about three quarters of a mile from home the mare joined the gelding, and the two raced side by &ide to within 150 yards of the jitdge's box, whers the additional weight told on the mare and she began to flag. She- persevered gamely, however, and Banjo came in tirsfc by barely half a length, the finish being one of the finest struggles we ever witnessed. Hatter was I a j)£'l third, and the others were pulled A protest was lodged against Banjo, uPIu P l '»• flowed. Five raa. Time, out disa*. TOWNr s ??',™ of 100 soya., second TOWN PLATE, v - . ovs . out O f stakes; Jiorse to receive 10 ., "-eight for age ; distance, three mile 3 j ». entrance*, *> guineas. " s 1 Mr. Pritchai\3's Si'vonian (O'Brieu ** .„ Turnbull's Gulden Ci^ud (Footo) fc „ Corsan'a Stormbird ... {£.■?**) 3 Betting, even on Stormbird ; sto 3 against SkyoniaD. A good start was effected, and Skyonian, making tno pace a burster, marshalled tha -way. Golden Cloud folio ysred close np x wid St^mbir^

made a good third, Little Daisy flogging in the lot, and manifestly out-paced. This order was kept up three times rmuid, all the horses being apparently held. About three-quarters of a mile from home, Ryan called on Stormbird, who jawed faint-hearted, and cried no go ; indeed, this horse was the great deception of the day, turning out a regular cow, only tit for conversion into dog's meat. Golden Cloud made a game effort, pushing Skyonian hard to the distance, when he began to hang out signals of distress, and the Hielandman, without needing a touch from spur or whip, came in an easy winner by a length, Stormbird a bad third, and Little Daisy pulling up at the third round. Time, 6 mm. 7 sec. HURDLE RACE, of 30 soys. ; welter weights ; distance, 3 miles ; over nine flight of hurdles three and a half feet

high ; entrance, 2 guineas. Mr Water's Black Prince (MThenon) 1 „ Wright's Morgan ... (George) 2 „ M'Jutyre's Sultan ... (Owner) 3 Four ran ; betting, 2 to 1 against Clown. A good start was effected, Black Prince rushing forward and taking the lead by three or four lengths, followed by Clown, Sultan and Morgan in the order stated. The grey and Morgan baulked the first hurdle, but on a second asking went over like birds. At the third hurdle Clown baulked badly, and before he could be got in an acquiescent mood his chance was completely cooked. At the fourth hurdle Macpherson got a nasty spill, and Morgan came up, but Mac gamely set to again and went to the van. At the same hurdle Sultan threw his rider, wh® seemed none the worse of his knock under. Morgan and Black Prince raced together all round, followed by Sultan, who again upset his rider, and the two came home together, Black Princa catching the Judge's eye before the other by about a length. Owing to Black Prince having bilked a hurdle, he was disqualified, and Morgan got the stakes. Black Prince, owing to the speed, miscalculated the distance and jumped before reaching the hurdle, round which he dodged without his rider observing the mistake, otherwise he could have won the race and given Morgan lOlbs. CONSOLATION HANDICAP, of 15

soys., for all beaten horses ; distance, one and a half miles ; entrance, 1 soy. Mr. Robertson's Welcome, &st. 71b. ; Mr. Williams's Plover, 9st. ; Mr. Chapman's Gatherer, 9st. ; Mr. Wright's Hatter, 9st 61b. Betting, anything on Plover and Welcome, former for choice. Mr. Chapman's Gatherer 1 „ Williams's Plover 2 Gatherer forced the pace, and was cleverly landed ■winner.