TOKOMAIRIRO JOCKEY CLUB RACES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 110, 17 March 1870, Page 5

TOKOMAIRIRO JOCKEY CLUB RACES.

(By out- own special Reporter.} Tokomairiro has generally got the reputation of being a very dull township, but any stranger who happened to, be there on Thursday and Friday last w,ould have thought to the contrary, if he did not know it w.as the annual race.m,eeijng, as the township and road presented an unusually gay and lively aspect. The road 'between, the township and the- course •waa thronged with every sort of conveyance. Equestrians were numerous, and pedestrians took a cut across the paddocks for the course. There were four cabs from Dunedin » and in., sev.eral of them I counted a dozen people, the fare w.as 2s 6d, so the cabby's must have reaped a good harvest. The races were held in a paddock situated on the Woolshedßoad, the property- of David Carson, Esq., Meadow Bank, who, with his customary liberality, placed it at the. disppsal of the Stewards as, heretofore. The weather both days was charming, a,n,d. had, there- ' fore the effect of bringing to the ground a great number of ladies. The course ijaa in splendid running order, and offing

to the late rama the turf was as elastic as possible, A great number of strangers were present from Dunedin, Clutha, and last, though not least, I nptioed a goodly muster from our own fajr town of Lawrence, and our- up-country districts. There were fully 500 people present. The booths, three in number, wer-e well supplied with the coolest drinks, by their respective caterers, Messrs, Laugley, Grant and Julius, nor was young " Hew Zealand " looked over, for by the number of apple and sweet=stufF stalls, and the crowds of youngsters round them, 1 should imagine that their owners ought to have done well. Your ears were deafened with " Here you are, sir, try your strength, two punches a shilling," shouted out from the stentorian lungs of our colossal acquaintance, Big Harry ; and a smaller youth wanted us to try three shots a shilling for nuts, assuring us it would get our eye in for rifle practice, but we resisted all these temptations and made our way to the Grand Stand. Generally we see the fair sex muster in great numbers on the Grand Stand, but on this occasion we were disappointed, not to see even one lady. I suppose, owing to the dangerous nature of the seats, as there was no flooring, one seat being raised above another, therefore leaving an open space ; the Steward's room was just underneath, having only a calico screen between, and two venture* some animals of the canine species having followed their masters on to the stand, lost their footing and fell through the calico into the room below, much to the amusement of the occu.pa.nts of the stand. In our opinion we think the stand was too far back, as one could not see the straight run home in consequence of Mr. Langley'a booth being too far forward. The preparations made by the Stewards for carrying out the programme were excellent. Betting was pretty brisk, and sweeps were numerous. Mr. Capstick, as Judge, gave every satisfaction, and as for the Clerk of the Course, Mr. George Grant, I pity the poor cur that came under his whip. Mr. Bradley acted as Starter, and a very efficient Starter he proved himself, although in the District Handicap he tried to get the field off level, but failed, owing to the usual fractiousness of Waterwitch. About one o'clock the bell rang for the first event, for which five horses w,ere entered, but on coming to the post only four presented themselves, Spider being scratched. The ball was opened as follows :—: — Maiden Plyte.— 3o soys., distance one-and-a-half mile. Entrance, £2 ; weight for age. Mr. R. Cotton's b m Fairy Queen (Laverty) 1 „ A. Pillan's eh m Queen Bee (Kelso) 2 „ W. D. Barnard's eh g Mormon (Reay) 3 „ G-. Coombe's b m Fairy (Goodman) 0 t At the start Mormon went off with the lead, closely followed by the ruck. When passing the Grand Stand Queen Bee and Fairy Queen forged a-head, and made eqiial terms with Him, leaving poor Fairy far behind. About a quarter of a mile from home Laverty called upon Fairy Queen, to which she answered gamely, coming in winner by six lengths, "^ery slow running. Mr. Cotton may thus at last be congratulated at winning a maiden plate. The next race on the card was the District Handicap, for which nine horses were entered, but only seven appeared on the course, the other two being scratched. District Handicap— 7o soys., distance one and a-half mile Mr. Pollock's eh m Lady Ellen (Cotton) 1 „ Delamaine's eh m Atalanta (Thorpe) 2 Capt. Hutchison's b m Miss King (Lynch) 3 „ Hutchison's b g J^ild; Boy 0 Mr. Cotton's b m Fairy Queen. 0 „ Moore's eh m Waterwitch 0 „ Bernard's eh h Foretop 0 „ Morton's eh g Southern Chief (scratched) „ Pollock's blk g Raven (do.} For this race Wild Boy and Miss King were the favourities, Before the flag fell Fairy Queen and Miss King bolted for about a quarter- of a mile, but wer.e with some trouble pulled up. Waterwitoh as usual played up, and would not start. At last a start was effected, Wilboy well in the lead, the ruck pretty straggling. At the Stand Fairy Queen collared the Boy, but was very soon passed by Lady Ellen, who was admirably- ridden by young Cotton. She was never headed, coming in an easy winner by three lengths, Atalanta second, and Miss King third. Time, 3min. SJsec. The next was the NovEfi Race. — 3.0 soys., distance, one mile-and-a-quarter. Weight for age. Entrance, £1 10s. Winner to be sold for £20 ; any surplus to go to race fund. Mr. M'Farlane's b m Beeswing (Laverty) 1 „ Pollack'b b m Young Lady of the Lake (Cotton) 2 „ Langley's b g Turpin (Stanton) 3 „ Spooner's g g Spider 0 „ Cotton,s b m Fairy Queen (scratched) Beeswing and Turpin were the favourites at starting. The flag dropped; to* as fine a start as one cpuld wish, to, see. Turpin at once sprang to the front, Beeswing, the Young Lady, and Spider following. In this order they passed the Stand. When about a quarter of a mile from home, Beeswing collared the redoubtable Turpin, passed him, and came in hands down by about three and a-half lengths. Young Lady collared Turpin in the straight also, and came in second, Turpin third. ThOr tv?o, last showed several severe spur galls, but Beeswing was hardly bled at all. Spider was nowhere. The winner was put up for auction by Mr, Capstick,, an 4. w»as bought by the owner for £21. Three sported silk for the. Distance Handicap Trotting Rage.— 3o soys., distance, three miles. Optional' saddle or. harness. Weight for .age; entrance, £2. Mr. M'Farlajie.'S b g Banger (475 yds.) (Laverty) 1 „ Pollock'sbgßanger(scratch) (TF.PollockV 2, „ Langley's b g King $75 yds.) (Thorpe) £ „ William^ Rattles " fecrateijed) ■ The first round the Major maintained his distance, but Banger, mad© a. good deal on King. On the second, round Major stffl lead, Ranges- second, the latter had made a^ little on the- veteran. When the Major passed- the Stand;' m the second round he evidently though^ the race was over, and* it needed some skilful jockeyshjp to, get him in his swing again. Un the third: round Major passed the winning post first, Ranger second, about fifty yards behind. It says, a good deal for the winner of; almost countless trotting matches winning this race, as he was only three days in from his paddock, as his owner had no intention of entering him at all. This race- caused great excitement. Time, lOmin. s£secs.

The next event was the Publican's Pubse.— so soys., distance two and a-half miles. Entrance, £3 ; weight for age. Capt. Hutchison'* b g Wild Boy (Stanton) 1 Mr. Pillans's b h Bedouin (Pearson) 2 „ Barnard's Foretop (scratched) „ Delamaine's Atalanta (do.) This was really a splendid race, both horses came on to the course looking fit for anything, Wild Boy looked none the worse for his former race. They got off on equal terms, the Arab took the lead, and maintained it twice round, the Boy close on his heels all the time. Stanton had to watch the colt pretty close, Nearing home Wild Boy improved his distance, and in the straight caught the deniaen of the desert, and passed the winning post barely two lengths a head. The running of Bedouin was very much admired, aa he made the pace hot throughout, and we are told that if he appears on the turf next season he will do well, Time, smins. 32secs. This race concluded the first day's programme, and a start was soon made homewards, The township was very gay and crowded during the evening, and the American Circus was well patronized. SECOND DAY. On Friday, the second day of the races, the weather was all that could be desired for racing purposes — cool and salubrious, although towai-ds evening it turned pretty cold. There were fully 800 people present, and the racing was even better than yesterday. A good deal of money was dropped on Don Pedro in the first event, as he was the favourite. The Don refused every hurdle, and ulti- ! mately gave up the race. About halfpast one the bell rang for the Handicap Hurdle Race.— 3o soys.; two and I a-half miles ; over eight flight of hurdles. Entrance, £1 10s. Mr. 7Filliains.'s b g Fire-eater (O'Brien) 1 [ „ Smith's b g Chance (Gillein) 2 „ Barnard's Don Pedro 0 The flag fell to a good start, the Don leading. At the first hurdle the Don baulked, while the other two cleared it in gallant style ; the Don only cleared it after being put at it four- timea. Chance and Fire-eater- meanwhile had cleared the second hurdle-^Chance a little to the fore of Fire-eater. They kept well together, taking jump for jump till about half a mile from home, when O'Brien called on our- hot friend, who responded ; and after that Chance had no chance at all, Fireeater coming, in winner by three or four lengths, Gillern. rode Chance under difficulties, having lost one of his stirrups at the second hurdle, but he stuck well to him. Time, 6 minutes. Fire-eater was afterwards put up for sale, and knocked down to Mr. Pritchard, Dunedin, for £42 10s. Don Pedro was also put up, and was, sold, for £42 to Mr. C. Moore, also of Dunedin, Five sportQd silk for the Flying Handicap-. -4Q soys. ; distance, one ■ mile. Mr. Morton's b g Atlas (Burns) 1 Capt. Hutchison's b g TPild Boy (Stanton) 2 „ Moore's eh m Waterwitch, (Pearson! 3 „ Pollock's Raven o do. Lady Ellen o Some diffioi*lty was experienced by the starter in getting them off on equal terms. Three false starts were made, but on the fourth attempt they got off very fairly. Raven at once took the lead, making the pace, hp.t for about a quarter sou^d 1 , when he was- collared by the rack-, and all kept together for about the same distance^ Atlas was then seen to suddenly forge ahead, leaving the ruck, and came in winner, hands down, by about three lengths ; Wildboy 2nd, and Waterwitch 3rd. Time, lmin. 59sec. The next race on the card was the Selling Race.— 3o Jsovs; distance, 1A miles. Entrance, £1 10s. Mr. M'Farlane's b m Beeswing (Tiny) 1 Capt. Hutchison's Miss King (Stanton) 2 Mr v Pillana's Bedouin (Pearson) 3 „ Barnard's Mormon 0 „ Cotton's Tiny Q „ Coombe's Fairy 0 „ Pollock's Raven 0 „ Spooner's Spider (scratched) Seven out of the eight entered weighed out for this race. At the, start Bedouin and Mormon were the first to pass, the stand, closely followed by Miss King and; Beeswing, the rest close behind. Beeswing went away and collared Bedouin and Mormon ; and soon after Miss King did \ the same, and passed Beeswing also* The race now lay betveen those two j Beeswing was going strong-, a»d "qras soon neck: and neck with Miss King, and eventually came in winner by three lengths-., She was well ridden by Tiny. Time, 3min. 13sec. A protest was lodged agai&sfc Beeswing by the owner of Miss King-, on the ground that Beeswing had run across Miss King in the runniogv The stewards, however, disallowed it. Beeswing- was put up for sale and bought in by her owner for £40. The next was the race of the day. To&OMAjRBRQ,H4Ni*rcAP, 5 — IQjDl soys v ; distance, two-njfles Ms, Delamaine's eh m Atalanta (Thorpe 1 Capt. Hutchison's b g Wildboy (Stanton 2 Mr. Barnard's eh h Foretop (Griffiths 3 Capl. Hutchison's b m Miss King (Lynch 0 An excellent start was effected. Miss King was the first to show to the front, the ruck following ; in this order- they passed the stand the first time, when Miss King dropped behind. A close struggle then, ensued between Atalanta and Foretop, with Wildboy- close up. Atalanta, when called upon, forged ahead, and came in winner by three lengths, the same distance separating Wildboy and Foretop. Time, 4min. 9sec. A good deal of money changed hands, on. this race. The las* jace on the card was the Consolation Handicap.— ls soys.; distance, 1£ mile. Entrance, £1< Mr v R. Cotton's b m.Tiny (JKhlone) 1 „ T. Pollock's blk g Raven (Tamier) 2 do, br m Young Lady of the Lake- (Gotton) 3 „ Smith's b g Chance 0 At the, fa-11 of the flag the field got away on very equal terms, and on passing the stand Raven went ahead, closely followed by Young Lady of the. Lake, Chance, and Tiny, tying well up.. Tiny improved his position, however, and the infant worked her well up. to Raven's girths,. A neck and necki race ensued for nearfy a quarter of a mile between these-two, when- M'alone again ca^jejd upon. Tiny, who- answered and passed the' black one ttk.& a- shot, coming in winner by fire lengths. Tanner, who was up oh Raven^ entered a protest against the winner, to the effect that just as they were passing the paddock gate /Tiny ran inside a post. The -stewards had not decided upon it when I left the course. This race brought to a close one of the most successful meetings ever, held at Tokomairiro.