SPORTING NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 858, 29 August 1881, Page 2

SPORTING NOTES.

'■;.-: ; -.;'.• prograinme \issued by the liiis now been in the liands/ofj the/p'iitlio' for the past that/-ou'r > jeMrn)! v .pldb took the right course in deciding to/open the racing season with a dayVspprton the Prince of. Wales' Birthday.- Apart from the fact ■that there are seven races set down for decision,,which, j.n.itself,, means that the usual long intervals r between the events cannot'occur; there are several other contingent circumstances which ought to make the first Spring .meeting a ; success, providing it is a fine day. The most important of theto is, that the Meeting is 'to be hold on a public holiday, and that, the first, after a long lapse of business. ■The Jockey Club do hot ask the public to make a special holiday on this occasion, •they only provide fun for holiday-makers. And we have only to remember the crowds at Taraiahi, and Mtihenga last year, to acknowledge' that racing 'on- '%• general holiday is very popular with the people. Then again there-is' 110/ other public gathering either/at Wellington, or throughout •the"'-dißtrict," n'ith wiiidh the Spring Meeting.will clash, and as there will,be special' excursion trains 'from Town, as well as/ locally,, without therOlub asking for them, it seems only reasonable to expect that, many of the,.'pleasure-seekers will elect to. putJn their afternoon on the banks of the Tauherenikaii', especially as the charges of admission to the course have been judioiously lowered to meet the -cirouihstances of everyone who euros to see racing. The programme has been framed'with a desiro to meet the wishes of the majority of horse owners/whether as regards -distances, entry, or nomination fees, or th.o orderin which the events are set down for running. ■; - ■ ,

A gentleman of known ability has accepted the position of; handicapper, and upon him the onus of large acceptations and close finishes rests, ;■ •■ No one expects! that he will be able- to please all this nominators—the man who could would bo a wonder—but it is hoped that the result of his estimation of the candidaies will.give general satisfaction, Coming as the Spring; Meeting does, at a time when most of the "cracks" are enaagetlj'at,'their respective homes, our .gathering will probably be a purely local oiie : , and therefore Btands no chance of being paralysed by. " walk-overs," or similar disappointments. The Hurdle Race being a milo and a half, instead ol the orthodox two miles, ought to introduce sume new candidates for .jumping honors, and serve to condition any of our '• locals' 1 intended., to appear at the flu t{ on St. Andrew's Day, The Hack Hurdles being a handicap, is likely to produce a fjeld, where a minimum weight, or weight for age, would only produce two or three ontries. The event of the day, the Birthday Cup with 50 aovs. for the winner, ought to be a great race, as many of our racehorses can cover the mile and a half in respectable time, whereas the extra distance to complete the two mjles is quite boyond them.

. In allowing winning two year olds,' and winners of any stake under £2O in value, to Btart for the Spring Maiden Stakes, the Club has raised the status of their nieo'ings, Previously, winners of any small Maiden Plate, or any event, (other than flack-Races)j wqre .debarred'from appearing at Tauliereuikau as Maidens, and the fields suffered in consequence. That the settlers at Masterton, Waihen«a, Carterton, Taratahi, and Feathorston, will have their local ru.oes, irrespective of tho- Wairarapa Jockey Club is patent enough, and in fallowing the rule of other leading Clubs, and treating such small nptjngs as auxiliaries, is to my mind one of the wisest qtpns the leading Club could take. It virtually makes the TauherenikanVCourse to this district, what the 'Wauganui and other leading Clubs ja to their districts, viz., the Course upon \vl|icl) ownerj seek to sustain, or others to reverse the decisions gjven at their local njeetings. This js really the position all leading Racing Clubs occupy, and t|)o Wajntr-iipa Jookey Club has, qnly taken up their proper, stiind in following suit. The foregoing remarks apply to three year old hones,'aiid upwards, which may have won a Waihanga Maiden'of |l6, or a Featherston one of less amount, or in fact to any performers who have won less than £2O, the amount of the VV.J.O. Consolation Rtakejj, But to. debar two year old winners'from starting fop a Maiden Stakes, would 'be' very hard indeed, These youngsters 1 are prohibited from' .rapjife further'than "three-quarters of a mile, 'and to 1 say, hepse they get home 'first for six- furlongs, 'disqualifies them from competing'in a Maiden Plate when a year older, is to say' the least of it, npt enpourag'ing'to any man to look after his youngrstopli. J am' very glad to know that the Club has decided' jii favor of two year. old winners starting for Maiden plates on equal terms with the others, and believe their decision will be acceptable to the majority of racing men in this district. When we [ can count the value of our two year old events in hundreds, it will be time enough to think of asking.t|)e winner jjygn to parry a penalty in future flfalden engagements',' but at present, the very best'cqu'rse'for our Raoing Clubs, to rinrsue is > make the breeding of a good lifirse as profitable as possible, by making the rules and regulations under which the owner compete efficiently .liberal to ensure general aceeplation. In this respect racing is not reuiqved PPg iota, from the lines upon which any other business, tq bp sfibupijsf(|l| rnust be conduotet}. Sdpcess ip facing,' means large fields, and large crowds {o witness it. And I repeat that [am glad the Wairarapa Jockey (Hub has decided to abolish the previously prohibited condition which was attached to their Maiden events.

The two Btvck events, one h catch weight and the other weights, is lively to attract'the usual liurnber of fetartpr's, and give the .publics, especially (hi visitors, an opportunity of noticing tho condition in which our "hacks" go te the post/

The County Plate Handicap; takes the place of the Consolation Stakes, but only differs from it in name, being the same in' distance, and wijl n« doubt rflaq]); in one of (he'sa'me ftrigfohg from etart to finish that consolations 'usually provide. Taken altogether, tile anniversary of our future! King's birth ought to be an interesting qiip for tjje lover* of' the national sport", irho journey to" 'fauheremkau on the 9th'of November; {he Yintiers, it should be satisfactory for them to know that their chequei will: be forthcoming immediately after the racing is concluded —the necessity for a special journey on another day to get them being thereby obvihtfld: ,-. The fjllingfon prq((rj}mrnefor thaSqth Novemberls'also Dejore. tjiei pubho,"but any remarks relative to it njust stand'over tilf my Flpxtj The Club has opened proceedings by jh>a'pppintpntof an unusually strong directory, who no doubt mil work hard to make the coming Boxing Day as pleasurable as previous ones. Not to be behindhand, the people of Feafcheraton are moving in the matter 'of establishing.a .local clubhand in tho course d a ffljjr days'we ought to hoar that the Opaki:Mastertoi) and, the TaratahiCarterton stewards are preparing for their annual raeetipgß—so that oilr racingmen ought to have' some programmes' to pick and chooße from between this and-Feb-ruary next, ■ : ' '■•' Mr George Bentley has written to the seoretaryof the Wairarapa Jockey Club

•stating:that,hii;colt S\vi by Barbarian—Minnie Clyde by Oliver Cromwell, is dead. • Swivellor was;engaged'in the ■produce- of 1882, and from his breeding Mr Bentley hua lost « good Ml.-J :| '..Mr Tißay's,: team, orthreeyof .them, are now' in 'work. Theyi-aie,. Comus, Shamrock, and the colt -Ned Kelly, Mr Tancred's are progreaain? favoiably under Joe- Lloyd's tuition, and I believe we shall see Administrator among the starters for the Champagne Stakes next autumn. .This ought to be good news for all those.,who fancy they possess something equal to beating Princess Mary's son, They will now probably' have a chance of meeting him and knowing which is best,