SPORTING.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 4, Issue 1215, 27 October 1882, Page 2

SPORTING.

[SPECIAL TO PBESS AsaoouTibk.]

(Received October 26,1.60 p.m.) Melbourne, October 26 (i i Branch'B stable appears very sweet, indeed about Mistaken's chance for the Cup; 100 to 4 is taken, Little Jack, from the' same stable, appears to be moßt in tavor with the public, however, and has been backed fur thousands at 100 to 10. 100 to 2 is freely taken about Sung, and he has been backed for thousands at 9to 1. Mr Bouse, his owner, offers £IOOO level that he beats both Little Jaolc and Mistaken, For the Derby Navigator is firmer than ever at 6 to 4. About Segenhoe 100 to 25 iB taken and offered. About Guesswork 100 to 10 is offered. A large commission has been executed about Boolka at 100 to 8.

THEMEI,BOUPEOPP. ; Donedin, this day. Immense interest is felt here in the Melbourne races, late news is eagerly sought after. A £PO consultation was .drawn Inst night, and fully &0Q daily passes through the totalisator,

A TRIP TO TAUHERENIKAU RACE I COURSE. Beinq at Fea|l}Bratqn th.e other <Jay, ana] Ijivving a, "spftte hour, I took, a ride, pvet to the Tauherenikau racecourse to see what order the familiar o)d spot was in for the approaching spring meeting of theWaira.pap& Jockey Club, I was fortunate enoiigji<to meet the Club's secretary there, and toge.th.ej we had a stroll round the track whereon so many genuine good races have been decided, Being particularly anxious to ascertain whether the willow planting which has been carried on for the past two seasons was lively to permanently proteot the banks of pjje racecourse from further damago by the rivev—•. thither I wended my way and found that th<t banks have been planted from the Tauherenikau bridge to a line parallel with tho bush. Those put in last year have grown as only willcvs can grow when planted near water. I did not notice a single failure, somo of them having branches two feet in length. Those planted last season are quite as successful as the others, but bciug mora easily accessible the young shoot 3 suffer from the attentions of the sheap. The seoretary informed methatMrDuddinghad been kind enough to keep them off as long as he could possibly spare the racecourse reserve, but that nothing short of a secure fence would give the willows a fair chance. This would involve an expenditure of about £4O, and could not bo undertaken this season, in view of the outlay for improvements which has been incurred since last autumn meeting. That the willows will permanently proteot the river bank I saw enough to satisfy me, as tho lower ones have already worked up through the fascines, and in a few years will lend: an additional charm to this already favored place. Returning to the course J looked for the gutter, or sh§ep' walk ijhicK more qr liea all round it for" several seasons, caused through horses and sheep continually using the same track,' It exist? no more, and the, rough going across the old- rjjolama'tiim j? now as, le'yel as the straight,' Wherever there was a holp, tuft, track, or uneven place, it has been levelled,'top-dressed with lqanv harrowed, rolled, and sown down with grass, w and is now Bmooth enoush to satisfy tho veriest'? daisy cljpper." The grass, too, has taken well, and nl hough there are a few bare places, before the f|th is hero most or* them will be cqyerej], Tp keep- hpes, t qff the track post? wpro put in and twp wifeij stretched aorqss, in a dozen different places, but it didn't stqp the sheep, and they were no sooner again on the reserve than their usual prqmenade was resumed, This made the secretary lless them, and I believe him. In order to fltop their little game bushes were cut and staked down at intervals wherever necessary, proving equal to turning their unwelcome attentiqns elsewhere, and the grass is now growing where they were in a fair way to again tread it out. I noticed that the heavy rains we have had has damaged the facing- of the culvert nearest the bußh, and unless attended to bet fore the next wet season may cause some trouble. I was informed that instructions have been given to have the neoessary «i pairs done at onoe, A little further on I came to the second culvert which time had rendered rotten and unsafo, Workmen were engaged replacing the old one with a substantial structure of heavy totara, This work has been in hand for some weeks, but, through various causes, delayed, The enclosures look particularly well, In fict there is. if anything too much grass there, but this I suppose will receive attention before the eventful day arrives. Leaving Tauherenikau and thinking over the many pleasant reminiscencos I have of of the jolly days spent there, I could not but regret its out of the way position must ere long prove to the Jockey Club that a site nearer to the railway line is what they require, if they desire to the fullest extent to benefit by the power and influence' the Club now possesses. Given a Bite access, and it needs no prophet, to ftgMHtj lß Wairarapa Jockey Club JHHfI£ ke high rank amongst g JfIHW earning the spring and lose their.local colonial importance, .very best horses reared ' I am.aware that aspinsSlißlfongTtnere is, and will be, all the weightlhat o'd asiociations always carry, but still, looked at it from a broader standpoint than looal prejndicei if we are td'have races and can be in the first rank'tis surely better so to be than satisfy ourselves by playing second fiddle when the Club is strong' enough to take;ft leadlngpart, ''••' l! "'- : T > *■**. The closing of the Tauherenikau JM .makes the place look" aught but lively, bfit the secretary told me it was lively to help the meeting by an enhanced price for the privilege to supply the thirsty pubjio on tho 9th November. ■•■■■•