A RECORD OF SPORT.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 730, 20 February 1877, Page 2

A RECORD OF SPORT.

[Compiled expressly for the WAm^Wj^ Times.] ■ "7,- --; Auckland, 14th Feb., 1877, Race meetings are now following one another pretty frequently all over the Colony, and m nearly every days paper we see nominations for some event to come off, if nob reports of meetings just taken place. The Wellington anl Waikato reunions are now things of the past. At tbe former my selected Guy Fawkes pulled off the Cup, and added another to his many laurels, once more showing himself to be indisputably the best horse m the Colony. The « Conspiritor ' also landed the Jockey Club Handicap easily, from a very moderate field. The double win gives him a 101b r penalty for the Dunedin Cup, bringing his weight up to lOst slbs, ab which he would have no show, good' ''as 1 he'is, bub? Redwood has Maroro, 7at lib, and Puriri left m, and if either is backed up to. the finish, the stable have such a splendid line that they ought to make very little mistake. Besides 'the Cup, there were .; very few events of interest decided at the Empire City meeting, and the" poorness of the racing, coupled with the miserable weather, must have made the sport rather slow. There was anobher farce over the Derby. Two horses belonging to the same owner bame out, and walked over. This is the usual thing m the paltry Derbys we see at our New Zealand meetings. As 1 have said before, I call i"> insulting the name of the greatest race m the world to christen such rubbishy contests after it. Why do not two or three of the principal meetings of the North Island combine, and offer a good prize at one place for a Derby, at another a good prize for a St. Leger, with a • Two Thoiißond' at a third place ? Something of this kind might easily be arranged, arid then the three-year-old raoes would be interesting. ■ Mr Redwood's winnings ab Wellington amounted to £375, .and Mr Ray's to £237. These, I see, were the highest scores. At your gathering, the racing seems to have been yery respectable. May Moon realised my anticipations, and ran like the good little mare she is. ; I beliveshe can give anything of ber size m the Colony a stone and a beating. Owen MoGee, as usual grumbled loudly about the way she was treated by bhe handicappers, and | the best of it is, Bven now he maintains she ought to have

had 61bs less m the handicap* awl says it waa only the turns enabled her to'win. But Owen is privileged to grumble. Walters' horses ran very badly again. If Kingfisher was no better before he. went wrong than he. is now, he could not haye had muoh chance m tbe Handicap and Cup at our Summer Meeting, but I expect he is not himself again yet. Both he and the rogue Isaac Walton, who /eta worse as he grows older, are engaged m the Greymouth Jookeydnb Handicap, and if they can't improve at least 14bs on their late, running, they may as well stop at home. The following are the acceptances for the race just rtferredto -.—Tommy Dodd, Bit j Strongbow, Bst ; Lady Mary, 7st 101 b ; Isaak Walton, 7st 6'b ; Kingfisher, 7st lOlbs; Nero, 7st lOlbs ; Septimus, 6st lOlbs ; Doncasfcer, 6st ; Blaok Eagle, 6st 71bs. Of: these, I like. Tommy Dodd best at present, but if Kingfisher returns to his spring form, he ought to hold everything safe. The nominations for the Canterbury Great Autumn Handicap make a good show, and the same may be said of the Taranaki J. 0. Handicap entries. Ariel . is m both. It is very plucky, of Taranaki offering a prize of 150 soys., and I am gted to see that the owners of some rattling good animals have. paid the nomination fee., If Ariel, Perfume, Opawa, May .ItfoQD, and Iniquity come to the post,.* I . better race will not have been •seen* tbis) Perfume is also m the Hurdle Race. The weights are due on Sftjnrjday next, the 17th inst. The entMesfter Marlborough Races are not vewfcajj^d, and it is evident the meeting. w*¥nnse/ i a purely looal ooncern. The 'acceptances for the Napier J. C. Handicap were deolared, I suppose, on the due / date, the 7tb, but I have not yet seen them. The general entries for this meeting are due to-day., I anticipate seeing the Don figuring m two or three of the events. A quiet Jittle country meeting will take place at Warkworth on the 22nd, apd there will be a oolonial imitation of " 'Appy 'Ampton," at Henderson's Mill, on the 24tb. The entries for the Hurdle Race, Handicap Settlers Race, and the Cup at the last named meeting, close today (14th) at the Oratiu Hotel, on the ground. The nominations for the Publicans', Flying, Hurdle, Dunedin Jockey Club, Novel, Forbury, and Steeplechase Handicaps at the Dunedin meeting close on the 24th inst. Obinemutu Races and Sports are advertised for the _ 15th and 16th inßt., but they are not likely to attraot any horses from here. Since the English Cricket Match, it has struck some pf our citizens that two or three of our team deseVved a little kudos for their respectable play. Messrs G Waller and liewisson hsve jointly given a beautiful bat to Mr W F Buokland, and several gentlemen have paid the same compliment to Mr R J Yates. With regard to the former gentleman, the donors have perpetrated the mistake of making the inscription state that the bat is presented for his score oi 17 m the second innfngs. Mr'Buckland's exertions m arranging the preliminaries of the match no doubt deserved recognition, but his batting on this occasion, as usually, was of a flukey and clumsy description.. The laugh which the Wellington papers and cricketers indulged m on hearing of the issue cf lhe Auckland match has been cruelly turned against them. Hera is what a Wellington sporting writer says on the rubject : — " I heard several of ourplayers laugh and chuckle, at the small scores the Auckland men made, and indulge In little homely blowing as to the scores they would make, &c-, &o. How sadly disappointed and crestfallen they, must leel now that the fact has been' published to the world that they, only made a little over one run per man? 1 can also imagine how the Au3klanders will indulge m a mctapbaiical war dance over lhe inglorious defeat of the representatives of the Empire Oity."" The Wellingtonians, however 1 ,: have one thing to console themselves with, if one can call it a consolation, and that is 0 that up to the present they hare made (he smallest scores of -any team the Englishmen have played against." The yacht Secret .oriived back from her colonial tour on Sunday last. The cups she won at Lyttelton and Wellington have been on view m the window of H F Anderson and 0©;, during the week,; The Kelson committee have circulated some very ill-natured paragraphs m the local and Wellington papers about the behaviour of the owners. They have been very badly advised' m doing so, for they have fairly riled Messrs Niccol and Hulme, - who threaten to expose the whole proceedings of the committee m the affair of the protest, and if they publish one half of the' gbihgs 1 on 1 have heard of, the Nelson gentlemen' (?) will come off second best, Wellington did not improve npon the Auckland performance m running any more than m cricket. Fancy Donovan making a match with Sel by after Ellis had received such a beating. Donovan, when up here, was not within five yards of Ellis at 100 yards, and Selby, of course, made a frightful mess of him. 7r3&<gdntleman who arrived by the Rotorua two or three days ago brought up - to Auckland half.a-dozen splendidly bred greyhounds, which are advertised for sale. Coursing is gradually becoming popular here, and. I expect they will find purchasers. It is said, that a : courting club . is likely to be started, this next season.' Harking back topedestrianism, accounts have reached us of the race between tbe American champion, Davies, who was here with Wilson's circus, and Watson, of Scone. "'' Davies, it seems, > has i only just got into form. He made it very ; hot for Watson, and it was only the magnificent finishing powers of the Maitland olipper that - piilled ..him through", by eight inches on. the post. It comes out now that Davies has never sustained defeat m the States, although he has run m nearly lOOlraces. ;He is not unlikely to I make^anotner; match yWJLth.Hewitt. • , 7 The Ohristchurch match against < .the English. cricketers is. i to be played on the 26th,; 27t h and 28lh. inst. '. ■a* Young Performer' the famous trotting Stalion is to be sold without reserve on Friday. . The following taken from an English paper is suggestive of some yery sensational. days m. the rowing world :— It seems that i Trickett is not jet the 'Champion, Sculler of the world. Higgingp, of .London, jhas recently issued a chalJen^e to row any man m England for the of the. Thames and .. £200 a 7side„or any;man m the world for £5.000 a side^ and an allowance of £100 fur expehces toany foreigner or colonist, the xaoe.to.be on the (Thames:, If the first part of this challenge has the effect of deciding who,, is to be considered the. best man m England that lie may afterwards do battle with Trickett,it will be satis-factory.-a It? 'is -now stated' By 1 the " Sportsman"* that, though no match has yet been actually made, Boyd' will accept Higgings' defiance) the race to take place about the middle of March next, but with a reservation m. favour of the Tyne as the scene of aotion. •' '-'' '' . ;: ' ••' ! •■■--•' ■■ . Vatbs.