A RECORD OF SPORT.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 766, 15 May 1877, Page 2

A RECORD OF SPORT.

(Written specially for the ' Waikato ~, .. ............... . May 12, 1877. The general entries and acceptances for the Auckland Autumn3leeting are-due on the"!Bth. Already*the* principal •- namely th'e>Birthday Handicap, the steeplechase, and the i Champagne Stakes are beginning to assume definite shapes. The acceptances for the''Handicap will be Ariel, Elsa, Hippocampus, Bideawee, Shanneen, • ,and; . ;perhaps Magician. Opawa the.tbpweight is, not coming up from^Wanganitiyl and, very general disappointment is ex. pressed thereat as there was a great desire .to test his; reputed' prowess againct .Ariel arid Hippocampus. Kingfisher was very dicky when he landed from-the steamer on his return from the South, and I hear he has been ; turned put of training for the present. The. Don is being traiued for the Steeplechase, Bob Sharp has him under his care but I cannot say much for,his appearance jat present. He is very rough, and looking more like a cocktail every day. Magician never a favourite of .mine but many persons thought he was'capable of being, traiued into a good horse. How. ever, this morning (Thursday), he had a rough lip' with Sharinee r h at the handicap weights, and the chesnut .gelding ran away from him, so that I look upon his starling as doubtful. I hear very good accounts of Ariel, and my impression is that-' the race will lie between him and Shanneen, much ! as' <. : the latter's chance has been rediculsd. Hippocampus has done well since his re- ; t."rri to the land of his birth/but I don!t, think he can. beat, Ariel on 91bs. My judgment being based on the latters running, /with. Danebury in the summer when Mr Watt's horse was fully a atone Aanda-half the better of the pair, ; arid though it is generally believed that Danebury was riot himself. I doubt whether he was ever more than 7lbs oetter. Elsa- is doing good work in McGee's characteristic style; thWt is being chased round his paddocks three or four .times a week, and now and then taking a gallop on the course. 'Mr Vavasour's pair put in in ari appearance on Tuesday ; by the Taupo. I..have not seen Ittiem" stripped. Bidawee is a syr olcl bay gelding of respectable proportions, Shanghrairri is a mere pony, though a good one if we may judge by his running' with Perfumey at; Taranaki, Shannben.,i3. improving so fast under Donald Taylor's careful training that with 'his light weight .he is bound to be there or there abouts, ! and, at; the present.moment I would rather take. : ,five tp.one, about ;him than>five to two:about Ariel; ;•;. -.■•■ The "Steeplechase J js v! generally voted a good thing; for Oweii'MbjOee ,with.jeither PerfjUmej. llst'lOlbs, ,or Connaught Ranger, It .was thoughtatfirst the latter would' be the" trusted'b'ne'of the stable, but now 1 am inclined to thiuk Perfume will -go for the ; money,m though nothing certain is known, and it is not' unlikeiyV; both will ]l be' 'sent. Old Butcher Boy is not out of it with his 12st, and will. be ? .going when: a, whole lob are done with. Ilesnian"is ; iri steady work, but he does r not: improve with' age, and I shall, not rsta.ud hitn for] my money. Wrangler'/was sold, by Mr Watt a few days ago to Mr Dornwell for .£ls. It's .said he is wrong somewhere, and looking at his previous performances and the pricey I should say it is very likely. Buckstone has a fine dash of speed but he is very new to the jumping business, and r the other ones, Fauriie, Arrow,' Monarch, are not up. to riiuch, if report; says that the race ; will ,be between Butcher Boy, and whichever Owen declares to win with, '"""•' < •

.. The Champagne is.rgefctiflg-more interesting every and *I trust there is no truth in the report which is circulated to-day -that Langlands (Mr Watt's Totara-Marohioness colt) has developed a leg. VenusrTransit (Mr Watt's Peeress filly), Mr Buckland's Queen Mab by Derby, Una, Leaonards, Yenus, by Sledmere, Minnie Athol, Mr Winyard's Lady Coventry by Derby, L:\dy God win,'and Jessamine by Sledmere, Mignonette, and Mr McCee's Cockfighter by Akeake, Dainty Ariel, mare, are all said to certain.starters.' My vote would be for Langland's were I assured of his soundness, but in the uncertainty an investment on Venus Transit, or Queen Mab, is likely to be more profitable. The last named had a spin with Jessamine, this morning, and. left- r her fifty yards at the finish. The •performance was not particularly grand as Jessamine has only been taken in hand a few weeks and has had but two or three regular gallops. But Queen Mab has other recommendations. She is goodlooking enough for anything, and has particularly taking action.-, On this morning's spin she covered the ground with an easy sweeping stride, which pleased every body. She is a black with a blaze face, which will not be far behind the first to catch the judge's eye on. the 24th instant.

The Fishhook disqualification affair seems to have created a good

deal of sensation down South; aud though atr first it \y-as" tbouglit that the Oamarn-Vstewarda had- acted somewhat hastily: the, decision has since been very generally; .endorsed, I notice that the "Otago Daily Times'? has founded x leading article upon; O'Brien's apology-:or defence feefore^the committee, in which he naively volunteered the statement "I had a reason for scratching Fishhook the previous day. I had .backed Terapleton, and I thought if I scratched him the first day I could get a lighter weight on the second," in reference to which the "Times" "discoursetlT: ,r Are' we to suppose that it is held on the turf to be perfectly justifiable to scratch a horse at the last momonfc in order to get a lighter weight the next day/ We are inclined to think that.the innocent boldness of the defence is almost unrivalled. To disentwine the ingeuions announcement and split it ; up into its component parts is a real pleasure. It meant two things then ; first, that Mr O'Brien could not afford to let Fishook win, because he had practically betted against him by backing and .that, in .the fine fair-sighted way which racing men affected, he hoped to make a certainty of the next day's race by scratching Fishhook ';_*.*., pretending that there was something wrong with him. We say again that if this is the de'ferice, what ought the attack to be ? Qui s 1 excuse, s' accuse, is an old and a. true proverb, which never fitted a case better than this case of Fishhook. We say usually that any thiug is better than suspense. It will doubtless prove a source of considerable satisfaction to those of the betting public who had put their money on Fishhook for the race in which he was scratched, to understand, on the- best authority, the - reasons for what must, doubtless have seemed to them inexplicable. The inexperienced youth who is only, beginning his career will see that he must put his money not on the best horse only, but on the horse that it suits the owner to run. ! This is the true secret of betting, no doubt; and from out of a careful examination into these carefully concealed matters arises those moral certanties .' of a " good thing," in which racing men delight. One very curious feature ' about this scandal, for such it is, calls for strong comment. At Titnaru, the committee at first decided to allow Fishhook to run at their meeting. They afterwards rescinded this resolution, and endorsed the decision of the Oamaru stewards. But in the - meanwhile the horse had been entered for several races, and backed to win ( them. His disqualification makes his backers lose their bets. Tliis could not happen in Australia, where they have a Tattersall's law which, in such a case, declares all ; . bets ' off.' This is obviously only fair, under the circumstances, and ' the sooner the same law is brought into force in New Zealand the better.

(Concluded in our next.)