SPORTING.

Digger (Invercargill RSA), Issue 39, 10 December 1920, Page 7

SPORTING.

Rito was sold to a morthern owner after the Forbury meeting. Tlie Winton Jockey Club has presented the. Winton Band with £25. Plans for a new stewards' stand for the Winton course are tp be prepared. Abbey Jones has been appointed liandi. capper to the Lumsden Hack Racing Club. Racing is going ahead everywhere. In Algiers, the capital of Algeria, £7000 was distributed at the recent eight-days' Autumn Meeting. The Lake County Jockey will probably race on February 2nd and 3rd, and the stako money spread over two days will be about the same amount as the Wyndham Cup will be worth. The Lumsden Hack Racing Club -as a credit balance of £63 7s 6d in hand. The club will hold another hack meeting this season and give £170 in stake-s. The members of the Lumsden, Club are full of hope in regai'd to a totalistor permit from the Gaming Commission. There is no doubt that it' is a good centre, and the district could run a good meeting. Congratulations to Secretary Jack Oliver on the nominations he received for the Summer Meeting. He lost no time in in establishing one record for his club, and his many friends will join me in wish. mg him success right through the meeting. Erank Young, the popular secretary to the Gore Trotting and Racing Clubs, has got the mnmps. He contracted them at tiie Gore Show this week, but stuck to his job to the finish. His many friends will join me in wishing him, a compiete recovery before Boxing Day. George Smart est-ablished a recorcT in the way of nominations for the Wyndham Club. With a Sunday between .the Wyndham and the first day of the Southland meetings I expect to see record fields turn out for the good money put up by the j Wyndham "Club. The Wyndham Club knows how to tr.eat visiting owners too. Chocolates and flattery — -tnat's the stuli to catch them. At Bradford' (Eng.) on. October 12, John Cure, a well-known Bradford business man, appeafed before the magistrates to answer a number of summonses charging . hlai .with extensive frauds. by the use of forged telegrams relating to horse races. . The prosecution allege.d that Cure obtained the confidence of two female operators at Bradford Post Qffice by flattery over ihe telephone and by gifts of chocolates, and then made bets by wires' sent to a London bookmaker after the results cf raccs had been received , on the tape machine in his offices, the telegrams handed in at 3.30 being coded by the operator a few minutes earlier. The return on a bet on a horse named Pelops at Brighton was over £300. In the turf frauds cases in -Englan^a few bQokmakers gave evidence in favour of the pearl merchant, Weisz. They said they did not think Weisz knew a swindle was being worked, notwithstanding he wagered so heavily on the race won by Silver Badge. He had promised to return the money if there was aiiything wrong. Mr Gili, for the Crown, in addressing the jury, said that a great point had been made of the fact that the bookmakers with whom Weisz had betted on the fraudulent race, were satisfled with his conduct, and were anxious for his acquittai. He then satirically remarked : "The bookmakers are satisfied with Weisz's promis,e that he will repay them if he is acquitted of this charge. It is not a question with them that the bet, was made on a fradulent basis, but on his promise to repay them on condition that he is acquitted on the conspiracy, though the fraud is proved against the other defendants. The attitude of the bo&kmakers is one of benevolent sympathy towards Weisz." . It appears that Weisz won about £3000 over Silver Badge's race, and the evidence went to show that Bar- , rie had arranged with him to buy in Silver Badge after the race. One witness, on be.

ing asked what Weisz was like on a racecourse, replied : "To be candid, he was a bit of a fool. He was at the mercy of anyone who could tell him the tale and give him a supposed good tip." However, the jury's verdict showed that though Weisz may have come into the game as a flat, he was prepared to act as a sharp when opportunity. offered. There is nothmg unusual about that, either. ' THE FORBURY MEETING. The weather for the second day at Forbury was an improvement on that of. the opening day, but still left Something to be desired from the clerk oi the weather. Cbffeton Chimes, owned ano trained by J. A. Orlowski, of Pukerau, just lasted long enough to beat the Riversdale owned Rothbell, in the Second Amateur Handicap. Rothbell isn't ready yet, nor is another, named Tewhare Child. When this latter steps out again; Diggers, you had " better . he a bit with her. Jim McMurray started both The Shiek and May Tracey in the Advance Handicap, and the latter-went well, putting up the, awkward time of 3min 37 3-5sec to win from Polka. The coupled pair paid nearly a tenner, and they do say the heads in Gore got to it well. Micky Marr was very sore in the preliminary prior to the Suburban Handicap, but. he struck the front early and stayed there -to win comfortably from the Winton owned Flowerbell, the most unlucky horse at the meeting. She trotted second twice and got. 3min 49 2-5sec against her. In both races she only required to go a iittle more kindly ' and, she would have won. & Though very nearly the outsider of the field the straight-out trotter Whispering Willie got a great reoeption from -the crowd when he won the Forbury Cup from the well-baeked Royal Step and Jack Arrah. Royal Step was unlucky to run second each day, but he picked up £240 for his efforts and only got 4min 39 2-5sec against him. He is on the limit in the Auekland Cup and might he liard as he is an improving pacer. Jack Arrah was a had outsider tlie first [ day, and a screaming' hot favourite on Saturday. The good old public the mugs: ajgain ! Cross Battery was reported to have done a sensational trial before leaving Gore, and the race she ran in the Taiuni Handicap looked as if the report was true. But she put in one bad break, and with a good one like Thixendale on . the limit she cculdn't make .up the lost ground. He won nic-ely and has u.ow started twice for as mariy wias. Blue Chimes isn't much good, at least . that is what one would judge by his run j in the Tainui Handicap. j Rito was sent through as the good goods i of the meeting for the first day, but I j don't think there, could have been "any- ! thing doing." On the second day Alex j McLellan took Dwyer's place behind his ! tail in tlie race and hedrove a patient race, finishing second to Peter Timmerman, wno . was in front nearly all the way. Solace was well backed by- his connections but he put in a couple of had breaks and lost his chance. He was driven each day by N. L. Price. The Auckland Derby candidate, Sir Henry, was made a hot favourite in tne Empire Handicap, but an outsider in Madeline was the winner and she just beat the Gore owned Biddy Tracey who also paid a good price, and if the rumours from Gore are to be believed the heads again got good sugar. Some of them think (she won, but from my possy, Madeline had half a length the best of it at the post Marie Tempest easily downed the opposition in the Recovery Plandicap, and by the amount of money she carried on her chance she must have been backed by some for a recovery. She had nearly £3500 investments registered against her chance.