CANTERBURY AUTUMN MEETING.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 272, 26 April 1875, Page 3

CANTERBURY AUTUMN MEETING.

The racing on Friday and Saturday last was good enough to satisfy the most exacting spectator. The different events wer6 well contested, and the money was pretty equally divided, the only unlucky ones being Messrs Yeend and Gilligan. The great Rory O’More was not in form, and his exhibition in the hurdle race, I can not understand, though it may be partially accounted for by the breaking of Kelly’s stirrup leather. That Rory O’More can win any important weight-for-age race against good company, I cannot believe, but I think that now the handicapper has had a taste of his quality, he may favour him to such an extent as will give him a show in a handicap. Princess Mary, though she did not show prominently in any of the races she ran in, is a good little mare. She is not an animal that a light weight boy can ride, as she pulls very hard, and I am afraid she will never furnish into an animal that can carry four-year-old weights. I think that her owner would be wise to put her to the stud, and she is full of such good blood that her produce would be bound to race. Bob Ray’s stable was out of all form, as was proved in the St. Leger. There has been a great deal of nonsense talked about this race, and though I think Bob Ray made a mistake, yet I am sure no one who knows him, or who is acquainted with Mr Delamain, believes that the race was run otherwise than on the merits of the two contending animals. Another noticeable point about the affair is, that no one won anything by the race, and when these little matters are ‘ squared,’ the parties interested usually make a small harvest out of the event. Captain Hutchison’s King Philip will pay him better as a four-year-old than he has done as a three, Spritsail will probably prove a good brood mare, as all the family she comes from could race, and she herself would have been a fair mare if she had not been injured. Castaway was a wonderfully different animal to what he was in Dunedin, and if Webb had only had a little more time with him he would have landed the big money. As it was the 71b penalty and a little shortness of condition told their tale, but the oolt ran a good animal notwithstanding. As for Parawhenua, the big brute won the big race, and I, for one, grudge him his victory. He is an animal that can do a good thing now and again, but no one can follow him and win money by backing him. In the Autumn Handicap he made all the running, and I doubt if he was ever headed throughout the race. If he had been, I think he would have stopped, as 1 believe him to be a glutton when collared. The weight stopped Templeton from the very start, and he was never really formidable, Hercules ran a good horse, a better one than I thought he would, and there is 'a good race in him some day or other. Guy Fawkes too, who was worked very hard ftt the meeting and was not very fit ran a good horse in different races at all distances, jbut I fancy that speed is his strong point and not getting over a distance of ground. The Champagne candidates were a good looking lot, though there were two or three in it that I preferred to the winner. The Phoebe Colt however was in front at the finish, and will probably now have many admirers. I shall be surprised if he turns out a stayer, and I do not think him dangerous for next year, unless in short cuts. Pungawerewere is a fine grown mare, but there was one behind her that will finish in front of her next time they _ meet. The Phoebe colt ran right out in the Flying Handicap and nearly put Templeton into the judge’s box, and Mr Delamain very rightly protested against the two-year-old. There could be no doubt as to what decision the stewards would give, and Mr Delamain’s horse got the stakes. No one believes that the affair was intentional on the part of Mr Redwood’s lad, but that did not alter the fact of the decision being sure to reverse the judge’s verdict. A very nonsensical idea of justice (save the mark) prompted the writing of a letter to a morning contemporary, in which the writer is wrong as to the facts to start with. The letter in ques tion is unfair to Mr Delamain, in striving to make comparisons between himself and Mr Redwood; but for the information of the writer, I may state that Mr Redwood has entered protests before now. Anyhow, no one with any knowledge of the turf would dream for one instant of blaming Mr Delamain for acting in the manner he did, and thereby protecting the interests of the backers of his horse. The Hurdle Race was a really good one, and Tommy Dodd must be a very fair horse, though he only has three good legs and one very moderate one. Mousetrap and Alice Grey both ran good honest animals, and the former would have been close up to the winner with the extra nine pounds and a half off his back, and a jockey up When an owner is fairly treated in a handicap, and spoils his own chance, he has no one to blame but himself. By the way, my friend “Druid” states that Mousetrap is by Malton; this is a mistake, Camden being the sire of the little grey. The Cavalry race was easily won, but such exhibitions as the (’rider of the winner indulged in are absurd, —and it would have served him right if he had lost the race through his antics. The usual punctuality as to the time of starting was not observed, and the races were very much later than they ought to have been. The attendance was only fair, though the stand was well filled. Altogether, the meeting was very successful, though I hope for the future that the club will not fix the day on a Saturday, as I think they must be convinced that this is a mistake. HERMIT.