SPORTING.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIII, Issue 15000, 1 June 1899, Page 2

SPORTING.

I BY "BONAFIDE." j Now that the Wanganui J.C. Steeplej chuse Meeting of 1899 is a tbiug of the I past, a few remarks on the gathering may not be out of place. Before doing so I must congratulate the Club on the very marked increase in the totalisator returns. The portable stand or "look out" was used for the first time here, but evidently the steward's saw nothing in. the way of questionable running or riding to warrant them holding any inquiry. The ball opened with the Flying Handicap, for which Toa was whispered about as a "good thing," aivl consequently the son of I Dreadnought was sent to the post a warm I favourite, 249 investers pinning their faith and pound notes to the chestnut Return j (53) and Female Franchise (17) were next in demand The latter was mainly responsible j for the running, and entering the straight looked all over <t winner. The mare, however, ran very wide, and allowed Leda to slip up on the inside and win tiy a couple of lengths. The: Castor mare paid the substantial divvy of £19 17s, and I believe a settler from the back blocks was the lucky holder of seven out of the' 43 tickets invested. Whangaroa (415 investors) was . made a pronounced favourite for the Wanganui Steeplechase, Kanaka (383) and Muscatel (189) being next in demand— the others evenly backed. From a jumping point of view the race wa3 very disappointing, four out of the seven starters falling at various stages. I will not enter into a detailed description of the race, but merely state that Tally-ho had an excellent chance spoilt of winning the event by being brought down at the last gorse fence by Kanaka. The mare was rapidly gaining on the leaders at the time, and must have made things interesting. Kanaka received a nasty cut on the stifle, which prevented him starting on the second day. ao the finish the result layed between Muscatel and Whangaroa, but the 'former had too much foot for the big horse on. the flat, antl came in a winner by two lengths — thus adding another Wanganui Steeplechase to her credit. After tKe race was over F. Cochrane (rider of Whangaroa) and P. Johnston (rider of Muscatel) had a dispute over something connected ivith their riding, the result being the pair resorted to fisticuffs, and were fined £5 each for their little diversity. I may also mention that not one of the horses competing in the event under discussion went the right course. The Hunters' Steeplechase needs very little description, Stilts winning all the way. The First Handicap Hurdles amply bore out my criticism- of Mr Evett's adjust ments, when I remarked that he practically made a present of the race to Marina, and so it proved The Sou-wester mare never gave tne others a chance, and on the second day, with an extra stone and a pound up she won even more comfortably The First Hack Hurdles was the most exciting race of the day, Derry winning by a neck from Wooloomooloo, who was a similar distance in front of Frost. The latter, who seemed short of a gallop or two on the first day, made no race of the Second Hack Hurdles. Silver Ray (the second horse), considering the short time 'Alf. Lynch has had him in hand, ran a good horse, and gives every promise of winning in the near future. The next event — the Suburban Steeplechase — was a* good race between The Friar and Venture, but I think the victory of the former was mainly due to the ground saved by Percy Johnsfon on the last circuit. The rest of the field hugged the off-side rails, while Johnston, noticing their mistake, slipped up on the inside, and thus saved about six or seven lengths. Highlander was a fair third. The day's sport was brought to a close by the well-bred Dartmoor winning the Hack Flat by half a length from the locallyowned, Sou_.erly Buster, who started favourite. Proceedings on the. second day commenced with the Winter Oats, for which the public made Toa again favourite, Leda next, and then came Kubin. But punters (as in the opening event on the first day) received a bit of a shock when the winner turned up in the Prodigal gelding Return, who beat Leda by a length, Light a fair third. Beturn, who paid the largest dividend of the meeting — £28 5s — was not backed by his connections, with the exception, I bfclieve,of £1 invested by the trainer. The stable relied on Bona Fide, who, however, was not equal" to the occasion. 'H-Vlng — glrcttJj ref erred— to— the — SecondHandicap and Hack Hurdles, the Grandstand Steeplechase is next to be considered. The public stuck faithfully to Whangaroa despite his defeat on the first day, and he consequently started- favourite. Again, however, they were doomed to be disappointed, for at the business end of the journey Mr Scott's horse had no chance, and on his running here his hope of success at the Great Northern Meeting at Auckland next month does not seem too rosy. Tally-ho, jwho won by a length from Muscatel, with Barbarossa a bad third, proved that her chance was second to none in .the big Steeplechase on the first day barring the accident."' I might here mention that the daughter- of Forerunner did not fall while negotiating the gorse hedge, but in landing on Kanaka (who fell in front of her) on the other side of the obstacle. The Hunters' Hurdles resulted in Mr A. Ellis's pair — Stilts and Mangamahu — finishing first and second. The latter being a .decided favourite on the machine, the public gave vent to their feelings by hooting ns the horses returned to scale, and the general opinion was expressed that the stewards should have held an enquiry into his running. I think that when two horses run. in one nomination they should be bracketted on the machine, and thus the public would be protected. ' Another good dividend (£l3 ls) was paid in the Final Steeplechase, won by Sir Athol. In this event Barbarossa fell anil brought down The Friar, while Haug_ie fell at the water jump. The Martonowned horse won easily at. the finish from Venture, who by the way is the making of a good steeplechaser. Dartmoor concluded the meeting by annexing the Second Hack Flat from "Whitney and Cora Linn. The winning jockeys at the meeting were — Holmes 3, Arnott 3, P. Johnston 2, Mr D. Christie 2, Peters 1, Redmond 1, Daniells 1, Galbraith 1. I understand that W. Higgins will have the mount on Muscatel in her Great Northern Meeting engagements. It is stated that Mr A. Ellis, owner of the first and second horses in the Hunters' Hurdle Race, decided here last Thursday, offered to allow the stewards of the local Club to take charge of the pair and race them over the same distance if they thought there was anything crooked in the running in the above-named event. A horse who showed a good' turn of foot I in the Second Hack Flat on the 25th inst. ut the local meeting was Bugler, especially when it is remembered that the son of Vanguard has not been very long in hand, and has not done anything like fast work. Bugler finished fourth in the event mentioned, and may be relied on to give a good account of himself later, on. Lightning, a stable mate of Bugler, cut up very bad in her engagements in the two Hack Hurdle races. On her. track work previous to the meeting it was generally conceded by touts that she had a second to none chance.. However, Lightning may strike something later on. No joke intended. 'It is very seldom in Wanganui, at all events, that two full brothers compete in separate cross-country events, and both meet with bad luck. Yet this occurred on Thursday last, when Cloister broke down in thp Grandstand Steeplohase and the Friar came to grief in the Final Steeplechase. As is well.known the pair referred to are by the Musket horse Hiko out of Religouse.