The New Zealand Mail from Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand • 25

NEW ZEALAND MAIL September 27 1 89b full brother to Mr off Kapua I Toreador is owned by Mr Hordern of avail themsoltes of the opportunity offered 'b al 1j I zx I'x in i If 1 1 I im 4 r'Hi'XT taa 4 a xxar'ayx if anyone does to own a real good one BETTiMG MARKET to 100 100 ADAM LINDSAY GORDON AUTOBIOGRAPHIC LETTERS ENGLISH RAGING The sporting scribes defray the funeral a monument £40 to to to has given me a turn in many ways but I have not done nearly so well as I ought to have done I have had no heart to back my luck and I might not have such an opportunity again If I made a little money I should be quite contented to leave this gay and festive scene which I find awfully wearisome I am better than I was though I have been ailing on and off with headache and pains in the back but I am getting used to these and they come and go pretty much as they like I am cer tainly stronger in some ways than I was Physically I am not weak as far as mus cular action goes I can take as much exer cise as ever when the fit is on and the headache off I have been very temperate lately and do not smoke quite so much though I do it more than I ought perhaps I am rather a good groom when I choose to work which is not always I am much better than I was having some occupation is a great thing and I write for the Aus tralasian in my spare time though I have not finished a single article yet I am not fit for much study yet though I take lota of exercise walking several miles before breakfast alongside of the horses and swim ming in the Yarra Mr Pat Mangan the well known Canter bury importer of thoroughbred stock has it will be seen by notification in our adver tising columns again decided to put his American standard bred trotting horse Electioneer at the service of breeders in the Wellington and Hutt district this sea son A couple of years back Mr Mangan paid a visit to America and selected three young horses for service in this colony from Mr famous Rancho del Paso stud Sacramento California These were Imperious who is standing at Middle Park at a fee of 7gs Sacramento who does stud duty in South Canterbury and the subject of this notice Electioneer is a four year old chestnut by Albert Silica and full brother to High Tide (record 2min 17sec) After serving in this district last season Electioneer was taken to Can terbury and put into training With only a hurried preparation he succeeded in win ning the Maiden Harness Race at the Plumpton Park Meeting and trotted two miles at the Canterbury Show Grounds on May 24th in 5min 29sec rather a good per formance for a three year old Albert (sire of Electioneer) has a record of 2min 20sec and is a winner of 25 hears better than 2min 30sec Albert sire Elec tioneer after whom the imported horse was named is sire of Sunol (28) Palo Alto (28) Mauzanitza (216) Auteso (216) Adair (217) Tot Slocum (217 Norval (217) Bonita (218) and 147 others with records better than 2min 30sec The above should satisfy the most fastidi ous stickers for blood that they have in their midst one of the best horses outside America brought to their own doors at the reasonable fee of 6gs and those who do not I am awfully sick of the life I have been leading and the society that I have not been able to escape from I can assure yon that my chief reason for making that rash venture in West Australia was a desire to escape from all my sporting associates and begin a new life in the bush Still I have done no worse than I should have done if I had kept away from here and killed myself with running after lost sheep and nursing doomed ones in West Australia It has been decided by the Messrs Gibson to ship their champion Daimio to England in ebruary next It is not in tended to race him until he has become thoroughly acclimatised and it is more than likely that the horse will not sport silk until the Grand National of 1897 or twelve months after his arrival in England One of the Gibson brothers is to stay in the Old Country to supervise prepara tion and it will not be the fault if the Australian champion fails to add fresh laurels to his already brilliant career New Zealand Cup 100 to 11 Skirmisher (wanted) 100 to 10 Mabaki and Marino (taken) 100 100 100 I have not been well lately I never got over that fall I have a good deal of pain in my head and back and I get so awfully low spirited and miserable that if I had a strong sleeping draught near me I am afraid I might take it I have carried one that I should never wake from You will perhaps be awfully shocked old fellow to see me write in this strain but I am not exaggerating at least and if I could only persuade myself that I am a little mad I might do something of this sort I really do feel a little mad sometimes and I begin to think that I have had more trouble an I can put up with I could almost say more than I deserve though this would probably be untrue I shall miss the steamer if I write any longer but you shall hear from me by the next if I get through work I am going to send you On Thursday night I was so tired that I could hardly walk to the telegraph office as you may suppose and on riday after the race I was not much better though I did not feel it having imbibed to freely Everyone that was with me swears that I was as sober as a judge by which I infer that everyone who was with me was as drunk as a lord On Saturday I was very bad The terrible reaction consequent upon the fatigue of that awful journey which excitement had kept off for a time set in and I could hardly move I went to see a poor boy who was in the hospital having crossed the course and been rim down by me I am glad to say that he is all right having only broken the small bone of his leg I gave him what money I could afford and the stewards of the meet ing promised something more Moore also will do the same so he is better off than he deserves and has expressed his inten tion to get run down again on the earliest opportunity A fine plucky boy he is too the son of a miner I believe Of course not the least blame is attached to me It was in the straight running at the finish of the race and finding the mare beat I was pulling her up but only three or four i lengths behind the two leaders Several men and boys watching the first two horses and not noticing mo ran between them and me I did all I could to pull off them and did avoid some but knocked down two only one of whom was hurt Maud was beastly fat as fat as your horse Tommy I did not want to ride her when I saw her but the leaps were all new and very high and I thought the other horses would fall H' Holmes says a Melbourne paper who is in splendid form this season added two more races to his previously satisfactory record on Saturday at Caulfield winning the Two Year Old Handicap on The Officer and the Armadale Handicap on Eiridsforde and he also finished second on Earl King in the Rosstown Handicap Holmes has re cently gone right up to the top of the front rank of his profession and with the pick of two such stables as those of Messrs 8 Cook and Hickenbo hatn to ride he should have a great record by the close of the season You do not understand much about these things but you would hardly be stupid enough to do what I did enter a horse to be sold for £30 and ride him 7lb overweight I got rather a nasty fall last Saturday riding a hack of that he had lent to Lieutenans Simons for a small steeple chase not worth winning This was not my fault I did not want to ride the brute at all but did not like to refuse Major Baker said it was a shame to make me ride a horse that jump but Power said Oh he fall with Gordon and if he wins I shall be able to sell the Simons rode the same horse in a hurdle race and he fell at the first hurdle and again at the second and kicked Simons and left him for dead It is get ting near post time so I must finish this scrawl There was a lot of foul riding says the Melbourne Leader at the home turn in the Armadale Handicap at Caulfield and i is not unlikely that the mishap to St David was caused through the favourite being un fairly dealt with Eiridsforde the winner was also the object of attention from some of the jockeys who took part in the race and it was this which caused Holmes to make such an early run The grey's trainer Hicken bothara wanted Holmes to lodge a com plaint against a certain jockey but nothing was done in the matter Melbourne Cup 14 to 1 Delaware 20 to 1 Dreamland Portsea Auravia Quiver and Hopscotch 25 to 1 Rewi Atlas and The Trier 33 to 1 Devon Music Taranaki Preston and The Admiral 33 to 100 to 1 the others Bob Ray the AJC Derby winner is quite a pigmy compared to some of the other Blue Riband candidates He is not by any means a taking horse to look at and this no doubt had something to do with his starting price 4 to 1 as on his two year old performances he should have started at a much shorter price When he was led by his owner into the roped ring to receive the club ribbon he lashed out with his heels and scared the ladies who were clustering round in the colours of a first crop of spring butterflies The Acting Governoress too was very timid about approaching the restless prad but secre tary assurances ultimately pre vailed on her to just put the blue ribbon over neck and even to pat him slightly Then the lady beat a hasty retreat Mrs came up and received the ribbon which she took up to a top seat in the grandstand and displayed before an admiring circle of friends She was doubt less the happiest woman at Randwick that day The AJC Derby time 2min 41sec was fairly good but no winner has yet touched record of 2min 38sec Paris has been entered in the nomination of Lord William Beresford for his English engagements A very distressing occurrence took place at Wagga recently and is described by Asmodeus in the following paragraph A deplorable accident resulting in the death of Alfred elstead happened in the steeplechase at the Wagga show meeting on Saturday elstead was a well known and popular cross country jockey and was riding Clansman the favourite At the last fence the horse fell and the rider being unable to get away had his head crushed to a pulp It is believed by those who saw the horse fall that elstead was struch on the face with the pommel of the saddle Death was almost instantaneous The event caused great regret elstead was a member of a respectable local family and was well liked His funeral was very large and the coffin was covered by a number of costly wreaths A subscrip tion has been raised to expenses and to erect being subscribed Irish Twist and Waiuku Impulse and Pegasus 6 Sternchaser North Atlantic Maga zine Gipsy Grand Outpost Saracen and Lady Zetland Prime Warden Chaos and Royal Rose to Au Revoir and Banner 100 to 4 to 100 to 1 the others La Belle dam of that great horse Marvel has dropped a filly to the ex New Zea lander Niagara at the Hobartville stud Niagara is also the sire of Mr Humphrey recently well performed Water fall Mr Miller owns a very smart filly in Raak by Glorious She won four races off the reel and they had to clap the steadier of lOst 41b on her before stay ing her victorious career Even then she led for three furlongs in a three and a half furlong flutter and managed to finish fourth in a field of thirteen The filly started at the short odds of 5 to 4 so highly was her chance thought of 'lhe winner turned up in a colt called The Officer by Robinson Crusoe Marie Louise owned by Mr Cook who started second favourite at 2 to 1 He is a beautifully made colt and finished full of running Great things are expected of him in the near future After repeated unsuccessful applications James Hayes the once prominent jockey has been granted permission to ride again by the VRC It is nearly two years since he was passed out by the above executive He was then almost at the top of the tree It is to be hoped that his enforced retire ment will have a salutary effect The Victoria Amateur Turf Club are inviting applications for a new handi capper £250 is the salary offered Not half enough for such a responsible position to a wealthy and prominent club such as the VATC The sporting scribes who interviewed Carbine on his reception day at Welbeck Abbey the Duke of ancestral home and the present abode of our equine god seem to have been more impressed by the magnificence of the abbey and the hospitality extended to them by His Grace of Portland than by our old Melbourne Cup hero himself And no wonder if the following is a fair description of the place A recent visitor writes thus of it There are few more interesting places in the country with its underground rooms and galleries its eccentric tunnels a mile and a half long its riding school with 7000 gas jets its covered tan gallop of a quarter of a mile its hunting stables which occupy an acre of ground its coaching stables and its stud farm In the house itself every room contains some trophy or historical heir loom but none cause a racing man to wish to linger longer than the own wherein are to be found a thousand and one racing treasures The walls from floor to ceiling are coved with portraits of racehorses the majority those of our own day St Simon Mowerina Modwena Semolina Memoir Donovan Raeburn St Serf Ayrshire Atalanta and Mrs Butterwick among others and also some of Lord pictures including a portrait of Red Deer and Kitchener above which hang the identical red cap and yellow jacket the midget wore in that historical Chester Cup Yonder are the plates which bore Ayrshire over Epsom Downs in the gallop that won him a Derby near them is a glass case contain ing a sovereign and a shilling earned by the duke in a wager Other racing colours carried to victory in important races are interspersed with the portraits on the walls and altogether the room forms a veritable illustrated history of the turf from Lord George day to the Toreador who ran a dead heat with Mannlicher in the Sydney Derby is a half brother to the sensational Titan He is also like Titan a gelding There is some doubt whether he is by Abercorn or Chester but being by either out of Tempo reads quite good enough for anything PARIS AND THE CAMBRIDGESHIRE STAKES Melbourne September 19 A syndicate of the Stock Exchange has cabled £100 to back the Australian horse Paris fox the Cambridgeshire Stakes tojbe run on October 23rd at the Newmarket Houghton Meeting London September 18 Paris has become a strong favourite for the Cambridgeshire Stakes One wager of £3500 to £500 has been booked Colonials are backing him heavily London September 23 Paris is still being backed for the Cambridgeshire Stakes and the best price about him is 8 to 1 reported to be showing signs of lameness has nevertheless just succeeded in putting up a five furlong record on the lemington training tracks It is marvel lous how some of these reported lame ones bob up serenely in a big handicap when the confiding public least expect it 25 the New Colonial Monthly It is a good magazine Marcus Clarke the editH is a very nice young fellow I have been much better since Blackmore left I am taking exercise now and doing 1 work and I sleep pretty well and eat fairly and I only drink one glass of grog when I go to bed Though I smoke nearly as much as ever I never touch opiates in any shape now Really I had so much trouble and anxiety for a long time that I gave in at last and got careless I was ill too and all my pluck and spirits are I know purely animal I never had any moral courage and though I could bear up when I felt well and strong I had no heart when weak and ailing and at one time I had so many troubles pressing on me at once that it seemed almost impossible for me to weather them I do not even now realise the fact that I am so nearly clear of debt I do not take much pleasure in riding now and none at all in racing I did not go near the racecourse on the Cup day nor yet on the riday and after the Steeple chase was over I locked myself in one of the empty horse boxes in the saddling paddock and smoked a pipe while the other races were being run for which I have been chaffed a good deal since by some of my acquaintances I ride for money now and if 1 were to stop a little longer at this game I should not be so particular as I ought to be If you could find me any sort of work that I could earn enough to live by and keep my wife in clothes and bread I will swear against ever going near a racecoursa again if you like I am heartily sick of tha life I have been leading and I do not even care for riding The only ride that I hava really enjoyed since my last fall was tha hunt in which Mrs Gordon rode so well alongside of me i I ought to have made some money lately for fortune as if tired of persecuting me Letters written by Adam Lindsay Gordon between July 1868 and May 26 1870 when he was living in Melbourne to his friend Mr John Riddoch of Adelaide have been published by the South Australian Adver tiser Mr Riddoch and Gordon represented the same district in the South Australian Assembly during the short experi ence of political life The letters are valuable for the insight they give into character He confesses himself with the simplicity of a penitent who has few sins to answer for and yet grieves that he should have any weakness to admit There is a good deal about steeplechase riding in the letters and frequent refer ences to falls with now and then mention of a piece of poetry which ad mirers will have no difficulty in identifying The Advertiser states that the letters brim over with evidence of generous treatment received by Gordon from Mr Riddoch but at Mr request all such passages have been suppressed Mr Riddoch often used to ride out with Gordon He would mumble away in the saddle with his thoughts far away and it was absolutely impossible to get anything out of him then I remember when he wrote at Yallum He climbed up a gum tree near my house as he often did when he wanted to be quiet and composed it there He generally went out after breakfast when he had a poetical fit and evolved his verses Of course he was a highly educated man notwithstand ing his joining the police force and going in for horsebreaking His eyesig ht was remark ably good at night in fact he could read the smallest print by moonlight I remem ber on one occasion he inscribed the Prayer on a fourpenuy bit Of course that was in the day As for his political experiences he was not in Parliament very long He stood as a candidate for legislative honours in 1865 He was immensely popular everywhere he went He had a remarkable memory and after listening to a speech could repeat it all off almost word word He used to amuse himself when the House was sitting in writing verses and making sketches but he did not find the political atmosphere particularly congenial Immediately after he resigned his membership he went ever to West Australia where he did a little exploring and he took up some laad there He bought sheep and put on it but the country was unsuitable and the man he loft in charge knew nothing about sheep farming the result being that Gordon lost all he put into the venture He often used to tell me at the time he was riding aud he was a scrupulously straight rider how the public used to follow his mounts and he would smile sadly as he said They would not be so eager to do so if they knew how often I hoped for a The extracts given by the Advertiser are appended each being from a separate letter You have no idea how awfully sick of steeplechasing and horse riding I am now but when a man gets so deep into the mire it is hard to draw back I have to ride three races next Saturday in Melbourne and I am not fit to ride a donkey now I do not fancy I shall have any luck but my luck cannot possibly be worse than it has been I would like never to see a horse again let alone to ride one AUSTRALIAN ITEMS of the Leader after having been privileged to witness same gallops on Mr private track at St Albans Estate states that the Cup candi dates Havoc and Bradford engaged in an extended gallop at the termination of which Havoc fairly played with his less pretentious companion He is moreover in splendid health and all going well with him ill in my opinion prove the most difficult horse the flower of the three year olds will have to reckon with in the weigbt for age events of the ensuing season The same Derby representa tives Challenger and Wallace galloped separately each acquitting himself satis factorily Challenger who fairly towers over the chestnut in point of size has wintered famously and has grown into a very shapely colt and one that will requite to be reckoned with when the time arrives for determining possession of the Derby diadem One could not help being im pressed with his beautiful machine like action and the extent of ground he covered in each stride Wallace who has grown but very little since last seen in public allops in quite a different style his action being of a peculiarly extravagant order yet he gets over the ground in quick time all the same temper does not seem to be so nicely toned as that of Chal lenger he is reluctant enough to start a wallop but once set going he shows marked irritability aud a decided disposition to fight for the free use of his head Dreamland is doing good work on private track at Ballarat and is likely to make amends for his last disappointment "Tam in the Tasmanian Mail quotes the following A gentleman dreamt some time ago that Bruin would this year win the Caulfield Cup and Auraria the Melbourne Cup and that he would not be alive to see either race run Strange to say the dreamer has since died so one part of his dream has unfortunately turned out correct This dream of course recalls the remarkable one about Mel bourne Cup the winner having been dreamt some considerable time before the race with a jockey on his back wearing a black arm band which he actually did the owner of the horse Mr Craig of Ballarat dying before the Cup was decided The dream season has not yet fairly set in It is in full swing about the end of October when such queries as What horse will carry green jacket and orange cap in the Melbourne Cup What horse will a jockey with red hair and a swivel eye ride in the or "What horse with a white spot over his near nostril ana a bob tail is engaged in the Cup come to the sporting editor by every other post It is a very poor year when not more than a score of different horses are dreamt as the Cup winner Apropos of the foregoing paragraph the Melbourne Sportsman states that the book makers have been fairly rushed for the Bruin and Auraria double until it is now impossible to obtain it at any price A Melbourne yarn "Last year when I was betting on the two Cups I left my blue pencil at home one day and bought a black one I only laid one double that afternoon and it was Paris and Patron This year I write a ticket in black for a Sydney Bulletin Last year a Queensland man worked the race game (toy horses going round the winner takes the pool) on the race course and got run machine and all Next day he pleaded that the same game was played in aid of the churches but the JPs indignantly sentenced him and confiscated his machine At the Govern ment auction a church member bought that machine cheap and now works it (at least his pretty daughter does) all round the different church bazaars with great success to the church and himself Mr three two year olds which recently left our shores for Sydney and are under the care of Monaghan the well known New South Wales trainer are to be sold They comprise br by Dreadnought from Lady lorin ch? by Medallion from lorence McCarthy (imp) and ch by Medallion from air Nell (dam of Loyalty) The rest of Mr string under Percy mentorship will leave for New Zealand directly after the VRC spring meeting Bonnie Scotland is reported to be coming back to his very best form but Stern chaser who was heavily backed for the NZ Cup is still showing signs of lameness after his morning gallops Paris the Grandmaster 2Enone gelding or as he is now dubbed Paris III is being backed extensively by colonials on the strength of the lenient impost 7st 101b allotted by the English handicappers for the Cambridgeshire Stakes of one mile 240 yards A wager of 3500 to 500 was booked in one hand and a syndicate of sports on the Melbourne Stock Exchange we learn by cable forwarded 100 sovs to back the dual Caulfield winner The Cambridgeshire is one of the biggest betting handicaps in England and a difficult race to land as something very good is generally bottled up by the clever division of the English turf to effect a big coup Let us hope that Paris HI will run up against a very formidable snag this year and for the sake of his plucky owner secure the much coveted stake I notice in the English Derby of 1897 Mr William Cooper the ex Aus tralian has nominated a colt Coolgardie who is by St Serf from Trentonia a Trenton mare sent to England by Wilson in 1893 The ex New Zealand hurdle racer Kapo There is likely to be considerable altera I tions within the next week or ten days on the two big handicaps in Australia but when the last mail left the prices were Caulfield Cup 10 to 1 Hopscotch 14 to 1 Eiridsforde 16 to 1 Atlas and The Admiral 20 to Newman Bruin and Quiver 25 to 1 Ilova Laundress Mahee Brilliant Alpine Taranaki Buccaneer Du hallow and Te Whiti 25 to 100 to 1 the others was recently sold in Melbourne for eighteen Sydney a gentleman who by his lavish guineas i i The welbbacked Bruin who was lately SIRES THE SEASON ELECTIONEER will live to regret it when the pro expenditure in support of the turf deserves i geny are fetching top prices in the market I tMiTAnn Airn i vAnl ALD IT vf ll Ar TTO rti it 1 CJ TT Vsn ttt nrl urvner particulars can do ODtamea on application to the owner at Townsend and A horse that downed Devon soon after stables the latter ran second both the last Caul field and Melbourne Cups cannot be a very bad one and Reginald in the Mel bourne Sportsman thus discourses anentthe same Now that he is doing his share of good sound pacing Taranaki does not seem to be troubled to any extent by the soreness that was noticeable when he first began his preparation under Hicken botham True he still uses himself a trifle carefully at the commencement of his ex ercise but before going very far he hits out freely and from the thorough manner in which he gets through his daily toil it may be taken that he is not ailing in the legs or feet to any alarming extent To the eye Taranaki looks rather too robust for the time but he is a good deal more forward in condition than his appearance indicates.