12/08/2026
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11th March 1901 was race day, and multitudes were expected to descend on Little River. It had been a fine and mild autumn, with the sun sparkling off the lake day after day. The train left Christchurch that morning beneath a clear blue sky, but as it approached the Peninsula, gloomy, black clouds began to darken the horizon, and the racegoers arrived in Little River to a torrential downpour. Not to be deterred by adversity, the races went ahead on an extremely heavy track. Blunderbuss was the horse of the day, but again, the real winner was Samuel Nutt, because most of the crowd spent the day hunkered down at the hotel, enjoying his hospitality. Fortunately, the rain failed to dampen the spirits of the gambling public, and the totalisators turned over Β£1,896 10/- (around $437,000, which is pretty good for a small town).
Whereas Samuelβs interest was in horses, his son, Ernest, inclined more towards killing things, specifically hares, and he liked killing them with dogs. Ernest was the honorary secretary of the Peninsula Coursing Club. Coursing is, of course, an ancient sport, once reserved entirely for the aristocracy. Peasants simply werenβt allowed to do it because, if they did, thereβd be no hares left for the wealthy to kill. The sport involves matching two dogs to see which can catch a live hare first. Like many blood sports, it is now outlawed in most places, but as hares spread in numbers across the Peninsula during the late 1800βs and early 1900βs, it became rather popular. Coursing was a family affair for the Nutts, with Dad contributing donations, Ernest as secretary, and fourth son, Thomas, acting as slipper. (A βslipperβ in coursing operates the βslipβ, or collars, which release the two dogs simultaneously once a hare has been released or spotted. He also ensures that the hare has a βfairβ start, of between 70 and 90 metres.) It was all pretty adrenaline-fuelled stuff for all concerned, especially the hare, and the coursing club attracted a significant membership in the early twentieth century.
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**Image: Hare coursing, 18th century. A huntsman stands with three greyhounds while other dogs chase a hare. Handcoloured copperplate engraving by Thomas Prattent after an illustration by Daniel Dodd from William Augustus Osbaldistons The British Sportsman, or Nobleman, Gentleman and Farmers Dictionary of Recreation and Amusement, J. Stead, London, 1792.
