A Horse of Other Days, Daily Racing Form, 1899-02-01

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A HORSE OF OTHER DA"XS. As far as we can look ahead, the coming Derby does not promise much to excel that of i last year, and we wonder what weight wonld have brought Gladiateur and Jeddah together1? To such Derby winners as Sefton, Sir Visto, Sainfoin, Merry Hampton, Shotover and Sir Bevys, Gladiateur would have been able to give nearer 2st than a mere 71b., and there is no more startling fact recorded in the Racing Calender than that in the Cambridgeshire with a 5st. 71b. minimum he should have started first favorite, notwithstanding that he was carrying the crushing weight for a three-year-old of 9 st. 121b. and was handicapped;to give to an animal that had won the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom no less than 521b and the same to such horses as Ostreger and Elland. What is more, such gigantic work was he putting in at the finish, after being chopped a bit at the start, that in another quarter of a mile he would probably have won. He never was a ;miler, though he won the Two Thousand. Gladiateur, it must be borne in mind, was not a fresh horse when he attempted his gigantic task in the Cam-Jbridgeshire. On the other ihand, he had won the Two Thousand, Derby, St. Leger, Grand Prize of Paris, the Drawing-room Stakes at Goodwood, the Bentinck Memorial, the Don-caster Stakes, the Newmarket Derby, and the Grand Prix du Prince Imperial, the last-named, we may remark, being a two mile race that was run in Paris within a week or so of his -winning two races at Doncaster. Gladiateur -was a big, plain colt that had what is known as the "jumping bump" strongly developed and we have no doubt that he would have won the Grand National if he had been put to it. The late Mr. F. Taylor, special commissioner of the Sportsman, who had the reputation of being one of the finest judges of a horse that ever wrote on the subject, once declared that unknown and wit h a few straws iplaited into his mane and tail there was not a horse fair in England at which ho would ha7e fetched 50. And yet taking him point by point there was no pulling him to pieces, so much so indeed that Mr, Blonkiron wagered with Mr. Jackson a very large sum that he was a better looking horse than the beautifully shaped Blair Athol. Captain Machell was one of the judges appointed to decide the matter, but the other we forgot. As it was not easy to settle la question of this descriptiou it fell through. We linger on the name of Gladiateur, because he had something to do with founding the fortune of this paper, which made its first appearance in the February of the year that he won the Derby. Up to that time no French horse had ever been even placed in the Derby, and it required a great deal to make Englishmen believe that a French horse would win it, He stood at 40 to 1 in the betting in the early months of 1865, but, notwithstanding this, a writer in this paper, known as "The Outsider," weok after woek with strange persistence spoke of him as almost sure to win, and when his prediction was realized, after in the meantime winning the Two Thousand Guineas, ho was looked upon by a considerable portion of the public as ouo inspired, Gladiateur run only three times at two years of ago, winning tho Clearwoll Stakes in October, which wan his first race, and being beaten by Bedrninster for tho Prcndorgast Stakes and Chattanooga for the Criterion Stakes. The form by no moans indicated that he would win the Derby, but this tho jockey might perhaps have explained. During the winter there was a strong commission out to back Gladiateur, and "Peggy" Collins, who was one of tho men put in, succeeded in getting 1,000 to 30 from a publican in tho Now North Road, and tho highways and byways wore scoured in this manner. That Fortune did her best for the "Frenchman" there can be no doubt; but she did this perhaps because it made no difference whether she helped him or not, as he was superior to her. Of tho Derby favorites, the brilliant Liddington became a roarer and was scratched, and Chattanooga went the same way, and being kept in the race until the very last moment, there was much scandal, as he had been a groat favorite. Within a very short time of the race a wave of CONTINUED ON SECOND PAGE. A HORSE OF OTHER DAYS. Continued from 1st Page. sickness passed over the southern Btables, to which The Duke, Kangaroo and Wild Charlie fell victims, The Duke so badly that he could not run, and Gladiateurs task was -made easy. There was nearly, however, a slip. Harry Grimshaw. who rode Gladiateur, was shortsighted, and, coming down the straight on the high ground, was taking it so easily as to astonish Custance, who wondered what he was doing, and called out, "Dont you see Josh French next the rails and the lead hes got?" French on Christmas Carol, and S. Adams on Eltham, both wearing white and black jackets, were battling on the low ground ; but is was all over the moment that Grimshaw let Gladiateur have his head, and never was the complexion of a race altered more decisively in two strides than on this occasion. When the news reached France the joy was indescribable, and the Jockey Club was illuminated. Waterloo was, they said, avenged. Eary the following year he was sent to France, where, in April he won the Prix de lImperatrice, distance three miles and a furlong, at Paris, and at the same meeting he won a cup, two miles. "Bock agin" was then the order, and he was sent to Newmarket to be trained for the Ascot Gold Cup, but, not missing anything, he, in the meantime, walked over for two nice stakes in the Craven week. Then came his battle with Regalia and Breadalbane for the Ascot Cup, for which he lost so much ground going down the hill on the far side that he was quite 200 yards behind, and Grimshaw was nearly pulling him up, thinking that he must have broken down. The next mile told another tale, and "won by forty lengths; Breadalbane beaten off and did not pass the post" is the official record. The equal to that we never witnessed. Appropriately enough, he wound up his turf career in his own country, where, in September, and in the presence of the Emperor, he won the Grand Prix de lEmperenr of 4,000, distance four miles. He was indeed a horse ! "Vigilant" in The Pink Un.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1890s/drf1899020101/drf1899020101_1_2
Local Identifier: drf1899020101_1_2
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800