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J i i : : ! j BACING IV ENGLAND. Mr. George Voohies, of Lexington, Ky., has been spending some months in England. O ca-sional y he w rites to The Thoroughbred Record in interesting fashion concerning turf affairs in Engl nd. In a recent letter he says : "The racing at Goodwood was only fair and the attendance moderate for an English racecourse. As a fasbionsble meet it was a great success, all tbe nobility in the kingdom being there, Goodwrod equals Boyal A?cot in the m t er of fa-hion, but I cotiro 1 that silk hats and long-tailed frock coats that were universal alAfc t, wrro in tbe minority at Goodwood. Straw hats, light colored derbes and sack coats wer in order, oxer pt with a few old st grs. With Cnp day at Goodwood ended fa hrnable rscing until the Dincaster meetiDg in feptembir. Thn nobility are leavipg for the sea shore and Switzerland for a change. "As regards high class horses, the nnmber is small this year. Cjllone and Flyng Fox are tbe only topnotchers of tbe English tnrf, and I am not quite prepared to admit that Flyiog Fox balongs to the highest grade. It is true that he has acquitted himself wih ere it in all , that he has been asked to do this ye r with ; the exception of the Derby there hestargred. He was all out; the performance at a mile and a half was habby aui did not impress me with the idea that be could list for two and a half miles. "The best at Goodwood among the thre-year-olds and upward were Merman, Newhaveu II. and Caiman Merman, next to Cyllene, is the best horte in England over a distance of ground. At one and one-fourth to one and one-half mil s he does not show to advantage, but at two miloB and over he is a good un. Last seeson he beat Tbe Rush and Bay Ronald, two of the best handicap horses in England, in the Jockey Club Cup, two miles, rne-quarter and thirty-five yards, all carrying 126 pounds, and did tbe distance in 3:58, up the Cambridga hill It is idle for the critics here to say that The Bush and Bay Ronad were out of condition. The time made tets all such nonsense aside. Merman, in 1897, as a flve-yer-old, won the Long Distance Plate at Hurst Park, two miles, with 180 pounds up. He won tbe same season the Caesarewitch St kes, and last year he won the Jockey Club Cop over the Caesarewitch course, and no his doable event, in winning the Goodwo id Stakes, two miles, on Wednesday, and the Goodwood Cup, two and one-half miles with 131 pounds up, on Thursday, places bim among the good oneB, and in bis last race he beat Kings j Messenger, who won the Cup last yar and New- j haven II.. a Melbourne Cap, City and Suburban, j and Epsom Cup winner. There wef a two horses here that I picked oat last winter that I conld honestly commend to my friends in the States for stud purposes at a moderate price, and the two were Marman and Piety. The latter horse won the Manchester Cup, one and three-quarter miles, and the Alexandria Plate, three miles. In tno last race he carried 13i pounds aud did the oistacco in 5:26J. "Caiman, next to FlyiDg Fox. is certainly the bst three-year-old in England up to a mile. Up to date e has won six straight races all at a mi e. I am Bnre he can not go over a distance of gr und a mile and a q larter is his limit. Sibola, on the othor hand is a game mare and has a good turn of spetd, too "Haggins has two g od t o yo r-olds in Black-emi h and Domoc at. Thrt f rmr has. won four straight races and has never b en beaten. I bilieve that both he and Dern crat are in next years Derby. BUcksmith is by Wo fs Craig, who was by Barcaldiue, ai.d is therefore j of the Macbom family, and as there have been only seven horses of that family to win the Darby in one hundred and twenty years, the cbancPS for Blacksmith are very slim, and 88 the Seasatior s that have ben sent over not one of them has been found to like a long road. So I think that if my Lord William and Hoggins have any hopes of next years Drby they must have a dark on by The Sailor Piiuce or Pon-tiac that has not shown up yet. There have been this year in England about one hundred and eighty American-bred horses, and niur ty have appeared on the fl tt, represented by men stallions as Order, Iroquois, Sensati in, Rayon dOr, Midlothian, Sir Modred, Candle-mas, Rey del Rey, Locohatchee, Goldfinch, Hanover. Gol oi Garter, Teany, Dobbins, Long-Taw, Pontiac Whistle Jacket, Salvador, Knight of Ellerslie, Volante, St. Blaise, Hindoo, Star Ruby, Isingt n, Riley, Emperor of Norfolk, Saville, Bastetlaw, Darebin, Str"thmore, Top Gallint, St. Floiian, Hayden Edwards, Sir Dizoa, Troul-adonr, Watercress, Cavalier, Bob Miles and Lrngfellow. The American contingent have started on the fiat 202 times, have won 37 r-ces, 27 bing won by thote horses under Hug-gins. Thybave won altogether S121.39; of this Hoggins stable has captured 12,095, leaving ,500 to the remainder of tbe Yankees. "SenBRtion heads the list in the value of wins with 856,000 Tbe Sailor Prince with four winners of 1,550: then Locohatchee. with one winner of 9, 945; Pontiac, with seven winners, S11OC0 "Hcggins keeps winning right along. He is certainly the greatest traiuar in England. He is a master of his calling. Most everyone loses sight of the trainer and gives too much credit to the jockey. Of course, Sloan is a great jrckfy. Tbe condition and success of a horse, however, are due more to the trainer than the jockey. But tbe spectators never tee the trainer, and the jockey is in sight from start to finish, and the people never think that there is any one else connected with the horse. Nevertheless, the man at the head and the one to be praised is the trainer. "The position four jockeys on the horse is worth six pounds in a mile, and ten m a mile and a half over the upright position. You cannot drive it into an English jockeys head that one equal e foot of canvas has less pressure from the wind, which is made by the horses spted, than to feet of canvas, as a jockey leaning forward presents to the breeze about one-half the sail that he does when sitting bolt up."
