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MISHAPS OF STARTING. The following respecting some peculiar starts on the English turf are by Vigilant in the Pink Un : "It is not often that the stewards of a race meeting are troubled as they were at Ascot. It is easy to sit at home, consider the evidence, read up the precedents and then form judgment ; but it is a very different thing when you have to act upon a difH-1 cult question amidst considerable excitement, with-Lmi i t I tun fc" uuTch f nr what has gone before, and give a prompt and correct decision, on which perhaps tens of thousands of pounds are depending. This difficulty more particularly arose in connection with the start for the Wokingham Stakes. It was one of the fiascos of Ascot, and, naturally, the starting gate was held responsible for it, more especially by those who are not aware that the same fiascos have arisen with the flag. When a starter is consulted, and he pronounces the start j to have been good, the Btewards, under similar circumstances, have almost invariably acted upon that. Not that even in this the starters word is law. For instance, in connection with the Derby of 1862 the starter declared the start to be a good one, but Lord Stamford objected to it on the ground that it had taken place inside the starting post, and the objection was overruled simply because it had not been lodged in time. Bat for that, Admiral Rous declared that either the race must have been declared void or ran over again. In the case of the Wokingham Stakes, only part of the field got away, or could get away, and, in our opinion, Mr. Coventry ought at once to have declared to the stewards that the gate had not worked properly. For the St. Leger of 1823 there were twenty-seven runners, and under the impression that a start had taken place, the whole lot, bar four insignificant animals, ran the course, and after a fine finish Carnival beat Barefoot by a head. The starter then declared that the lot had gone off without his signal, on which the stewards ordered that the race should be run over again. This time fifteen of the original starters did not take part in the race, and Barefoot, who had come in second on the first occasion, won. The Wokingham Stakes fiasco had more particularly its parallel in the CheBterflold Stakes at Newmarket in 1839, and the action of the stewards on that occasion favors the position taken up by Mr. Leopold Rothschild. One of the competitors for tha Chesterfield Stakes was Crucifix, the property of Lord George Bentinck, who originated the flag system. After many false starts, there was some bungle with the flag, the same as at Ascot with the gate, and, as a result, all the lot with one exception ran, and for the only time in her life Crucifix came in second. Before the horses got back to the weighing stand it was reported that the flag had not been down, and that it was no start. Captain Rous immediately proceeded to the starting post, and on inquiry ascertained from Perren that, although he had given the word, it was no start, for that Merle had bolted instantly, and had not got off, for which reason he had not dropped his flag ! Two or three gentlemen declared that the flag up the course was down, but was instantly raised again. On this Captain Rous decided that it was no race, and the same lot went to the post as before, bar Merle, which had caused all the trouble. In the first instance odds of 7 to 4 were laid on Crucifix, but for the second heat 2 to 1 was laid against her, and she won in a canter, Iris, which had won the first heat, this time taking second place. Crucifix, it should be remarked, won both the July Stakes and the Chesterfield. "One of the most extraordinary instances we ever knew of a no race, but not having any bearing on the Wokingham Stakes incident, arose in connection with the Lewes Handicap of 1867. The field was as good and large as nowadays we see for the Cesarewitch, seeing that such horses as Julius, Rama, Pearl Diver, Mandrake, Dr. Syntax, Knight Errant, Endsleigh, and Miss Havelock, ran for it. We were present on the first day of the meeting, but unfortunately not on the second, but we had all the particulars from an eye-witness, who declared that half the onlookers were under the impression that they had got em agin when they saw for the same race three different finishes with three different sets of horses. In the first batch that came up the well-known Mandrake was first, Dr. Syntax second and Knight Errant third. Scarcely were their numbers hoisted than up came the second lot, and the puzzled judge placed Pearl Diver first, Julius second and Rama third, and their numbers were also hoisted. Scarcely had he left the box than a third lot came, with Pirate Chief first, Miss Havelock second, and Maid of Masham filly third, but having left the box he did not take official cognizance of this placing. It transpired that after the field had gone some distance Endsleigh, which was leading, had gone the wrong coarse, on which several of the jockeys pulled up, and retracing their steps, went another course. Killick, however, who was a lad of Drowetts, whose horses were trained on the Lewes Downs, saw that they had not gone back far enough, and be with two or three others got into the right track and Pirate Chief, which he was riding, would have got the race had the judge been in the box. The final race was won by Pearl Diver, with Mandrake second and Vixen third; Julius, Rama and several others not going to the post the second time."
