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L C w I! 1! S s b i; is I. 1; u s i; a a v i i; o j i i i !: , , , , , , j j . , , LESBIA AND NEXT YEARS DERBY. Crack Daughter of St. Frusquin Deemed a Formidable Candidate. i In all its long history but three fillies have ever won the world-famous Epsom Derby, Sir Charles Bunburys Eleanor in 1S01, Mr. W. Ansons Blink Bonny in 1S57 and the Duke of Westminsters .Shotover in 1SS2. But there is a well defined suspicion in England that the Derby of 190S will bring about another triumph of a filly and here what "Special Commissioner" says in Sporting Life about the Derby and the filly deemed most likely to succeed: "During the dreary winter months that lie before us, the relative merits of the candidates for next seasons classic honors will form a most interesting subject for discussion. We are confronted with most piquant situation. The book, for once in a way, practically tells us nothing. If we begin poring over its pages in the hope of getting at the bottom of the whole business, we quickly find that our quest is a hopeless one. At Sandown Park in July, White Eagle gave Bbodora twelve pounds and beat her a head. Mr. Croker and Dr. McCabe said he could not do it, but be did. At Doncaster, Les-bia, receiving the usual three pounds, finished about six lengths in front of Bbodora, and five in front of Vamose. But at Kempton Vamose, after losing two lengths at the start, dead-heated with Lesbia. Then, in the Middle Park Plate Lesbla gives Rhodora seven pounds and completely loses her, and now,- a fortnight later, Rhodora wins the Dewhurst Plate in a canter, with Vamose beaten off. Never was there such a tangle. A stranger who had these records put before him, with a request that lie would make a handicap, would go mad after about an hours work at the task. And yet we are all agreed on one thing, which is that Lesbia is the lest of her age. In her case there is only one performance requiring an explanation the one at Kempton. I have mentioned more than once that she was amiss on that occasion. The fact was not discovered until almost the last moment, and I am told that if her number had not already been hoisted in the frame, Sir Daniel Cooper would not have allowed her to run. This, I presume, accounts for the delay there was in saddling the daughter of St. Frusquin and Glare. "We may take it, therefore, that the true Lesbia was the animal we saw win- the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster and the Middle Park Plate In a canter. Two years ago her sister, Flair, was the best of her age, and would most assuredly have won the Derby but for that untimely breakdown; because you will remember that it was only when the impossibility of sending Flair to the post became manifest that Mr. Gilpin set to work to convert Spearmint into a capable substitute. The original intention was to win the Derby with Flair and the Grand Prix de Paris with Spearmint. The latter, as we know, was quite equal to the occasion. And here we have Lesbia quite at the top of the tree, and just as likely to win the Derby as Flair was, assuming that all goes well with her. Sir Daniel Cooper has very wisely decided to turn Lesbia into a paddock during the winter and see what nature will do for her. At the present time her only deficiency is in the matter of height, and that does not appear to trouble her very much. However, if she can be induced to add an inch or two to her stature, so much the better. In 1S29 Messrs. Gully and Ridsdale owned a weedy-looking two-year-old, which, nevertheless, seemed to be endowed with good racing ability. Gully consulted Tommy Coleman, a shrewd trainer, as to the best method of treating him, and the advice he received was to turn him out for the winter in a big paddock and there make him exercise himself each day under the persuasive influence of a long whip. "If you do as I tell you," said Coleman, "that colt will win the Derby." Gully was so impressed by this prediction that he took 10,000 to 100 five times about the youngsters chance, and into the paddock he went. It was Little Red Rover. He did not win the Derby, but ho ran second to the mighty Priam, which in the opinion of the late John Kent had a greater right than Ormonde to be considered the best horse the nineteenth century produce!!. Lesbia begins the open-t air treatment with infinitely more in her favor than Little Red Rover and so far as it is possible to judge at the present moment, she has a very great chance of being the fourth inare to win the Derby."
