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FEATURES OF RACING IN FRANCE Of affairs that engage the attention and interest of patrons of the turf in France i letter from Paris to London Sportsman of July 8 says saysMr Mr W K Vanderbilt who dethroned M Ed uiond Blanc whose record winnings of 11104 SSI still stands lias had hard luck with Sightly She is known to possess Sliced and lo be a good mare at home hut there is always something wrong when she travels On her way with a stable com panion from Poissy to Le Tremblay the motorvan broke down at Heuil and neither could take part in the race On Sunday she again disappointed through perhaps one of those inexplicable causes which bring on a Hurry with her although she does not seem troubled with nervousness M Edniond Blanc has shown that his twoyearolds are superior to those of last year The halfmile in the Trial Stakes at Maisons Latiitte for twoyearolds offered an occasion for him to display with advantage Dagor a bay son of Flying Fox and Hoquelle which beyond his classic engagements in Franco holds a liability in the Epsom Derby He is not built uii the large side but is very symmetrical and compact with all the speed of his sire Mr Duryeas Epsom candidate was also out Blarney a remarkably hand ¬ some colt racinglike but running rather green and hardly to his advantage or the finish might have been a much closer one Still Dagor ran like a sterling good colt and did honor to Galopin repre ¬ sented in the pedigree of sire and dam damThe The lardy Studs representatives have been sent by Deiimau to the post In tine fettle Those win have sympathy with a good sportsman who swal lowed such a bitter pill like a man in a year when eventhing slipped from ids grasp will be pleased lo learn that there are signs of the old form return ing to a stable which has done so much to wake up the Hip Van Winkles of the turf and open the ranks of sportsmen to all coiners Over the home course at Saint Cloud on Friday M Edmond Blanc showed ns Pilou Pilou a sou of Ajax and the good mare Poupee which though lie has a number of engagements failed even as a winner to please as much as Dagor On Sunday Denman showed a colt and filly The latter Marka a bay by Ajax Fu vonia and halfsister to Marsa looked so well and tit thlit no iiiestious were asked and odds were laid on her by the general public She made all her own running and won in a common canter She has like most of the inmates of the stable a number of engagements but her owner has already decided that she will not nui on Sunday next at Ostend The colt from La Foiiillcuse Moins Cinq a smart looking son of Gardefeu and LEnsorcellcuse bred to stay showed his dozen opponents the way home in the Prix Sea Sick winning by threequarters of a length and giving George Stern his third winning mount during the day Moins Cinq has been entered in most of the important races to come and though liabilities liavo not been greatly undertaken by the owner in England Aloins Cinq has at the moment his name on the list of candidates for the Doucaster St Leger The LegerThe Jockey contains an announcement which possibly appeals to few of the actual sportsmen of the day It records the death at the ripe old age of ninetythree of the Baron de la Motte de Maissemy Officer of the Legion of Honour and honorary Inspec ¬ torGeneral of the Stud at his house in the Rue xles Domeliers Compicgne Some fifty years ago he was one of the little band of crossconntry riders The name of Edmoud de la Motte was connected with the memorable victory gained at Avranches over a field of good English horses and riders Those were the times of Viscount Talon Viscount Guy de Monte cot the Marquis de Croix and other men who could ride and went straight the days of Franc Plcard and other wellknown Steeplers when the Crolx de Berny and the old Vincennos course would have been considered too dangerous for amateur riders now with us Baron de la Motte had a son riding some few years ago but lie quitted the saddle to go out colonizing in Algeria and I should not be surprised should I meet him once more at the halfway house Marseilles to hear that Ihe old love of crosscoun trv sport born in him has Induced him to pay some attention to the Breeding of horses There is au old picture possibly in the weigliingroom of one of the suburban societies showing Baron de la Motte win ¬ ning on Franc Picard at Avranclies in days when crosscountry racing had more alliuity to steeple chasing in England than at the present time timeThe The approaching BadenBaden meeting is looked forward to with considerable interest by French owners For the lirst time the stakes in the im porttuit twoyearold event have been increased to lir00 sovereigns and fourteen French horses paid the last entry but one on Tuesday Broad hints have lieen offered from time to time as to the prejudice caused by the lack of enterprise on the part of those who abstain from showing the public that England is still the home of the thoroughbred and are slowly but surely being evicted from the Continental blood slock market by the patronage French stables give to international racing The conditions are vastly different for French owners as the entries are costiy and progressive 1ml they have been compensated amply by the prices obtained for the produce they have sold Even in the fiscal establishment at Graditx the faith in the undeniable quality of Ihe racing blood existing in England seems to have beii shaken for out of the thirtytwo foals now in the paddocks only eight have been sired by an English stallion while Cains represents a dozen and use has been made of Nuage and French Fox The Wald fried Stud the properly of the Messrs A and C von Weinberg has enlarged its establishment at Hoppegarten In addition to the stable and gallops once enclosed with a high fence when in the pos ¬ session of J Daley of Hermit fame more land has been bought and the Messrs von Weinberg will be ¬ come a great power in the world of sport on the continent
