view raw text
REMINIS CENSES OF THE CESAREWITCH The Second October meeting was always the most interesting and important of the Newmarket series Even prior to the institution of the Cesarewitch the most famous and popular longdistance handicap in the world this annual lixture was wont to attract the biggest and most representative concourse of the meetings at Newmarket throughout the year The twoyearod races were always attractive to the better class of sportsmen and the Clearwcll Stakes established in 1S2S and the Ircndcrgast Stakes first run for in 1810 had each a long and honor ¬ able history l efore the Middle Park Plate that crucial test of a youngsters ability was ever thought of There is something about the air at Newmarket oh u brisk breezy autumn morning that makes you rejoice to be alive wrote Lord Exeter to Lord Jersey in 3825 according to The Druid mid the saying is as true today us it was a cen ¬ tury ago There is n healer in the world liic Dr Newmarket Heath of Cambridgeshire not even he of Brighton A gallop across the wide ex ¬ panse of undulating heath on a line cold October morning is the linest medicine a man can have haveOn On AVednesday October li 1S30 was decided the first IVyn re witch Stakes Named in compliment to the lieir to all the Kussias its designation was not changed even when the agonies of the Crimean War had made Englishmen detest the very name of the great empire of the north The race taught the popular tancy almost frour the first and though it only attracted an entry of twentysix in its in ¬ augural year it brought out a field of ten and there was a big crowd to witness its decision The favorites were Lord Mill towns liveyearold mare Cruiskeen and a threeyearold filly named Science Stag carried the tricolor black cap of Lord Mill tuwn who was very proud of his Irish marc and told nil his friends that she could hardly be beaten Mr Bowes however of West Australian fame was ipially confident that his threeyearold Mickletou Maid would prove successful She showed up well in the race too hut was slowly but surely worn down by Cruiskeen which was a very game mare and could stay forever The daughter of Sir Her ¬ cules also won the Chester Cup of 1841 and won a good proportion of the seventyodd races she took part in inThe The infamous Kugeley murderer Dr William Palmer was fully prepared to win the Cesarewitch in 1851 His candidate was Goldflnder a threeyear old handicapped to carry 07 pounds and W Chalton was expressly engaged to ride The colt started in good demand at 10 to 1 and Palmer stood to win about 25000 Goldtiudcr however failed that day the winner being the nnheardoff Sirs Taft a half bred which though six years old had only 81 pounds up She belonged to W Bcrill who won the race again ten years later with the 100 to 1 chance Audrey The winner of the Cesarewitch in 1S50 had originally belonged to Palmer That was Vengeance formerly known as The Chicken and Hecond to him was oddly enough Polo Star once tlm proiMTty of one of the doctors victims the un ¬ fortunate Cook CookThe The Into Mr DriukHld would have lauded a large fprtune if his black fouryearold Nabob hud pre ¬ vailed in the Cesarewitch of 1853 The elegant Alfred Day rode Nabob whoso weight was 112 pounds and tho colts owner shouted himself horse and dazed as his representative drew away from the others with the race apparently won An out fcider however in a white jacket with black sleeves and a black cap swooped down upon Nabob in the last two hundred yards caught him hand over hand and finally defeated him by a short head The win ¬ ner proved to be Mr Williams Ilaco a lightly wcIghtod tbrecyoarold whos price at the start was HO to 1 The lieautiful Derby winner Tvddlng tii was a runner In that Cesarewitch Hi carried 133 pounds and was unplaced Other Derby winners that have taken part in the big Newmarket event nre Hloouisbury Surplice Blue Gown Kingcraft Sefton and St Gatlen Of these celebrities Blooms bury was second to Clarion iu1840 and St Gatien won In 1SS4 but each of the other three was un ¬ placed placedTom Tom Parr rode Ills own horse the game staying Rataplan in the Cesarewitch of 1851 The horse started without a price in the betting and Parr took great umbrage thereat Theyd lie taking 10 to 1 about him he complained I daresay if Nathaniel Flatinau was aridin him1 Rataplan however had 133 pounds in the saddle and the severe task was beyond his powers In that Cesarewitch George Fordham was given his first leg up in a great race Ile rode Rodo Meli putting up two pounds bver weight poundsA handicapped to carry 03 pounds A more unfortunate animal than Mr W Robin ¬ sons Gratitude a daughter of Newminster Chat ity it wotlld be hard to conceive This filly thui i fouryearold carrying eightyfour pounds ran sec ¬ ond stnrting favorite to Lord Coventrys Times trls in the Cesarewitch of 1854 beaten by the shot est possible head In 1805 she was again a candi date but she Jiad 11 pounds to carry and docs not appear to have been greatly fancied Again how ¬ ever to her owners vexation she was second the winner being Captain Kings Salpinctes and agalu she was only beaten by a head Ta have been so near and yet so far on two occasions was in deed bad luck and the owner of Gratitude feeling the reverse of grateful withdrew from his conu c tion with the turf turfIt It has been said that no horse ever won thu CcsarewHch so easily as Cardinal York did in 1870 Parry rode Mr Pry6rs uspful horse and he1 was seven or eight lengths to the good at the end of thu long and tiring journey Cardinal York then car ¬ ried 10G pounds but he had 120 pounds a twelve mouth later and then was second Corlsaride de ¬ feating him for the Baron by half a length In Corisaiufes Cesarewitch Kingcraft the Derby win ¬ ner was unplaced The tild in 1875 included two celebrated niares in Lily Agnes and Apology Of these the former ren ¬ dered herself immortal by becoming the dam of thu incomparable Ormonde unquestionably the best horse the world has ever seen John Osborne rode his ol i favorite Apology who however was far from at her best and failed to show at all prominently Aventuriere was also a competitor This daughter of Adventurer and Cantine had won the Cesare ¬ witch the previous season when starting at 25 to 1 and ridden by Glover she beat The Truth g Game ¬ cock and twentytwo others In 1876 Rosebcry as ¬ tounded the students of turf history by carrying oT the Cesarewitch and the Cambridgeshire Fred Archer rode Air Smiths colt in the long race and Constable had the mount hi Ihc shorter venture The winner in 1878 Jester by name was a very mysteriously bred creature Little was known of his sire Merrymaker and of his dams pedigree absolutely nothing Yet he was good enough to win the Cesarewitclr Harry Luke riding by five lengths from the Americanbred Start and J Johnsons Shillelagh ShillelaghLord Lord Bradfords fine stayer Chippendale had a record in connection with the Cesarewitch almost as meritorious as that of Bendigo in connection with the Cambridgeshire As a threeyearold he won it in 1870 In 1881 lie was second with 125 pounds to Foxhall which won in a canter by twelve lengths and in 1SS2 with a like weight was second to that prand mure Corric Roy John Osborne used to say that Chippendale was one of the best stayers ho was ever on onUpon Upon the whole however the most brilliant per ¬ formance ever recorded in the Cesarewitch was St Gatiens victory in 18S4 St Gatien then a three yearold and undefeated that season carried 122 inninds The field was a highclass one and in eluded such as Arohiduc Florence The Lambkin Highland Chief Quicklime Sir Reuben and Post ¬ script Mr Hammonds grciit whltologgnd chestnut won In a literal canter from Lord Roscberys Pol ¬ emic to which he was allowing a year and thirtv eight pounds Two years later the doubtfullybred son of Rotherhill or The Rover ran fourth with 131 pounds in the Cesarewitch won by U C Vyners Stoneelink London Sportsman