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" j" in bj kg | to i hi in at _ m not the s. T v 01 " a j, fl j is ti ,! ■ ■ nn ■ I; h t n v ■ ■ j a I I i ■ i v ; ■ oi - HIGHBRIDGE S SECOND RACE IN ENGLAND. C. the favorable lui| ression created lo Hlghhridge when ii.. ran second to Glen Heaton in his Iral race _ England seem-, to bare been somewhat Impaired bis failure to roncedc a big illfferenee in weigh! v;, lieneral KVis, Covertsiwt and Irish Mail in the _ Liverpool Trial Steepleriiase at Sandown Park Pebruary l7. Why, i- not apparent, since Cover! ul coal I- as likely lo Ii ■ the ravorite for the Llrer- m .hi. pool Grand National as an.v other horse and High ii I ui- was trying to rive him sixteen pounds. r Nevertheless it was only after iliis race thai lliuh bridge sained a place in the Grand National betting J HMi to t; against, rood evidence that somebody Tml ], was Impressed by hi- iierfonnance when obviou lv — ready and capable of great Improvement. Of rave Itself London Sportsmans representative said: ••Run at a good pace throughout the Liverpool Trial Rloepleehase at Sandown Park mi Thursdaj v.as as pretty a race as one could wish to see, t niilv oii account of the whole-hearted manner in which Lord Suffolks game little horse. General Vox. battled his wa to rletory. He may hare been. very probably was. lucky In heating Covertcoal by head, for Sir C. AeabetoB Smillis horse made a bad mistake si furlongs from home, but fortune favors the brave and success was well deserved. It more or less an accepted principle thai you cannot " try a National horse over au ordinal . steeplechase course. Cloister, for example, was. I think, any- I ihnu n in fourteen pounds to twenty eight pounds I better at Alntree than elsewhere, ami he was bj mi * atis singular in this respect. On the oilier haul i-a horse which cannot negotiate the every day regn lation tliees wiih case and safety iniist always be -looked upon as doubtful quantity In the Grand N i f tlonal and lhal ikwbl must I think attach to Cover! coal, which will probablj have to do duty at t j I substitute for Jerry M. Then there was Black I Plum, idling well, very well, until a mile from home be dropped on his head instead of on hi feet when landing ever a plain fence, a proceeding hardly sux cestive of boaora at Alntree. I might, by the wav. mention hat, for some reason or other, Mr. O. Anthony seemed afraid I" make any use ol Ii u Mail: lie rode him. in fact as if tied down with waiting orders. . I.nt. j iter all. uliai most ot us wished :• see was liow Hlghhridge would come onl of a good strong three and a half mile gallop. What we did see was lhal be vas outpaced and oat jumped: he was done j with at the end of the third mile, and mole than ;i once be mistimed his fencing: so, al least. I think. , for. unless I was mistaken, lie overjumped himself ; twice al the ditch before the water. Horses do, | as we know, gallop in all shapes, but, if looks go for anything. Highbridgc is not a National horse. : lie has two ringbones, the one on the ofl side being i very pronounced, tail thej did not bother him and ne.d not Ih- taken iuio consideration. Ii is the -general conformation of the horse thai I do net like: J he is tacking in reach and rein, ligln in the second high. none too good to follow and generally co;iriiv" iii appearance. Nor is his action by any means taking in style, for be "clambers" a good deal in from. 1 have, by the way, known horses with very similar action, bur. nevertheless, good stayers. There it is: 1 may be wrong, but my impression is that the American "chaser will Bod himself outclassed at Alntree. Still, we wish him link, for it is a good sporting venture on the part i hi owner to send a horse ail tlie wav from Amer- i ica to take his chance against the pick and Bower | of English steeplechasers, and Ihatover the severest [ steeplechase course in the world.
