view raw text
": "a Hi a of the ,! p; e: J. " Jj in jj i to d o of c J to a v 1 J u t i . J J j , , J , s ! . -; ; ; , . ; . ; " 2 3 - , t - a g s r 1 is i - 1 is j !- f s c e t n i. t. ;- f- i " in THE STORY OF THE CAMBRIDGESHIRE. W The first race for the Cambridgeshire Stakes was Jjj of made memorable, according to au old chronicler, by j storm of wind and rain of such violence as to . nearlv blow the jockeys out of their saddles." and two of the competitors for the big event. Roscius and Revoke, "resolutely refused to face the sheets f hail which, at short Intervals, made Newmarket most dreadful place Imaginable for man or beast." Forty-three years later in 1S82, to be -precise a similar, if not even worse, weather was ; at experienced on the Cambridgeshire day. and the t to race bad perforce to be postponed until four and twenty hours later. There was a warm fnvorite for the race in 1S41, when the party connected with Mr. Etwalls Dis- cord which, as the Melody colt, bad been placed t the previous years Derby believed defeat to be f almost an impossibility. The great jockey, "Jem" Robinson, however, declared that Discord would f never "give twelve pounds to Mr. Holmes Vulcan, i, which ho was to ride, and the result showed him c bo correct in his reckoning. Mr. Etwalls colt defeated everything with the exception Of the son 0 Verulam Puss, which carried the "scarlet, white cap" of his sporting owner to a victory. Vulcan. which then started at the remunerative odds of 30 c 1, ran in the Cambridgeshire of 1S42 also, and, s with 129 pounds in the saddle, made a prominent j show behind Lord Albemarles Ralph, which won by t length from the Duke of Graftons Florence. The Cambridgeshire increased in value, import- j ance and popularitv with giant strides. The entries, which had only reached a total of fifty-five in 1S39. t had actually grown to 149 by"lS47, when the field j numbered no less than thirty-seven runners. The j race fell to a Mr. Leigh by the aid of an old mare j named The Widow, whose chance of victory was t deemed to be so remote that she was only sent to the post at the earnest solicitation of Pettit, the j jockey, who dreamed that he had won on her. The , Widow was. moreover, an easy winner, although it . was contended bv good judges that Collingwood, which finished third, conceivably might have won if Queen Mary, soon after starting, had not cannoned against Mm and caused Mm to lose ground considerably. Manv outsiders have scored since The Widow woii in 1847 Truth, 40 to 1. IS51; Little David, 33 to 1. 1S53; Sultan, 40 to 1, 185G; Eury- dice, 40 to 1, 1S5S: Red Eagle, 50 to 1, 1SC0: Garde-vlsure, 40 to 1. 1S05; See Saw, 33 to 1, 1S0S; Mon- targis, 50 to 1. 3S73; Isonomy. 40, to 1, 1S78: Geor- ;gic, 40 to 1, 1S9S, ana Marcovil, 50 to 1, 190S. for : example. t During the Doncaster meeting of 1S52 Lord Bruce, 1 the owner of a three-year-old called-Knight .of. the 1 Shire, accepted a bet of, 0,000 to ?5.00O about that colt for the Cambridgeshire and, as he backed him s subsequently at decreasing odds, his lordship was i the gainer to the tune of 00,000 when the son of Sir HerculesSpIitvote won the race from the sensa- : rtional HObbic Noble and. the Oaks winner, Lady : Evelyn, Knight Of the Shire was afterwards re- named Uncle Ned, and put to steeplecliasing. His i last appearance in public was in a steeplechase at j Warwick in 1S59. George FOrdham, then a tiny boy, 1 rode his first important winner on Little David in the Cambridgeshire of 1S53. and. his last mount in the same race was on Hamako, exactly thirty years later. Little David was an extraordinarily easy winner, but he failed badly the year following with 121 pounds in the saddle, and so degenerated in .after life that, in January, 1SG1, be was actually sold at Tattersalls for twenty-two guineas. No cheaper horse was ever sold than Malacca, the winner in 1S50. It was recorded of him that he Was "turned, out of the Hambledon Stable for S150, :and hacked about London all last autumn until Tom Parr thought him no great bargain at 0. Nevertheless, Malacca, in Parrs "puce, white sleeves and cap","- won in a canter, and besides the stakes, value ,3S5, landed for his party ?l5.000 in bets. The son of Ratan- Alice also that .year ran second for the first. Liverpool Autumn Cup ever run for. Tom Parr won a. race again in 1S57, this .time by the aid of Odd .Trick, which. had been tried-a seml-Vertainty;. Third place -..was tilled by : Saunterer, which carried -the substantial weight for a three-yeacrold of 124 pounds. . Although, the . Frencli-bred Mdlle. do Chanfilly, starring , at, So. to !. ttjas: second-, in ,1800. the first Ereuch coup, was "effected iu;vlS51, when Count-de .Ivfigfange "supplied .- tfieyviilrier and ruhters-iip . lii Palesfco C100 poundsVand -.Gabrjelle uiEstreOs 43; 0.0 potin,dsy..-.,,Thereiyasr a: tremendous finish in ;.1S.G2 -wfieh,Bathiljl!..WoubV ,a: head -from. Limb iSina, hVith.lieads-dividing, . second, third and foiir.tb, Hifd;"tljfe- ittyftlv IfaytWgtn,v,nly!. a neck in tliefear, Gnrdeyisiire, which" brought off a big surprise in 1SC5, was a. half-sister ,tp the great Lord Lyon and the flying Achievement. The mighty Glndiateur 3. 13S pounds started favorite for that Cam-bridgeshire.and made a told show under bis hunting burden. The .still-living Mr. E. C. Clayton, a very popular Rutlandshire gentleman, won the race in 1807 With Lozenge, but not until after a dead-heat with Sir Joseph Hawleys Wolvey, which, however, was beaten a neck in the run-off. Two Oaks heroines. Hippia. and Tormentor, competed, in that years Cambridgeshire, and Julius was another notable starter. The Derby winner. Blue Gown, was handicapped .at 120 pounds in the Cambridgeshire of 1S0S, and though he was not thought to have much chance, and started at 25 to 1. he ran like a really great colt. He Just failed, however, to concede 12 pounds to See Saw, which was himself a tliree-y ear-old of exceptional merit. No better field In respect to class ever went to the post for a handicap than that for the Cambridgeshire of 1SS1. when such equine swells as Bend Or. Foxhall. Tristan. Peter. Petronel. Poulet, Corrie Roy, arid Lucy Glitters all competed. The Cambridgeshire was first run in 1S39, in which year the Cesarewitch was also instituted. The race was first run over the present course in 1S8S. in which year Veracity was the winner. The first race was run in one of the most violent storms, on record. Lenercost, a fonr-year-old carrying 121 pounds, was" returned the winner from eleven opponents. Florence lielonged to "Mr. "Jack" Hammond, which .had a fortnight previously won the Cesarewitch with St. Gatien, the mare thus completing a notable double event. During the seventy-five years of its existence it has been won bv forty-five three-year-olds, twenty-four four-year-olds, tliree five-year-olds, two six-year-olds, and one older horse. The longest sequence of successes by animals of any age was that recorded between 1851 and 1SG1 inclusive, during which period three-year-olds quite monopolised the race. Another notable winner trained by Lewis yras Comedy, which won in 1S91. Comedys Cambridgeshire was characterised by some exceptionally heavy wagering, several of: the horses being backed for big sums. An unlucky competitor of recent years was Mus-tapha, which ran second oii -each occasion that Christinas Daisy won. Then, on making a third attempt in 1911, he ran across Long Set, to whom he tried to concede 22 pounds. For the third, time Mustapha had to put up with second place. The late King Edward was considered to possess a great "chance of winning the race of 1S98 with Nunsuch, but the filly got badly away, and was i never In he race. A couple of days later, however, she won the Old Cambridgeshire in a canter by ten lengths, defeating: Georgic. the winner of the more imixirtant event, and several other Cambridgeshire : horses. In 1897 topweight was borne by Galtee More, the "triple crown hero" of that particular year, who i was set to carry 132 pounds. Despite his great burden, Mr. J. Gubbins famous thrcc-year-olil started favorite. The race was won by Comfrey, owned by Sir AV. Ingram, aud the victory, curiously enough, was achieved on the anniversary of that gentlemans birthday. The record of Bendigo is one of the most remarkable In coiineetion with the Houghton handicap-Mr. Barclays popular horse won the race as a three-year-old in lSS-t, carrying 94 pounds. A year later he was second to Florence, carrying 114 pounds. In 1885. with 134 pounds, he was second to Plalsan- terie, while in 1SS7 lie was once again second to Glo- rintion, on this occasion shouldering 139 pounds. One of the most sensational of latter-day winners : was Marcovil, the hero of 100S. Marcovil had I proved a difficult subject to train, and was making ; his first appearance of the season in this race. Evcii i then he was more or less a cripple, but, starting at 50 to 1, he won quite comfortably. The race ; was run in a mist, aud no time was recorded, Thirteen years previously Mareovils sire Marco - had won the corresponding event. French animals at one time figured prominently in the Cambridgeshire, lint twenty-four years have ; now elapsed since the last Gallie triumph was i recorded by Alicante, a filly owned by M. Ephrussi. Alicante had rim second in the Cesarewitch a fort-s night earlier. Five years- previously the famous 4 lilly Plaisanterie won the Cesarewitch carrying 10i pounds, and supplemented this success by a victory : in the Cambridgeshire with 124 pounds, The biggest Held was that of the year 1S02. when i the four-year-old Rathilde. carrying 94 pounds, ac-f- - counted for forty-two opponents, Only twice has 125 pounds or over been success- - fullv carried. In 1SS1 the American-bred tlireo-h - .year-old, Foxhall, won with 120 pounds in the saddle, while three years later Florence!, a four-e - year-old, triumphed with one pound more on her back. Outsiders had the finish to themselves in Georgias year. The winner Started at 40 to 1 against, ax did 1 Diima Forget, which finished second: while Haw-g - finch, the third, was quoted at 50 to 1 against. It was in the Cambridgeshire that Fred Archer r had his last important, handicap mount, this being - St. Mlrin, lb ride which Archer had wasted consider- - ablv. St. Mirln could, however, only finish second 1 to The Sailor Prince, which was ridden by A. . W Jjj of j . f ; at a t to t f f i, c 0 c s j t j t j j j t j , . White, popularly known as "Tiny." h The last classic winner 4o triumph in the Cam- d bridgeshire was La Fleche; the St. Leger heroine n 1892, in which year her Houghton victory was I also recorded. Captain Machell, who was almost d invariably dangerous in this race, had a strong p candidate in Penslonofr llut Baron Hirschs splendid J filly conceded Pensioner a lot of weight and de- li feated Mm. c One of the most sensational Cambridgeshire epi- s sodes was the "knocking-oht" of Winktields Pride h few days before the race, the colt being on offer a Sandown Park at all sorts of fancy prices 200 ; 1 was named. Before the day of the race, how- i ever, Wlnkfields Pride had returned to favor. Finally he Started favorite and won comfortably. t When Polyinelus won: in 005 he started at no t more than 11 to 10 against, this notwithstanding f the fact that he was-carrying a ten-pound penalty c for having won the Duke -of York Stakes. Poly- i melus cantered away -with the Cambridgeshire, and folk wondered what his stsirtlug price would have been and his manner of winning had lie npt incurred his penalty. In 1894 France was represented by the four-year- . old Calllstrate. which, -.after running second to Childwlck in the Cesarewitch, ran third to Indian Queen and Gangway in the shorter race. Another competitor from across the channel which almost succeeded in winning the race was Codoman, which in 1900, with Sloan in the saddle, defeated all save the Irish four-year-old. Berrill. It had become almost an article of faith that n. horse could triumph in the Cambridgeshire in two I consecutive seasons. As a matter of fact the theory held good until a few years ago. In 1904. however, Hacklerjv Pritle, which had carried off the race- a twelvemonth earlier, rose superior to tradition by winning for the second time. This example was emulated a few seasons later by Christmas Daisy, which won in 1909 and 1910. Both these were trained at Netheravon, the former by Fallon and the latter by Lewis. London Sporting Life. .
