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ENGLANDS FAMOUS BIG MONEY RACES. Twenty-eight years have passed away sinco the Sandown management inaugurated what may be a1 most designated a new era with the Eclipse Stake*, and though the novelty of a contest for 0,000 has worn off. the race has been responsible for many stirring chapters in turf chronicles. Sandown is proverbial for its good fortune in tlie way of weather, but it was anything tint propltous when Bendigo won in Isst; and the pew venture received the baptism of a soaking afternoon that is among the Dpieaaantest of ihe memories of the meeting. Doubtless "Bendy" had luck on his side in pulling through, for had all gone well with Minting. In would have had to tackle in him a very difficult iii- siiion. Public favorite, though he was. h could lay no claim to equality with Mr. Vynors brilliant representative, which bad only one eonteai porary letter than himself —tlie mighty Ormonde. The victory of Bendigo, h wever. rave the affair t good send-off, and "Eclipse day" lias come to ; ■ sv noli-in his with ihe double atiracion of :l popular outiip and a society function. Ii has rarely fallen t • other than a good if not a nrst-class horse, th« only exceptions being, perhaps. Cheers ami Darley Pah-. Whether the latest winner. Hapsburg, comes into tlie tii -i or s -ond category has yet to p- con rlusively proved. Such names a- Ayi irme. Isinglas si. Frnsquin, Persimmon, Plying Fox. Diamond Jubilee. Ard Patri k, Bayardo, Lembcrg. Neil Gow, Swynford, Prince Palatine and Tracery are included in the ii-i of Eclipse winners, and some of tin m have been concerned in most exciting finishes. A rein: ■ a-e js the battle four year- ami between Lemberg and Neil Gow, which the judge could not separate iu passing hi- 1h. :iiiiI there nave been other or easlons when the contest was almost equally as eh ie. on some the result la- aroused a great onl burst of enthusiasm, notably when Orme won for tie- late Duke of Westminster in 1892. He bad shown exceptional merit a- a two-year-old, ami Ms classic pio-pcii- were undeniable wneh, .ju-t i« fore tin- Two Thousand Guineas, he was overtaken bj -.mo m -t.ri.ii malady, which noi only pie vented blut running for the real race at New market, but prevented him going to the i« st for 1 ■ Derby, lie recovered ufflclcntly however, lo tike part fri tire ReHnNt- Majfcgwhlch lie won bv a neck sfter a bull-dog tussle with Orvieto, and there ensued such a seen • a- bad never been wil ncaacd at Sandown befoe. Tin enthusiasm was almost Indescribable, ami his owner, trainer and all connected with the Kingscleie stable were over whelmed witli congratulations. Little less en liusiastie was the ieinonst ration when he repeated his Viewy the following year, and Orme stands 0O1 as the only horse to win tlie ten-thousand pounder twice. It wcni lo the i.ite Duke of Westminster a third time by the aid of Flying Fox in 1890, and that mil i- undoubtedly one of the very best in the long list of quality represented by the winners it the race. lie was one of the most siis;1tiou:,i horse- ,,i bin ,|;iy. He was the winner of an exceptionally high trial at home, and yet encountered two rather unexpected defeats as a juvenile -by St. Oris in the Imperial Produce Stakes m Kempt, m and by Caiman in Ihe Middle Park Plate, conceding live pounds on the tirst econsioii and three on the second, lie came by his own again in the Criterion Stakes, when lie decisively tinned I lie tables on St. Gris and went practically unchallenged through h:s second season, winning all the half-dozen races in which be took part. Including the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby, and St. I.oger. As he won. besides the Eclipse Stakes, the two other 0,000 races, the Princess of Waless Stakes and the Jockey Club stake-, siithcicni proof of Lis quality was afforded, and lie was the equine hero of law. Then came, the following year, his sensational purchase bv M. B. Blanc for 37,900 guineas at the sale of the horses at Kingsciere in March, and the success he proved as a sire in Fiance has been almost as - p. sationa] as the previous happenings of his career. There have been many other notable incidents in connection with tlie race lor tlie Eclipse Stakes, and in 1001 Epsom Lad supplied one which wa-laigely attributable to a mishau. The colt was one of the numerous "Lads" sired by Ladas and br?d by Lord Bosebery. but his lordship disposed of him. with others of his horses in training, at the Hough t. a Meeting in P.KM, and ha was purchased for 1,060 guineas by Mr. J. Purhanan, who was then racing as "Mr. KIncaid." What a bargain he picked up was demonstrated the following season when he commenced by winning the Princess of Wales Stakes :it Newmarket, and thou tame the Eclipse. As ,,t Newmarket, he was ridden by the foreign jockey. Gomes, ami during the race, when making the straight, his saddle slipped back, and he lost a small loth. Though greatly handicapped, bis rider managed to hold the saddle by some means ami win by a head in a most exciting finish with Ian and Oisguise. of which tic last-named was third, beaten bv the same narrow margin. Another memorable struggle was that in 1003 between Aid Patrick. Sceptre, and Pock Sand, and it may noi be Inappropriately called a battle of ej;mls. Bock Sand watt favorite, but could only finish third. Anl Patrick being a neck in tr ml of Sceptre. Three better horsey probably never at one time tan for ih. race, bright as its record is for generally ex ceiient class ,,f its competitors. That class has been well maintained in recent years, as the names " Swynford, Prince Palatine, and Tracery sufficiently a, lest. and. if on no other ground, tl -iihli-u ment of the race has been will .instilled bv Ihe high tone it has always maintained and the brilliant -hire of turf history if lias supplied. It has M to the disbursement of an enormous sum of money — in which others of the kind have assisted — though not to the extent of tlie big stake run for at Fisher. The following table sets out tlie total and the amount taken by individual horses: ESJf" „!1"",s Amount. 1886 Bendigo *.-jioii, lss* Dibit 50.000 1889 Ayrshire 55. S2.. 1801 Surefoot KL382 iv.i2 Orme 47 VJ5 lso:; Orme dosifl 1894 Isinglass 4c,ax I8»o I.e Just icier 4 .4."0 1896 St. Frnsquin 40,515 1897 Persimmon 4 45 1S0S Velasquez 4«4"5 1809 Flying Fox 4C, 42.". 1000 Diamond Jubilee 4 4_!.-, 1001 Epsom Lad 40.760 1902 Cheers 4 • ?" 1903 Aid Patrick 4 4 5 HMO Dai-lev Dale 46 425 1905 Val dOr 48 425 1900 Llangibbv ."." 46*425 19 7 Lally . /. . .j;.., l.lOS our Majesty 44 :.r,o 1908 Bayardo ..: 44: "i ■1010 Lembelg ,V- Neil Cow 4.I.S50 1911 Swynford 4.! t.7" 1912 Prince Palatine ...."..... 4" !7, 1913 Tracery 4.:o7:. 101 I Ilap-buig 43.073 Total .270..147 The race was not run in 1SS7 and 1S00. fDead heat. Imitation, it ha" been said, is the sincere st form of lattery, and imitation succeeded the establish ment of the Eclipse Stakes. The Leicester executive lad been showing profuse liberalitv in the matter of stakes aboot that time, and they were !: 1 lo lg in inaugurating the Prince of Waless Stakes, for three year olds. It was originally in tended to be a 00,000 affair— a value nanre-decented — and the project reCevied the support of many influential petrosal of the turf, but it eventually resolved Itself into one of 183,000 for the winner. ,730 for the second, and ,290 for the third, thus making its total value greater than that of the Sandown race. A Held of seventeen came out for it at the Spring Meeting of 188$, but proved an easy thing for Donovan, which carried the colors of the Dake of Portland witli conspicuous success the previous year, and it may be uieu-1101 cd that on the same ground he had won the Portland Slakes of 0,000. The Prince of Wales-stakes helped lioit.-iallv towards the record position the Duke tilled at the close of isso among the winning ov uors -no lesj than 03,202.50 going down to his name— hot it was the onlv "mammoth" race inn at Leicester, and its worth was afterwards considerably reduced, -n isso the Keninton management tried their hand with the Kemptcn Park Boyai Stakes of 0,000, which Ayrshire won 1:1 additi n to tlie "Eclipse," but it was the hist and last time of a king. With the obect of strengthening the programs at tlie turf headquarters the stewards of the Jockey Club established a couple of ten-thousand- |m. 1111. 1. -is. and ihe Princess of Wales- Slakes and the Jockey Club Stakes made their appearance at the First July and First October Meetings re-spcctlvely of 1804. Both were carried off bv I-in-which also ace united for the Eclipse Stakes the same v ear. and the career of that hone mav be described as brief and brilliant. In the three seasons |H. vvas racing he onlv knew defeat oiue. and that was in the Lancashire Plate at Man Chester as a three -year-old. When he failed to give ten iM.unds to RaeburH. and lie left off with tlie record total of 80,675 winning stake-money to his credit, it will be -ecu from the tatdes appended that other winners of the Eclipse Stakes than Isin-gtasa took either or both the big races at load quarters, and it is n t necessary to go into the details of their doings. Like the race at Sandown each show- a brilliant list, but the Princess of Wales Stakes has now dropped lit of the ranks. It has l.eei, of lunch lower value since Dinneford was successful j„ 1906. ami for that reason onlv figures in the totals of the amount won down to that date: Jockey Club Stakes. Year. Horse. Amount. 1VO Isinglass 156.510 «« Laveno .! 4Lo5,i l* 0t Persimmon .. . 44 «»-, ► 1897 Love Wisely " . . " " 4:;-;-;r, lsos Cvllene 44"-:.,,, 1809 Flying Fox !50,0 1900 Disguise II. ..." "" I 35*050 I.Ml Piet.rmaritzbuig 35*950 1902 Rising Olas- .. " 40 650 1903 Sc.ptre :;.-,i|0- 1004 Beck Sand 37*175 1905 St. Amant *173 P»ih; Beppo *. " 37*200 I!«i7 Saucy .17 175 IflOfi Siberia ."7.200 1909 Phaleron .... 37*,2O0 1910 Lemberg 37*200 1011 Stedfa-f 39*20.1 1912 Prime Palatine : .V 175 1913 Cantilever 3L200 Total .fMaVdaa Princess of Waless Stakes. v •"- Beree. Amount. 1VH Isinglass * 4 45". 1805 I.e Var 44*975 is H! si. Frnsquin 45*025 1897 v*elasquea 4t.::5 i 1808 1; delta 4" " .-,■•-, lvio Plying Pox ::.•".• 1 -,i 1 1900 Merry Gal . " ** 35*950 lOtil Fp-oni Lad 35*925 1002 Veles :;Vt . 1903 Aid Patrick :;5*9°5 1904 Bock Sand STiVS I 1005 Si. Denis !7l75 I hum; Dinneford 37*175 . Total 18,370 j ! The remark- above have only taken account of ,ho.-e lac- ci mini; Into the 0,000 tor oven cafes ry, but during tin- period covered bv them 1 a large number of -take- hive been greatly Increased In value and other instituted on a rateable scale. Nowadays owner- have quite an em hnrrasslna choice of big thing- both In the way . of handicaps and weight f ■■. sge events, and a material addition to the Inter class was mad . when the Jockey club founded the Newmarket stakes in isxi. it mav be added that a coh--iderable time ago an attempt was made bv tlie . VVairwtck executive to institute a race under National Hint Rules 011 the lines of the "Scitpse"* • with a sliding s.-aie of forfeits, etc., but it met With little appreciation on the part of owners. It : wa- to have been known as the lirittania Steeplechase ,,1 0,000, but readied little fuUlitr than 1 the advertisement stage.
