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, I I • 1 . : : 1 1 ENGLISH RACING FIFTY YEARS AGO. No man. looking out things u|ien fifty yearn ago, could by any stret -h of itnagination have prognosticated that a period would arrive when racing would be practically pr..seriiK-d in England. lie would have regarded it as outside Hie range of possibility that the Derby and Oaks would not !«• run at I.psom that there would be no lloncaster St. I.cgcr. and that Ascot. Coodwood and other historic and miportant meetings would go bv Hie board. A snbst ituied Derby and Oaks, stripped of their usual environment, and consequently of a deal of their interest, he could not have dreamed of. nor ini- agined the 11 me ,,f a sort ir sec.md hand St. Leger under another name and at another place. Ol course, he could not have foreseen the outbreak ol the war in v.tit. nor. equally, could he have connived ihat Ibis ountry would be afflicted with a government that by iueoiniietonee and criminal ncgicct largely preciptated and courted it. Those relleetions are induced by a contemplation of the position ol the turf, and the interests and properties growing out of it. as we find it today: and it may be taken for granted that no one connected with those interests or those properties, directly or indirectly, will entertain the appeal of the politi ciaus who have brought it alxmt when they— as they doubtless will in due course — impudently ask for their suffrages. So far as The S|* rtsinan is concerned there is something attractive alxmt is» .* . because it saw its institution, and as fifty years mark a convenient time for a review, and the date was by no means an unimportant one as far as racing is concerned, a brief reference to the happen- ings of that particular season may not he without interest. With the lapse of the years ninny s| ortsmen who were at that day prominent and lavish sup|H»rters of the turf have passed away, and their names are almost unknown to the younger generation of those who now take an interest in racing matters. Among them was Count F. d - Lagrange, who maintained big establishments both ill England and France, and in 1S0." was the i» sses.sor of a great horse in Gladi-teiir. Bred in France by his owner, he was by Monarque out of Miss Gladiator, and supplies one of those strange instances where a thoroughbred of exceptional excellence fails to transmit even a fair proportion of his merits to his progeny, for he was anything but a success on retiriug to the stud. In active racing service, nowever, he did many memorable things, and was the second horse — West Australian was the first, in 1ST 3 — to win what it is usual to describe as the "triple crown" of the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby and St. Lcger, though the list of those who have d me so is now a tolerably long one. As a two-year-old Gladiateur won the first of the three races in which he competed — the Clearwell Stakes at Newmarket — and as he was afterwards beaten in both the I*rendergast and the Criterion his record scarcely indicated the great races he was to win the following season, when he was only once beaten, and then in attempting to win the Cambridgeshire under the crushing burden of 13S pounds. As mentioned above, he accounted for three of the "classics. and the Derby was booked a certainty for him after a remarkable home trial before the race, to which reference was recently made in our columns. The other events he won were the Drawing Room Stakes and Bentinck Memorial a walk-over at Goodwood. Deaf Ml 1 1 Stakes, the Neyvmarket Derby, and two races in France, the Grand Prize of Iaris and the Grand Prix du Prince Imperial at the Autumn meeting. In connection with his victory in the St. Leger an objection was lodged on the Been of age — with a request to have his mouth examined — both before and after the race, by the owner of Regalia which finished second, but the stewards refused to enter- tain either. In view of the fact that the usual certificate had been produced when Gladiateur ran for the Derby, the objection was regarded as unhandsome, and called forth many comments of a by no means complimentary nature. Gladiateur. it may l»c added, closed his racing career in 1MM by winning the Ascot QaaJ Cup by forty lengths from Rcgaiia. with Hrcadalbane, the other runner, beaten off. The One Thousand Guineas and Oaks of MM were won respectively by Siberia and Regalia, and while the former was unplaced at Epsom it will be seen that the son of Monarque had the beating of Regalia whenever they came together. tlidoubtedly the best juvenile of 1S 5 was Lord Lyon, destined, like Oladiateur, to win the Two Thousand Ouineas. Derby and Doncaster St. Leger. and though he did not ultimately rank with the highest order of sires he got a good horse in Minting, which will lie remembered as the winner of. among other races, the iraud Prize of Paris and of the "Jubilee" at Kempt on under 140 pounds as a live-year-old. Of his four races Lord Lyon won three that were contested and in a match received forfeit, and as they represented the Champagne Stakes at Poncaster for which he dead-heated with Rednni. the Troy Stakes at Newmarket and the Criterion, they indicated fair form, which was endorsed by his performances in his second season. By Stookwell out of Paradigm, he upheld the fame of that great stallion, whose progeny were at that time carrying all before them, and another by the same sire was Rustic, whose two successes included the Clearwell Stakes. The pair came to irether in the Derby, when Lord Lyon had no difficulty in asserting his superiority. Rustic was third, behind Savernake. which had not run as a youngster, and. as he was also by Stockwell. the "Hooton emperor." as he was then called, claimed the parentage of the first three in the race, whicli Lord Lyon won by a head. Of the other important two year-old events run for in MM, the Woodcote Stakes was won by a useful colt in Baron Rothschilds Janitor, a son of King Tom. which afterwards took I he Eighth Ascot Biennial in which he kaat Rustic and the Thirteenth Ascot Triennial, but failed to show classic form in nis second season: the New Stakes went to Chibisa. whicli also won other good races for Lord Stamford, but. like Janitor, did not do mm 11 as a three-vear -old. A speedv youngster was Mr. Merrys Student, by Oxford, which dead-heated with Roi ir Hood for the Troy Stakes at Stixkbridge, won the Chesterfield Stakes at Newmarket. the Findon Slakes and Molecomb Stakes at Ooodwood, and was allowed to walk over for the Bentinck Memorial at thai meeting, but was nowhere to Lord Lyon in the Two Thousand Guineas the following year. The Rubin Hood just mentioned was a smart youngster belonging to Lord Portsmouth that tixik live of the nine races in whicli he ran. including the Stoekbridge llieiinial and July Stakes at Newmarket, and the Biennial at the now extinct Win-che-ter Meeting. Flat racing in MM commenced in January, and the Lincoln meeting was held the following month. Proceedings Were thus epeaaj at a time when settled weather is not leaked f»r. and the fixture on the Carholine had to lx- postponed from the Tuesday to the Friday owing to inclement conditions, the "Lincolnshire" being derided on the Saturday. Ante-post betting in thos- days was on a much heavier scale than now. the leading handicaps being the media of extended speculation a considerable time before their decision, and a horse backed for a lot of money for the race under notice was Man-rico. which started Tavorite at 100 to Ml He had shown some goo«l handicap form the previous year and. with the handy imixist of MB pounds for a six-year-old. he was confidently expected to win. lie lini-he.I out of the first four, however, and Gaily, a lightly-w.iglit.il ive-year-old. beat I.e Marechal. another of the same age. by a m-ek. Cailv started at 20 ! • 1. and was one of the few mares that have won the Lincolnshire Handicap. A good slaying hanilioap horse that year was John llavis. a four year-old son of Voltigeur. that won the Lewes Ilau-dicap then run oyer two inilesi and the Croat Yorkshire Handicap, and in subsequent years gave further evideii-e of his stamina, and it may lx mentioned parenthetically that in 1W.I he was backed for a lot of money to win the Vsarewitch. for which, as an aged horse, he was let in at !M; imuiiiiIs. Bui he found one to beat him in the three-year-old Cacti standing at the bottom of the handicap, which was trained for the race by the late Mathew Ito areas, The Ccsarewitch of "M w:is also won by a horse of |aa| eje, and the victory or Salpinetos was lhat of a coll which had never won a race previously -a somewhat uncommon, if not unique, fact in connection with its history. A "pot" of money was won ever the olt. which was bv Trumpeter out if Haj Pell, and the affair was one of the many I eniips in the handicap line effected In Mr. F. Sw in- 1 dell, wl arned in his day the sobriquet of the I "NaiH.le.n of the Turf." lie only got the verdict . by a head, however, from Gra! itu.le. which was a , raak oatsider, and would have done the ring a rare , turn had the head been tl th.r wav. She was the property of Mr. W. Robinson, a New Zealand sportsman, who. curiously enough, had only lost the race by a head with the same mare theprevi- oils year. The Caaehridgeshire went to another tlii-.i-year ..hi in Gardevisiire. which carried M •seeds and here again the finish was close, a neck 1 being the jingos er.lici from Nu. another three- . year-old with the bottom weight. The tirst three 1 111 the ra.e arete tillies. the third being Sister to The , Make, a four year-old with only SO pounds. , As showing the estimation In which Gladiateur , w:is h,.].l. it may be noted that he started favorite at l.l p. i. depsite his burden of LIS pounds. The Creat Metropolitan fell U the four year-old Planet. which was well backed, and tin- City and Suburban te Sir Jos, .pii ||awlev"s Argonaut, a horse by Stock- well, which supplemented his Epsom victory bv taking the Princess of Wales Slakes handicap 1 at Newmarket and a weight forage sweepstakes « at the same emMee;. The Cheater Cup. then one , of the chief betting races of the season, was . notable for the success of Dalbv. a four-year-ohl . by Daniel OR..iirke. which had only ninety two P Is to carry, and won a rare stake for his con- He aocoanto.1 for tl vent the follow- t ing year also, with lor, pounds in the saddle, and « Ineclions. upsel ■ li.»t favorite in Red Cap. which was Backed l to win as much as or more money than the win- I nor. The pair lx.lh live year-olds met at level weights, but the victory of Dal by was Bet Mil, and he was the tirst horse to win the Chester Cup two years in succession. The Northumberland Plate — a different race then from a speculative point of view from what it is now — went to the three year-old Brown Bread, which bv a neck prevented the Northern idol. Caller On. winning for the third lime in succession, and thus emulating the feat of Lnder-haiid. another great favorite in tlie North, which was sticcesslul in 1S." 7. 1MB a"1 MM; Of the Ascot handicaps, the Royal Hunt Cup was won by Gratitude, referred to above, and the "Stakes bv Tomato, a lilly. the property of Baron Rothschild. t which had been previously credited a handicap plate across the flat at Newmarket. To a well-backed candidate in Suspicion fell the Goodwood Stakes, which readily disused of Scamander, which had in the spring won the Northampton Stakes then dubbed the "Great" 1. The Stewards Cup. always associated with big fields, was won by a "c xl thing" in Out and Outer, from thirty-live others, and the colt came from the famous Wood-yates stable, presided over by the late William Day. invariably to be feared when the money was down. It was on this occasion, and equally well hacked was Paris, a four-year-old that had been good enough to run second for the Two Thousand Guineas the previous season, and was afterwards well supported for the Derby. Of other leading handicaps the Great Elx r was won by Verdant, but the runners were of no great account, and compare badly with those that have competed for it in other years. One of the best horses running in MM was Ely, then a four-year-old. by Kingston out of The Blixjm-er. the property of Mr. W. S. Cartwright, an owner whose colors were popular in those days, and were carried by many thoroughbreds of high class, of which the son of Kingston was undoubtedly one. He had not been equal to achieving classic distinction, but then ]ie was contemporaneous with such as Blair Athol. Scottish Chief. General Peel, Cambuscan and others, which had represented something like a "vintage" year in 1SUL The "beautiful Ely," as lie was dubbed by a racing writer of that period, was the Cup champion in Oo, when he was only beaten once in nine races, going down to Cambuscan in the Newmarket. Biennial for four-year-olds on making his first appearance for the season. Thenceforward he had things all his own way, accounting, among other races, for the Beaufort Cup at Bath when he turned the tables on Cambuscan over two miles and a half. Gold cup at Ascot after a dead heat with General Peel, Goodwood Cup. Brighton #Cup, and the York Cup. being allowed to walk over for the last named. The decider for the Ascot Cup he won by a dozen lengths: his other races were won with equal facility and, being all over a distance of ground, he showed himself a stayer of the first water. Though not such an eventful year as many that preceded and followed it, 1S6." was a fairly memorable one. and there are many folks connected with racing now who may recall some stirring memories when reading the above brief sketch referring to the sport of fifty years ago. — London Sportsman.
