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FAM0TTS ENGLISH HANDICAP D0TTBLES. The Sensatisnal Cases of St. Gatien and Florence and of Robert the Devil and Lucetta. c the parent country of the thoroughbred and on? in which racing has been carried on for cen- ?,rie" England naturally furnishes more in the i.,e ,.V interesting reminiscences and narratives of .ert tnt " things in racing than any otlier country i-r sun. Dealing with some ...f llH-se notable of English racing. " igilant said in ec rrei.es i.e,nt .-diti-.n "f Lon.Im Sportsman: a little while back reference was made to doul.Wvent ••V «vii|w which had 1-een achieve* by sTables in connection with the Csarewit.h v-r .ns The most reiiiarknlde were , l c-.mbrid"esiiire. •. , .i,.„V.i tl.-e of Roseliery. Foxhall ami Plaisan-":!"" for no other reas ...i that that each of i.«. famou* h.r-es won l«.th races, and m ea.h nanancial ciinp was landed, mu.h .1 ,oee a big . ■ linonev won over Foxhall going to America. of th- profits over Blaisantene went wli II • bulk i ,,,.•,. Vr.b-iblv a still larger sum than in these MM aecn:c,l to the aetual owner -ui.vf late John Hani.M.lid Mttl Cesare- he w "."" St. Gatien. a splen-;,; .i. ,i„. tiir,.e-vear -obi ■ ,U" .a ■. and ihe Cambridgeshire with Flor- ,,.. -Tie Saint.- which, it will 1* remembered. Sir John Willoughb.Vs llHr-ves 1 ic.l tie Icrl v with previously purchased at the dis-,lr not long r ,. o" L.rd Falmouths horses in training, wliieh inlliule Bnsvho.lv. which won the One t;,,s.,. C uneas and Oaks for Mr ■ AbtatM. but iL i her preparation for tlie St. Leger. i wn in !"• , , ?.,"• task to lH-at Polemic and Archidus oi which failing hiiu would doubt- in • l«.i m race, bv Florence Thus it was not less ss lave nave been uei u won favoritism t « I « dividing surprising ff:|ir a, tll. nonjinon C-i.«i rl ill later, and as the result of as "ridv ridden nnish lietween Webb and James desperate race by a head. a seo en she won ff£?pC,ii-0W irrefow,as vir.JT Ws,,,.,,, out of »ah/r1 ,rinr r.,"r.rXthat Ml man . ■" ordinarily go. «„,.Tm/.r Manchester Summer cm up, th.. the the v.,r De T.n-.rl including Handicap at the same meeting the Vs,,., ll " wei-ht Plate, the Queens Plate at JubiW Prize at Baden Baden How I ewes and the under ninety-six pounds for the si. was M-aten Citv and Suburban has ever lK en a mystery, but • certain it is that never did two more thotoughly exposed animals win the Ceasarewitch or the Cambridgeshire or accumniulate such a fortune for their owner. "Circumstances combined to invest the Robert the Devil — Lucetta double with an atmosphere of sensation which in these slack times is worth recalling. Robert. as a son of Bertram and Cast Off. could not boast much in the way of fashionable breeding, and may almost be described as a chance horse, though a nailing good one. Owned in partnership by Charles Brewer and his trainer Blan-ton. he undoubtedly ought to have won the Derby instead of lMing beaten a head by Bend Or. It was a stolen race in which Rossiter lost bis head owing to Archers lightning rush on Bend Or. but. like the rue sportsman he was. Mr. Brewer put him up Bgafet, and he made amends by winning the Grand Prize of Paris easily from I.e Destrier a few days later. The sensational element in connection with tho Derby came three weeks later, when an objection waslodged by the owners of Robert the Devil to the winner on the ground that Bend Or was not the horse he was represented to- be either in the entry or at the time of the race. The case was heard by the Epsom stewards. Mr. W. G. Craven, Right lion. James Lowther and Lord Calthorpe aeting for Sir George Chetwyud. and it was not until July 24 that the announcement was made that they had unanimously decided that the chestnut colt Bend Or. which came in first for the Derby, is by Doncaster out of Bouge Rose, and therefore the objection lodged by Messrs. Brewer :.nd Blanton is overruled.* The contention was that Bend Or had either as foal or yearling been mixed up with Tadcaster. described as a chestnut colt bv Doncaster out of lenience, when he won the Municipal Stakes at Doncaster. He did not run in his second season, but as a four-year-old. when he ran six times unsuccessfully, was strangely described in tlie official lM ok of races past as Tad-caster late Bend Or II.. late Tadcasteri. chestnut geh line by Don. -aster out of lenience, so that it may be assumed there had been some uiuddiing. In the Midsummer Stakes ni Newmarket .mI.Is of 11 to 4 laid nn Robert were upset by Cipolata. and that settled the connection as far as he ami Rossiter were concerned. "Next time we saw Tom Cannon in the saddle, and none who saw the race will forget how the big horse ploughed his way through a sea of mud and a tM-lting storm of rain to win the St. Leger in a hack canter from Cipolata. whose jockey on returning to scale drew two pounds overweight, but was in the exceptional circumstances passed by the stewards. Robert the Devil had his revenge on Bend Or when next they met in the I I Great Foal Stakes, which be won by a head 1 - - E ■ • ■ I - , . , I . " ■ ■ i ! . . • . • : Across the Flat, and then came the great triumph i in the Cesarewitch. for which, by the way. he would have Im-ch scratched but for the merest t chance. Charles Brewer was actually on his wav to Messrs. Weatherbys for the puriiose of striking him out when he fortunately met a friend 1 who not only dissuaded him from taking the horse out of the race, but eventually convinced him that. far Iroui being overweighted, the horse was possessed of a chance MMBi to none. This proved i good advice, for. heavily backed, he ran and won: in tact, in all my experience, I have never seen a i Cesarewitch success so easily achieved. The issue - was in such sale keepjing that Cannon took a 1 deliberate pull at him coming over Bushes Hill, and had so much to spare that the verdict in his ■ favor was four lengths on a tight rein. Cipolata. receiving sixteen pounds, was again his victim, Petronel. receiving one pound less, was unplaced, , and although Le Destrier, which had finished within 1 a length of him at evens for the rand Prize of f Paris, was tackling him at an advantage of twelve I pounds he had nothing to do with the finish. Beyond 1 all doubt Robert the Devil was a real smasher r that day, and by way of confirming it two days later he came out to give his old opponent. Bend , Or. a merciless hiding— ten lengths — for the J Champion Stakes. He and St. Gatien may without [ fear of contradiction lie described as two of the I best stayers of all time, and both set the seal on » their fame as such by winning the Ascot Gold 1 Cup. "So much for Robert the Devil and his share • in Blantons great double of 1880, completed with Prince Soltykoffs Lucetta in the Cambridgeshire. In those days the race was run over the Ancaster mile, plus a distance, the most severe course of f its length in the kingdom. There was little .. stand accommodation at the top of the town, and 1 most of us were wont to view the race from the . tops of our carriages. That particular occasion 1 is marked vividly in my recollection, for Kiaumark, who had the working of the Lucetta commission, • was on my trap in company with several strong partisans of Fernandez, one of whom accepted the odds to win 500 pounds about Mr. Grettons horse while they were at Mie post, and before thev had j pulled up bet him an even monkey that the judges fiat would be confirmed in favor of the winner, a good substantial hedging bet on the part of j lKith 0|M?rators. but clearly anticipating the inevitable which followed in the shape of an objection I for crossing on returning to scale. To the onlookers from our side of the course, then opposite ! to that of the judge, a more palpable case had i rarely been seen, and few were prepared for the I subsequent prolonged enquiry, for it was not until I late at night that the stewards gave their decision in favor of Lucetta, and wonder has never ceased why so simple a matter of fact should have required so much settling. To say that astonishment was t!:e prevailing feeling would not convey adequately the general opinion, but so it was. In less artistic handling than that of the inimitable . Fordham, Fernadez, had he been driven along from the Red Post, would have won by lengths, and there would have been no interference, but when the cross happened he had to snatch up Fernandez, a big heavy horse, to avoid some trouble, and Prince Soltykoff scored by a most astounding tluke. It will be readily imagined that the affair caused immense excitement, and all sorts of theories were advanced to account for the decision, but no good purixise can lie served by reviving such memories of what was more than a nine days wonder. What with the Derby protest on behalf of Robert the Devil, and the overruled Cambridgeshire objection in regard to Lucetta, Blanton and the patrons of hi* stable had a remarkably exciting season. Fernandez was a brother to Isouomy. and if not of the same high class was a good horse, though his only success during the season was when, but little fancied, he romped away with the .raven Stakes. He was unplaced for the Two Thousand, which Mr. Gretton declared to win with Mariner, also nowhere. but at Ascot it was only by a head that Bend Or and Fordhain beat him and Tom Cannon for the St. James Palace Stakes, which will account for his having the steadier of 113 pounds in the Cambridgeshire, for which Lord Rose-bery supplied the third and fourth horses in Cipolata and Pelleas."
