Sterling, Rosicrucian and Others: Stories of Tremendous Feats of Racing Under Great Burdens by Famed Horses, Daily Racing Form, 1917-02-23

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STEELING. ROSICRUCIAN AND OTHEKS. Stories of Tremendous Feats of Racing Under Great i Burdens by Famed Horses. i I j steriiag was always the property of kflsa Cr.-i- 4 araa Waa a- i -It i— ly Basociated with tin Iiiim-li «■ of ilii Yanlli y Stud. :it which lie was bred, j ■a cither of her brothers. His first ii| i warn * , Was in the colors of Mathow Dawson, who trained Mm, lint afterwards lie ran in 1 lie MM of Mr. I r.!:iydoii until lie had beta beaten in the Ct I .bridge- , ■hire, after whleh he need for Mr. Qrettea, who leaned him, Although Bothwefl hmd the wj j to his saec M in the Two Thousand Gaiaees, the ordj i lassie race in whleh he took port, he pro red him-v. ii ,i really great hone ea occasions, mm m certainly :i high-class haadicap petforMcr. Baadl-rapped oa :i par arith Paroaias, that years Derby wiaaer, at 121 poaada, hhi owner reojaired :i lot of penaaaloa to raa aha for tiie Cambridgeshire as : three-year-old, bat finally he roaoeated, sad, having lm kily iaotraeted lii commissioner to pat liim on a "thousand." was retaraed the resaerkable aw of M to 1 ataa l,SoU to loo for ■ place to rarer expeasea. His adviser la this lastnaee was .lames Smith, and a spteadid coup was i.nly .iti-t M false d, for whOe raciag arith Allbeook both sac-riiMbrd by a head to Bagiaas, to which lie was givlag a year and four pounds, and on which Kordiiam rode perhaps the fiaeet race of ins n-Markable career. I May add that he hacked ins mount at L.OOO to M hat forgot wlio laid him the bet, and never clabaed the money, Ik-saga pleaty of peopl ■ could ban UfWlhed] his memory on the iioint. A Great Performance. rarioaaly eaaagk, aad at an interval of two years, it was again tlie Cambridgeshire which shounl him in the light of a top sawyer, though heatea, for he araa third only, giving twenty-two poaada to the French three-year-olil Montargis. and forty-two pounds to Walaiar. also a three-year-old. Caataace rode liim on that occasion, and in his interesting "Hiding Kecollections" explains his defeat thus: It was an unlucky day for m:1 Whea I rode h:m at the Cambridgeshire. It nlaed in tomtits anil was dreadfully coll; I had been wasting for other races, and we were about three-quarters of an hoar at the post. There were thlr-iy-Mven laaMII. : ml Sterling, which had behaved hlMOrlf prettj well for the first ten r.iinutcs. be-came almost un.iiar.agiabi" afterwards. His toiu-per was upset, he -.eared, kicked and did cm ry-thing li • thpald not have done. After we had gone a quarter of a mile I was secoad with US pounds on. with my reins like soft soap. I ought really to hare beea about nineteenth or tweatieth with sui-h a weight, but it coulil not be helped. My hands wire aaaihful and powerless to grasp the slippery reins." In short. Sterling, which was inclined to be hapetaoaa at the best of time--, wai Btterly out of control, and ran himself to a stand-Still, but iie made handsome compensation later, .ind terminated his career on the turf in magnificent style at Liverpool with 1M poaada on his back. lie won the Cap by a head from Louise Viclo ria 104 poaada, Which in turn was a similarly narrow margin in front of King Lad lio panada. Sterling, it should be added, had been stopped in his work a week beforehand, and all things considered, it was a magnificent victory, the Merit of which was enhanced by the subsequent sin -cesses of both his victories at Shrewsbury a few days liter. 1 suppose we may take it that with all his experience distance was an expert judge of what constituted a really good horse, and to quote again from his reminiscences. in reply to the question as to wliich was the las; hone he ever rode, he said he was not "quite sure which, but certainly either Sterling or Thor-niaiiby." which was high pralee for both. Sterling returned to the Yardley St id. and as frequently happens with good race horses, made a big hit in his first season by siring Isonomy. and later got another sailer in Paradox from Casuistry, which only missed the I, -by by a head to Melton, after beating Crafton by a similar distance DM . , the Two Thousand iuineas, while lie won also the Uflhl.i. ml lrize of lar.s. Sterling also sired llarves ""■ tcr. which was nearly broken down when he dead-heated with St. Catien for the Derby, and another classic winner to his tlldlt was Enthusiast in the Two Thousand inineas. InVed. his name is writ-tea largo in stud history, helped materially by his son Isonomy. which got two triple-cm Bed heroes in Isinglass and Common, anil an Oaks and St. Lcger heroine ill Seabreeze. Rosicrucian and his Great Performance. John Iorter. who had Isonomy in charge through out his career . would no doubt give Ormonde pre-Ilence as the better racehorse, but I should like to know also the opinion of Tom Cannon, who rode tin in both. In earlier days Kngsclere sheltered another ■ Mjpteaoaa handicap pi riormer in the handsome KoekiaetaB, whose Ascot Stakes victory in ls71 stands out a wonderful perf nuance, for wi have it on the authority of his trainer, as recorded in his reminiscence-., that he actually walked past t! e post a winner by six lengths, carrying llt pounds and giving KIN pounds to lalmerston •rhleh hail in the previous year run second to Kingcraft for the Derby. The minimum weight in ban i leaps in those days was 77 poaada, which Make* it all the better as compared with tiie present time, and is consequently a far supt ri.ir achievement to that of Strati under 1-1 pounds three years ago That was a fine week in Itoshmi jobs history, foi he also won the Alexandra Plate, giving seven i poaads to i fssaom stayer in Musket, which afterwards caned a great repatatiea at the stud in New /..aland, where, among ether notable winners, hi sin .1 a veritable champion in Carbine. At tiie same meeting Mortcn; r v.oii the Cold Cup. a fact which j reminds me of another big. if unavailing effort :. week or two before, whea, under difficulties he was heatea in the attea pt to concede -t.5 poaada to Ohm livat in the Chester Cup. It was an exceptionally go. d field, and lacladd among ithers "Baal" him self, which was receiving five pounds from thf 1 readaaaa, m-ntion of whose name reminds me of r , the mighty Oaldiatour. wliich carried all before him , as a three-year-old. Including the Two Thousand Cuineas. Derby, .ran.! Prfaw of Parts, and St. I. -gi r, in til it came to the Canilui Igesliire, for whleh . he started favorite under 138 pounds, inclusive of twelve pounds extra, and only just failed. thoBgb [ unplaced to O.irdvoisuro Mi poaads and Nil 77 poii.ids. Several Other Notable Korses. Vespasiaa eras a famous Miter, and put up a grand show at Goodwood in lsd9 when, having ■ prevtoaahjr scored in the Daks of Blchmoad Plate, he carried 14 1 pounds and romped away from a i band of good hors -s In the Chesterfield Cap. Aster-•ids winning record under 130 poaads has never r been heatea for tin- Chester Cap, but even so did ; not make a greater impression than did the per-fonaaaca of Knight of the Garter, which gav» forty-three pounds and a four lengths b.-ating to St. Mungo. whi.-i wis . -oiisid.-red to have been one of the heat three-year olds ever tried by .lames • Merry. Bat the Knight was s nailing good hone ml nabeatea in that seaaoa, his saceeaoes barlad-ingtiie Liverpool Spring Cap under ISt pounds ,,m. ! Great Warwickshire Handicap aader l-il pounds . -.nil tea poaada extra. Jaoeph Caaaoa, who -.a~ , lor Maay yean Captain Haehrila right-haad man , at Bedford Cottage, considers that a splendid sprat-lag performance was achieved when Trappist won the Wokingham Stakes at Ascot, carrying Kir poaads and giving thirty three poaads to Warrior. . R I that opinion is Justified by the fact that the latter afterwards won the same race easily under 13t pounds. A cartoon laeideat in coanection arltb Tnppiat, arhlcfa v. as by Hermit— Baach, is that ! afi. i- Captain ItacbeH had discovered his racing : Merit be set to work to find his dam. but iii spite of .-.11 his eadesvnra failed, ami. as f., r ;-s i know. w..s never heard of afterwarda. We have Vsin- ■ in many reaurkabta racing teate at Ascot, but . perhaps, than when the • mo more so. curiously - " i a.;, red !■ tor waa the Itoyai Hunt t up after literally stopping to kick before going lailf nay. He araa five year- old. with l*t pounds on hi- - bark, ami Ind Archer woald in the rJrewastaaees - have beea Jastlfted in pulling him up, but be Was M VOTlto. and. BTged by tli- croud to ••,.. on." he got the son of H. ini.t going again and the ■ horse miit ban flown t-. ha-.e got tqi and beatea i Suor.l Dam-:- ninety-three poaada and Petroael 1 tint pounds, the ,innr of the Two Thaaaaad I inineas of the neevhma year, besides srhich, then . Wen such v. 11 known bon s in the field as Vatoar, out of Itoaada, Breildoaae, Waaderiag Nun. ■ Knight of Bargley and Wokingham. Not in my Memory has such aa electrifying exhibition been 1 sei n on any race coinse. — "Vigilant" iu London 1 Kpai tsuiau.


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