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T al in | 11 o: of si * , t, ,, y a • t t ■ v . j • f i st f v ; „ , t j . . j | i i , , , , j , ] i I 1 1 ; • . I I I 1 ENGLISH HORSES IN THE GRAND PRIX. Twelva Victories Scored for England Against Two French Successes in the Derby, Although the policy of reciprocity has considerably increase cl. and several of the richest prizes ITancc are now open to English competition, the Grand Prize of Paris was for a long time alone in that respect, and I quote it because the distance. | one mile and seven eighths, renders it a severe test -faying powers for three-year-olds in June. Instituted in 1st;:!, the race did not take place in 1S70 owing to the Franco-Prussian war. and the European turmoil has caused its abandonment the last two years. Tims there have lieen fifty eon-tests, in many of which England has been largely represented with conspicuous success. In its first year The Ranger won for II. Savile, who scored again in 1N72 with his Derby winner Creniorne. and to these must be added the sue esses of Cey loll. The Earl. Trent. Thurio. Robert the Devil. Bruc . Paradox. Minting and Spearmint. In-happilv all tiie owners concerned have gone over to the great majority, but death cannot rob us of the twelve English victories, anil inasmuch as the horses were trained for all their engagements in England, we may claim to have had a conspicuous share in the successes of the French horse Gladiateur. the Hungarian Kisber. and the American Foxhall. Fa* ther. Blair Athol. Drummer. Tristan. St. Blaise. The Lambkin, The Baron. Crowberry. Ravensbury — few but the judge would have placed him lirst instead of Ragotsky — Matchbox, and Velasi|iiez were road in their various rears, and altogether the English record for the Blue Riband of France is far superior to that of the Frenchmen in the Derby, which include but one winner in the aforesaid Gladiateur. and Durbar, which was bred in France by the English sire Rabelais, and owned by the American sportsman. Mr. Duryea. It must lie admitted, however, that M. Edmoud Blanc was singularly unfortunate with Yinicius and .lardy, while other seconds at F.psom were Insulr.ire, Le Nord anil Gouverneur. all French by breeding. Handicap Form of French Horses. If farther evidence- were required to show the fallacy of claiming superiority for French horses as stayers, it is forthcoming in the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire. Only twice has a French victory beea recorded during my time in the longer rice, whereas c aansoaa coups were landed over the Cambridgeshire by Montargis. Pent Etre. Jongleur. Plaisanterie and Alicante, all within the period IsTt !». For M. P. Aiiinont Tc-nebreusc, trained by tln late T. Jiimings and ridelen by Tom Cannon, won the Cesarewitch in 188" from Mill Stream, the favorite. Trayles and twenty others, but a far greater coup had come off three years before. Plaisanterie won the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire as a three -year-old. She came to this country with good credentials as a winner of twelve out of thirteen engagements that season in France, her last victory being in the Prix dOrange on October 4. Nine days later, with 10l pounds on her back, she romped home in front of Xenia. Postscript. Ctpol-lina and eighteen others for the Vsarevvitch. but easily as she- accomplished her task it was reserved for the Cambridgeshire to reveal her sterling merit to the full. A Great Mare Was Plaisanterie. With her weight increased to 124 pounds — the minimum weight in handicaps was 77 pounds at that time — she was confronted with a big task, and the eiaaa of the opposition may bo imagined from the fact that among those arrayed against here was St. Gation 136 pounds*. Bendigo 134 poundsl. and Thehais 129 pounds, of which the first, then four years old. had won the Ascot Cup and Alexandra Plate at the same meeting, and Her Majestys Plate at the Newmarket Second October meeting. That he was supposed to be at his best may be assumed from the fact that he started at the extraordinarily cramped odds of 2 to 1. but neither he nor anything else could make any show against Plaisanterie. which, setting weight at defiance. jumped off at score, made all the running and won in a canter by two lengths from Bendigo. a splendid achievement, which entitled her te take high rank among the greatest handicap performers of all time, and incidentally tirminateil her racing career. Aft-1 erwards she was purchased at a long figure for the Sledmere Stud, but cannot be sain to have been a saeeeasfal bree eler. though regarded from the finan-I cial point of view Sir Tatton Sykes had BO cause for regret. During seventeen seasons she had only seven living foals, among which were Childwick. which made 6.000 guineas: Raconteur. 3.000 guineas; Ste Adrcsse, 2.300 guineas: Hawkswick. 3.4H guineas: The Wag. S10 guineas: Topiary, 3. KM guinea-, and Jocatrix. S10 guineas. The figures against each name are the prices realized as year lings. None of them was in the first class, and perhaps Raconteur was the beat until he went wrong in his wind. Childwick won a Cesarewitch. but earned much greater fame as a stallion in France, and Topiary claims special mention as the dam of that good horse Tracery, which won the St. Lager lor Mr. Helm eat, and is now standing at the South court Stud. — "Vigilant" in London Sportsman.
