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Ei J 31, J!,1 ll 01 of . i. : , 1, 1 f. , . so J. on , j, s t c; y t ji , f a ,u v a s t s a t t t s t i i; 1 1 V J s j 1 I I i i i 1 i i i i ; I I THIS YEARS DERBY SUBSTITUTE. " Easy Manner in Which Gay Crusader Won the Race 1 in Heavy Going-. The new Deiby, the war-time substitute for the Epsom Derby, was run over a heavy track July with the accompaniment of extremely disagree j able weather. The starters were the colts Gay Crusader, Dansellon. Dark Legend, Athdara, Brown , Prince, Invincible Colleger, Sir Desmond, Kingston Black, Planet, Lord Archer and the filly Disdain. , Concerning the day and the race London Sportsman the next morning said: . , "A more miserable Derby Day from . a weather j point of view has rarely been experienced, the , rain, which had been coming down almost Without intermission at Newmarket for the last three days, falling in torrents all the time. There is not much shelter on the Juy. .equrso, the. stand.? having been built rather, with regard to a normal midsummer afternoon than in anticipation of a , mild repetition of the deluge. There were con- siderable. difficulties in getting to Newmarket, and , the attendance was by no means a big one. It may be a satisfaction to those who endeavored to reach the.-town and failed that the majority of ; the "lucky" ones wished tliey had stayed away, for they all experienced the greatest discomfort, , and went .home drenclied to the skin. The course had naturally become heavy, "but the ground is good here that there was no question of a j qiuigriiire.and. it was not possible to offer an excuse the- score or any horse that was beaten. "Lord Jerseys filly Freesia, which beat a large band at the last meeting here, fairly ran away . with the Thurlow Plate Division 2, and this j young lady like Lady Symline, will certainly be Iieard of irgaiif. Lord Anglesey was doubly represented by Antic and the Northern Flight colt, and though no declaration was made, it was Antic ; which carried the first colors. The Northern Flight cOlt, however, ran the better and finished second. Velvet II. broke a bloodvessel. . "The winner was ridden by J. H. Martin, and the same jockey proceeded to win the Welter Handicap, .his mount being Bay dOr; but here he had to put in much more strenuous work, for the finish between" Bay dOr, Haki and Ardvreck was close one, and it Avas only by a neck that Sir William Cookes son of Bayardo received the verdict. y Gay Crusaders Easy Triumph. "A far greater triumph . awaited a son of Bayardo in the Derby, Gay Crusader winning In a style stamping him as a worthy successor of the many great horses which throughout the long history of. the race have "covered themselves with glory, and the fiict that this year the race was run at Newmarket and hot at Epsom ought not to detract from the brilliancy of his feat. The inspect tion of the horses in the paddock beforehand showed them, in appearance, to be well up to the standard seen during the last ten years at Epsom, and though the glamor of the Derby Day was missing, it must be; emphasized again and again that the quality of the horses running was as good, if not better. The rain happily held off while they were being saddled, and one was able to See them in comparative- comfort, the majority being put to rights ill the Plantation. . Nothing pleased anybody better than the short-coupled, lengthy, muscular Gay Crusader, and those. of his would-be supporters who had delayed their investments till they had seen him hurried off quickly to the betting enclosure. Athdara was in blinkers, but behaved sedately,- and Sir Desmond, the other son of. Desmond, was also oil good terms with himself. The last two to be mounted and leave the paddock were Dansellon and Diadem. The latter was the only filly in the field, and the usual courtesy of "ladies first" was reversed. Diadem following the others to the post after an interval. SIue was cool, and looked beautifu. Looked Bad Quarter Mile from Home. "The worst of the Suffolk Stake course as a track on which to run tlie Derby is that the start takes place out of sight; and" it is not till half the distance lias been covered that the horses come into view, the race being run on, a horse-shoe shaped course, the greater part Of which is obscured by plantations arid trees. Gay Crusader a quarter of l mile from homo appeared fto be hopelessly boxed in, and odds of 5 to 1 were offered against him. Dark Legend seeming a certain winner, but. as the beaten Horses gradually brokeaparf, Doiioghue founl the opening he wanted, -and without bustling his horse, riding a steady," confident race. Gay Crusader gradually pulled his way through, exhibiting ill the stamina and bulldog etnirage of his sire. When at length. he headed Dark Legend, and after that Dansellon, his victory was assured. The cheers had already begun to break ont an eighth from home, and thenceforward striding along in uncon-auerable fashion, Gay Crnsader; without an effort increased the gap and won in a- canter by four :engths. It was a convincing1 -"performance, and there is no reason why the winner should not prove as great a horse as his brilliant slre. He has at any rate done what Bayardo failed tWdo win the Derby. Dansellon beat Dark Legend in the last few strides jy a head for second money. Invincible, which was ilways well nliiecd and ran well;- was fourth, with Diadem, which failed to stay,-fifth, in front of Kingston Black, Colleger and -Lord Archer in the jrder named, and the popularity of the victory was -tliown by the ovation "which greeted the winner as lie passed the post." .The mile and a half of the race was covered in 2:40 and its net value,, was. 0,250.
