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I , I r 1 1 I i i ; j r 1 1 I THE EQUINE AVENGER OF WATERLOO R Interesting Details in Connection with Racing II Career of Great French Horse Gladiateur. Were a poll taken to decide which was the absolutely tM-st horse of the nineteenth century. I fancy g that St. Simon ami Ormonde would figure at the w he.itl of it. Doubtless I fair number of people ti would be of the same mind, ns the lata James s| Waugh. who plumped solidly for Clatliateur. The hi unlM-aten Barraldine would undoubtedly have a b; by strong following, especially in Ireland, while there would be some to endorse the late John Scotts u opinion and maintain that there has never been the i-equal is of West Australian. ti It would not serve any good purpose, however, tl were I to discuss the merits of horses that I dill ct not see ami "The West." which was the first of 15 the winners of the "triple crown," gained his S chief honors in 1N53. He was l»-aten bv Speed the Plough in the Criterion as a two-year-old. but I. this was his first outing ami the form was all r: wrong, for he ran clean away from his conqueror w over the P.retby Stakes course only three days o later. In the following year he was unbeaten anil ei the famous jockey Frank Butler, who nsle him in w the three classic races, thought that there never ti was such a horse. n no Oladiatciir was one of those horses which must Im judged quite as much by what he did in private u in as bv his public performances. There is no doubt n that his lot was cast in a nn .derate year, for Arch- . iinedes, second to hhn in the Two Thousand Coin y eas, was never quite first class. Christmas Carol d ami Kltham. second and third in the Derby, were | distinctly moderate, while Regalia, s.-cond in the e St. Leger. never took high rank in the list of Oaks winners. In fact, the best three-year-oll a all that the great French horse ever met was The tl Duke ami. owing to a bail attack of influenza, that a of colt made his first appearance of the year at Don- u caster, and was never in his true form until the |, following season. p Oladiatcur was trodden upon in the paddock in his earlv days, from the effects of which he t always had a big ami ugly enlargement en his a off fort leg. This, however, was a mere eyesore, ■• and never gave him any trouble, but the horse al- h ways suffered from navicular disease, which math- N his extraordinary iM-rformaiices all the more mar- | velous. He doubtless inherited his unsoundness p from his dam. Miss Madia tor. which was always a hopeless cripple ami could not be trained. JOCREY JEOPARDIZES DERBY VICTORY. t Things went smoothly with the colt between the ,, Guineas victory ami the Derby and lie was iiossibly ;l as fit at any period of his career as when ,j he went to Kpsoni. Absurdly easily as his victory t was gained, it was one in momentary doubt, for ,| Harry Urinishaw, who rode him, was short -sighted j, ami Jim ioater, who was wearing Ixirtl Westmore- r lands colors on Brahma, always maintained that, • had he not shouted to him to go along, he would ti never have seen Christmas Carol and would have ;l allowed himself to 1m- ls-aten. [ This woultl have meant the upset of one of the n. best tilings ever known in the history of the turf, i as Gladiateurs trial for the Derby seems almost incredible. There were four in it, but Fille de IAir t was the one really asked the question and the Oaks ., winner of the preceding year was in rare form. s having won half a dozen races already that season ., — three in France and tin- same number in Kng- !, land — without having once known defeat. They a were galloped a mile anil a half on the Limekilns. t ami Gladiateur actually gave the filly a year anil j, in eight pounds, and thirty-five pounds to each oi ., two other four -year-olds, and not only won. but fairly made rings round them all. Having regard ], to the fact that this trial tiMik place in May. I i fancy it will be generally agreed that this was ■ alMint the biggest task ever set a three-year-old. „ It is needless for me to go through the whole of Glatliateurs performances, but he was lamer than t ever alMiut a fortnight prior to the St. Lt-ger. ami for two or three days absolutely could not 1m- got v out of the stable. Kven on the Saturday before tin „ great race at Doncaster lie was so sore and lame j that the late Tom Jennings — who not only trained |, but practically was given a free hand in the man- i agement of Count tie Ligranges horses — almost de- j elded not to take him. Nor did he show much im- ,. provement after making the journey, and moved M ., feelingly in a canter on the Town Moor on the Mon- ,. day before the race that Ben Bartholomew, who y. watched the performance, anil who was deeply in- . terested in the colt, went straight away home, saying: "I wont stop to see him break down." :t Happily, this did not happen, and he scored with | consummate ease, but there is no doubt that he j really won the St. I-ger on three legs, and thus , joined West Australian as a winner of the three j classic races in which colts can take part. He ran „ in the Doncaster Stakes two days later under a misapprehension. During the morning it was be- v lieved that Breadalbane was the only other animal „ that was on the aMt for it. and an arrangement | hail been made by which Sir. Chaplin was to receive , a certain sum out of the stakes to allow the French colt to walk over. At the last moment, however. Reginella turned up. and he gave fourteen pounds to her and ten imiiiiiiIs to Breadalbane without an efTort. * GLORIOUS DEFEAT IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE. Gladiateur wound up his three-year-old season by sustaining the only defeat that was destined to fall I to his lot after his two-year-old days and this de feat was far more glorious than the great majority of his triumphs. No thrce-ycnr-old. U-fore or since, i las ever assayed to carry ISS imiiiiiiIs in the Cam- t britlgeshire and. in this race Harry Crimshaws defective sight, completely destroyed any chance he i may have possessed. "Where were you at the Red Post?" asketl Jennings of the jockey in the weigh i ing room after the race. "Oh. I was lying in a I I good place, about half a dozen lengths from the I front." was the reply and. no doubt. Grimsliaw fully iM-lieved that he was siM-aking the truth. The trainer, however, had gone some distance lown the course to view the race ami, at the his- I torie landmark mentioned, which is now to be MM on Felix Leachs premises, he was horrified to note that Olailiatetir was fully a hundred yards behind the leader. In no case probably could he have ■ conceded fifty-two ]M untls to Oardcvisurc. a three- • vear-old half sister to Iortl Lyon and Achievement, but in almost the last chat 1 had with him prim-to his death. Jennings assured me that, proin-rly ridden, his horse woultl have been in the first three. , - t We do not now see any such fields for the Cambridgeshire, or for any other big handicap, as turned out on that eventful afternoon. There were no fewer than thirty-six runners ami class was splendidly j represented by John Davis, 119 pounds; Master Richard, 118 pounds; Regalia, lis pounds; Bacchus. I US iMMinds. who. later in his career, won many [ steeplechases for Captain Machell; Breadalbane, 115 I pounds, and The Duke, 114 pounds. Catch Km Alive, 111 nounds, the winner of .the sensational ! Cambridgeshire of 1S03. was also in the field. The following ap|M-ars in the "Racing Calendar," which gives an account of the race: "The starter ! reported that half an hour was lost at the start through the disobedience of Ward. Maidmeut. Ken-von. Barker anil Jarvis. Ward and Maidmeut were suspended till the nd of April ,1S«6, and the others till the Nth of NovemlM-r next." It is probablj •ertain that a three-year-old. with such hunting weight as 13S pounds in the saddle, would Im- sadly handicapped by this delay, with all its attendant Talse starts. People who are anxious to make a return to the system of starting by flag do not re-neniber how often this sort of thing use*] to occur. The worst case 1 can call to id being in the Derby of lSt«, when they were kept at the post three quarters of an hour, mainly through Tambour Major absolutely declining to move. NO CHANCE AGAINST MARVELOUS "CRIPPLE." Clailiateurs legs wire worse than ever in the following season, but owners had now discovered that I their sound horses had no sort of chance against I this marvelous "cripple" and, after walking over - for a couple of little stakes at the Craven meeting, he went to France and easily secured a valuable prize over a course of three miles ami an eighth, in the Ascot Cup of that year he accomplished | ;lMiut his most extraordinary feat. The other two •miners were Regalia ami Breadalbane. The ground | was bard ami, as Gladiateurs lameness hail been i .vorse than usual. Grimshaws orders were to lie closely up with the others until the turn at tin top of the straight, to nurse his mount carefully !own the hill and then to make the Mat of his I way home. For soine reason or another the jockey entirely ,• ignored the first part of his instructions, for Bread albane raced past the stand the first time with a i leatl of fully twenty lengths. Regalia lM-ing half i that distance in front of the favorite. From that t |Mint. however, Grinishaw carried out his orders to the letter ami came down the hill into Swinley r Bottom in such leisurely fashion that at one time • he must have Im-cii fully 300 yards Uliind the other r pair. The style in which the favorite closed up that t enormous gap when once he was on level ground I again, and was allowed to stride along, was almost I incredible ami the brief return iu the "Calendar" is "Won by forty lengths Breadalbane U-aten olT. .Mid did not pass the post." The late James Waugh. who had no reason lo be biased iu favor of the i- Iltiich colt, anil whose vast experience rendered his I npiiiioii of special value on such a subject, always s oiisidered this to be the finest iH-rformanee ever r seen uu a race MM A race iu France, over a i i- I s r a i course which was d. si riln-d as lM-ing "nearly four miles." and which he won as he liked, closed the career of "the Avenger of WatcrltMi." as he was occasionally termed in some of the French news- " papers. -"Auur.
