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RACING TALES FROM THE CALENDAR Early English Contests Told of in Terse and Matter-of-Fact Ways. In the English Sporting Chronicle "Lottery," an occasional correspondent, writes most interestingly of early racing as recorded in the English Racing Calendar, which has been regularly and yearly published since 1773. Here arc his comments: "Not everybody is, I know, possessed of a set of Calendars, and I am proud of mine." Daily Racing Forms library, by the way, contains a complete set of Calendars. "Take nn Vol. I., published in 1773, and look at the scale of weight for height that was used in give-and-take plates. A horse of twelve hands and half a quarter of an inch carried 70 pounds, 14 ounces, and the differences in height were so carefully calculated that the difference between a horse of twelve hands two inches and a half and half quarter and one of twelve hands two inches three quarters and a half quarter is 28 ounces, or one pound 12 ounces in weight. A horse of llftecn hands carried 154 pounds. "One of these races was run at Chester on May 7 and resulted in a win for Mr. Leighs grey horse May Duke, which was 13 hands, 3i inches, 113 pounds. 12 ounces, and beat Mr. Lloyds Frowning Moll, starting at 25 to 1 on. The clerks of the scales must indeed have had a thin time in those days, and it is hardly to bo wondered that, as a rule, there was only one race on each days program. "In the list of stallions Eclipse is advertised as standing at 2S at Epsom, in Surry, and Mask Is advertised to serve twenty mares and no more at 53 a mare. GEORGE HERRING RIDER AND ARTIST. "In 177S Hollandaise, Sir T. Gascoignes gray filly by Match Em won the St. Legcr, with Herring up. It does not seem to be generally realized that this was the same George Herring whose paintings or, more commonly, prints from those paintings are coveted by every sporting man today. Herring once won nineteen races in succession without a single defeat inferveniug. He met his end at Hull in July, 1790, when, in a Maiden Plate, he was thrown twice before the start and again immediately after starting, by Gipsy, a black marc, sister to Hamblctonian, belonging to Mr. Armstrong. "In the Calendar the name is given iis George Heron, but both Orton and Cooke register it as Herring. " As far as I can make out, this Herring was no relation to J. F. Herring, who was born in 1795, and for some years drove the London and York High-Flyer Coach, and afterward also became a famous painter of race horses, perhaps more so than the original bearer of the name. "Then in 1792, Vol. XX., inside the cover is written in large letters William Goodisson. This gentleman was not one of the famous Jockeys, but, evidently, the owner of a horse called Brush, which i won a race at Ascot, and which was by Boudrow. "In 1802 the famous Mrs. Thorntons match, is, : of course, looked up, but the Racing Calendar is ; above descriptive efforts and it is merely chronicled. as follows: Mr. Flints Brown Thornville, by Vol--! unteeiv Abigail, aged, rode by the owner, beat Col. 1 Thorntons chestnut horse Vinagrillio, aged, rode by ! Mrs. T., four miles, ,550. "And in 1805 Col. Thorntons Louisa, by Pega--: sus, out of Nelly, 132 pounds rode by Mrs. T., beat Mr. Bromfords Allegro, sister to Allcgranti, 1SS pounds rode by. Buckle, two miles, ,550. "A dreadful unromantic description of the well-known match! DEAD HEAT FOR ASCOT GOLD CUP. "In 180S there -was the first dead heat for the Ascot Gold Cup between Brighton and Epsom, tho former winning in the run-off. It is interesting to note at a time when racing journalists are troubled : with He and He goes that Pot-8-os that famous sire which handed on the blood of Eclipse to Waxy and others is spelt in the Calendar .Potoooooooo. This may be some consolation to some of them. ! "This brings out the volume for 1S15, when the j Duke of Graftons Whisker, by Waxy, after being .far back in the Two Thousand Guineas, won tho i Derby from Raphael by a half head. The judge only placed the first two as he had done previously i ! in the Two Thousand Guineas. Jackson, who rode j Raphael, was thrown just after passing the winning : post by the crowd, but was not much hurt. "In the Legcr for 1S19 there were, in reality, i: two races, as in consequence of a representation to the stewards that several horses prepared for i starting had not gone off with the rest, the above - was, in the first instance, declared a false start, t and a fresh race was run. ,: "Antonio won the first race from Wrangler and 1 Archibald, and in the second race Sir Walter won t- from the same two again. The stewards got into r trouble over this as the Jockey Club, to whom it t was referred, gave the race to Antonio with the a: !ii stewards should not have allowed a second race Ii, added to their decision. e "At- Newmarket Second Spring Meeting in 1827, Robinson, on Goshawk, only beat Arwell on Stumps e after two dead heats. Stumps started at 0 to 4 i, against, then after the first heat hardened to 0 to 4 - on, and prior to the post was 5 to 4 on. In it t 182S the Derby saw its first dead heat as Cad-iv land and The Colonel, ridden respectively by .. Robinson and Scott, could not be separated at the g- first venture, but Cadland won in the run-off. .; These were tho only two placed for the race."
