Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer (NSW : 1845 - 1860), Saturday 11 October 1845, page 4


THE RACE.

Athalf-past two everyhorse was mounted, and in a few minutes, having taken their preliminary canters were " formed" for starting, lt was scarcely to be expected, however, that the largest field ever brought to the post could be got off at the first at-tempt ; accordingly three false starts oc-curred, and an additional delay of nearly twenty minutes arose from an accident that completely destroyed the chance of one of the leading favourities-Alarm. Having described this elsewhere, it ¡3 only neces-sary to add, that on his rejoining the other horses, they were once more marshelled into something like starting order, the flags were lowered, and at twenty minutes past three the race commenced. Idas, Wood Pigeon, and Salopian started in front nearly abreast, the crack having a slight lead on the upper side ; close up with them were Kedger, Fuzbos, Doleful j the Cobweb colt, and Pantas, and behind them Mentor, Pam, and Alarm, and in the van of the second ruck Old England, Weatherbit and Annandale, the pace good, but not first-rate. The leading horses maintained their position to the top of the hill, where Kedger headed his horses and went on with the running at increased speed, followed by Salopian,Doleful, Wood

Pigepn, and Idas, the others still lying in capital places, and so near together that we cannot attempt to specify their relative positions. This order was observed to the bend, where Fuzbos, the Cobweb-colt and Alarm gave way. Here Pantasa. The Merry Monarch, Pam laid well up with the first three, Pam lying next to Wood Pigeon with Mentor behind inside, and in their track Old England, Weatherbit and Annandale. At this point of the race a very awkward collision took place, and that it did not lead to loss of life is ex-traordinary. Mentor, who we believe, had been disappointed previously in an attempt to get through his horses, here endeavoured to up inside of Pam, but in so doing ran against him and forced him into Wood Pigeon's heels ; Pam fell, and before he could recover his legs, Old England had jumped over his hind quarters, and Weatherbit over his head, the latter, we believe, striking him on the shoulder as he was in the act of rising. Annandale'was lucky enough to avoid him, but must have lost some ground. Frank Butler, like a sensible fellow, lay quietly while three or four horses jumped over him, and then got up unscathed. The horse was dreadfully cut on the arm, and is not likely to appear again as a racer. Meanwhile the front rank continued almost unbroken round the turn ; but, on approaching the road, it was evi-dent' that the *' crack" was in difficulty ; two or three strides further, and there was " no mistake" about it-" the favourite's beat," might have been heard a mile off, and his place was forthwith vacant. Salopian also, having had enough of it, retired at the same time. Kedger and Doleful still held the front, The Merry Monarch third, Pantasa, Old England, and Wood Pigeon next, and Annandale close up-all pulling hard, and the race so open, that it was impossible to say which looked most like a winner ; and so it pro-ceeded to the distance-post, where Colonel Anson's white, so long conspicuously in front,' disappeared. Doleful was beaten at the same spot, and the lead passed to the Merry Monarch, Annandale second, Pantasa and Old England laid up, and the race stdl in doubt. This lot remained in company to the Grand Stand, where the Merry Monarch apparently slipped his horses-at all events he shot ahead at least two lengths, and the race was over. An-nandale certainly gained upon him in the run in, but he never got nearer than his quarters, and was finally beaten cleverly, but not easy, by a length. Old England and Pantasa made quite as good a race as they would have made at Ascot had Blood-stone been out of the way ; Pantasa, who compounded at the end, losing the third place by a head only. The space between them and Annandale could not have' been more than a length. Wood Pigeon was a good fifth, beating Doleful about a neck, Kedger finishing so close to the latter, that Simpson declares he had the best of it. What would have been next, bach, their riders persevéred, we do not affect to know; but it will serve as a general answer to a host of enquirers, that the horses were next past the winning chair wereHSalopian, Mentor, the Miss Whip, colt, Adonis, John. Davis and Desperation. What followed them we cannot say. The Black Prince and Clear-the-way started, but did not run in the race ; the first, a roarer, appeared merely to win beta on his running, and the other was as lame as a cat. The moment, therefore, that the race began, they were

leu alone in their glory, and cantered "gently 4 hom« together, " Our James" must have been proud of his mount. Of the horses that did run, the Libel was the first beaten ; he never got up the hill. The Coramba colt, Young Eclipse, Worthless, and The Laird o' Cockpen were tailed oft* early. Willi regard to the pace, we agree

in the general opinion that it was good to j the top of the hill, and for the remainder of the distance severe ; that is, severe, con-sidering the Vate of the. ground, and the

class of tlie horses ; that they were of the j * fiîst order, or that the placing at the finish would have been the same, had the riding been of equal merit, we do not believe. Value of the stakes £3,975. After .the race it was ascertained that Alarm was very

seriously cut about the chest, legs, and j

hocks. He has not since been able to lie down, and- we understand it will be some time before he will be in a fit state to run. Nat was also so much bruised and shaken

that he was constrained to keep his bed the next day, and to give up his ride for the Oaks to George Whitehouse.

ANOTHER FOUR YEAR OLD.

FRIDAY.-OAKS DAY.-Thursday was " Oak Apple Day." This day " The Oaks Stakes" were run fur, and on Wednesday " The Merry Monarch," whose acquaintance with " the oak" is so familiar to our readers triumphed over his pursuers, and became " the admired uf all admirers;" thus, by a singular coincidence, we have had more to do with the oak and its associations during the past week than the season usually vouchsafes. We wish we could add that these odd concatena-

tions had proved "the restoration" of Epsom Races to their pristine prosperity ; but un-fortunately this has not been the case, and looking back to the meeting from first to last, we are constrained to say, that it has fallen far short of our anticipations, and with former years bears but an unfavorable comparison. There was a dulness thtoughout which effected the spirits of all, and the absence? of those brilliant constellations of fashion who for-

merly graced the downs, in their splendid equipages, and dazzled the eyes of the multi-tude by the bewitching grace of their de-portment, exhihited a change which to the older frequenters was but too apparent. It cannot he denied there were many present deserving the homage of admiration which they received j but in the aggregate the as-semblage was of too mixed, too questionable a character, and the scenes of too familiar a description, to be acceptable to either " ears" or eyes " polite." We fear, in fact, that the tace course has lost favour among the higher classes, and although " the lords of the creation" are as numerous as ever, their

belter halves find pastimes mote agreeable to I their tastes. How long even the lords them-selves will continue to give countenance to the sport, it is impossible to foresee, for every year produces some new cause of distrust, and independent of the Old England con-spiracy already referred to, this day unfolded

another gross attempt at deception, which was happily frustrated, almost at the moment of consummation. The 'incident to which we allude was connected wiih the race for the Oaks, in which au attempt was made to in-troduce " a four 'year old" in the manner hereafter detailed. We may here state that the weather was more favourable than on any of the preceding days of the meeting ; the sun shone brilliantly, and the temptation to a country excursion sufficient to allay the fears of the most suspicious. With all this, how-ever, the company was thin, and far below the customary average, and the few that were present, with the exception of Prince George of Cambridge and Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, were of the ordinary stamp ; irre-spective of those noblemen and geutlenien whose connexion with the Turf ensures their certain attendance, and the long list of the betting men, who are never absent where the chance of speculation is afforded. Upon the great race of the day-that for " The Oaks" -our readers are already aware the betting for weeks past has been but of a limited de-scription, the principal investments having been on the two first favourites, Lady Wildair and the Lancashire Witch, which were backed at 4 to 1 each. On Wednesday, attention was too much absorbed with .'The Derby" to admit of a thought being devoted to other objects; but on Thursday business commenced in earnest, and large sumsdsere laid out on the favourites, Kent's lot, Venus, and Stamp, at the prices hereafter quoted. In the evening tumley's Subscription Room, the value of which cannot be sufficiently appreciated, was well attended, but few changes were ob-servable, although it was not difficult to detect a strong disposition to lay against Kent's, lot, and back Miss Elis with the proceeds. How far this step was consistent with prudence the result will shew, for not only were the favourites placed hors de combat, but Miss Elis shared their fate, and Refraction, one of the rejected of "Kent's lot," popped her head first past the judge's chair, and thus ex-posed Lord George Bentinck and his friends to the loss of a heavy stake, while the Duke of Richmond and his connec-tions were moderate winners. Venus, ano-ther " pot," was so strongly opposed that she went to 50 to 1. ' Stamp and Gleelikewise " pots"-like that of the noble lord boiled over. The race was not with-out a prelude, as we have already hinted of the same character as that of «' Miss Julia" last year. Mr. Wagstaflf's Queen of Cyprus figured as No. 24 on1 the card, and Buckle weighed for her, but aa objec-tion was laid against her on the score of age, and Mr. Barrow" and Mr. Bartlett, " the vets," having examined her on the course by desire of the stewards, they pro-nounced her to be a four year old I We understand that Mr. W. had waited upon Lord George Bentinck on Thursday, and informed him that he thought his mare would run well for*the Oaks, but was de-sirous to sell. . Mr. W. happening to owe the noble lord £900 on the Derby and St. Leger, 1836, his lordship agreed to take the mare and cancel the debt ; and to give £1,000 more if she won, subject to a debt due to the Earl of Lichfield. It was sub-sequently hinted to Lord George that the mare might be four years old, and Mr. W. not having the best name in the world with racing men, his lordship on his arrival at Epsom on Friday proceeded to Dockeray's stables. Dockeray in reply, to his lordship stated that she had a suspicious looking mouth. 'Mr. Elmore and Mr. Carlington, a vet., were then requested to inspect her.

They did so, and said she had a deformed mouth, and different to any of the oiler three year olds shown to them, On ta¡j his lordship refused to take the mare, and forthwith made an objection to her runnine-, and on the opinion of the vets. sim

was disqualified. Mr. W. professes thut ' he can prove her age to be right, and de

clares he will demand an investigation We ; ought to state that she was sent first to Lawley's stables, but Mr. L. not liking the party refused to take her in, and we think Mr. L. acted wisely. We have now nearly brought our labours to a conclusion, and we think our readers will agree with the remark with which we set out, that there was no deficiency of material to render our account of the Epsom week of 1845 suffi, ciently interesting without the aid of thea-trical flourish. In corroboration of the falling oft" in the meeting, we may state that in the Grand Stand £200 leu was taken than last year, while complaints were equally rife elsewhere. The " mak-ing safe" system, it is suspected, iras not confined to one horse; but with regard to The Libel no doubt is entertained that he was "dosed." He was tried with Salopian on Friday at a great weight, and beat him into fits. We are, however, exceeding out limits, and must at once proceed to des-cribe the races of the day.

THE OAKS.

Tlie OAKS STAKES of 30 sovs. each, h ft, fut

three year old fillies, Sst 71b eaeh; the second tj receive 100 sovs., ami the winner to pay 100 xi ihn police regulations of the course; last mil;

and a half ; 150 subs.

Duke of Richmond's br Refraction, by Glau-

cus (H. Bell). 1 Mr. Bennett's ch Hope, by Gladiator (Marlow) 2 Major Yarburgh's b Miss Sarah, by Gladiator

(J. Holmes). 3 Lord Chesterfield's ch Lady Windah, by

Hornsea (Whitehouse). 4 Mr. Worthington's ch Lancashire Witch, by

Tomboy (Templeman). 0 Lord G. Beutinck's br Rose of Cashmere, by

Bay Middleton (Esling). 0 Mr. Gully's ch Maid of Orleans, by Jereed

(J. Day, Jun.). 0 Mr. T. Rogers's Glee, by Touchstone (Bar-

tholomew). 0 Mr. Armstrong's b Venus, by Verulam (Mur-

phy)....... 0 Mr. Liley's b Stump, by Erailius (Arthur).. 0 Lord Egliuton's br Plaudit, by Tomboy (Mar

son) . 0

Lord G. Beutinck's ch Miss Elis, by Stock-

port (W. Howlett). 0 Mr. Bowes's Heather Bell, by Bay Middleton

(F. Butler). 0 Sir G. Heathcote's b by Samarcaud-La Fille

mal Gardée (Chapple). 0 Sir C. Monck's b by Physician out of Cast-

away (Lye). 0 Mr. Osbaldeston's gr Fickle Wild Rose, by

The Saddler (W. Butler). 0 Mr. Hopkins's Eveut, by Toss up (W. Boyce) fl Colouel Wyndham's br Caroliue, by Non-

sense (H. Sly). Û Sir J. B.-- Mill's br Giautess, by Levithian

(J.Howlett). Û Lord G. Bentinok's b Longitude, by Bay Mid-

dleton (Munn). 0 Col Peel's b Hersey, by Glaucus (G. Edwards) 0

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