Bell's Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer (NSW : 1845 - 1860), Saturday 29 May 1852, page 1


Turf Pencillings.

BY THE DRUID.

" A horse ! a horse ! my kingdom for a horse !" Turf 1846-51 Statistics—Number of Meetings—

Voltigeur—Teddington's Match—Colonel Peel —Sir Joseph Hawley—List of 1851 Winners

—Clothworker—Glance at a few other Se-

niors.

" A glance " of some few hours' duration at the admirable little " bosom friend " annually furnished to the racing world by Mr Ruff, en-ables us without further preface to give our readers a bird's-eye view of the racing season in 1851. Comparing it with five preceding seasons we have the following figures :—

Horses Strd. Events. 2 yr. olds. Mtchs. 1840...:.T,655;.1.510.255.150 1847. ...1.590.1,435 .220.. ..129 1848.... 1,075.1375.285.... 130 1849.1.725.1,415 .275.117 1850.1,610.1.335 ......200 . 59 1851!... 1,773.1,417.328. 64

In the phraseology of tho Honso of Com. mons and vestry politicians, " thesb figures speak for thomaolvos i" and' wo may safely aver that thoy aro as nearly correct ns possible As far as 1851 is concerned, tho result shows none

of that turf atrophy whtoh Mossrs Closo and Al-ford, and tho noblo corps of the " respectable regulars," are always harping upon with such genuine dolight. For tho Inst two years thero has been n steady inorenso in tho number of two-year-olds brought out, but when we consider that no less than 800 blood marcs aro in " la-bour and sorrow " with livo foals every spring, lt seems very romarknbto thnt only thrco-elghths or so of those foals ' should havo their manes plaited as two.yoar-olds. Thora is not any groat incronso in tho numbers of tho rnco-moct lngs whose fnmo is recorded in Huff. In tho year« 1840-49 tlioy numbered 180, 186,182, and 184, respectively ; whilo In 1850 they sunk down to 171, but have again rison in 1851 to their old average of 185. Some of those, howevor, aro of a very seedy ordor. Tho spirit of match-making ls not very vigorous, and of tho 64 credited to its account this year, littlo moro than half carno to an Issue > still, two such nffhlrs as that of Flying Dutoltninn v. Voltigeur, and Teddington v. Mountain Deer, wero enough to kindlo ' it afresh. Somehow or other tho Marquis of Exe-ter and Lord Glasgow seem to bo tiring of such an expensivo sport, and Captain Rous lins thora fore very few with whom ho niay bring hls'os'po eial talont Into play. Voltigeur is to all np ftoarnnoo quito rooovorod from tho effects of

ils severo match struggle ¡ soon after lt ho wont quito to plooes, and looked n more ' wreok of his former sol ft hut under Atkinson's caro ho has got nil his flesh up again, nnd will, wo be llevo, make his baw to tho public for tho next Emperor's Vaso nt Ascot. Ills old trainor, Hill, has a pension of Xl n-weok i and to judgo from tho style In willoh Augur and Rndulplius havo won their races, his lordship lins lost no-

thing ,by' tlió olinugb. Il Hi's habits voro hardly

stich a's to flt lilm to bo tho hoad of a atable,

and the stale form in which Voltigeur was brought out for his match did not say very much for his judgment. Tho career of tho Flying Dutchman may bo simply summed up thus t ho won clcron times, -walked over four, and lost once ; thus bringing in all £18,725 in tho Eg-lington Castle exchequer, and an Emperor's Vase on to tho sideboard. As Van Tromp'a winnings comprised £12,015, and two cups, his lordship may bo said to have won £32,000 -by these two sons of Barbells alone. For make wo infinitely prefer Van, as wo do not Iiko tho Dutchman's stylo of back ; and wo confidently expect to seo some Vnndcnhoff, Van Brunt, Van Tassel, Van Winkle. Vnndcrloo, Van Hipper, or Van Dunk, gladdening old Mr Kirby's heart with his performances. Lord Zetland possesses his " son and hoir'1 in tho person of Ivan out of Siberia. Teildington's match with Mountain Deer seems to hare boon a very false test of tho real merits of tho two: That tito latter is a good " miler" weean readily believe ; but if Tedding-ton had boen in the same springy order as ho was at Epsom he would never have had to tasto

of Job Mnrson's steel on his flanks and shoulder so severely as ho did. The solution of thc mat-ter seems tobo, that Sir Joseph novcr boliovod that tho Squire's horse was in anything like

form till Mnrson received n retainer from tho Squiro, on tho Friday in tho Doncaster weok, to ride him for tho Grand Duko Michael Stakes. This was within a bare month of thc match

coming off. and thc cheshut had to bo not a littlo hurried in his'preparation. Somehow or other, we fancy that his forto lios in an A.F. struggle, and that ho will not shine as a cup horse. We should call him a peculiarly made horse : ho ts nnrrow in tho girth, high in the

haunchos, straight in tho shouldor, and ratbor ; calf-kneed. This match was just ono of those struggles which breaks a horse's heart for the rest of his racing career t and if his Cambridgeshire running is worth anything, it lins disposed of Mountain Doer's powers of locomotion for tho présent. Teddlngton's running in conjunction

with Ariosto's bids fair to make Orlando one of tho most popular sires of tho day ; and whon wo romcmbcr that Touchstone is now rising twenty two, wo are right glad to seo such a worthy son of a worthy siro at tho very tip-top of his pro-fession. Mr Greville showed good judgment in purchasing him, and ho is likely to provo a dirt cheap horso. As far as wo catt judge at prosont, his lato owner's placo on tho turf will bo well filled by Ix>rd Ribblesdale, who begins with ns nice a set of two-year-olds ns man need wish for We thought when Hobby Noblo, Buckthorn, and Kingston carno out together at Ascot, that wo had but once before seen a trio pf such fine-look-ing " maidens ;" and tho latter has already cre-dited £1,100 to tho "orango sleeves nnd blue body," which is tho noblo lord s banner. His tail-docking fnncy hnrdly comes up to our idea of beauty, but wo have a strong idea that he will provo ono of tho old-school style of sportsmen,

an accession of whom aro so much wanted nt

present. Though ho only numbers some fifty-one summers, Colonel Peel has been full twenty years on the turf ; and eiglit-and-twenty years ago, when Captain Peel, ho kept a " cocktail" stud of three or four, who did no little elocution at Hunt Meetings Archibald was his first horse of renown, and F. Boyeo officiated on him in groat events during his first season ( 1831 ), ono of which was running second to Margrave for tho Critorion. In 1S32 hts stud; was increased from eight to ton, and " natty Arthur Pavis" bocamo tho regular donner of tho " purple nnd orango cap." Under his guidance Archibald boro out tho promiso of his previous season in tho 2,000 guineas and Nowmarket St Leger, and Nonsense made his debut. Few men sont bot-ter horses to a trainer ; amongst them wcro Vulture, tho flying main, who so astonished Lord Gcorgo Bentinck in her match against Grey Momus ; Garry Owen, ono of tho best of match horses ; Slano, who was equally distinguished both in cup struggles and of later years in tho stud farm ; Orlando, on whoso behalf tho Col-onel so signally clapped an extinguisher ov< r tho lcg-painlors and tail-dockers of tho Uni'od Kingdom, A.n. 1814 ; Ion. who ran second for each of tho great northern and southern ' events' of '38 : and Tadmor, who comforted him for his Derby defeat by gathering some £8,011 by tho strength of his legs boforo they finally gave way. Thanks to him. tho Colonel's winnings in 1840 reached £7,105 ¡but in tho following year thoy dwindled down to £2,490. It 1B generally un-derstood that ho first framed tho system of Tri-

ennial Stakes. Sir Joseph Hawley's career, I considering tho short timo ho has boen on tho turf, was a much moro brilliant one ; ns in seven seasons, and about one-seventh of another, ho has won stakes to tho amount of £45,305, and

the unluoky Doncaster Cup to boot. For our ' parts wo havo no boliof in his " retirement ;''

nnd wo should'bo exceedingly sorry to supposo | that lt wns in tho power of n number of . roughs*

(who showed thoir antmw pretty plainly in tho j salo-ynrd at Tattersall's) to drlvo him oft" tho j Turf, becauso ho had cleverly conccalotl his I stable-secrets from them throughout tho wholo j season, and mado thom fairly gnash their teeth with vexation whon ho papped on to thom, at tho eleventh hour, with his real Simon Pure. Still, though thoso clever concealments lont a very grcnt xest to turf matters, wo do think Mint he carried bis lovo of mystery a littlo too far. His non-declaration beforo tho St Leger was an un honrdof proceeding in this lino. Thorn is a po-pular and an unpopular way of keeping stable

socrets ; and ho scorns to havo hit upon tho latter to a nicety. Lord Eglington, for instnnce, hits tho happy medium ; and the consequence is that tho victory of tho tartan is always hailed with tho'most unqualified delight both by " tho ring" «nd" tho masses." Would that Sir Joseph would take a hint from his Lordship and somo others wo could mention, and race a littlo moro for sport, and not quito so much for " busi-ness !" In re tho Doncaster Cup, we perfectly nj;roo with Captain House, nltliough tho sale oí Vatican savoured rather moro of " sharp prac-tice " than-wo Uko to seo in a turf leader. After all, tho old horse did not help tho chosnut in tho lonst ; ns Laugh Bawn (who was specially on gagod for him or Black Doctor) did all that was required for the first milo and n-half at a most splitting paco. Tho Fyfiold Houso stud now inoludos Mendicant, Clincher, Teddington, Tho Confessor, Orelio, Bob Major,' and Cheshire Witch-filly, North Pole, Mustang, Bloomer, Koh-i-Noor, Strawberry Hill, and three or four others; so that A. Taylor is likely to have his hands as full as ever during the coming sea-son. We are heartily rejoiced that Sir Joseph has got rid of Old England, as his fancy seemed likely to prove a very expensive one. His grow-ing penchant for this son of Defence would very soon have told on his stake winnings. In 1850

he was third to Lords Exeter and Zetland, and

in 1849 second to Lord Eglington on this list. At last he has worked his way up to the first place, as will be seen on reference to the fol-lowing list, which we have compiled with no little care ; the * in it signifying "Cups in ad-dition" :—

Winners. £

*Sir J. Hawley, 1 .... 2 ... 15,360 Mr Greville. S .. 7,350 Lord Eglington. 0 .. 0,700 Lord Derby. 6 .. 5,800 Lord Enfiold. 3 .. 5,810 Lord Exeter. 10 .. 5,005 MrGrntwloko.10 .. 5,040 .Mr Martinson....... 1 .. 4.005 Duke of Richmond.'. 5 ... 3,525 Mr A. Nichol. t .. 3,850 Mr Payne. 8 .. 2,795 Mr J. Osborno .... 0 ... 2,050 General Anion, ..". '8 ,. 2.400

I Mr Merry. ........ 0 2,340 ,

1 ' Duko of Bedford.,.*., ,7, vßfttß ?-.

Mr K Philipps ; . t .. 2,170 .Lord Clifden 7 2,140 .Mr T. Parr. 0 ... 2,070 MrPodley. 4 .. 2,035 Lord J. Scott,. 2 ... 1.850 SirR.Pigot 3 .. 1.815

tard Waterford .... 4 .. 1,770 Mr S. Wrather .... 1 .. 1,785 Lord Strathmore, .. 3 .. 1,705 Mr Berilio ....... 1 ... 1.045 Mr \V. Palmor. 1 .. 1,600 Lord Zetland ..v.,. 2 .. 1,500 Mr W Barton Ti'.. 5 ... 1,470 Lord Ribblesdale .. 2 .. 1.260 Colono) Pcol .._ 3 .. 1,200 Count Batthyany .. 1 .. 1,110 Mr Shepherd, ..... '3 .. 1,100 Mr Welford ....... 5 .. 1,055 Mr R. E. Oliver.... 0 .. 910 Mr Gilkinson ..... 1 ... 900 Lord Chesterfield'.. 4" .. " 890 .Mr Saxon. 3 ... 805 Mr H. Stebbing.... 5 .. 775 Mr Morris. 3 .. 7Ï5 Mr Phillips . 1 .. 770 Lord Glasgow. 3 .. 750 Mr Moiklam . 5 .. 735 Mr J. Clark . 1 .. 715 Mr J. Rogers. 5 ... 075 Mr J. Scott . 5 ... 660 Lord Warwick _ 2 ... 560 Mr Oabaldeston.... 2 .. 640 Sir W. Booth. 2 .. 545 Mr Wentworth .. .. 1 ... 630 Mr G. Sturt . 2 ... 520

Mr Mngonnis. 3 ... 520

Mr Drinknld . 4 .. 6l>5 Mr Crawford. 1 ... 600 Major Martyn. 4 .. 400 Lord Caledon. 3 .. 475 MrS. Herbert .... 4 .. 475 Mr S. Davidson.... 2 ... 475 Loni Lurgan . 2 .. 465 Mr Etwnll . 3 .. 450 Mr Wawna. 2 .. 414 Mr Dorrien. 2 .. 380 Mr Worthington.... I ... 355 Mr Neville. 3 .. 330 tard Wilton . 2 ... 330 Alderman Copeland. 2 ... 325 Mr Allen . 1 .. 304 Sir C. Monck. 1 .. 280 Captain Harcourt .. 2 .. 270 Mr S. Hawo . 1 .. 200 Mr A. Johnstone ..1 .. 250 Sir C. RuRhout .... 3 .. 230 Prince Halidon.... 1 .. 225 Mr Dclrao . 2 .. 200

Total,. 241 £123,979

Tho other winners brought out, number 465, nnd wc believe, at n rough guess, that their winnings nmount to nbout £50.OOO, which mnkes tho " sum tottlc" nbout ¿Í180.000, independent of tho vahío of cups. Of this. Teddington has won £7.105; Nancy, £6,171 ; Hernandez, ^5,436 ; and Iris, £4,800 : whllo Clothworker is again at tho hend of thc 706 winning nags, with 14 races, which is three less than last yenr. This remarkable horse has thus started for 01 races within eighteen months, and won 31 of them. Copper-bottomed as ho is, hts owner seems of en to overtax him without rhymo or reason, as he pulled him out onco against Elthiron, once against Littlo Fawn fat a 381bs disadvantage), and thrco times against Miss Ann nt tho Cnlo doninn Hunt (tho last of these races being a1 four-milo one). Wo almost wonder that Mr Thomas, secretary to tho Anti-Cruolty Society does not request an interview with Mr Thomas Parr on tho subject I Ho is a slow, hut a very gamo horse ; and wo wero particularly struck with tho stylo in which ho seomod to struggle on, when hopelessly beaten by 8st 91bs, and two four-year-olds turned loose for tho Grand Stnnd Plate at Epsom. Vatican scorns to havo hist nil his ill-temper, which is rather remarkable, considering tho incessant wear-and-tcnr to which tho privnto tutoring of Sir Joseph's crack three-year-olds entailed on him in the spring. Any one who saw him, with trno Venison pluck, catch his horses ono by ono in tho York Cup, with 9at 1 Olbs, nnd run nt 431bs (or exactly a «tono ahovo weight for agc) within a short length of Unity, must bo pretty well convinced that Mr Stebblings will find " li'o in tho old horse yot." Clincher is a very fine tall horso ; but looks long and rory weak on his legs, no is n most dclicnto and difficult horso to train ; nnd it will bo seen, that after bowling over Aphrodite ho has again found his way into tho Fyficld stable. Cariboo is handsome : but ho has had some severe measures resorted to in tho log department ; and wo disllko Landgravo's shape moro than any horse wo ever saw. Ho seems

to slopo from his withers to bis tail, for nil tho , world Uko a camel. Knight of Aveno), who, I though a very gamo animal, had always a vory

coach-horse look about him, and peculiar legs I at two years old, which mado " old hands " ! shako their heads as they looked at them, is I nover llkoly to show ' ngnln ; and Bcehunter is ! an equally doubtful subject. I iko to the two Kilkenny oats, thoy effectually disposed of eaoh I other in tho over memorable Port Stakes. Cos-

sack is very much asrod in apponrnnco ; and lils stable say that they have never had him healthy since the Dorby lill this year. Strango as it i mny seem, ho has only won A75, nnd that in a

compromised walk over, sinco his Epsom tri-umph. Peck has him in hand now ; nnd it seems probnblo that lio may try it on for another season if tho handicappers will kindly pity his sorrows and favour him with 8st or so in ono of tho great ovcnls. Maid of Masham ls not likely I to appear again, which is rather a good thing

for tho northern meetings, on whoso "Queen's Plates she wns wont to pounoo liko n regular harpy. Sinco tho Groat Yorkshiro Stakes of 1818, in which Cartwright was reportod to have giren np tits mount tn Tnmplnman andar tho idea that sho was a hopoloss case, «ho has won ,214 times, t. #.£4,593. Wo havo bcon told

that sho is tho property of two ladies. Her break

down ocourrod in a tendon just nboro tho right I pastern ; but wo boliovo that tho atablo had for ] sonto tinto' past oxpected somotblng of tho ktnd ; had lt hot happened, lt docs not seem that there wasnny probability of her gotting * nearer than scoond.nt tho finish, Fcop-o'-Day Boy is llkoly to bo a popular stallion, ns ho is one of tho sliortost-loggod animals for hip slip that wo over

looked at, nnd with a frame as round and mus-cular ns.that of tho onoe-grcal. Plenlpo. Flat catcher, ls quite bis antipodes iii the formor respect ; nnd of tho .* B. Groen V trio we still

should fancy Assault moat as a sire. In 1847, , whan they wero all In th'olr two-year-old primo, this little follow wns quito master of tho thrro in their prívalo spins over Hambleton, Wo havo a strong Idea that Russborough, elthor from natural or unnatural oausos has not been himsolf this your. Such a fine-framed son of Irish Birdontchor must have more running in him than ho lins shown of Into j but £210 duo for forfeits In Messrs Weatherby's blank list will, no doubt, prevent him from enlightening tho ir bloody Saxons " on' that point, lils brother

Irisher* aro by far tho henviost defaulters in- j

scribed In tho nbovo £1.0,250 scroti. Somo

poople will havo it that Voltigour took all tho I stool but of him. If so, lt is a problem In nn turnl philosophy how tho two St Lagor heats willoh got tho vlotor »o oxaotly up to tho mark to moot Tho Dutchman on the Frldny should havo placed tho loser, who was prcsumod to bo tho fresher horso of tho two, in stiuh '* ever-lasting limbo." Our Impression about Dnrkio is, that ho tiovcr wns, and uoyor will bo, moro than a slow usoful horso i olorer under a welter weight, nnd nblo to stand Mr Crawford's favour,

ito Loo cxpodltlnn (Sam Rogers ought to bo I

well up in High Dutch by this tlir.e) i but

' wc nro very much mistaken if Windischgratz's

18S1 performances nre a real index to what ho will do when onco moro quite fit and " in-

tended."