THE RACE FOR THE DERBY.

The race for the Derby at Epsom took place on "Wednesday, May 2/th. We take the following account ef the racey with part of an article on the subject, j from the Times of the 28th Mag;*— The Ei6hty-nu?th Debby Stakes; of 60 soys. each, h. ft, for 3yr old&;. coltsj Bsfc 101b ; fillies, Bst 51b ; the second to receive 100 sots, out of the stakes. One mile ani a-half. 262 subs. Sir J. Hawley's b c Blue Gown, by Bsdes- . man '. (Wella) I Baron Eothschild's b c King Alfred t* , *«■ ' (Norman) 2t Duke of Newcastle's b c Speculum. ' UTr , ' , t» , (Kenyon $ Sir Hodgman's br c Paul Jones .. (Parry) a Mr Beadman's b c Orion (Clement) fr Sir J. Hawley's b f Green Sleeves a- t -rr i ,' , (J. Adams)' QSir J. Hawley's b c Rosicrucian •»«■ ™_ t t ■, (Custance) 9 Mr Chaplin's eh c St. Ronan.;....(Jeffery) <*• Marquis of Hastings b f Lady Elizabeth. T ,~_ , , (Fordham) 9 .Lord Ailesbury's eh f Franchise _.' ■ (Challoner) . © birL. JNewman's be The Forest King „T, „ (J. Snowden) Q Mr John Day's br c Cock of the Walk... (H. Day) ©t. Lord Glasgow's br c by Brother to Bird on the Wing (Cameron) fc ■ Mr Padwick's eh c Samson (T. French)... fr Mr J. Scott's b c YiscGunt (J. Osborne}.".* (£ Colonel Pearson's eh c Cap a Pie...; .7 (Grimshaw) 0Lord Wilton's br c See-Saw (Maidmentl (fc Baron Rothschild's brc Suffolk (J., Daley) (Jr Betting.—7 to 4 agst Lady Elizabeths 100 to 30 agst Blue Gown, 8 to 1 ags& Paul Jones, 10 to 1 agst Suffolk, 100 to 8 agst Speculum, 100 to 7 agst Orion, 25 toe, 1 agst Rosicracian, 33 to 1 leach agsfi Cap-a-Pie,-Pace, and Green Sleeve, 40 tot 1 agst See-Saw, 50" to 1 each agst Sfc Rpnan and Forest King, 100 to 15 agsfc King Alfred, and, 100 to I.agst Franchise. With little or no loss of.time, tnatoilfcts of the 18 competitors assembled iit the paddock were completed, LadyElizabeth having,, gone ..through thatperformance at Mr Sherward's "The Warren." They then paraded past tta Stand, and having reached the distance, they wheeled round, and•, commencedL their preliminary, canter, led by Paul Jones, Rosicrucian, Green-Sleeves, and. Blue Gown, several lengths in advance o£ Lord Glasgow's, colt, Orion,. Forest Kingj and the Baron's .pair, a long-way in whose? rear came Franchise, . the Duke o£ Newcastle's two, Samson,:-, each eliciting special -remarks .as.-they swept by. Pace, on neariag the enclosure*.., faltered in his stride, and. immediately after Aldcroffc.was seen,endeavouring fe*^ stop him, when it became > apparent that' • he had broken down, and^upon his demounting and returning.to the enclosureit was found that the.back-tendons of his off fore-leg had given, .way. This sensa^ tion, however, soon gay,e.-wayto the more, important business on hand, the progress of the others to the.,starting-post, whicit having been reached, v -. Mr M"seorge speedSy got them in order, and, with tha. exception ,of three or four failures ocea^ sioned by Lady Elizabeth refusing to joia.. her horses, he dispatchej^rihem in excellent time and close company;. When fairly hi. their places the running, was taken up !by~ Cap^arPie,; having Orion on his left, the pair being followed, by Speculum, See- ; Saw, Blue Gown, Pa:tti Jones, Franchise^ King Alfred, and .Grean Sleeve in a body> I the latter lying. on ..the inside, pulling: i doable. To these . succeeded Suffolk^ ; Rosicrucianj Forest:,r.2ong, and Cock qj^ I the Walk, headingc.vthe next division, in. the rear.^ of whom were seen thaieoldursof Samson, discount, St. RDnau,. i and Lady Elizabei&v. In these positions they ran a .quarter of a mile, whear Orion headed. JCblcfael Pearson's colt an& assumed thieicomLmaad. Speculum^ Blue Gown* and, his .stable companion, Greea, Sleeves,' at the same time were sees.. gradually nearingrthe front, followed bjr Paul Jones and. St. Ronan, the latter^ having quitted, his rearward positioaj which was ' still:'. occupied by "Vlscouai^ Samson, and L;asy Elizabeth, ths- favoriteat this early period of the race>/appearing: unable to act;' ; and as they casae- through! the. '' bushes^* Fordham, to .tlie alarm of" hfr backers,, was seen '{ : hard-■apon her,** Taut ,withoii.k mending her position, anS. as. they reaoA©d the mile gost she wasf hopelessly, oufc of the lace^ so. far asany,.chaiace; she now poss-essed. Orioa. still held; his promißent positioa. in tho. van as they descended the. hill, G&p-a-Pie lyin^. second, Blues Gown, iiliird, King Alnjed.- fourth, with;, Speculttai, Franchise, Baul Jones, Green. SleeveSj and St. Ronan close in ther? trad?;; then foliowe&j&osierueian, Suffolkv and; Si>e-Saw ; but on rounding Tattenham corner the lofcclosed up, and ran hx <SQ-jnpany into the ; straight, where the two? Readers were beaten-, and suddenly disappeared from the- -san, tlie colors of Greeit Sleeves and Rpsici-ufiian at the same tiraet fading away. T^he running, through thes» withdrawals^ left with King Alfred, on the lowes. ground, having Blue Gown, in the centee., on the right of whom came? Speculußij/ Paul Jonts, See-Saw, SI. d Honan, and Suffolk. Franchiso, who?. I, up to. tMs had been runniag., he ig | a forward position, suddenly col;n j lapsed" on crossing the road, and &&• it! mgdia,teiy after Ohalloner was seen t» it | c\ispi.ount,_ lie having ascertained thafe us I s|i.e had- broken her leg badly. At tka :ia '; distance Paul Jones and Ses-Saw weror i6j! added, to the beaten division, and tha ke. was now leffe with, the■■•Baron's oufc~. tis : s.ider, Kicg Alfred, and Blue••GowDj xh& 3n contest being watclied; witt the inos^ p§ feveiigb. escitenient by:^the:-^ljousaii«fe it. cogijaitted to the Judge? fii^t Half-wa^

tip the former appeared to have the best of it, when loud shouts from the ring arose of *l The Baron wins," which were repeated from the hill-side and the Stands, but they had scarcely been raised when a ■counter-cheer for Sir Joseph arose, and shortly after Wells was seen quietly creeping up, and, catching King Alfred (who stopped to nothing) at the Stand, won a fine race by half a length, very cleverly. Speculum finished a bad third, St. Ronan fourth, Rosicrucian fifth, Suffolk sixth, Orion seventh, Paul Jones eighth, Green Sleeves ninth. Then came, at wide intervals, Lord Glasgow's colt, See-Saw. Qap-a-Pie, and the favorite. A long interval separated these from Forest King, who did not pass the post. Viscount and Franchise walked in the crowd. Net value of the stakes, L 6876. The time, as taken by Benson's chronograph, was 2 minutes 43| seconds.

It cannot be said that this modern prophecy justifies its claim to attention by its accuracy. It is, indeed, often as ambiguous as ancient oracles, and it is wonderful how many horses appear somewhere in the leading ranks in these visions of the future. But it'is only Mr Punch who ventures on a complete application of the rule " aut erit aut now," and less privileged prophets are compelled, after all qualifications, to make a final choice. But when the prophet has placed his horses first, second, and third, he has exposed himself to a rough. refutation. The result this year offers a melancholy instance of human shortsightedness. "We published a series of predictions on Monday, and the betting quotations are also a kind of daily anticipation. According to almost all the authorities the race this year was a foregone conclusion. Lady Elizabeth's victory was "a moral certainty," barring accidents. It must be owned there seemed good reason for the conclusion. As a two-year-old, the mare had been a kind of phenomenon, and she was said to be backed for fabulous sums of aaoney. She became the popular favorite, and the betting was nearly even. But all these hopes are blighted, and she is iiowhcro in particular. One, indeed, of the prophets did actually select Blue Gown as the winner, but he had his share of misfortune in placing second and third two horses which were not: heard of in the race. The winner, again, was a steady favorite in the betting, but it is curious that the recognised authorities depreciated him. His fortunate owner, who can now boast the rare glory of having won four Derbys, "declared, to win" ©sly the day before : the race with either of his two other horses in preference. The leading prophet could only say that " it would be folly to ignore the horse's chance altogether." But the' second horse will vbe the great confusion of the prophets. He was nqt even thought of among the •starters on Saturday. On Tuesday he ran in a minor race, but was so little expected to win that he was scarcely backed. He was absolutely unknown in the bett--ing, and our principal prophet.'" had no hopes of him whatever." The third horse, though he had once stood well in the betting, and was fancied by the prophets, was "knocked out" a few days before the race. Add to this that five other horses were named for a place in the various predictions of Saturday, and the discomfiture of the prophets will be seen in its completeness.. .. . . ,

They have probably become hardened to such misfortunes, or we should condole with them. But they know better than we that the result of a race is more uncertain than any other terrestrial affair, and their ill-luck consists simply in the necessity they are under of predicting it. There is something very surprising in the confidence with which people receive this sort of prediction. A race is about the most ticklish thing in the world. In the first place, it is a performance at high pressure, and the best animal or the best man may not be able to perform at high pressureatthegivenmoment. Perhaps "he is sick, in love, or hasn't dined." A race, again, is aperformance within a very short time, and there is no opportunity for repairing a blunder. A single slip, a lost opportunity, and the chance is gone. We all remember the cruel disappointment in Dundee's year, when one of the finest horses ever seen cracked a sinew just as he was coming in a sure winner. One horse yesterday broke down in the preliminary canter, and another broke her leg in the course of the race. Perhaps, as a rule, there is not, after all, very much difference between the two or three best Horses of the year, and trifles will turn the balance. Then, again, nothing is more natural than that there should be some outsider -who only reaches his true form by the time of the race. These are some of the risks and possibilities which the prophets must encounter. If on the off day we may be allowed to moralise, we would ask whether it be worth while to go so far in speculating on these chances as to stake great fortunes and fine estates, and even good reput.i i ns on hi issue?