GRAND PARADE'S DERBY.

BLACK HORSE WINS

THE SECOND IN 139 YEARS,

(By Robin Goodfellow in 'Daily

Mail.')

Grand Parade illustrates with perfectly lurid effects th»e saying that "while there is life there is hope." Short of being dead, or in a sanatorium for equines—anywhere, indeed, but at Epsom—he could not "have inspired fainter hopes of victory- on the part of-his friends than accompanied him to the post for the Victory Derby.

It defied Derby superstition for a black horse to win. Grand Parade is the second to do so in 139 years.

A change had come over the scene since he suddenly blossomed into a raging tip for Epsom. That was only a few weeks ago, and 6 a lot of people caught the infection, which originated in reports of his superiority to Dominion —third in the Tws Thousand and winner of the Newmarket Stakes. Several pretty big wagers were accepted about Grand Parade, and bis price rapidly dropped to 100 to 12, but 33 to 1 was bawled against him yesterday with none to do him reverenea; at least not among the regular forces. These wise-acres have no use for horses that go out in this ominous way. A few inveterate lovers of outsiders among the put lie no doubt chanced a bit on him. , :

All this in view of the result must appear highly perplexing to the multitude. Here was the alleged better colt than Dominion knocked out to forlorn odds, a eomparatievly short price taken about the other, and the whole thing plunged into confusion by Grand Parade, winning! "If I had two Derby horses in the stable," said a veteran trainer, "and didn't know waich was the better on the day, why, you might revoke my licence." I fancy. if the circumstances were put before this worthy soal he would fesl the injustice of this hasty censure. "LORD GLANELY'S RHJASON. \ Recently there was trouble with Grand Parade. A bad heel needed to be plastered for a week. His last few days of work were not satisfactory, and ultimately the stable aban[doned all hope of him, transferring j their affections to Dominion/ o Of course the Welsh Peer Was pleased with r his success, as indeed who would not be pleased to win the Derby, and the Victory edition of it at that? Yet there probably was a kink in his satisfaction, for the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" had put things away, and in the circumstances Dominion would perhaps have been a more acceptable winner. But these matters are decided by the gods. A hogshead of philosophy is cran?ned into the five words: ."Racing is a funny business." Some of the backers of Grand Parad ■: tried desperately hard to £-.-t out j of their money. Few were success- i ful" owing to the sharp 1 jp.gthening of the odds, which made ' hedging" ' an almost ruinous buslhsss, and so quite a iot of persons yesterday won money against their will and intensely to their surprise. In,a *ew casps r too. the amount was quite substantial. THE PANTHER'S ILLBEHAVIOUR. For a vivid example of this take the case of The Panther rampaging about at the post and "shutting up" in the race;after going half a mile. He has always been a model of good temper" and docility at h..me. Nothing coiild. upset his equanimity. But a complete transformation 'for the worse was. seen yesterday in a sudden outburst of ill-behaviour during which he could be persuaded to do nothing right. He kept ,on whipping round and backing in a'wtiy reminiscent of Kennyniore in IVI4, after that horse had beer, kicko'l and generally upset. The Panther had caused more than one expert to look askance at him in the paddock, though I myself could detect no fault or flaw iv his appearance, considering inde3d that he looked beautiful. But for some reason or other he broke badly at the pest.

Crowds lined both sides of the course for a perfect view of the start. These, if anything, were larger than evar yesterday, and I reiterate an old and oft expressed opinion that a Clear space should be kept for a, distance of fifty yards from the "gate." Nervous horses take fright from these masses of people, particularly if, as was tne case with The Panther, they are experiencing them for the first time.

Until yesterday The Panther had never been on circuit. His racing had been confined to Newmarket, where the spectators at the post can usually be counted on two hands. Nor is there any mobbing in the Birdcage to equal what occurs in the Epsom paddock, while the dense masses )ining the rails alongside which The Panther headed the parade quickly brought out symptoms of excitability. It was not exactly^ a case of a horse being "on his toes." That is not a bad sign, for animals behaving so usually are in good health, "their souls in ?rms and eager for the fray."

Whether the favourite had this fighting spirit during the pi rade and canter I cannot say,, but it at once became evident when the fit-Id assembled at the "gate" that he was going to be troublesome. An attendant ijvent to take hold of him, but his jockey. Cooper who knows him well —or imagined he did until now-

waved him off with a "leave him to me." When eventually the flag fell The Panther got of£ wprs> of all except Coriolanus.

What would happen next? I thought of the mighty .Scc-ptre. who was 1 similarly handicapped in Ard Patrick's year, and suffered from an impetuous 'attempt "to make up, ground against the collar. It is a stiff climb from the Derby startingpost to the brow of the hill. The Panther tore up it after the manner of Sceptre, improving his position until he had only Paper Money and Lord Glanely's pair in front of him. I wonder if it was these strenuous exertions which, coming on top of his excitable antics at the post, caused him to "chuck it?

Cooper said afterwards, the colt would do nothing from that point. A taste of the whip evoked no response. Animals that he had passed came tLundering past him again, and finally no doubt the jockey accepted the situation, for there id never any sense in punishing an unwilling horse. Anyhow, The Panther came home in an ignominious position for so hot a favourite. Of course, the form,t with Buchan where he was— beaten half a length from Grand Parade—and The Panther 'down the cjurse" is horribly wrong; the Two Thousand shows that clearly enough, and the favourite was believed to have imp'rO'/ed many pounds since he bested* Buchan out of the Guineas. But if, as Cooper says, he "never promised to do anything," there is the upset explained at once.

A COMFORTABLE WIN.

Paper. Money is such a fine stayer that Donoghue was justified in making full use of an excellent beginning. He strode along in front at a cracking pace—the time wvs not far behind record. Grand Parade and Dominion were always lying handy until the latter retired beaten in the neighbourhood of Tattenham Corner. A moderate start rather handicapped Buchan, but he gat on fihgting terms in plenty of time to win if good enough.

Grand Parade -swirled round Tattenham Corner -just behind Paper Money, with Buchan on the outside in close proximity. Thesa three now had the issue to themselves, and when half-way down the straight, Grand Parade deprived Sir Walter Gilbey's colt of the lead the destination of the spoils was assured. It made no difference in my opinion that Brennan, with a clear course before him, for some unfathomable reason switched Buchan round and made his final effort between the other two. Grand Parade beat him without any rea 1. trouble, and that after having jumped one of the roads, a proceeding which is apt to unbalance a horse. All Alone and Milton disappointed badly, but Tangiers plodded on into fifth place, for what it was worth.

Ovations for a 33 to 1 Derby winner are not to be expected. Human nature even on Victory Derby day will not run 10 those lengths. Moreover, the multitude had cheered itself hoarse over the King's success in, the Stewards' Handicap an hour pr iviously and probably felt exhausted.

These scenes of tumultouous enthusiasm are described above. Nothing approaching them had been witnessed on a racecourse sinee-Min-bru won the Derby for King Edward in 1909. I should not be surprised if after this experience the Prince of Wales, who looked on delightedly with his brother Prince Albert from the royal box, feels an itch to set up as an owner. Ttie fact of Viceroy being a tremendous favourite with the general public had nothing to do with the warmth of his leception, He furnished occasion for the crowd to applaud their Majesties <>n their first appearance at a race meeting since the war broke out, and they would have seized on it with the same wholeheartedness if he had started a rank outsider.

When the ovation seemed to be spent and the King turned away from a position on the Jockey Club stand to rejoin her Maj os. ty in the royal box, a stentorian voice cried: "Let's have another look at you, George." And the first gentleman in Europe smilingly complied.

LOSSES OVER THE PANTHER

Very heavy losses have been sustained over The Panther and Stefan the Great—the latter scratched after a disappointing show in the Two Thousand. These colts divided winter favouritism, first one and then the other having a slight advantage, and large sums going on both. Tens of thousands must have been dropped over the pair, and no doubt some firms have done exceedingly well over the Derby—that is as betting now goes. But I have not heard of any bookmaker having won a fortune.

Grand Parade for a considerable tiit.e ranked as a well-backed candidate. A bet of 8,000 to 500 and 2,000 to 500 for a place was taken about him in one hand. n«aking 10,----000 in all, or enough to l:nock the bottom out of a large "book." As a matter of fact, one of the heaviest operators has a losing balance on the race, notwithstanding all the money scooped in over The Panther and Stefan the Great.

Bookmakers who started to bet only on the Derby at th^j last moment must have done well, for by. then Grand Parade had receivsi his conge, and they had a tempestuous favourite "down the course." 1 know of no uig winners among backers Grand Parade, but there are plenty of lucky ones, for reasons explained above.

Everything was against betting at Epsom yesterday, whether on the Derby or the minor aaEfirs, th? amalgamated rings being so congested as to.make business almost impossible. No doubt this had a g»-<-?t deal to do with its tenuity. A feature of the business was the partiality of the sn;all backer for The Panther—a notable fact for the. reason that thi-s type of punter is seldom attracted by a raging hot favourite. Buchan and Paper Money were the great place fancies, and bookmakers ultimately were chary of laying any moremoney against them even at the disproportionate rate or evens. Over all the others put together Vif. business was quite insigniucant.

Lord Glanely had never previously won a classic race. It »s an auspicious start to begin with the Victory Derby. Grand Parade is a son of Mr. Crolter's Derby winner Orby, and was bred Y-y that gentleman, being purchased by Lord Glanely as a yearling for 470gs.