LURE OF THE ST. LEGER.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 211, 7 September 1927, Page 14

LURE OF THE ST. LEGER.

OLDER THAN THE DERBY.

EARI/T DATS AT DOKCASTER.

FIVE GUINEA PRIZE

(By HORACE WYNDHAM.)

f 'P 8 st - I**" will be run at Doncaster thlflftt" , * i" e f?Z lt . ot thta * reat claeelciZ mVT?,. 0 ? wh,ch le re «»rded below, will be published in our next issue. 1 The St. Leger, having been established in 1776, is four years older than the Derby. Its founder was a soldier, Lieut.-General Sir Anthony St. Leger, a cousin of the first Baron Doneraile. The general, who commanded the 86th Foot, had many close connections with Yorkshire and the Doncaster district, and at one time was M.P. for Grimsby. He died without children, but the sporting event to which he gave his name has kept his memory green ever since among lovers o f the Turf.

There was racing on the Town Moor at Doncaster long, before General St. Leger"s day. It wa= -onducted under municipal auspices, * for the civic records show that in 1614 the Town Council sanctioned an expenditure of one shilling from their funds to a certain Anthony Hogg, as a reward for "making a track on the racecourse." As the years rolled by the city fathers inreased their patronage; and eventually, n 1687, the daring proposition was put

[and carried that "Mr. Mayor do sub-β-ribe five guineas to encourage horse- | racing." In 1716 this was swollen by [another half-a-crown.

Since then things have grown, and to?ay the corporation, which still controls tjtie annual September meeting, adds several thousand pounds to the stake liioney. They find it.a good investment, ifor it brings in a big return. In fact, ji; proves a golden harvest, not only to f-tie local shopkeepers, but also to every[bjdy who has a bed to let within possible distance of the Town Moor.

j The first St. Leger on record (but not I flown as such until a: couple of years l.ter) was run on September 24, 1776, |f >r a sweepstake of 25 guineas from each übscriber. There were only five starters, he winner being AUabaculia, the property of the sporting Marquis of Bockngham. The. jockey, a certain- John Singleton, was well over fifty 'years of He lived to be ninety, [but it is e.-ident. that he did not amass wealth, e nee he died in the workhouse.

I WTien the Doncaster Corporation erect ji its first grandstand (towards the end < '" the 18th century), it levied a toll of e en guineas a-head from each member c the building syndicate. Its next e tivity was, in 1826, to add a "noblei en's stand," at a cost, of £1300, for a'mission to which the charge -was 30 t ineas per- coronet. The corporation a , so maintained a pack of hounds, and conducted' 5 a "select assembly" at the J imicipal offices, to which nobody received, a>-ticket who did not possess a 'titled This attempt to be "exclusive" ed, as may be imagined, to a good deal >f heart-burning.

But the race committee had other t-oublee with which to contend. Thus, c espite all their precautions to secure •delectness" the Town Moor attracted a gang of "undesirables," in the shape of c host of thimble-riggers and carde":arpers who flocked there for the pnrpose of relieving the honest Yorkshireinen (and women) of their superfluous cash. On one occasion, his Worship the Mayor himself headed a troop of Yeomanry and special constables, and rounded up a hundred of these unwelcome visitors, marching them off in triumph to Wakefield gaol. Another evil that was still harder to suppress existed in the multitude of gambling "hells," which were set up in the town during the race-week. At last the local magistrates sent for the chief constable, and informed him that if the proprietors were not cleared out, he would lose his job. This proved effective. Society Patron*. In the "good old days," long before such new-fangled inventions as trains and motor c«re k»d been thought of, Ifce Doncaster meeting wae a social reunion' of th* first magnitude. The nobility attended in lumbering coaches and chariot*, with small armiee of liveried flunkeys in attendance. The Duke of Devonshire and tbe Eexl of Scarborough would arrive on the course, with teams «f six bays, twenty outriders, and * mounted oavakade of the neighbouring eqoiree. A* * eocial function, the St Leger ?*«oy came into prominence in the year ***** when the meeting wae patronised °7 the Prince Begent and the Duke of Uarenee, ««& afterwards to meant <fce

Throne, In 1836, just two years before she- wae to follow her Royal uncle, William IV.; the little Princess Victoria! accompanied by the Duchees of Kent, appeared on the Town Moor, and was given an enthusiastic reception. Since then, the connection between Royalty and the St. Leger has been maintained. It wae a favourite with King Edward, both as Prince and Sovereign; and in 1900 he won the event with Diamond Jubilee,

Charles Dickens i e not thought of ae a betting man. Still, he once >luiwed " and to good purpose, on the St. Le» r This was in 1856, when, together with his brother-novelist Wilkie Collins, he went to Doncaster. Buying a race-card from a persistent hawker, he picked out three winners consecutively. Disraeli, who patronised the 1875 meeting, was not eo lucky. He wanted to back Craigmillar, who won with ease, but, on the suggestion of Mr. Gerrard Sturt, he backed a horse that came in last. Still, that he bore no malice is shown by the fact that, in the following year, he recommended Mr. Sturt for a peerage.

Famous Owners and Jockeys. The St. Leger has more than once been carried off by the same owner. Between 1786 and 1814 the Duke of Hamilton was victorious on seven occasions. William Smith, a jockey, however, beat the ducal record, since he rode nine winners; and, in much later days, Fred Archer hnd six wins. Among the biggest races of "the Tinman" (as Archer was always known) was that of 1882, when he was successful with Lord Falmouth's Dutch Oven. The filly had been defeated at Goodwood, and Archer thought so little of her chances that he accepted an engagement to ride another horse for Lord Stamford. As 'Lord Falniouth, who had a first claim on his services, would not release him, he went to the post feeling very despondent. Xor did the fall of the flag cheer him, as, until they were halfway from the judge's box, Dutch Oven was well in the rear. It was then that the great jockey made his supreme effort, and, forcing his mount to the front, won by a neck. Hie "present" from the big plungers, who had netted a considerable sum, was £1500.

When Dutch Oven won, nobody was more astonished than Lord Falmouth, as he had entered her merely to please Matthew Dawson, hie trainer. Old Sir John Astley, who had lost more than he could afford, was so furious that he lodged an "objection." It was heard and disposed of in record time. Twentyfour seconds after* the numbers were hoisted, he requested the stewards to summon Lord Falmouth, Matthew Dawson and Archer, "to inquire into the running of Dutch Oven." In one minute, twenty seconds, the stewards, consisting of the Duke of Beaufort, the Earl of Durham, and the Hon. H. W. Fitzwilliam, announced that ."no case was established for action on their part." This 1882 St. Leger was also memorable as being the third in which Archer had won the race for Lord Falmouth. His last St. Leger was that of 1886, when he was successful with Ormonde. Two months later he shot himself in a fit of temporary insanity.

Another great jockey associated with the classic race on Doncaster Town Moor was Mornington Cannon. In 1894 he won with Lord Arlington's Throstle, a blind horse about whose prospects the bookmakers thought so little that they offered 50-1 against. However, they were sadder and wiser when Throstle passed the judge's box ahead of the field. Mr. H. Walker's Night Hawk, the 1913 victor, was also a 50-1 chance.

The field for the St. Leger has varied considerably. It has been as small as three, and as large as twenty-four. Last year it was 12. Among the winners of the last two decades nave been the Duke of Westminster, Lord Derby (three times), Lord Londonderry, Lord Lonedale, Lord Woolavington, and the Agfa Khan. During the same period Childe hae had five wins, and Donoghue two.