FOREIGN.

Press, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5364, 4 December 1882, Page 3

FOREIGN.

•'Bobin Hood," the English correspondent of the •• Australasian," says, rarely has any trainer bees in such a mess on the ere of a great event as was John Porter in the matter of jockeys fop the Leger favorite*. It had afl along been quite I generally understood that Lord Falmouth would not nm Dutch Oven, and that Archer would have the mount on Shotover, ■while Tom Cannon would ride Oeheimness. as he had done in all her races. Bat at the last moment both these calculations were ttpeet, for Lord Fahnouth determined to run bis mare, and Mr Keene -wired from America to Mr Day— " Ban Eomeo, Cannon must ride." Now Mr Keene gives Tom Cannon a very heavy retaining fee for first call on hi 3 services, and there was, of course, no getfing away from these orders. It was, of course, very annoying to find oneself doomed to ride an animal against which the extreme odds of 1000 to 5 were on offer, and to be at the last minute taken off the bock of the first favorite, bat Cannon felt there was no hope for it,' and doubtless consoled hirowlf with the fact thai he was well paid (I think JBSSOQQ a year) for tie very little work he is called upon to do by bis liberal Americas master. Of course, Porter made every effort to get the best available talent, but Wood was wanted for Battlefield, and Fordhamfor Sweetbread,/and so it came about that Geheunniss, the crack, with

odde of 11 to 8 laid on her, was ultimately ridden in the great Doncaeter St. Leger by a jockey named Loatee, who until recently has been best known on selling platers at Alexandra Park or Croydon. For Shotover ultimately Eossiter was retained—a by no means bad jockey,.although, there can be little doubt that he lost his head i

when, on Eobert the Devil, in the Derby, he found that terrible Archer come sweeping down upon him on Send Or. I do not think, however, that all this trouble about the jockeys much affected the market status of the two mares, for although Shotorer receded considerable, it was-be-

cause Porter assured bi« friends that she had no chance whatever with the Oake winner, Geheimniss.

After describing the great race, the same authority goes on to say:—There was Tery little cheering—how could there be— for such a reversal of form does not go down veil, even if owner, jockey, and trainer be above suspicion. How can the running be accounted for, when only a fortnight before the mare went down as dead as a stone before such goods as Peppermint, who later on. in the Cup at Doncaster could not get a place in Sve runners. There can be no doubt if the the mare had been less fashionably owned, trained, and ridden, there would have been a. storm of JTirHgna&io:n. a.-t tlie resalfcThere were a good many large winners, and these were the lucky men who backed the mare before Goodwood, and who could not hedge, and so won, as it were, against their will. Still it seems that Archer himself must have fancied his mount, for I believe Lord Falmouth would have allowed him to ride Shotoverfor theDokeof Westminster had he felt so disposed. One gentleman who stood to win a lot of money by the winner's success put Archer on £1000 to nothing, and another .£250 if he got a place. Unto him that hath shall be given is indeed a true saying in Archer's case, and I should like to have a cheque for all he is worth over £100,000. The value of the St. Leger Stakes this year was JMSOO. Dutch Oven during her racing career has won for Lord Falmonth .£16.000. Mr Stead'e colt Splendour ran unplaced in the Middle Park Plate, won by Macheath. The appended extract from " Sporting Life " will give some idea of the expensive tariff in vogue at Newmarket: —" A gentleman wishes to go down and see the races— perhaps his first visit to the 'glorious' Heath of Newmarket. Driving from the station his carriage is stopped at the Cambridgeshire Stand, and 10s demanded for entrance on the Heath. A drive of less than half a mile brings the visitor to the Eowley Mile Stand, and to enter Tattersall's Bing a further fee of 2 soys is necessary, the ' open, sesame,' to the saddling paddock is 103 more. The visitor then thinks he is now free of the forest, and after witnessing a race finishing at the Eowley Mile winning post leaves the edifice to see one which finishes at either the T.Y.C., Abingdon Mile, or Bushes. Barely has he driven 100 yards before there appears a barrier guarded by Jockey Club officials, who demand '1 soy.' So to see racing on the Cesarewitch day at Newmarket the cost for admission to the Heath is exactly 4 soys. Of course there are cheaper ways of seeingracing on Newmarket Heath, but not any materially so, as no one with any selfrespect would care to be seen in the New Eing, or the Happy Hunting Ground for welshers, as it is called, the * open, sesame,* to which is 2s 6d, while for admittance to the Outer Eing, another enclosure, the fee is just one-half that to Tattersall's."

Walton, the American plunger, has again been distinguishing himself by his big betting. In America, in a race between Barrett, Bootjack and Girofle, he backed the latter for big money. He took 14,000d01. to 10,000dol. in one bet, but declined the "twice? , : of a big English bookmaker who had visited America. However, he came again, and took an even bet of lOfiOOdol. Girofle won, and Walton pocketed -64800. It took just about half that to pay his losses on the English St. Leger, for which he was standing Gehelmniss and Shotover to be one, two, and got put out by the surprise of the year. _^