SPORTING ODDS AND ENDS.

Press, Volume XLIV, Issue 6924, 2 December 1887, Page 3

SPORTING ODDS AND ENDS.

[Licensed Victuallers" Gazette.] ' - w ter plenipotentiary won the Derby of { _a} he stood at 3 to 1 for the St. Leger, I •£___« general opinion was that he was 'brand to win." In the Sporting MagaI atwsfor tbe August of that year was pub--1 Kshed a paragraph to the effect that a __cib-r of warning letters had been ad- \ dressed to the owner, _Ir Batson, containM Serumours ot all sorts of evil intentions 1 Gainst his horse; aud the writer, I finished up by prophesying; I H-iiipo's success—provided "he be well if 2nd meets with no unfair usage." This, however, proved no warn in*? to the public, li 0 p r obablv did not think of a very imnortant factor in the struggle—viz., that Meuipo scoring the double event would oro*re the ruin of half the bookmakers, «bJ those gentlemen are never particular «to the means they use to avert such a catastrophe. On the Sunday morning wbft-Conoliy gave " the pride of the South jjjd the terror of the North" —as the ___-t*rite vvasgandilpquentiy named—his jnorning gallop the lioise was everything tJat co'ild be wished, and the betting on him was faster rhan ever. On Monday he seemed equally well, but on Tuesday _aorn- " lag there was something wrong. He had dways been a very diflicult horse to saddle •ad mount, kicking and biting and ramMjrfßg; but when the groom went into ' testable on the eventful morning he was lying in an inert sort of manner, and cot-Id fconly roused by several kicks ; he offered jKiesistance to the saddle, was as tame when Conolly mounted him as an old S bro-e**-^"'* 1^ hack, and was so listless gad spiritless that hardly a gallop could be cot out of him. Afe*"* of the sharp 'uns smelt a rat, and hedged- But the infatuation of the mob •ras-so great that they could see nothing the nutter with their idol; as soon as he inpeare- thoy rent the air with cries of "__aipo! Flenipo!'' and not another "*__fc 1 "* as named as a possible winner. *tbcu : -**"*6 the start, and then every j&oe?the cries grew fainter and fainter, IBf a ominous silence fell on the multiadft«nd hundreds of faces grew white as i jgith as another shout, at first almost I "afraid of tbe sound it made," rose higher i ii.d_i.her—" The favourite's beat I" Then Touchstone, who stood at 4i to 1. rushed to the front, and his jockey, Calloway, slfflosp dumbfounded with astonishment, looked round to see whether some dreadful iKident had not harpened to the field; bet he passed the post, winning by three. leoKths. while the mighty Plenipo was ja>;t but one. That the whole thing was a rile conspiracy, and that Plenipo had, in " spite of all the precautions taken, been got it, is past a doubt. But who were the jmiltv parties? "Ay, there's the rub!" "fhfr _orf keeps its secrets well. Touch- . stone, however, was a good horse, and as a jiregot three Derby winners—Cotherstone,Orhado, and Surplice—to say nothing of others only less famous ; while he was the grands!, c of Hermit," and a second general .ion of noted racers ; and lived to the patriarchal age of thirty-one. When Crockford retired from the management of that magnificent gambling dob in Sc James's street which had swallowed up so many huge fortunes, and where so many had been wrecked, body end soul, he gave a grand dinner, at -which all the cream of the aristocracy and ! the racing world were present. When the ".loth was removed—it was removed in those days-'-he rose to make a speech. As every oce present knew he had risen from j a fishmonger's shop to a palace, I it was not; only graceful, but necessary, to refer to that fact; and as every person was equally aware that he nad made his way from Billingsgate to BeJgravia over the skulls of his patrons, something apologetic on that score was .squally looked for. " 'I have not made a bad use of my money " lie said, -with a touch of cynical satire; "I have looked on it as a sort of trust, I have often fed the hungry" {in allusion to the splendid suppers that were provided gratis to the patrons of the hell), "and many are the naked I have dothed" (the poor devils who were lucky i enough to win). *' Yes, Crocky, my boy," interrupted ft wag, " but the rich you have aent away empty." ■ The 'Cart of" the present is not ' notable for gentleness and strict decorum of manners, but it has certainly made jareatadvances in that direction since the time of Queen Anne. This last of the Stuort sovereigns, who is now chiefly reffiembered on account of the apocryphal . Value of her farthings, was, like .ill her race, a great patroness of racing. In the Sammer York Meeting'of 1714, the great feature on the lirsfc day was Her Majesty's Hold Cup for six-year-olds, carrying 12st, to be run iv four-mile heats. It was a rough and ready mode of riding in tho-e days; .io.keys were not par_icalar a .out a foul, and jostling and Cannoning were considcrbd quite allowable, while the jocks would lay into one another with their whips, and, -Iter passing the judge's box, finish up with regular set-to. <>n this occasion a noted jockey, named Robert Hesseltine, who rode Mr Childers' Duchess, ran Stephen Jefferson on Foshunter so near -becords that he was obliged to whip over the horse's shoulder, and by this trick Hesse'tine won by a length. Furious with ttg., Jefi'ersou rode up to the victor and cat him across the face with his whip; Hesseltine returned the compliment, and they slashed awayat one another, amid the tncouraging cheers of the bystanders, till -they were covered with blood. When the row had subsided Mr Pierson, the owner 8f Foxhnnter, claimed the race on account , Sfthefonl, and after a long consideration J committee of fryers decided in his \BWo_r. 'Forthwith, according to the custom of tie day, Mr Childers challenged MrPier"»a to decide the question with sword or Pistol. .Friends interfered, aud proposed the-aeat should be run again ; this was •greed to, nud for f lie second time Duchess *»c_by a clear length. So far from settling Jo*difficulty,'however, it only increased ft.for, finding himself beaten, Pierson Mclai-d that Duchess, having been dis---Uiiled by the Trvcrs on account of foul rtdmg, w__s not entitled to run again, nothing could now keep them from flying st each others throats; there was. a meeth_*,aaf] Pierson was wounded in the thigh, while tbe two jockeys, who attended their toasters, fell upon one another tooth and nail with their whips, until their faces JWe scored like pork, and Hesseltine bad »b-carried away on a litter. Still both -"■""ties were a*s for off settlement ""» ever so the next act of the .. {""agi-comedv was a law suit, all cets were withdrawn, and the cap handed 'gl'er to the care of the Lord -.favor of , wme. Not the least curious part of the «o*T was the decision of the court, which *« to. the effect that as both jockeys had ■ "wen guilty of foul riding, the horses who . lan t'lird and fourth . hould have been , warded the prhse. As they had not ..•"aimed it, the third heat was declared . jsaa aud void, and the stakes were divided j**"""e_n the four horses that ran "n the __* two licats - The second day of this !g"nc York meeting the Queen s horse, ', ?*J*", scored a victory; but while the _*9*« i were cheering and messengers were TWh*R post-haste to London with the news, *oe royal-ownqr was struct-, down with •Popleiy, and when the couriers arrived •a- tf was poured into a dead _j."^* Tcr * ras k to appearances is a motto «__! a Ppl»cs to horses as well as to men, *j*°"J_h the "never"" might be more corJj*tly changed "to do not always;" for ■aough it is not invariably " handsome la « handsome does," yet Nature usually " J~f ? er hall-mark upon both two-legged jad four-legged animals. Many & sport- • __". "Jl*" 1 " faowev '""*f has discovered to his to *it that there have been very notable ex«paons to the rule in the history of t!_"j K ' Was ever such an unpromising Jpos'Cg winner as Hermit ever seen! shall I forget what a miserable creature he looked on that coldest of Derby "»js as he walked round the buah in the «entre of the paddock perfectly unnoticed __?. overlooked h J the gapers after the -avoctrite, says a sporting writer: "and * ftiead pointing to him, with a laugh, fri-eMui to bet mc that he _£__> *«- horse in the race. His coat fair]?

lK a _y_*'F ra _?h6 on his back and iSr_t .l he looked *P "*d unequal __.* he *"»* suffering from an afwa_ not onlv C _ dd -^ a ;"4 y fct M» w «» nwwrt«_,\ d - ec,,iw one ' but!t brought i-wdS _,ft h _ s o,raeTs m,u than «">/ i__?to __, fch f h , the race. Accor**.- ---__-____--£ he has been inno£brln ?,8 in S to his owner H m thc nineteen years he has wM_ __?_? h ?, w e n that remarkably race, _______ • rec %' he mußt have added im! "-V-alue of the B____ney w_e_ V? .. hafc . memorable Derby-day, -rieldto-n^ 1 *- 1 !? 5 Hobbie Noble -«l to thJVStEZt. ru _ h memorable as _^?__i_ Bta=d madd iest on which tbe great race was ever run, as two sporting ______•« making thel -*- wav aw-^the S2m_ tv? i'. ere stopped by an Irish _S __I„_Y roul i?_ a »ke to know the winT__ ..__, .™ c n i r he said ' touching his hat. _i-? sl 7 assuredhi,n they should verymuch hketoknowit. "True,then,and _I'«?V. C y _ u fcb ? t'P-it's Dan'l O'Rourke ; t___ i „*_; thatU make dirt flyl" They laughed, gave the fellow a coin, and went on their way without bestowing a second thought upon the bog trotters Up; ?_" J "' vhen tha t rank outsider came thundering over the soddened ground through the pelting rain, steered by Frank Sutler, shooting past Hobbie Noble, when he seemed certain of winning, followed by two other outsiders. Barbarian and Chief Baron Nicholson, they wished they had availed themselves of the tramp's hint. It was a splendid compliment that Lord Ixiasgow paid Frank when he gave him a cheque for £300, and told him he might have won on any of the first four horses.

"Skylark," an English sporting writer thus discourses on. the race for the St Leger. "Asa rule, however important a race may be, within two or three days of its decision it is well on the way to be forgocten. The past St Leger bids fair to prove an exception to the rule, and to furnish food for many an animated discussion, even when the curtain h is finally fallen on the season of 18_7. Taking the broad fact that, at the lowest estimate, Kilwarlin gave his Held a start of 120 yards, was _ai__y amongst .them before they had gone more than a quarter of a mile, and managed to get home first. I am quite satisfied to accept the result as it stands; but tbe respective partisans of Merry Hampton, Phil, and __i-idspord have all reasonable grounds for maintaining that, as the race teas run, their candidate ought to have won. Surely some of the jockeys riding in the race must have seen that Kilwarlin was left at the post, and had taken advantage of this to push along at a good pace, it would nave taken so much out of him to catch them that his chance of success would have been hopeless. As it was, they dawdled along so slowly that Kilwarlin was able to get on terms again without unduly distressing himself, and then had a nice pull before beginning to race in earnest, about five furlongs from home. Considering how his preparation was interrupted, Merry Hampton ran a very gooil horse, and Eiridspord and Phil were undoubtedly a good deal knocked about, though it will really be a pleasant, change to see the latter finish a race without it being necessary to make some excuse for him. It is a great piece of. luck for Lord Rodney to win jv race like the Leger in his very first season, and with a colfe who looked a bad bargain at the price that was paid lor him. It may be that he makes a noise of some sort, though it is impossible to believe that he is a roarer in the ordinary acceptation of the term, and, as usual, the Newmarket people "entertained an angel unawares," very few of them having a good word to say for the half brother to Bendigo, though, he is a grand mover, and a remarkably good-look-ing horse."