SPORTING NEWS

Greymouth Evening Star, 30 May 1914, Page 2

SPORTING NEWS

In the following year, 1894, Lord Rosebery became Prime Minister of England, and signalised this by winning the Blue Riband with Ladas, and had the good luck the next year to repeat the performance with Sir Yisto. Probably the most sensational happening in the long history of the race was witnessed last year, when Craganour, ;i staunch favourite, won by a head, only to be disqualified for boring. So t he Blue Riband went to Aboyeur, who shares with Jeddah and Signorinetta the distinction of being the greatest outsider to prevail since the institution of the race. ROYAL SP< HITS.

As the premier event of the "Sport of Kings,'' it is only fitting that the Derby should have been graced by the presence of royalty, and on very few occasions has the reigning house not been represented on the Downs when this classic event has been decided. The royal colours have often been borne to victory, the first time being in 1788, when the Prince of Wales won with Sir Thomas, his brother, the Duke of York winning in 1816 with Prince Leo. pold and in 1822 with Moses. In 1840 her late Majesty, Queen Victoria, and Prince Albert were present, and gave Macdonald, who piloted Little Wonder to victory, a gold-headed riding whip as a memento of the occasion. In 1896 the late King Edward, then Prince of Wales, received the congratulations of the whole Empire for his wins with Persimmon in the Derby and St. Leger, an achievement that he repeated four years later with Diamond Jubilee. ECLIPSE, THE INVINCIBLE.

It would be almost impossible to part company with the list of famous equines whose names have figured in the race for the past 130 years without a reference to that most famous of all horses, who has been termed the founder of the present breed of English thoroughbreds, Eclipse. The remains of this celebrated sire were interred with all honour at Canons, near Edgeware. The horse derived his name bv boing born during the eclipse of 1764 at ilsley, in Berkshire, and the name was seen to be singularly appropriate when he was found to surpass all other horses in speed, After his death the secret of his success- was'revealed bv an autopsy. His heart was found to weight 131 b. "For many years,' writes Chambers in his "Book of Days," "Eclipse lived in retirement from the turf, but in an other way, as a sire, was a source of large income to his master at Clay Hill, near Epsom, whither many strangers resorted to see him."