STORY OF THE DERBY

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 February 1930, Page 8

STORY OF THE DERBY

| THE FAVOURITE FAILS > 1 • “Nothing on four legs will beat The j Panther.” Such was the prophetic . message which Sir Alec Black sent | to the sporting masses of England on the eve of the Derby of 1919. A writer in the Sunday News says that, he has written on triumphs and of tragedies of racing as he has known them. If in the list of tragedies he should be called on to name the most poignant and memorable he would, he says, be justified in placing The Panther case at the head. The year 1919 was one of joyful celebration, the people's thoughts being freed from the horrors and anxieties of the war, the decision of great sporting events was deliberately chosen by thousands as an outlet for an exuberance of spirit which the war years had submerged. The Derby of that year was something more than the greatest of all classics—it was a war victory Derby, and no enthusiasm shown before or since reached the joyfulness of that particular year. Certain Derby days impress themselves on the mind more than others. It is customary, when referring back to the big Epsom race, to call it to mind by mentioning the name of the winner. People say that it was

“Manna’s year” or “Spion Kop’s year.” Nineteen nineteen was the year of The Panther’s failure, even though the victor, Grand Parade, did enough in beating Buchan to get into “immortal” class. Schieliow, the thoughts of what Grand Parade did were overshadowed by what The Panther failed to do. The writer says he Was one of those who were smitten by the brilliance of Sir Alec Black’s colt. He appreciated him as a great, young horse. He had every reason, for he knew a good deal of the gallops he had put up during the month or two that led up to his appearance at Epsom. The Panther had three trainers— Basil Jarvis, R. Colling and finally G. Manser, and as the colt was destined to . cause much heart-burning it is worth while to review his career from lis earliest two-year-old days. He appeared in public in the first week of Hay, and although only mildly fancied mt up a good show with Galloper bight. Less than a month after he

was .seen out again, at Newmarket, and Won in hollow style by eight lengths from 31 rivals. In his only other outing in 1918 The Panther Was a very comfortable winner from Bayuda, Galloper Light and others. His progress through his juvenile days is to be judg'Cd from the two occasions oil which he met Galloper Light. The Panther’S'two-year-old races were at Newmarket, where he was trained, and, therefore, on no occasion was it necessary to put him into a travelling box. It is a point the writer never fails to make in the keen discussions that centre around his much criticised classic failure. In the autumn of 1918, The Paiither was offered -for sale, but so far from serious was Sir Alec Black in any such intention that a reserve of 25,000

guineas was placed on him. Mr. Somerville Tattersall’s announcement to this effect provoked some laughter,' since such a figure, even with such a future as the colt seemed to have, was regarded as an over-valuation, though the late Lord Wilton, financially armed with fat cheques he had taken from the bookmakers the previous week, had the temerity to offer 20,000 guineas.

The birth of the year 1919 saw Sir Alec Black and a. great friend, Mr. Al E. Barton, form a partnership in a

string of horses that were to be placed I under the care of George Manser, and | the early spring came with The I Panther cutting a. most imposing I figure on Newmarket Heath, the object I of admiration to all who were in close J contact with him. A Ten to One Victory. The Two Thousand Guineas came along to give the public its first impression of The Panther that year, and although he started a 10 to 1 chance, and was thought less of by the betting battalions than Lord Basil or Stephen the Great, because they imagined he was a bit backward, he rah out a clever winner by a. neck from Buchan. There was a finish of necks and heads between the first four, but no one would gainsay that The Panther had not scored meritoriously and left the impression uppermost that he stayed v,-ell and would be all the better for the race®. The Panther had given both Sir Alec Black and Mr. Barton a splendid race in a financial sense, and the Derby outlook for them, as the result, became more brilliant. After the Guineas The Panther stood for a few days at 6 to 1 for the 1 Derby, and a hotting furore broke out for him, in which it was said that he was being backed to win more money for the stable than any horse that was ever prepared for the Derby. There was a. stable companion in Cygnus to give Manser just the line 1 that he wanted, tor Cygnus was a I smart winner—certainly not more than 71b behind the accepted first-rate three-year-old form. And yet it was known that The Panther was anything between 211 b and 281 b better' than Cygnus.

Every day saw The Panther harden in price. They were good betting days and bookmakers abounded. It was not a difficult matter to back a horse to win £lOO,OOO in a few days' Nowadays, one would find it extremely difficult to back a horse to win a tenth of that sum.

. For once in a while serious discussion on a race of that sort was chiefly confined to one horse, which is somewhat remarkable when it is remembered that the field included Buchan. Paper Money and two equally fancied runners tor Lord Glanely in Grand Parade and Dominion. It ■was left to Arthur Smith, the jockey, to decide which of Lord Glanely's pair lie would ride, and, tragically for himself, he chose Dominion. Tliis mistake was doubly annoying to him as he had had io face the same sort of situation when ho was attached lo the late Peter Purcell Gilpin’s Clarehavon stable. He was left to decide between Sarchedon and Spion Kop, and elected to ride the former, only to see Spion Kop win. ( Thus', in a very short span of years, Smith came within an ace of riding two Derby winners and missed riding both, as people say, by the “skin of liis tooth.” i: The eventful Derby week arrived J 1 and The Panther was io be duly dispatched lo Epsom. Taking a Derby 1 favourite to the meeting is a serious * business. 'Plm trainer, a. retinue of ! attendants and I wo nr three stable ( compiuioiis formed the bodvgmird 1 that moved with The Panther on the*' Sfonday, two days before the race • I

I His jockey, R. Cooper, feeling the ] responsibility of the job before him went to London, and on the Monday night journeyed down to Epsom to prepare for the fray. The Panther was io have what to him was a novel prelude to a race—he was to see the inside of a railway travelling box for the first time. The thoroughbred racehorse, more par. ticularly one of high courage, may soon resent anything that has not been in his routine. So it was with The Panther. There is no doubt that when ho left Newmarket, he was of the sweetest disposition—his trainer, Manser, and jockey, Cooper, would swear to this. They spoke of him only as a really nice horse. The changed surroundings and the army of camera men who dance attendance on a. Derby favourite were sufficient to start the transformation. The great day arrived with The Panther backed all over the country. A race of its character in which opinion so solidly favoured one horse, has rarely been known and it was no wonder that the bookmakers took cover under a short rate of odds. It was difficult to get more than even money about him, and the stable commission, it seemed, was almost endless. Before The Panther could prove himself the champion colt hl? had to be subjected to a. terrific popular mobbing* It was the penalty of favouritism. Ilis vcry entry into the paddock

' caused a buzz of excitement, and a great section of the paddock crowd swatmed around him. A circle of peoJ pie eight or ten deep, endeavoured to catch a mere glimpse of a horse who the public were led to think could not be beaten. The Panther became restless. He be-1 ' camo very free with his heels. He began to lather on the neck. And 1 Manser, his trainer, stood by—every J minute was increasing his anxiety. He, J more than anyone, could detect a ■ change in the horse. The paddock 1 orde’al was perhaps maddening enough, hut the parade in front of a half a mile of people, to the accompaniment of a noise which is part and parcel of a Derby day, was worse. The Panther was No. 1 on the card, which meant that he had to walk on the heels of a mounted policeman and at the head of his field. Those who knew th© colt before he left the quietness of his training quarters could see at a glance that this was a changed, and still changing horse. The parade over, The Panther was given another noisy welcome from tho massed public which congregate near The Durdans, through which the horses walk to the starting point. Cooper was doing all that was possible to humour his mount, but this much pampered horse was not to be consoled by being patted on the neck. He was behaving like the spoiled child, except that he did not throw himself down on the ground and kick. Like a good jockey, Cooper sat quiet. The field was generally well behaved, except for the favourite. He Stood some six lengths at the back, and resisted all the persuasion of the jockey and .starter’s assistant to get him up to the tapes. In that small grain that a horse is known to possess, The Panther had revolted. And, after nearly 20 minutes’ delay, in fairness to the others, who had stood like sheep, tho field was started, with The ' Panther scarcely in line, and handicapped to the extent of losing at least half-a-dozen lengths. Sir Alec Black was an onlooker <

from his private box. His friend and partner, Mr. Barton, was on the owners’ stand, together' with his daughter, an extremely attractive child' of .12. This, young lady, it was said, was there to provide 1 the pic-

turesque touch by leading in The Panther after ho had won; such was the confideifeo behind the exploit! The Panther settled down in about the last place but two, and there ho sulked his way round—an impotent figure. Cooper ‘scrubbed” him with a natural anxiety; but this counted for nothing. The horse was actually beaten long before the field had started. He had succumbed to his own nasty temperament, which the unaccustomed

Derby environment had suddenly revealed. He did not finish last, but very nearly so. He was never within 30 lengths of the leaders. What of Mr. Barton, the prime figure in this the greatest of all gambles in connection with the Epsom race? He had staked heavily—how heavily only he could tell —and his loss and greater sense of disappointment were overwhelming. He decided to go into retirement from racing. The Panther did more than lose the Derby; he killed the enthusiasm of a fine sportsman, and he caused him to give up a game which he loved. Of the jockey Cooper, it was, perhaps, inevitable that, he should be the subject of a. certain criticism, all of which, says the narrator of the story, was so grossly unfair, for no man in the world could have done anything with The Panther that afternoon. No one could have been more filled with regrfet than he, for it is believed he was to have been the richer by the prize money of .£9OOO or £lO,OOO in the event of success.