SPORTING NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXII, Issue 7413, 2 December 1884, Page 6

SPORTING NOTES FROM ENGLAND.

[By Übuos-3 London, Oct. 10. Til* CfSABKWJTCH WEEK. My last communication loft racegoers enjoying a pleasant First October week at keauMiuarters. A week has intervened with sport at Nottingham and Kompton Park, and now wo are at Newmarket again. Our climate is indeed changeable; in fact, for years I never remember a more glorious autumn. Genial to a degree, and that is saying a great deal, at any rate, wo seldom have such weather for the October meetings at Newmarket. It is true that occasionally we get clear skies and a keen, crisp air. hat,'a* a rule, there i» a dampness about the davs, and the nights are so chilly, that a cod caught at Newmarket i* never shaken off. perhaps, for the rest ol the winter. Mr editor. 1 do not know whether you Imvo evar boon on Newwket UeAth in the autumni but if *>. you will la* surprised when I tell you that the ground was so hard and dry that when the horst'tf wow ftnidtlng wp tnuo in the Cesarewitch or Mlddlerark Plato the dost was fairly raised, a fact that I never re- £ ember previously to bare witnessed either the spring or autumn. The Cesarewitob week, so far as the attendance was concorned. was as large and a* fashionable a* ever, and m> far as popularity went, this long-distanced handicap was perhaps never excelled In the annals of the race. Ik that as it may, it has fmrly taken tin* slum* out of the Cambridgeshire, f^'vhen J ou receive the news you will probably have discovered that the smallest field on record ban taken pari in the great event of the Houghton week. .... ~ The word "record’* at <***• fJ* “•* attention to the performance ol 8t Gauen in the Cesarewitch. Wonderful! ''ho would hare anticipated year* ago of a tliree-ytar-old winning thU hmidlcap over two mW and a quarter, with Sat lt»lb on i)Le back. We all went into aartaetea when Julius came home a gallant winner with gut, or even later, when a sterling horse like Hobart the »w». with onnaaeets sprawling a* n* acaceoaea |Ew HUI. It la true that 8t Oatien was virtually a Derby axiMHJt much more of a hero from nwawn Hum any other hone. St prttkm, V*' ever, muit have gone w wondprMly since the day Harvester caught him * few strides fronrtne chair ami made a dead heat of dt on the Surrey Down*. ever has gone the rovawe way, albeit I may hero note that when wt up auction in the Cesawwrteh week Sir John WiUoughby'scolkaawellaaQofOo^ l^’ didnot^fch»l»«^ l W*g^^ L^isagnmd mover. aad one could hardly holtoY* one’s eyes t fm Mm showing, hi* whitehlnd kg* te hi* opponent* as they sme oat « He four lengths from an outsider in Polemic, tlta property of Lord Bmiebery, which

would bare been a skinner for the Ring had be jelled through » Imt if it flatten bad been out of the way. this lightlyweighted four-year-old would have just been beaten by another good claused three-year* old carrying an Impost of let 61b. in Archlduc, who carried a lot of old Toro •teatiings’ money, For Jonninga' judgment I bare groat respect. and for week* past he haa drummed H Into my oar* '* Mine'* a good 'turn, whatever the rest may be,” Tb« loot*, bad judge* a* a rule,said he would not stay the course, and they were wrong again, a; Areblduo rod only ehoweda bold front, but ran a real good horse. At any rate, Independent of the ea*y way in which HI (bitten won, it again said little for the 8t Leger home, a* Lambkin, the hero of 'he Town Moor, *m In receipt of weight from the two crack*, and was, without the tenet exaggeration, what the old school u«»*d to •ay, " distanced.” But you hare read my opinion of the St f*g<u winner Mart!, and at a difference of lolb in Sir Iteuben’s favour, ho also finished In front of Lambkin, a commoner to look at and a secondrate handicap horse a* a performer. Harking back to St flatten and Archidoc's show In IbeCVeanirwltch, net* thinking of oven higher form. I mean St Simon who hoe been scratched for the remainder (ft hU engagement* this season, indeed I question whether wo hare not *ee« the best of the Bake of Portland’s unbeaten flyer. In appearance the two " Saints ” are anything but Droinim. Simon te a light framed wit with much of the quality of his sire, inclined to be a trifle h*ggy, and looks more like speed than staying. On the other hand, flatten is possessed of a deal more hone, and this he possibly gets from the Stockwcll line. At any rate there is more of tho old fashioned cut shout biro, and as compared with St Simon be displays nothing like go much quality. To the ere again St Oatten is far the soundest of the pair. He has tegs tike bant of iron, white to my thinking Simon was rery gingerly at Goodwood- Had St Oatien been my property he would have tackled the other saint for the Sussex trophy. Simon was a bit off, and not in the same form as at Ascot- This was the time. Both bad never tasted defeat, and what glory would have been laid upon St Oat ten. Far more Braise8 raise than that bestowed this week at 'cwmarket. Mr Hammond, the owner of St Qaties, however, belong* to that class who race for gain and not for sport, and despite that his colt was apparently handicapped out of the Ceaarcwitch, he not only won it in a canter, but netted what Mr Hammond, perhaps, hardly required—another fortune. Since his Cesarewitch victory, folks now freely discuss the subject os to which is the better horse of the two. This probably will never bo really ascertained} for independent of the chance of their never meeting, as I pointed out at Goodwood, we had donbtless seen the best of the Duke of Portland’s colt. Every effort will no doubt be made to keep him on his legs for the Cups next year, but instead of a Musical Oman, Friday, and one of the most fortunate of horses of modern tiraea in Tristan to show his heels to, be will have to tackle a sound and improved young horse of bis own age, and one whose staying qualities will find Simon’s weak spot over a distance of ground like that traversed at Ascot or Goodwood-

Having given my opinion of tbe Crearewitch, I will turn to the Middlepork Plate, a race that we always look upon m» the winter key to our Derby. This year it was contested by a really good-looking lot of performers, while a couple of the dark division were found in a Frenchman called Xaiatrailles, a bcantlfnl colt by Flageolet out of Delaise, the property of M. Lupin, and an unnamed son of Sterling out of Casuistry, who cost 700 gs as a yearling. The latter was trained at Kinsclere, and was sold to the Duke of Westminster prior to the race fora large sum that did not transpire; BOOOgs was mentioned, but I am correct in saying that the selection was left to Porter, who acted as mediator between Captain Bowlings and Bis Grace of Westminster, who came down expressly to see the colt run. Archer was claimed by Lord Hastings for Mellon, who, it will be remembered came into notice by landing the New Stakes at Ascot and Kingaclere. and therefore The Duke of Westminster bad to fall back upon the light ♦eight jockey, Barrett. The Creuktrv colt had been well and highly tried. It was said he was better thin Whipper In at • even weights, and could give the Rebecca eolt 7lb and a beating. I don't suppose my readers know much as to the merit of this gallop, but I can assure you it seemed one of that »rt of trial that a gambler would put his shirt upon. If such a state of things existed. I regret to say he quitted Newmarket minus that garment, for the Casuistry colt did not run up to the trial. So much for the glorious uncertainly. Barrett, to my thinking, was of little assistance to this crack; indeed he ran. to my idea, as if he did not understand his business. After floundering about down the hill he breasted the ascent with more freedom, but long before this Archer had taken the measure of Xaintraillce. the Casuistry eolt, Cora and Co., and when he let Melton out in the last hundred yiuds, to my thinking,' he had plenty in hand. There are folk# who differ with me. They say he just won, and so forth. I am. however, not an obstinate man, but must believe my own eyes. There* are people who look at races and never notice otaw horse# than those they"have backed. Melton was an outsider, and although he had Archer for hi# pilot, was probably never seen by those who came to the conclusion that he had nothing to < spare. Anyhow, the halflength victory of XaiatmiUe# could hare l>ccn increased. «ad dear of tto Frenchman came the CMuirtry colt* and Royal Hampton, who ran a dead heat lor third place. This quartette are all engaged u> the Derby of next rear, and, if it be not peeping too far ahead. I way here state that 1 fancy Melton will atone foe the ill-luck that befel Lord Hasting# two year# ago in the Blue Ribbon, when Beau Brummel feu lame below the Bell. The Champion Stake# hardly maintained it# character ## far a# dam wa# concerned, m. wo had no Springfield nor Silvio in opposition, or Robert the Devil or Bend Or to talk about. Triton, I have said above, is a fortunate boew to be left by himself, and ho had thia race apparently at his mercy. Still, ho was equal to the task of scattering all his opponent# excepting Lucerne, who came out in a new light, indeed at even weight# the latter waafaaable of running a dead heal with Mr Loire re'# old horse, who won this prise last year, and run a dead heat with Thebais two season# ago. Tristan, in stake# alone, ha# now won and he need# a retirement, although II bo gore to the stud after, hi* success hi# leg# are tike bore of silver. Ossian. who was beaten off in the Champion Stake#, now retire# too to the #tud.