THE TURF.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16606, 18 July 1914, Page 6

THE TURF.

LONDON, June 5. " Memories of tho are lively enough to have survived for at least one week after the event" (writes our racing correspondent " Centaur"). "They will no doubt retire into their proper perspective in due course, but the last celebration at Epsom was minor only to the tragedy of a year ago by which Oraganour was disqualified on tho initiative of the stewards. There is no intention now to enter into another narrative of the facte. The present concern is only with tho fooling of deep dissatisfaction that the fiasco of a start should have resulted in a battle at the ' post. among the horses, the , favourite being left, and the King's horse so hustled as to extinguish the good chance it was supposed to possess. Public writers have been asking themselves why this should have been so, and on several points they find themselves unanimous. One is that it is an impossibility on this course at Epsom to get thirty horses away on levei terms. The starter is not born who can do it, and the present starter to the Jockey Club, Mr Willoughby, is not by any means regarded as a strong man. The great sweepstake promote*! by the Calcutta Turf Club is blamed for having contributed to the size of the field. It is said that the contribution was only . small and made no difference to a field which blossomed in size as soon as it was known that tho Tetrarch would not run. The point is that there should have been no contribution at all on this score. No outside agency has any right to import horses into a field for the Derby that have not a thousand to . one chance of winning. They are there not iu tho abused interests of sport, but so that money can be drawn from a sweepstake. As it is the intention of the Jockey Club to take measures before another year to check what is beyond doubt a disagreeable influence, there is no need here to dwell further upon the matter. Far pleasanter is it to turn to tho subject of the Oaks, which race was won. last Friday by the favourite, Mr J. B. Joel's Princess Dorrie, who had previously won the One Thousand Guineas. This exceptionally able and successful breeder repeated tho notablo event of a year ago when he also won the One Thousand Guineas and The Oaks with a mare named Jest. Princess Dorrie beat a score of others, including Lord Derby's Glorvina and Sir John Thurshy's Torchlight, who were second and third respectively to her in the One Thousand Guineas. The best backed, to beat her was Glorvina. but through-" out the piece Princess Dorrie was a pronounced favourite. Yet although so " clearly the best animal she nearl/did not win through what would have been tragically bad luck. This was brought about In the first instance owing to the 'fact that she is a stayer essentially, lacking that turn of speed the possession of which would have enabled her to take her place in the first halfmile. At it was she Was nearer last than first when the runners had settled down.It was after this that she got badly knocked about. When she returned to the unsaddling enclosure it was noticed that she was cut inside the near leg, and there was injury from an overreach. Her jockey, W. Huxley, explained that she had been nearly down during the descent of Tattenham Corner, and anyhow she was in a horrible tangle half-way along the straight, and it seemed impossible that she could get through, though obviously full of running. Then, however, the unexpected happened. Sir John Thursby's Lancaster Lady, who had been prominent just behind Torchlight, fell back beaten, and this enabled Princess Dorrie to emerge from the trap in which she seemed hopelessly caught. Whon once through alio forged to the front in great style and promptly wrested the lead from , Lord Carnarvon's Wassilissa, to win by a couple of longths, with Torchlight, four lengths away, third. This makes Mr J. B. Joel's fourth victory in the Oaks. He began with Our Laßsie, then Glass Doll camo up at long odds, and it is very recent history how Jest and Princess Dorrie have monopolised the classic honours in the last two years. They were all of his own breeding, and tho latest heroine Is by his St Leger winner, Your Majesty, from that moat wonderful mare Doris. What a wonderful mare, to be 6urel To look at she is small and somewhat mean-looking, though strongly made. Yet what a fortune she has represented. For ten years she has never missed having a foal—-all higheliss horses. There was Sun Star, one of the easiest winners of the Derby of recent years. He was a son of Doris, who by the way was no good on the racecourse and was a gift to Mr Joel from his brother. Next came White Star, one of the best two-year-olds of his year, and Radiant, tho year after, J won the Imperial Produce Stakes at Kempton Park as a two-yoar-old. I

White Star is now in Australia, but after Princess Dorrie thero is Bright, an own sister to Sun Star, who is thought to bo a very fino filly, at any rate she is said to bo the best of Mr Joel's two-year-olds. The yearling is by Sunder, the foal is by Sunflower 11. (both sires by Suntlridge). and the famous niaro is now- believed to be in foal to Mr Joel's £40.000 purchase, Prince Palatine. If that, is not romance, then such a thing does not exist on the turf. It is far more wonderful than the dam of Isinglass being bought out of a farmer's cart for a. ten-pound note.

It is probable that the two-year-old fillies aro this year above the average. Bright has already been mentioned, and I am sure, there are two very good onos in Bnmbusa (by St Amant, the Derby winner of 1904) and Lady Josephine (by Sundridge and American Girl). What breeding for speed the latter represents! Lady Josephino was last Friday returned the winner of the Acorn Stakes at Epsom. Sh# beat Bambusa a. neck after a pretty race, but tho winner was receiving 71b. She won cleverly all the same, and might beat the other one at level weights. The following day his Majesty attended tho one-day meeting at Kempton Park and had the satisfaction of seeing his filly Vervaine win tho Redfearn Two-year-old Stakes. Vervaine is ry Louviers, who was beaten a head in tho Derby of 1909. which Minoru won for the late King Edward. This week there has been a mass of Whitsuntide racing from which can bo singled out the success of Lord Londondeny's Corcyra in tho Whitsuntide Plato at Hurst Park. This, of course, is tho horso that only lost tho Two Thousand Guineas by a head to Kennyniorc, and afterwards beat his Majesty's Brakespear by a head for the Newmarket Stakes. Corcyra has a lot of weight now with his penalties, but he gave a smooth performance and won in highly satisfactory style. He runs at Ascot, and, of course, will be trained for tho St Leger.