RACING IN ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 1543, 4 June 1881, Page 20

RACING IN ENGLAND.

LIVERPOOL SPRING. March 25tii, 26tii. THE LIVERPOOL SPRING CUP, 0i 350 soys, added to a handicap of 20 each. One mile.and a-quarter. Lord Drogheda's b h Philammon, by Solon out of Satanella, aged, Bst 2 b „ .. (F.Wynne) 1 Hr J. A. Howard's Invader, 43 r rs, 6st 71b (E. Martin) 2 Mr H. Hungerford's Advance, aged, 89t (Fordham) 3 Duke of Montrose's Strathblane, G yrs, 7bt 111b (including 121b extra) .. .. .. (Kellett) 0 • Sir G. Chetwynd's Sutler, 6 yrs, 7st 51b (Ureaves) 0 Mr Manser's Thunderstone, aged, 6st 91b (carried BstlOlb) .. •• .. (Rawlinson) 0 Mr Christie's May Queen, 4 yrs, 6st 41b (Gallon) 0 Mr T. Parker's Melfort, 4 yis, Cst 4lb (Barrett) 0 Betting: 100 to 60 agst Philammon, 6 to 1 agrst Invader, 103 to 15 agst May Queen, 10 to 1 each ayst Advance, Stiathblane, and Melfort, and 16 to 1 agst Thunderstone. The lot were weighed out in excellent time, and were despatched at the first attempt, Advance and Invader, on the in»ide, being the first to show in front of Strathblane, Thunderstone, and Melfort. After going a hundre 1 yards Invader took up the running, and at tho milepost held a commanding lead of Melfort, with May Queen going on third, in front of Advance, PhilamJnon. and Strathblane, Shortly afterwards Melfort mm v ? tolfoY#tf, wia the pair 90.13$ on (Am of

tho others till approaching the straight. Here Melfort was in difficulties, and Invader, coming into tho line for home, was left with a clear command. Philammon quitted the main body of competitors shortly afterwards, and, getting on terms with the leader inside the distance, took the lead at the stand, and won by a length. Advance was a very bad third, Strathblane fourth, Sutler fifth, and May Queen last. THE GRAND NATIONAL STEEPLECHASE, j Of 700 soys, added to a handicap of 20 soys each ; second received 100 soys from the stakes, third saved stake. Grand National course (nearly four miles and a-half). 47 subs. Captain- Kirkwood's eh g Woodbrook, by The Lawyer out of Doe, aged, list 31b (Mr T. Beasley) 1 Captain Machell's bk g Regal, aged, list 121b Mr Leopold de Rothschild's br h Thornfield, 5 yrs, 10st91b .. .. •• ( B - Marsh) 3 Mr G. Moore's b g The Liberator, aged, 12st 71b 1 (Owner) 0 Captain Ducrot's eh g Fair Wind, aged, lCst 131b (Mr H. Beasley) 0 Sir G. Chetwynd's b h Abbot of St. Mary's, 5 yrs. lOst 91b (including 71b extra) . (J.Adams) 0 Mr C. G. Way's b g Little Prince, 6 yrs, lOst 81b (D. Canavan) 0 Mr A. Peel's b g New Glasgow, aged, lost 71b (Captain Smith) Mr T. G. Baird Hay's eh g Moritauban, aged, lOst 71b .. .. (Mr A. Coventry) 0 Mr R. Carrington's b g Cross Question, 6 yrs, lOst 1 ioib .. ..' ' .-' (J.Jones), 0 Captain Maehell'schh The Scot, 5 yrs, lOsb , . Mr Vyner's eh h Fabius, 5 yrs, lOst (Hunt) 0 Mr A. Yates' b g Buridan, aged, lOst (Childs) 0 Betting : 11 to 2 agst Thornfield, 6 to 1 agst Woodbrook, 100 to 115 each agst Liberator and Cross Question, 8 to 1 agst Abbot of St. Mary's, ll,to 1 each agst Regal and New Glasgow, 100 to 7 each agst Montauban and Fair Wind, 25 to 1 each agst Scot and Fabius, and 40 to 1 agst Little Prince. ,The flag fell without a failure. Tho Liberator making , play , from Thornfield, New .Glasgow, Little Prince, and the Scot, next to whom lay! Cross Question and , Woodbrook, with Abbot of St. Mary's, Buridan, and Regal in the rear. This. order was maintained to the first fence, which Liberator cleared in advance of New Glasgow and Montauban, these being followed by Cross .Question, Little Prince, and Woodbrook, while the last two were Abbot of St. Mary's and Regal, with the exception of Fabius and Buridan, who turned their heads, and were out of the chase therefore before it had well commenced. The next fence witnessed the refusal of Little Prince, and tbe field having broken up into two sections, Liberator was still leading when they came together again at Beecher's, Woodbrook now going on second fioiu New Glasgow and Montauban. This lot were then separated by a gap from Thornfield, Cross Question, and Fair Wind to the, fence beyond Valentine's, when Liberator, who had taken a liberty with one or two of his fences, came lo grief, and Cross Question, who was lyiug in his track, brui«ed Mr Moore's shoulder. He was soon in the saddle again, however, Woodbrook in the meanwhile entering the inner circle of the racecourse with a four or five lengths lead of Montauban, New Glasgow, and Fair Wind. Next to these came Thornfield, Cross Question, and Abbot of bt. Mary's, to the thorn jump parallej with the distance post, where New Glasgow was second, and Montauban third, although the pair reversed positions again at the Stand water, over which Woodbrook preserved the same command that , had be- , longed to him half a mile earlier. Cross Question, Fair Wind, Scot, and Thornfield succeeded them in a cluster, and Liberator had repassed Abbot of bt. Mary's and Regal, although the space of 200 yards would have brought the first and last together, and all of them seemed to be going well in the bargain. Two fences further on Fair Wind refused ; but he was Boon renewing the pursuit, and, to cut matters short, very few changes occurred during the , next mile, seeing that when Woodbrook came on to the racecourse Montauban and New Glasgow were still in immediate attendance, Cross Question dividing them from Captain Machell's pair, Abbot of St. Mary's, and Thornfield, with Liberator once more playing the part of whipper-in. Both Montauban and Cross Question began to lose ground at the five-furlong ■ post, and Regal having quitted his stable companion, he took second place at the bottom turn, New Glasgow going on third, with Abbot of St. ' Mary's and The Scot on the outside, and Thornfield hugging the rails. The Abbot and The Scot Were fairly done with two hurdles from home, and as Marsh was also riding Thornfield hard to get on terms with Now Glasgow, the race may be described as a match all the way up the straight. It might be ! written off, however, with more truth as a procession, for although Regal stuck well to his work until he ran through through the last hurdles, he did not even obtain the measure of Woodbrook, who went on virtually unchallenged, and, never headed for threefourths of the journey,' won hands down by four lengths. Thornfield succeeded in saving his stake from New Glasgow by being a bad third, with The Scot fifth, Abbot of St. Mary's sixth, Cross Question seventh, and Montauban eighth, The Liberator finishing last among the crowd. Time, 11 mm. 50 sec. Value of the stakes, £380.