ENGLISH.

Otago Witness, Issue 1585, 8 April 1882, Page 20

ENGLISH.

The following items of English news are from V Robin Hood's " letter in the Australasian :— An action at law is going on between the Duke of Hamilton and Mrs Padwiok, as executrix of the late Mr Padwick, who was for many years manager and general factor for the Duke. Mr Padwick, it will be remembered, acted in the same capacity for the late Marquis of Hastings, and it was he (Mr Padwick) who was "the spider" of Admiral Rous' famous letter in which, on referring to the scratching by the Marquis of The Earl< for the Derby of 1868, he wound up by saying, "But -what can the poor fly do with the spider in whose web he is entangled ?" Well, it seems now that the Duke had allowed his affairs also to become entangled in the same spider's web, and although the immense wealth of the Hamilton and Brandon estates has prevented his coming to grief, still he never got clear of Mr Padwick during the latter's life-time, and the present law-suit is not unlikely to affect the ownership of some £800,000. Lord Lonsdale died after a short but severe illness— congestion of the lungs. I have before now written of this po»r young fellow, and I fear what I have had to say of him has been very little to his credit ; but he has gone, so I will not refer to his failings, which, after all, were chiefly sins' against himself, and which left him with'so impaired a constitution that a fatal termination to his last attack was easily foretold. He has latterly done little or nothing on the turf, but has spent 'most of his time yachting in the Mediterranean. When on the turf he for the most part acted under the advice and management of Captain Machell, and had at one time a formidable stud. In October, 1877, he .gave £15,000 for Blue Blood (a half -brother to Doncaster) and three other yearlings. He relinquished the turf in 1878, when all his horses were sold to Captain Machell for £18,000, Blue Blood being valued in this purchase at £300. Lady Lonsdale, who, with Mrs Langfcry and Mrs Cornwallis West, shares the somewhat doubtful honour of being one of the much be photographed professional beauties, was at Monte Carlo when her husband died, and is now hurrying back to England. I am afraid it is a hopeless case with Lord Falmouth's Dutch Oven. Indeed, I was told to-day by a gentleman who lives at Newmarket that he would rather bet odds on her never leaving her stable again (alive) than think of backing her for any of her engagements. There has always been a fear that this splendid filly would ultimately become affected in her pipes, and so tread in the footsteps of her brilliant mother Cantiniere, and half-sister Bal Gal. Indeed, some insisted that she was already touched in her wind. Be this as it may, she is now suffering from a terribly severe attack of inflammation of the lungs ; if she recover from this at all, she cannot but feel the effects for a long time. She has been absent from exercise for over a week, and is attended three times a day by the veterinary. With regard to the other Derby horses, they are, I believe, going on as well as can be wished. Bruce is still favourite, as he deserves to be, and he has been heavily backed at 6 to I—a1 — a price which, however, is still an offer, and which may be considered a very liberal offer on the field for a Derby. Gerald (the American) ranks next to Bruce in the quotations, and 8 to lis the longest offer against him ; he has met with very little support, however, and perhaps it is a false price, and one that his own achievements, have not earned, but rather the wholesome dread which racing men have just now of anything American. Still, his second in the Middle Park Plate was a fairly good performance. Next in demand to Gerald come Marden at 15 to 1, Troll at IG, Little Sister 18, and Kingdom at 20.