RACING IN ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 1793, 3 April 1886, Page 20

RACING IN ENGLAND.

LIVERPOOL.

March 26,

LIVERPOOL GRAND NATIONAL STEBPLE-

OH ASK HANDICAP, Of 1000 soys, added to a s\\ eepstakes of 15 guineas each ; second to receive 101 l soys, and third 1 X) soys from the stakes. Nearly four miles and ahalf. 0(5 subs. Mr Douglas' bg Old Joe, by Barefoot— Spot, axed, lOsi 91b ... *... ... ... i Count Hulody's br g Too Good, by Ingomar or Uncas — Mary Hyland, nged, list 121b ... 2 Mr E Jay's b g Gamecock, aged, 10st lulb ... 3 When the last mail left Old Joe figured in the betting at the outside odds of 40 to 1, while Too Good was quoted at 100 to 8, and Gamecock at 50 to 1. The leading favourites were Roquefort (winner last year) at 10 to 1, Ringlet at 100 to 9, ami Phantom at 100 to 8.

Old Joe's win must have been a surprise to the general public, for although he has won several races in his timu thi'y w.-re such paltry affairs as the following : — At Ciu-lihle (in 1884), won the Tradesmen's Cup, of 22 f-ovs ; at West Cumberland Hunt races, won a Welter Steeplechase, of 20 soys, ami the County Cup, of 23 soys; at Cartmel Hunt, won the Counties Plate of 20 soys. In 1885 at West Cumberland Hunt he won the Uorder Cup, of 42 soys, and Tradesmen's Plate, of 23 soys; at Shrewsbury, won Hunt Cup, of 77 soys ; and at Warwick, won the Hunt Cup, of 56 soys.

Too Good was one of the competitors trained in the dangerous stable of Mr Linde, and ho doubtless carried a heap of private and publio money. In a recent issue of the London Sportsman, its correspondent in Ireland said: — "Too Good has been in constant work, and for a long time has not evinced the slightest signs of not standing a thorough preparation, although at one time doubts on this point were entertained. To get an insight into the form of Too Good, a search beyond the records of 1885 has to be made, as he did not run last ; and with the exception of the Liverpool Spring Cup, in which he was third to Boulevard and Xema, he has not visited a course since he won the Molyneux Hurdle ft Liverpool in the November of 1883. This is a lengthened period for a horse to have been shelved, and it is of course needless fco imagine that his long retirement was wiohout cause, as Mr Linde is a gentleman not partial to the system of horses eating idle corn. At the sam«* meeting at Aintree as I bave referred to, Too Good also won the City Cup, a handicap on the flat, and in the preceding summer achieved his notable victory in the big steeplechase at Auteuil. He was then a four-year-old, and with such performances to his credit it need hardly be said that he was deemed to have a bright f utui c before him — a prophecy which, I trust, may even yet be verified. He has grown into a remarkably fine horse, and perhaps a more perfect specimen of a thorough* bred does not exist. To all appearances the judicious treatment to which he was subjected, and the long rest which he was allowed, have had very beneficial results, as he se6ms . per. fectly right on his legs, while he never misses « day from the right sort of work, as to which there is no better judge than the master of Eyrefield,"