ENGLISH.

Otago Witness, Issue 1880, 2 December 1887, Page 23

ENGLISH.

English advices state that "Lord Rodney has presented Robinson with a handsome douceur of £500 for his skilful and successful handling of Kilwarlin." Robinson's legitimate fee was but £5, though the value of the stakes was £4050. English owners pay no percentage. The douceur is similar to that given by the Duke of Westminster to the late Fred Archer when he rode Bend Or in the Derby ; but it is said that that horseman received as many thousands from Mr Lorillard when he piloted Iroquois to victory on Epsom Downs. Tom Cannon was the recipient of a " thou " when he steered Isonomy home in the Manchester Cup with the then unprecedented weight of 9st 121b: and the late W. Macdonald was given £3000 for his successful ride on Foxhall in the Cesarewitch. Lord Rodney's liberality to Robinsou was apparently not confined to a £500 present, however. The English correspondent of the Australasian (" Robin Hood ") says : — "Writing of Lord Rodney reminds me of a very curious thing which Kilwarlin's Leger victory has brought about. It will be remembered thai that colt was ridden by Robiason, whose first mount in a Leger it was. Robinson is an apprentice of Tom Cannon's, and is not ♦ out of his time,' but since hi 6 brilliant victory on Kilwarlin his indentures have been bought from Tom Cannon by Lord Rodney. I believe the price paid was no less than £1500. A slice of luck this for Cannon, for I hear that his further stipulation besides the cash paid says that Tom Cannon shall still have second call on Robinson's services. That jockey (Robinson) will now leave Danebury and take up his residence at Newmarket, and will in future ride for Captain Machell' stable, and as he received £500 for his Leger ride, he may well look upon Wednesday, the 14th of September 1887, as a red-letter day." We almost daily see (says an English writer) what effect a few pounds extra has on a horse, so much ro that racing men are apt to speak of a " 51b beating," « a 71b beating," " won with 101b in hand," and so on. Until lately there was a difference of 51b between the weights carried in the Leger by colts and fillies, and when this difference existed the great Doncaster race was won by fillies a remarkable number of times. It will be a point for discussion some years hence, when we have seen the effect of the 3lb difference— Bst 111b and 9st— -whether the 21b advantage really tended to alter the results of these races. I remember as I write several occasions when friends have said to me, " Mine has just a little too much weight," or " I'm afraid he won't quite get up the hill with that 7. 1b penalty," and the suggestion has been borne out precisely. In looking carefully over the acceptances for any handicap, indeed, and then in seeingit run, weoften find ourownideaof "hardly treated" or "let off" completely justified, and so we get notions about weights and possibilities, for we see how every ounce tells. On the other hand, we find Isonomy winning the Manchester Cup in a field of 21 with 9st 121b in the saddle ; the three-year-old Foxhall wins the Cambridgeshire in a field of 32 with 9st up ; the three-year-old Robert the Devil canters home for the 1 Cesarewitch with Bst 61b on bis back, and the three-year-old fit, Gatien with Bat 101b

(it looked as if both colts could have won with much heavier burdens) ; Plaisanterie, 3yrs, Bst 121b, wins the Cambridgeshire at her ease; Peter, 9st 31b, canters home for the Hunt Cvp 1 , after stopping to kick in the course of the journey. These and other instances occur, and so we decide that weight does not stop — has comparatively little effect on — a good horse. Both these points are undoubted : Good horses can carry extraordinary weights ; weight affects all horses, and bad ones chiefly. Both these things being admitted, we are no nearer to success in the search for winner?, for the question still remains, what horses are good enough to carry what weights ? " Borderer," in " Baily's Magazine," writes : — "The Duke of Westminster is having Ormonde's picture painted in duplicate by Herr Adam, of Munich, the best artist of his day, and that one of the paintings is destined to become the property of the Jockey Club." Here we have another exemplification of greatness— " chips " and celebrity verws success and authority. Tho English Racing Calendar contains the following notice re the Breeders' Foal Stakes at Manchester :—" Satiety lost start.— Lord Calthorpe haviug reported to the stewards of Jockey Club that a statement made by his jockey, S. Loates— viz , that Satiety lost start through whipping round — was not corroborated by the starter, the stewards heard the evidence of the starter, of S. Loates, aud other jockeys riding in the race, and were of opinion that, though there was no evidence that S. Loates had any corrupt intention in losing start, he had made false statements, both to his employer and to the stewards, with a view to relieve himself of blame, and they therefore fined him 50sovs, and cautioned him as to his future conduct." Such excuses are altogether unnecessary at some of the New Zealand meetings. English artists in the first flight would find considerably more difficulty in getting off the mark here than in osing start, Snapshot at Geraldiue to wit.