THE ASCOT GOLD CUP.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1159, 27 June 1912, Page 10

THE ASCOT GOLD CUP.

The result of the Ascot Gold Cup,, decided in England last week, would in all probability be well received at Home, as the winner, Prince Palatine, made a one-horse race of the St.

Leger last year and also won the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood, while he occupied second berth in each of his other three starts. Prince Palatine is evidently a great stayer and inherits the stamina of his sire, Persimmon, who, it may be remarked, also carried off the Gold Cup. The race is one of the important events of the English turf, due, perhaps, to the fact that it was founded in 1807 and also that the distance is two miles and ahalf. Very small fields have been a feature of the event, and on one occasion Banker was the solitary starter and only five times in its long history has the field reached double figures, the main being twelve in 1848, when Alarm proved victorious, the race on that occasion being known as the Emperor’s Plate. The Gold Cup has not been without its sensation, as on five occasions the judge declared a dead heat, the run-off deciding the winner. In the years 1811 and 1823 Jeanette and Marcellus were first home and in each instance the race awarded to the second horse. The greatest sensation of all was the stealing of the cup itself from the stewards’ room a few years ago. Some great horses figure in the list of winners, amongst whom may be mentioned Fisherman, Gladiateur, Doncaster, Isonomy, St. Simon, La Fleche, Isinglass, Persimmon, Cyllene and Bayardo. Then again several horses well entitled to be placed in the category “great”. have been beaten, notably when such famous mares as Pretty Polly and Sceptre were defeated.