# Kingsborough

A waving of hats and of hands,  The voices of thousands in one, A shout from the ring and the stands,  And a glitter of heads in the sun! "They are off — they are off!" is the roar,  As the cracks settle down to the race, With the "yellow and black" to the fore,  And the Panic blood forcing the pace.
At the back of the course, and away  Where the running-ground home again wheels, Grubb travels in front on the bay,  With a feather-weight hard at his heels. But Yeomans, you see, is about,  And the wily New Zealander waits, Though the high-blooded flyer is out,  Whose rider and colours are Tait's.
Look! Ashworth comes on with a run  To the head of the Levity colt; And the fleet the magnificent son  Of Panic is shooting his bolt. Hurrah for the Weatherbit strain!  A Fireworks is first in the straight; And "A Kelpie will win it again!"  Is the roar from the ring to the gate.
The leader must have it — but no!  For see, full of running, behind A beautiful, wonderful foe  With the speed of the thunder and wind! A flashing of whips, and a cry,  And Ashworth sits down on his horse, With Kingsborough's head at his thigh  And the "field" scattered over the course!
In a clamour of calls and acclaim  The pair race away from the ruck: The horse to the last of it game —  A marvel of muscle and pluck! But the foot of the Sappho is there,  And Kingston's invincible strength; And the numbers go up in the air —  The colt is the first by a length!
The first, and the favourite too!  The terror that came from his stall, With the spirit of fire and of dew,  To show the road home to them all; From the back of the field to the straight  He has come, as is ever his wont, And carried his welter-like weight,  Like a tradesman, right through to the front.
Nor wonder at cheering a wit,  For this is the popular horse, That never was beaten when "fit"  By any four hoofs on the course; To starter for Leger or Cup,  Has he ever shown feather of fear When saddle and rider were up  And the case to be argued was clear?
No! rather the questionless pluck  Of the blood unaccustomed to yield, Preferred to spread-eagle the ruck,  And make a long tail of the "field". Bear witness, ye lovers of sport,  To races of which he can boast, When flyer by flyer was caught,  And beaten by lengths on the post!
Lo! this is the beautiful bay —  Of many, the marvellous one Who showed us last season the way  That a Leger should always be won. There was something to look at and learn,  Ye shrewd irreproachable "touts", When the Panic colt tired at the turn,  And the thing was all over — but shouts!
Aye, that was the spin, when the twain  Came locked by the bend of the course, The Zealander pulling his rein,  And the veteran hard on his horse! When Ashworth was "riding" 'twas late  For his friends to applaud on the stands, And the Sappho colt entered the straight  With the race of the year in his hands.
Just look at his withers, his thighs!  And the way that he carries his head! Has Richmond more wonderful eyes,  Or Melbourne that spring in his tread? The grand, the intelligent glance  From a spirit that fathoms and feels, Makes the heart of a horse-lover dance  Till the warm-blooded life in him reels.
What care have I ever to know  His owner by sight or by name? The horse that I glory in so  Is still the magnificent same. I own I am proud of the pluck  Of the sportsman that never was bought; But the nag that spread-eagled the ruck  Is bound to be first in my thought.
For who that has masculine flame,  Or who that is thorough at all, Can help feeling joy in the fame  Of this king of the kings of the stall? What odds if assumption has sealed  His soulless hereafter abode, So long as he shows to his "field"  The gleam of his hoofs, and the road?
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
* published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
* anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
* government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).
This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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