The Express.
London, England, 1864-08-08 00:00:00

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

THE PAST AND CURRENT WEIKS'

MISTING&

TO TIM WOOS Or 171 iltriNfa.
SlR,—Serious difficulties have of late stood in the
way of the pursuit of the "satirical pastime," the long
drought having rendered it such bad going for hones, both
at borne sad abroad, in most parts of the oountry, that the
many extra thousands attracted to race meetings by the
brilliantfreather, have to put up with seeing second-raters per-
form, in net came, and not • great number of these. There
was not what could be called a large field running at
Brighton or Lewes, sad, although supplementary to Good.
wood, the racing will not bear comparison with
that witnessed at the latter place, most of the
good horses having had enough of it there for some
time to come. We shall not see many of them again until
DMZ the close of the season, the extensive entries for the
Geserewitch, Cambridgeshire, Great Eastern, and October
haadicaps, recently published, showing what • great many
more horses than usual are in clover foe the " back end"
nasetion,:which is only a natural consequence of their forced
retirement. The St. Leger will lose a great deal of its in-
terest unless • change speedily takes places, for there is
always the danger of others following in the wake of Scot-
tish Chief, whose severe work at Epsom and Ascot has
eventually succeeded in stumping him up. The only St.
Leger horses worthy of the name that ran last week were
Peon and Historian, the former of whom was within an ace
of beating Fille de l'Air on her merits at Brighton. It
was not a Leonine race, perhaps, as they galloped
barely a quarter of • mile, which just suited Peon, whose
speed is not sufficient to recommend him for the Don-
caster event, as he lacks • more important quality. Histo-
rian, who might have beaten the Clown had he run straight,
is another whose staying must be doubted ; but as a mile
horse In will prove invaluable to Woodyeates some day, for
to make the Clown really gallop was something, the latter's
form having recently been proved A 1 by the performance*
of the Tyke, Birch Broom, Master Richard, Tomato, and
others be has of late exhibited a decided superiority over.
Oae of the Goodwood celebrities, Mari met with an
overthrow at Lewes, but it was not her tuning, and
she is sure to do her friends • good turn
again some day, unless haadicappers take great care
of her. Dollar, too, had all his work to do to sustain his
reputation, for having to make all his own running in the
Brighton Cap he was nearly beaten by the Little Stag, who
has • greater turn of speed, and would certainly have beaten
him had this quality been made proper me of—or had the
Stag been as game as hie companion, East Lancashire (re-
served for the Ebor Handicap), he would have beaten the
Frenchman as it was. There were some strange doings on
the part of the 2-yr-olds, Nukuhen winning the Brighton
Nursery with "any quantity of weight in hand, and subse-
quently bowling over Anti-Macassar when givingthim equal
to Slb, no real credit, however, being given her
for the latter performance, as the lookers on
thought Anti-Macamar should have won. He
was undoubtedly heavily laid against, and as the
defeat was necessary for htm to take • Slb allowance at
Lewes for the rich Priory Stakes, it was argued he was
pulled out for no other purpose. If so, nothing cameo( it,
as he was beaten very easily by Attache, and ran so mode-
rately altogether that either his party were afraid of the
demonstration" the public would have made had he won,
or his good "second" to Victorious at Epsom was • " fluke,"
as the 9st Goodwood Nursery winner gave Attach... therein
211ba, and ran away from him at last.
Several of the Stuns performers are engaged at the chief
meetings of the current week, there being so many to take
place altogether that the clashing will be felt by all, and
more especially by Huntingdon and Wolverhampton, both
corning off on Tue.day and Wednesday. The former is under
good management, but I am afraid its revival will not be
psirosised extensively by the quadrupeds, Lady Florence
and Munchlusen having the three juvenile races, the Binh.
ingbrook, Melton, and Nursery Stakes, between them, and
Bak Edmund having little to fear in the principal handicap.
nolverhamptoo promises some really good sport, and even
if Dollar and Roadie meet for the great handicap, two
miles, and frighten several out of the fields, the excitement
of a contest between them at 81b. will make some &meads,
for it must be • near thing, and the Goodwood
Cup winner is entitled to but • slight preference over
that of the Stakes. The Ermine Welter Cup distance
will better please Despair and Revolver, who may both give
the weight to Actieon ; and the half mile Stewards' Plate
will just suit Confederate and Jane Shore. The Patella
is only a selling race, and cannot be safely interfered with';
as, for instance, Ponsussion, who could win to • certainty,
seems bound to remain at home, when she could be claimed
for 100/., and it is elsodoubtful bout the best-looking of the '
others showing. In the Staff. ordshire Nursery, Zisca, Simple
Maid, Contract, and Rose of Denmark are all temptingly
weighted—the first-named especially -• aa was also Attache
until he incurred a 71b penalty, which may drive him to the
two-year-old Biennial, wherein he has the best of
the weights with Lacs, Auditor, Money Spinner,
and other winners, and he should just about
win. The Chillington Stakes in the second day will be
rather too much for him, as Victorious most beat every-
thing. However threatening Flying Fish may appear in
the Borough Members' Plate, Twilight in the Holycake
Handicap, and The Warrior in the Cleveland Cup, they
must all be left for the first day's proceedings to throw a
light upon ; and the Three-Year•Old Biennial is ea difficult
to handle, being almost reduced to a question whether
Ely. Baragah, or Lord Zetland will run, which te nee
doubtful as regards the two first named, and the latter
may find Gordan Knot rather too troublesome, even if he
is mos. the starters.
s.

/tokensWillWetWe so remarkable as usual for its large
fields, the extensive entry for the Nursery being in a
measure spoiled by the lenient weight Nutcracker has
slipped in at, very few being capable of successfully con-
tending against her. As Auglo-Sesou declined the Chain.
peva at Brighton, be may leave the Easthampstead Park
Stakes to Umpire ; and there will not be a first-clan horse,
perhaps, oppwcg Belly Edmond, as the hard ground cannot
serve Gibraltar. The Reading Stakes, in the absence of
Brown Dayrell, mar fall to the share of Motley Spinner, but
a moderate lot opposing her ; and the Abbey Stakesion the
emend day (1 am t ;ming over the minor handicaps) has
only iwo good performers engaged—viz., Benanoar and
Jambe!, the latter being the superior of the two.—l am,
Ac., METEOR.