The Express.
London, England, 1864-12-05 00:00:00

TO THE LIATOI_O7 THE =PHU&

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Ste,—Whether the 2-yr-olds of 1884—whom
I on 1 proceed tar take in review, according to custom—
will, as a body, torn out so good as those of 1863, bus yet
to in seen, although the °piston way be ventured that this
is scarcely on the cards; but there is no doubt that the
followers of " public form" have this winter something
more [eligible to work epos whilst making their calculations
for the Derby thew they had last, whew the best potful men
engaged were so close together—and behind two or three
that were out engaged—that I could come to no oiler con-
clusion than that • " dark " one should prose victorious in
the Eiaom struggle, and, besides stauding solely on
li.a.r Athol is my slimming up twelve mouths ago, made
the following remark with reference to the Yorkshire hones:
"To absolutely win the prize, they must look to Blair
Athol, and at. of Lord Glasgow's dark candidates, for I
have sees no public form good enough to stand on." Blair
Athol first, and Lord (nano, second with on par-
ticular meutioo was made of at the time, General Peel, was
• stroke of fortune far exceedieg my expectations, and reads
quite encouraging just now, when it is so easy to discover
superiority in one or two of the public performers of the
past season, and there is no Union Jack or Fills de rAir
to put to shame the Derby crack; During the 282
days, however, over which the " sewn " extended.
we witnessed the advent of many good horses that
are in neither the Derby nor the Oaks, one half
of the juveniles that ran not being engaged in these
events. They have been so industrious that sortie 600 nn
in England alone, a couple performing In the very Am nos
of the season--the Trial Stakes at Chelmsford ; and on in
the absolute Iset—a match at the Warwick Heat.
Chelmsford, commencing on the 17th of February, had its
mule: 2-yr old new that was contested by • very moderato
lot, Thor being the only one that looked of any account, sad
he was placed to Attention, who ran almost " tit," sari, se it
was. The Lincoln lot contesting the Brockleaby was more
respectable ; Vision, Blackbird, and La Michaele supplying
the first three, and Vision the winner. This filly scarcrely
sustained her reputation throughont the anew, being
eclipsed at last by Grappler, Catalogue, and Brows Bread,
who—all "backward"—wen among the upplaced ; but the
best of them did sot finish the year better than IA
Michante, who, in her last encounter, gave Catalogue
B#lb. and ran her to a head in a match. At Husgerford
the useful Fume Chat beat an inferior led; and the Not-
tingham two-year-old race was merely the Lincoln one over
again, the difference being that a novelty on Vision's back
brought Blackbird and La Michaele closer to her, the
latter taking second place instead of third. The Tyro at
Liverpool, that was reordered so illustrious la 1860 by its
bringing out such • trio as Lady Odd's, Big Bee, and
Dundee, and could boast next year of • Neptune' in the
field, had nothing better than East Lynn among the runners
on this °natio; and be was not sulhcieotly trained to do
more than run • dead heat with the (award Club Queen,
wham be could now give many pounds to; aed be so
improved in the course of a week as to run a close
race with Money Sinner, when carrying a 71b.
~ penalty, for the Hopeful at Doecaster, where he was be-
! fore thirteen others, melodies Blackbird, Catalogue, Zonave
Junior, King Arthur, Spring Gun, Friday, and Nothing
More. It was far too early in the year, however, for most
of these; and, with the exception of Blackbird, they showed
a capability of beating East Lynn at even weights before
they were done with. At Warwick, Vision was still better
than Grappler, Jezebel, a stable companion of Furze Chat,
gaining a character by " splitting" the pair, as there were
Attention (her only public awes/awe after Chelmsford),
Sympathy, Cedric, Hops, and Bosais Lam behind the trio,
in addition to Jack Ketch, who had • week before woo a
tittle nos at Shrewsbury, thanks to the moderate lot be
I met. At Durban], Club Queen sad East Lynn again finished
very close together, but without either win*, Kiog Arthur
having easily beaten them both, besides Nothing More
and two others, and as his Majesty next day defeated
War Whoop, Catalogue, Sweet Jessie (giving them all 81b),
and others just as easily, it was generally understood he
ought to have woe at Doncaster, and that the reaping
there for the Hopeful was "all wrong." Still there was
no
Derby form about his doings, and J. Osborne made •
capital bargain when he let him go for 2,5004 ; set he still
further improved upon the "deal" by tan" the horse
back—just for old acquaintance sake—foe 550 guineas
when MD late Duke of Cleveland's stud was sold off, for it
is certain the horse was sot himself while out of his pos-
session, and he may some day wove worth nearly all the
mosey he originally fetched. With Jezebel among the =-
placed for the Whittlebury at Northampton, miners( two
stone and a half from • couple of the three-year-olds
that supplied the first three, the beet performers at the
illegitimate spring minim had little to boast of, and it
was very easy for the rich Altborp Park Stakes to bring
forward • superior class of hones then had been seen pre-
viously. The held mustered sixteen strong, this number
includin; Puritan, Tampion, Lemonade, Shrapnel! (the
four placed), Attache, Brown Bread, Amber, Cedric,
Bonnie Lass, mad Cantata ; said as they all bad, from ap-
pearances, some character about them, if they did not
exactly display it, the wrformanse of Puritan and Teeny-
son, who were far before anything shwa were as near ben-
ign as it wee possible to coseeive, taking the line from
what had been seen so fez, although they were not definite
enough to eauseeither's being backed for the Derby. 1865.
A French filly called Brioche roan • respectable data at
the meeting for a small stake, and she join managed to beat
Lady Egidia, • sister to Laid, who ran very stoutly
but was overmatched for speed- Catena Bndge gave Wild
Awes the tint opportunity of daninguishing herself, which
she did by beating Um good-looking but untrained Ss. Mag-
nus, with Solewiod and another, very cleverly ; and the
next Yorkshire meeting, at Think, gave us the hint about
another first-claas two-year-old called Oppressor, who had
• deal todo with Wild Agnes afterwards, and beat Brown
Bread, Sweet Jamie (not in trim), and Club Queen so
cleverly as to show himself • bird of great promise, if the
performance was not quite so decisive as that of Punter',
who at Northampton beat Brown Bread lengths further
I than he did. But he was not half so fit as the southern
trained hones,. and Brows Bread, besides, was improving
daily. At Epsom Spring Puritan was eclipmd by tiardevisure,
who beat Tennyson with fee greaser ease than he did at
Northampton, and in disposing of Money Spinner at the
same time, took all the prestige away from the Liverpool,
Downier, and Durham performer; for this filly was, with
the useful Ethan among the unplaced. dbrapoell was •
better fourth than at Northampton, being within • head of
Gootran who, however, like most of the French 2.yr-
olds, wanted • greater scope of ground. This he got on the
second day, when he ran again in a field of twelve, but was
unfortunate in being the last off, and disappointed in an
endeavour to make up the lost ground by not getting the
turn as he desired. Had he got well away he must have
won, as Lomond; who beat him • head for second place,
was bound, through Tennyson, to finish three lengths
behind him, and she was only beaten a head from the
winner, Friday, who, vastly Unproved sines Doe
caster, exhibited we good quality when he enualed
home so gamely. Grappler could not get a " place" here,
and the extra two twiny also prevented Shrapoell ob-
taining we, Ethelred not being tit enough to do any better.
In • weight for age race, Zones Junior betrayed as much
improvement on his Doncaster form as Friday did an boar
previously, for be best Attraction and the improving
Attache cleverly, the Latter also getting before the Marquis
of Ilastiop' dying filly, and thin doing the lot he was un-
placed to at Northampton some credit. The Newmarket
Craven is never • great meeting for 2-yr-olds, but on the
last anniversary managed to attract La !decline, Cor-
delis, and Zephyr for a mirror Plate, the former being
much improved now Nottingham, sod ammo pinups an easy
victors over her good-looking lot of opposenta, the half dozes
enplaced to her including a very useful pair of un-named
coke that have since been christened Hanstesad and Watch-
hoz. Tennyson, too, improved his reputation by running
away from the premising Rattle filly, now called Lady
Florence (not Lord Hastings's plater), in a half-mile spin ;
but when the latter, at the Fuat Spring Meeting • fortnight
afterwards, got the best of Pathan on his attempting to
give her 51b besides the sex allowance, she proved that
Tennyson had no business besting her so seedy. if at all. A
Maiden Plate ia noticeable for its bringing together the only
fillies that have ever been "kindly" backed for the Derby,
Zephyr sad Siberia ; but they created no great seosatioo on
this particular OC3IIIIOD, as Black Duchess ran Zephyr
to a head, and Siberia was but • moderate third
—just before Auditor ; and all the credit of
the melt was taken by Ls Michante, who beat
Zephyr so easily in the Craven week that no sur-
plus was created when she carried home her slb penalty in
triumph for the great SLICit. Plate, on the Wednesday, beat-
ing nearly • score of opponents, of whom Shrapnel' was
I second. She had the good fortune to meet Radcliffe and Le
Biaroais, when they were not exactly ready ; but fairly
beat Indigestion. Advance, the Grinder, and Brioche, in ad-
dition to Shrew's'', and had every business to be voted
first class at once. Between the two Newmarket gatherings,
there was one at Lewes that afforded Etbelbred en oppor-
tunity of showing he had unproved since Epsom, as be gave
Blackbird Bth and a beating ; and at Cheater the principal
juvenile event went to another of the early-defeated school,
as, in the Merle Stakes, Nothing More won very easily
from the two frank comers, Jack Jukes and Pantaloon,
who came out with good reputations, the latter being so
especially well tried that there was no doubt about hie
Ibeing a great rogue in public when he raa so iodifferestly.
Jack Jukes's victory two days afterwards, even over the
moderate Love Letter, was a little to the credit of Nothing
more, whose overthrow by Bonnie Lass on the last day was
nothing to be surprised at, as be was trying to give 171 b
away. York finished up the spring meetings in the north,
1 Spring Gun going off there better than at Downier, as,
after succumbing to Benswer in the Zatland be beat him
for the Eglinton Stokes, the second result, subsequently
proving the proper estimate of the respective qualities of
the two horses. The Keavermire Plate falling to the
share of Black Dachau— who was three lengths in
i front of the sister to Arnhem, a fitly of no
i little promise, War-whoop diviling the pair—La Merchants
wept still further towards the top of the tree. There was
I nothing first-tee actually seen at the meeting ; and then
who burned to Salisbury is the earns week only saw• pions
, numerous lot of platen in the south, their quality being so
indifferent that Teesdale, Herschel, Purity, the Swift, sad
j Tilt did the beet for the once, Lady Egidia being out of
; form, or she would have given the throe first-named s=
treating in the Salisbury Stakes bastard of monis" uspit
! Bath was only remarkable for its surprises, and not for
brioging out any new 14bts ; Jezebel's overthrow
sat Timmy &mi. Shrenielli Friday, fcc., for the Bien-
' rtie.r4Etha:ledPaartsriir ditra7ictlerortiltberulifneiterounlySttarnies,
rather astoalsitiog the West. For the lan-gamed sin