The Express.
London, England, 1864-06-06 00:00:00

The first anniversary of the race for the great
Paris prize of 100,000 fr. has gone off with even
greater eclat, and certainly much more excitement,
than the original day. Racing in France has made
rapid strides (not to make a pun) within the last
year. The attendance of the French aristocracy
was far greater than I have seen on any former oc-
casion. The display of ladies' toilettes on the
Grand Stand and in the rows of chairs in front of
it was worthy of Ascot in its beat days ; and,
indeed, considering the admitted superiority of
French dressmakers, it may be fairly said to
have been even more dazzling. The Emperor
and Empress, attended by numerous members of
the court, appeared in the imperial tribune just
before the Grand Prize was run for. • The public
took no interest in the other races, and, as I do
not belong to the sporting world, I shall say nothing
about them. In the betting ring, called the
Enciente du Pesage, where the horses are led round
before being saddled, the competitors for the Grand
Prize were scrutinised with the most intense curi-
osity. " Where is Blair Athol ?' " Which is
File de l'Air r rang upon one's ears every mo-
ment. It is no wonder that the interest in this
race should have been so exciting, for I
think it not too much to say that it
is the most important one that was
ever run from the beginning of the world
to this day. I have not present, to my recollec-
tion, the greatest congress of winners which may
possibly have been at some time united at Don-
caster, but I much doubt whether there ever was
such an interesting contest on any turf as one in
which the winner of the Derby, the, winner of the
Oaks, and the winner of the French Derby, all
competed, and were all, moreover, beaten by a
French outsider. Blair Athol was the general
favourite in the ring. Fills de l'Air, whose
light ethereal form is singularly appropriate
to her name, was thought not strong enough
to run against the symmetrical chesnut
horse with the staring white face. Every-
body, however, was of opinion that the race lay
between those two. A few inclined towards M. De-
lamarre's Bois-Roussel, who was the winner of the
Derby at Chantilly ; but nobody (unless, indeed,
there may have been very knowing ones who kept
their opinions snugly to themselves) thought at all
about the horse which actually won.
I cannot describe the places of the horses round
the course, for I only saw them start and come in.
There were 120 entries ; but, so great was the dread
of Blair Athol and Fills de l'Air, that only
five started. These were Mr. I'Anson's Blair
Athol, Count Lagrange's File de l'Air, Baron
Rothschild's Baronello, and M. Delamarre's two
horses—Bois-Rot:mei and Vermut. The latter, the
only one of the five not dreamt of, was the winner.
He came in easily two or three lengths in front,
Blair Athol, apparently much distressed, was
second, and Mlle de l'Air third. Bois-Roussel
and Baronello were nowhere. Stich a shout of
delight, mingled with immense surprise, as I never
heard before, greeted the victory of the
French horse. The Emperor, who be-
fore bad looked singularly apathetic, and had
scarcely spoken to anyone about him, rose,
from his seat and exhibited an outburst of
enthusiasm such as I never before saw or heard of
from him. He laughed most heartily, shook him-
self in paroxysms of delight, and nodded to every
one of the crowd below him as if he had been hail-
ing a personal acquaintance. The people in the
Sneiente du Pesage passed before the Emperor in
sections cheering vociferously, and some people
'threw their hats up in the air twenty yards
high. The weather was most beautiful, and the
ground, softened by Friday's rain, in capital order.

WEATHER REPORT.-(THIS DAY.)

MONDAY, JITNII I. S A.K.

IL ,T.