The Express.
London, England, 1866-05-14 00:00:00

TO THE Eprroa OP THE EXPELS&

Silt,—St. Derby Day, it is evident, is to be kept
religiously as ever in 1866, for the names of Lord Lyon and
Rustic are heard wherever one may be induced to wander
just now, whether it be in St. James's or St. Giles s, and
the number of vehicles of all kind" undergoing the cere-
mony of repainting or " smartening up," that are to be
met with in passing by or through theback-slums of Lon-
don, must be positively alarming to any nervous heavy
swell intending to " do" the road. The glories of the old
style, however, are not what they were, the facilities for
reaching Epsom per rail being of late years so excellent
and extensive, that the rough element preponderates on
the road too much for there to be any great " fun" in
the fun, which, on the return journey, unless an early
start can be effected, is generally such as can only create
disgust. The proverbial " jolly fellows " are either con-
spicuous by their absence or swamped by the scrapings of
the Haymarket, Drury-lane, Whitechapel—in fact, all
flash London—in a state of beer and at war with decency,
that now rule the roast ; and thus to all quiet people who
have made up their minds to enjoy a Derby-day, my advice is
to leave the "road," according to the locality they reside in,
at London-bridge, Victoria, Kensington, Chelsea, Charing-
cross, Waterloo, Vauxhall, King's-cross, Euston-square,
Paddington, or Notting-hill (all starting: points for a rail-
way
journey), or they may even have a blow "as far as
Clapham, and henceforth trust themselves to the tender
mercies of the railway companies. If any novice wishes to
see a capital day's racing in comfort, let him by all means
run down on Tuesday, and see Lord Lyon's sister Achieve.
ment contest the Wc.podoote, the first important two-year-
old race of the season, over a three-quarters-of-a-mile
coarse, against Mr. Chaplin's 1,500-guinea purchase, the
Hermit, who at Bath proved himself a first-rater, bad as was
the debdt he made at Newmarket. He may not, how-
ever, be quite able to beat the daughter of Stockwell and
Paradig she having Fakir, Cellina, the Parmesan colt,
Satyr, Lickm Turpin' and Huntsman, the best of the others
I have seen out, safe enough on her Ascot running.
Lytham, who fell with Custaneo in a T.Y.C. race at the
Spring Meeting, is in the Brighton Handicap, same course,
at the winning weight of Bst. 51b. ; but Lord Stamford,
who brought off a grand coup in this very race last year,
with the broken-winded and now broken-down Gownsman,
may do the trick again with another roarer, Thalamus or
Gowns, though if Lytham is backed in earnest he must be
followed. The Rous Handicap, one mile, gives Lord Lyon's
half-sister, Gardevisure, a fair chance, at Bst. alb. ; still,
Wild Agnes, at 7st. 131 b., reads quite as well ; anti neither
may like the task of giving the weight required to the
pick of the Danebury gentlemen, who have
Siberia, Nukuheva, Wild Parsley, and Sweet Anne, to
choose from. What the Simon Pure may be the betting must
be left to show ; nevertheless, it cannot be much better
worth following than the two fillies just named, Wild
Agnes being truly formidable if in her last autumn form,
and perhaps the whole lot will have to succumb to the
turned loose Pirate or the Czar. In the Ileathcote Plate,
half-a-mile, Queen of Trumps should win the trick ; but
the Match is of no importance, and the two remaining
events that have to make up Tuesday's budget are not yet
entered for. _ _ _ _

The getters up of the card for Wednesday very properly
think the Derby is quite feature enough, and they con-
sequently throw in four most wretched make-weights to
spin out the afternoon with, the " added money " spent
over the most profitable day's racing by far of the whole
season only reaching 180/. Tuesday's running must
" tip " the winners of the two closed plates; and
perhaps, if the Czar, in the Slabber stable should
win the Rous, or an outsider's trial horse, the
Craven Stakes that will open the meeting, the
Derby might be influenced by the results also. But
nothing can cause such a startling alteration in the betting
barometer u that effected on Friday last, when the
hitherto undreamed-of Abergeldie sprang from 1,000 to 5
to 1,000 to 30 in the slime of two hours, a proceeding in
itself ominous enough—inasmuch as it shows one very
clever division not to be greatly impressed in favour of
Lord Lyon and Rustic—to give the race too open an
appearance to suit backers generally. Old stagers, indeed,
n *cule the idea of having to take 5 to 3 or sto 2 to back
the winner, or lay nearly 2 to 1 on them, if they wish to put
both the cracks on the right side of their books ; neverthe-
less, the field, numerous as it may be, is but a ragged lot ;
and only the unprecedented richness of the stake, worth
about 7,5001., can supply a reason for many of the follow-
ing daring to face the favourites :
Ridden by
Abergeldie J. Goatee.
Apiley Deacon.
Blue Elbend
.11elberyFolt J. Mann.

Ridden by
Lucifer
Maori (Thief
Monarch of the ("balmier.
Glen

Bro to litrd-on- t
the-Wingeolt j
Corsair
Freedom Edwards.
ilaretteld
Janitor
•

Nutrition
Amato
Belau
Robin Hood

H. Covey.
Giiruabaw
1 or T. Frencli.
Wells.

Btratbromaa . fin. owden.
Toxopholite c . Osborne.
Wespaalsui . J. Grlnishew.
• • • •

WeawiCir

Yg. Melbourne) p,
colt

'arry.