The Express.
London, England, 1866-01-01 00:00:00

SPORTING INirELLIGENOE.

THE TWO-YEAR-OLD PERFORMERS OF

1865.—N0. W.

TO THE EDITOR Or nu LEERS/34

Stn,—lt is remarkable that from the holding of
the York August Meeting to the and of the season no fresh
celebrity appeared ; bet impressions as to the " best ferns"
Indulged in after Goodwood were materially altered, end on
the Knameraire the admires of many Derby colts saw their
hopes blighted. Ischia, for instance, improving on her run-
ning with Valerie, disposed of Strathcomn, Vesperien, end
Auguste moat summarily for the Convivial ; and Mr. Pitt
doing the like with Blue Riband, Chibies, Magician, and
Miasmata in • Biennial afterwards, the Danebaryitse were
in isostasies. This latter race, however, totally contradicted
the fint result as regards the Frenchman,i who bad proved
himself within 510. of Mr Pitt at Goodwood, and
thus showed that Leh* tried inferior to the
latter, should not have conceded 41b. and beaten
him; so that in making calculations it is imperative
to ignore the York doings of Auguste. Strethconan is not
so easily excused ' • still he ran rather " green"—if sot
soft"—end when his frame is fully developed he may show
plenty of gams. Blue Riband again got badly off in his tint
bout with the Minister, whom he so sorely troubled when
next they met that the Marquis of Hastings did wisely to
secure him for Dewsbury, to whom he must prove • very
useful auxiliary in all the great racy of 1866. There were
*trouser MIMS than ever, after the York week, neverthe-
less, to regret that Mr. Pitt was in neither the Two Thou-
sand nor Derby, for be and his inferior stable companion Ischia
settled the pretensions of Vespasian and Chibisa easily and
fairly enough, and this alone put him at the top of the
tree, beadri rendering it pretty certain that he beat Lord
Portsmouth's Robin Hood (in mentioning this colt in my
last lather, is the last paragriph, I miscalled him Baron
Rothschild's) on his merits at Newmarket. The other
events at York displayed that Ambition end Lord of the
Vale could both stay • mile, the latter's overthrow of Split
the Difference, Rica, Salim, Macdonald, and another, being
a feather in the cap of his sire, Dundee, for it exemplified
the stoutness of the blood, seeing how badly his lordship
bad run over shorter courses ; and we also saw that Sylph
was a superior plater, and Locket Lucy not half such •
bed'un as she looks, doubtful as it is whether many were
" well and wanted" that finished behind the latter,
Quite • host of meetings were held between York and
Doncaster, but few inci&nts occurred at them affect-
Mg the character of the javeoilee, and they can
all be summarily dismissed. At Plymouth, Kings-
ley, a splendid colt, that wanted too much time to
shine at two years old, managed to win in indifferent '
company ; then Exeter saw Beelzebub come oat and run a
good horse, which his running Langham to • head, giving
away 41b, and two lengths' defeat of MaPtian, fairly proved
him, if his unexpected overthrow of Lord Portsmouth's
Robin Hoed (said to be amiss) did sot ; next, Lady Sophie
accomplished her first victory at Warwick ; and at Leices-
ter • Rataplan filly, called Honeymooo, got well through
her only race in public ; but the wonder created by these
doings was nothing to that excited at Doncaster, where
several creditable first appearances were made. To start
with, • sister to Cambuscan, now called Elfita, succeeded
in bowling over Miss Harriette, Gretna, Valeria, Brenta,
and others ; directly after which Rococo, who had done so
poorly hitherto, beat the fleet Attraction and Queen of
Trumps at weigbt for age, which was more than Ambition
or Nutrition could do when they met their elders in
the longer race that opened the ball. The Champagne
result wee no surprise • nevertheless, the coming
out of Lord Lyon and Baron Rothschild's Robin Hood
were events of great importance, and when the former
ran • deed heat with Redan, and " the Baron's" colt got
third, they were both shown to be as good as they were
ever vaunted to be ; for it was no semen Lord Lyon was off,
while Robin Hood was not fit—and yet Strathoonan, Mount
Palatine, Vespasian, and Chiba' were among those behind
the pair. Roden ran an improved horse to all intents and
purposes when he beat the two last-named so far ; and as he
was little nearer " the mark" than Lord Lyon, it is but •
question of his heart being in the right place for him to
prove one of the best of his year whenever the opportunity
occurs. Lord Lyoo, unlike theolder deseendthte of Paradigm,
ran like a stayer; and it was singular that, despite his bril.
Rant &Let, his wisdom stable-companion, Rustic, should
win • sweepstakes with such ridiculous ease as to keep up
the doubts whether Mr. Sutton really kept his best colt
when disposing of the son of Village Lase. Ido not mean
to assert that those behind Rustic, taken as • body, will
quite bear comparison with Lord Lyon's opponents;
but he won with plenty in hand, and looked
so like improving, that many good judges gave
him the preference of the two. Crown Prince wiped sway
the stain of his Goodwood defeat by Valeria in two of the
handicaps, one of which he ran away with carrying Tat Bth,
while for the second be was second with fist 101 b ; but we
had an opportunity of measuring him more accurately
later on at Newmarket, and all I need dwell upon further
in connection with the Doncaster was the improvement
shown by Repulse (who fairly beat King Hal, Mimi Har-
riette, and Qai Vive, if not one of the other 2-ywolds she
met), Sweet Anne, and Gunlock, the latter staying too
long for tbe Sans Si, who has turned out • bad roarer.
There wee now little beyond the racing at Newmarket to
alter the form of the juveniles, the doings at all the minor
meetings held until the end of October merely showing
Hopvine at Lambourne, the Czar and Dart at Richmond,
Magician at Bedford, and Wolfdog at Mua,elburgh to be in
better trim than they were at any other time during the
season ; and it will be best to summarise the main incidents
of the sixteen days' business at head-quarters, which no one
interested can have forgotten yet. Matters went smoothly
in the first week, Mr. Pitt's 91b penalty failing to stop him
in the Hopeful, though he bad • better lot to meet than we
maw contest the rich Beckenham Stakes, of which a Mnajid
filly called Myrrhiva was the beat. Lady Sophie, who had
hitherto performed only as • selling plater, overthrew all
the favourites for the Granby Stakes ; but I think she may
thank her good fortune more than her merit for her victory,
as the two beet horses she met, Langliam and Lothario,
were both very unfit to run. Esca was also fortunate to
get the Triennial Stakes, he and Baron Rothschild's Robin
Hood finishing so wide apart that Wells, on the latter,
thought be was half a length first when • head behind, and
consequently making little effort, or be must have won.
The performances of the pair were respectable, however,
under any circumstances, as Crown Prince was only third
sad Ischia unplaced ; and if we take no notice of the latter's
running (which ens too bad to be true) they must be en-
titled to some credit, especially as it is almost • certainty
they will improve in a greater ratio than many other two
year olds. Their exhibitions prepared us for the subsequent
brilliant triumphs of Lord Lyon, who won the Troy Stakes
in the Second, and the Criterion in the Houghton week, in
right gallant style, beating Mr. Pitt, The Primate, King
Hal, and Lord Portsmouth s Robin Hood in the first in-
stance, and Young Monarque, Jeth-in-the-Green, The
Primate, Lament. The Rector, ho., in the other. Excuses
may be made for Robin Hood and Janitor, but for no others
in the above list, who were all doing well at the two meat.
ings and when it is considered how Mr. Pitt gave Mazurka
211b,-how The Primate conceded 31b. to Ewa, and King
Hal 121 b. to Sans Si over half a mile—how Jack-io-the-
Green cantered away from Crown Prince for the Prender-
pat, after the latter had done • good thing with Rapid
Rhone's brother, and also beat Mount Palatine and Puebla
—and how well Lament and Rector got through a couple of
minor plates, and that Lord Lyon gave weight teen these,
it is an undoubted fact that Student's Goodwood perform-
ances were equalled, if not excelled. Rustic, how-
ever, stuck closely to him, in the battle for honours, as he
gave allb. to Young Monarque for the Cleerwell, and beat
him half-a-dozen lengths, thereby still keeping open the
question which was the better horse of the two. Chro-
nometer (a good horse when i'the vein, and • clever winner
at Exeter) was beaten many lengths from Rustic ; and
what with the line obtained through Jack-in-the-Green,
Danebury ought to be able to judge what they mu do with
both Student and Lord Lyon, so that it will be useful to
know their sentiments on the Derby day. There are other
rich stakes besides the above named to be picked up at
Newmarket in the autumn, and these introduced us to
some new lights. Lam o' Gowrie, • beautiful daughter of
Dundee, appeared fir a 300 sow,. sweepstakes, and by her
upset of Liddington's half-sister, Mirella, who subsequently
defeated Lady Sophie, Mineral, ilyrrhina, Valeria, sic.,
proved herself to be of some worth. Monarch of tbe Glen,
another derkie, also made a successful &but for the
Glasgow Stakes, just setting home before Gunlock
and Beelzebub, and thus auguring a brilliant career
for himself if he will only stand training, for
he was no more fit to run then was Macaroni
when he came oat is be beaten at two yews old.
Gunlock's close proximity to Beelzebub gave Mr. Sutton
a "line " for Lord Lyon that cannot fell to be most useful
to him, and he promises to be very useful in this business
next spring. A dark young Melbourne filly of Lord Glee-
gow's proved the best of • moderate lot that ran for a 50sove.
sweepstakes ; but the plating at the three meetings intro-
duced the world to several that were superior to her—
Willie Sharpe, Steamboat, the Marquis of Hastings' Al-
berta, Actres, Raven, Her Ladyship, 'Rom Cte'ri, the colt
by Newminster out of Miss Lavinia, Ulphos, and Whitby
being the cream of them. But why Raven should be
dreamed of for the Derby after winning a race the winner of
which could have been claimed for 1:.01. is a puzzler, and
the French party will be wizards indeed if they can make
• first-clam horse of the son of Trompeter and Coy.
beau, who is, like their Pluto'. English bred. The New
series were only remarkable for Lothario's showing fair form,
backward as he still was, and his running Drum to • bead,
giving away 211 h, was not a bad certificate, as the letter
was giving weight to all those before him at Woreester.
This was the first of the "illegitimate" autumn meetings,
whereat Professor Anderson. Tormentor, Aldcroft, Venture-
some, Remo, the filly by Cavendish out of Blue Bell, and
The Naide all did safficisnt to justify their being added to
the list of respectable*, but no better than two or three of
the suceensful Newmarket platen that patronised them,
Alberta and the Mir Lavinia colt doing just about as well
as the best of the lot, Tormentor. This latter filly dis-
played the most marked improvement, her defeat of Miss
Harriette at even weights being two atone better form than
she showed at Goodwood or Yak ; and there was plenty of
room for her and the Miss Lavinia colt among the second.
raters, many of the early birds having fallen off no remark-
ably while this pair were improving. owing to their want of
stamina to keep on, or downright ill-usage, that it will be
madness to attempt handicapping them wean I endeavour
to show (in my next) what are the relative merits of the
beet two-year-old performers daring the year 1865.-
1 am, ho,, BLIMBOS.