The Express.
London, England, 1866-06-04 00:00:00

TO THE IDITOa OP TKO MIPIUI66.

SlR,—Another eventful week has passed sway,-
end its close was marked by what must be looked upon
alined as a calamity, in these days when sportsmen good
and true are so scarce. I allude, of course, to the decease
of one of the few representatives of the old school left to
us, the Bart of Chesterfield, who started so pluckily with
Zinganee at Ascot just thirty-seven years ago, sad foi_,
upwards of thirty years was one of the mod active sup-
porters of the " national pastime." His luok was not
great towards the close of his turf career, when his
horses were trained by T. Taylor, with others,
at Newmarket ,• but he had a pretty good share
_ of the
ttitairlirtin hiartitlnBaVilf al never won anDlort, the
latter of whom in the same year alsoustr7Osacned the Doncaster I
Cup on his lordship's sideboard, and the ladies' race again
in '49 by the aid of Lad Evelyn, were a fair compensa-
tion. Besides these " big stakes,* he wee credited with
two Goodwood Cups by Priam, whom he bought out of the;
Ohifney hands, soon after he started on the turf, in addi-
tion to Zinganee's Ascot Gold Cup ; and he was, almost to
the last, continually doing something is the handicap line.
Ten years ago Typee's name was se familiar to honey Eng-
land as that of Fairwater was later on, though she never
brought off such • grand coup as Bathilde did in the Cam-
bridgeshire of '62, since when the popular " red and blue
sleeves" (with which what are now termed the " French
colours"—blue and red sleeves—were so long con-
founded when Count F. de Lagrange first began to
make his mark) hare not often been seen, espe-
cially in the van. The Earl was always of the go-a-head
school, whether as a " racing man," or as the master
of the Buckhounds or of the Pytclaley, and his buying of
Zinganee for 2,500 guineas and Pruun f0r3,000 guineas, when
there was little beyond the Cups before them, was considered
wonderfully " plucky" at the time. So that, after all,
people were not so mad or so rich in the " good old times"
as now, when one yearling brings the extraordinary price
of 2,500 guineas, and another 2,000 guineas during an
afternoon. These were the " top prices," both unprece-
dented, at the Middle Park (Bltbam) sale of Saturday,
when 42 youngsters, whose capabilities for racing can only
be guessed at for some months to cane, were sold by
auction at the splendid average of 456 10-42 guineas
each ! The best blood in the country was doubtless
represented by them ; still the " mad-priced" ones may not
be superior to, if so good se, some of the comparatively
cheaper lots, or the purchasers of a 900-guinea and a 700-
guinea colt respectively would not have cared to meet them
in a 1,000 sous. sweepstake', h. ft., a private race,
made for the autumn of 1867. The " gentlemen " mus-
tered in peat force at the sale, in despite of the bad time
they had of it at Ascot, where, during the four days'
racing, at every one of which the Prince of Wales assisted,
nearly all the " pots " boiled over, Mr. Pitt in the Trial,
the Duke in the Queen's Vise and Stand Plate, Lord
Lyon in the Prince of Wales's Stakes, Ceylon in the Ascot
Derby, Mire& and Ischia in the Coronation, a dozen
" pots " in the Royal Hunt Cup, Elland in the Alexandra
Plate, and two or three favourites in minor affairs, gave
backers, by their defeats, a striking lesson on the dangers
of plunging. Moat of these overthrows were in complete
contradiction of previous running, and they have only to
blame the turf's " glorious uncertainty," except when lay-
ing odds on Snead against Strafford for the Alexandra
Plate, the performance of Lord Glasgow's horse with Fills
de l'Air twelve months ago being quite within 121 b of any
one /Aland was credited with since. He beet the fallen-
off Regalia as far as Gladiateur did in the Cup,
and thus, besides crediting me with a great victory
as a wind up, confirmed the opinion I expressed that be
would be " • dangerous foe to the Gaul under any ciatum-
stances," for the Frenchman would have bad to run him at
181 b disadvantage. The falling lame of Lord Lyon, in
addition to &remake, left half-a-dozen races compara-
tively open, and no doubt increased the fields, which
averaged 10 for each of the 28 contests that took place,
the largest being, as usual, for the Hunt Cup, carried off
very cleverly by the rank outsider Attache. The was the
greatest surprise of the meeting, though few were prepared
to see the Cilb reverse the Derby positions of Lord Lyon
and Rustic—and I question whether the weight had much
to do with it, after all, but rather the different trim the two
horses were in. While Rustic had been kept "at it"
pretty well at home since the E meeting, in anticipa-
tion of one or two smart brushes, Lord Lyon had been
doing comparatively nothing, being only intended for the
St. James's Palace Stakes until the lame fisivernake was
struck out of the Prince of Wales's Stakes, when, being on
the ground, Mr. Sutton thought he might just as well run
—a !mot injudicious step, with his cracked heels, which
will give Dover some trouble between now and the St.
Leger. A good rest is absolutely necessary before he can
be brought round ; consequently, as Savernake will also
give his friends plenty of anxiety before he is sound on his
legs again, while Rustic is • much better St. Leger horse
than ho was a Derby, and Janitor is, too, gradually coming
to his proper form, we shall have a greatrace in the north

- _
for certain, there being whispers even of John Scott having
another surprise in store for us on the town moor. Gls-
diateur's Cup victory was satisfactory in many ways,
for it settled the silly twaddle that had been indulged
in about hie having " a bit in hand " as regards age, seeing
he has improved even more than Regalia has done since
last
_year ; but it hardly compensated for Ceylon winning
the Grand Prize of Pans (as I anticipated in your impres-
sion of May 21) from the Frenchmen, who could not vet
one into the first three against no on their own soil, al-
though it is but trick-and-tie as yet between the two
" friendly foes," Mounseer having won with Vermont and
Gladiateur, while John Bull has only scored a similar
" double " with the Ranger and Ceylon. The latter`a
trip to France spoiled him for his Ascot engagements,
Staghound and Robin Hood, both of whom he had beaten
easily enough once this year, finishing before him in the
Ascot Derby. and but for Rustic we certainly should hear
of him for the St. Leger. The many two-year-old races
brought out plenty of fresh faces ; and while the Palmer
and tiunnylocks each made • creditable diblt, the
colt by North Lincoln out of Protection. Python,
Prolate, the French Dragon and Conde, Leading Suit,
and a filly by Beadsman out of Salamanca, with others of
lesser note, gave every promise of future excellence, but
nothing came out to equal the two flying fillies, Hippie and
Achievement, unless it was the Palmer, Baron Rothschild's
filly performing two extraordinary feats when she tailed
home with her nb penalty for the Queen's Stand Plate,
and ran ..way from Friponnier for the Fernh iIL
Another four days' sport is provided for the home
division this week, Windsor occupying Tuesday and Wed-
nesday. and Hampton the two following days. There are
three rich
the
in waiting at Mr. Frail's new meeting,
one being the Windsor Summer Handicap, a mile and five
furlongs, in which Dulcimer will take her own part against
all the might of Woodyeates and Danebuiy,
which powers, between them, have about a dozen
representatives, and all "well in." The minor handicaps
are subject to what certain cliques may stand by although
I cannot help thinking Lord Westmoreland will be down
upon one or two of them, and perhaps the mile Eton Han-
dicap also with Brahma, who is as " well in" as the Vixen.
But this event will be greatly influenced by the first day's
proceedings, as will also the Stewards' Cup, about one
mile and a half, a prize that may not be contested by more
than two or three of the ten attend. The Royal (two-
year-old) Stakes ought to tempt the French Dragon, for in
the probable absence of the Rake be has by far the best
chance, as Mr. Chaplin can hardly hope to beat him with
either the Hermit (7lb extra) or Satyr, or Lord Stamford
with Arundel or Cellina (7lb extra), and the best of his

remaining opponents I have ever seen comprise
the Rescue (31b extra), Commissioner, King Charles (31b

extra), and Opoponax 131 b extra). The Ha—mpton events
must be left till the above are decided. Dulcimer being in
the Surrey and Middlesex Stakes, with War, and many of
the platers being engaged at both meetings and the
" great events" at Newton are subject either to whether
Lord 'Bateman sends Moulaey end Queen of Trumps there
or to Hampton, or what two or three stables, with three or
four representatives each, may resolve upon at the last
moment.—l am, be. METEOR.