The Express.
London, England, 1867-12-17 00:00:00

TO THE ZDFFOR OF SHE LIPRt3S.

• tt,—Steeplectuuung, in consequence of clerks
of courses being two easily frightened by the elements,
has been entirely quiescent since my last ; and the New-
market assault case going of in a forfeit, there has been
suttee; to interest the public but the doings at the clubs
comer uing the two-year-olds. These hove been somewhat
ominous of late with regard to one or two suspicions can-
didates. more particularly Blue Gown, about the first colt
to really threaten the three magnificent fillies—Lady
Elizabeth, Athena, and Leonie—that ruled the roast
during the period reviewed in my last. lie was the only
clipper assisting at Ascot Spring, the first day's productions
comprising nothing better than lActor, who gave weight
to La Belle Jeanne, North Marston, Jenny, Witchcraft,
Oottyto, ec., and beat all but the lint-named a long
way, hut did not get a place to Sir Joseph's cult, having
to give him sib. as well as the second and third, Veda and
North Marston. The Sunniughill was not an easily won
race, the young Beadsman being so green that his jockey
had some trouble to keep him straight ; but his want of
condition made the performance good enough, and it
looked fio worse than that of Lady Elizabeth at Salisbury,
when she cal y just got home before Lord Palmerston,
blaeduff, and Wild Blood, though Fordham was evidently
drawieg it as tine as possible here. Nothing else came out
at tie Marquis of Hastings' benefit of any account, only
Cluck,. and Cock-of-the-Walk being worthy of mention ;
nor ea..) there much to be learned during the four days in
the north, at York and Doncaster. How Billet beat Eau
do Vie and Stella for the Zetland is hard to conceive, as
Bismarck next day gave him two stone and quite a stone
beating, whilst he in tun could not do for Speculum at
2616 et Doncaster, just after the latter had failed in an
attempt to give Vex 13116 in the Hopeful. Bath showed
eta a pretty good selling plate in Lily, but no shining new
light, the brace of rich stakes being mainly contested by
Orbuston and Lady Elizabeth. The former had only
Lord Palmerton, Patrician, the Sunbeam colt, and
St. Valentine—a merely " promising " lot, not one
having yet fulfilled the expectations formed of them at
the time—to dispose of in the first place, and he was the
best of The Lady's opponents in the second, a short head
being the hat in favour of the present Dauebury crack for
the Derby. Blue Gown, still green, and " disappointed" to
boot, was only third to them, with Mb the best of the
weights, an advantage also boasted by Formosa, who, with
the more favoured Cocas, Weather Isle, Fawn, and Forest
Sing, came home among the unplaeed, the two brat-named'
being unprepared to meet such company. Not a solitary
two-year-old figuredin the Badminton Stakes, and Balsam°
was the only one of any great account in the new Nursery,
albeit he could not sustain the good character earned here
throughout the season, the last to him, Miss Camerine,
leaving off most unmistakably his superior, if we are to
believe in his third to Vex and Lily at Doncaster being
correct. La Belle Jeanne " beating nothing" at Harpen-
den, I proceed straight from Bath to Epsom, where quite a
host of new characters appeared on the scene, and a couple
with very high character!, viz., Restitution and Innertlae.
A mistake, however, had been made with regard to the last
named, for he was " never in it," and at the finish was
mug lengths behind his stable-companion Speculum, who
managed to get the second place to the French Le
Tarrazin, which Restitution ought to have secured, Bid-
same, Lady Highthorn, Forest King, Cork Jacket,
and Hatchment figuring among the unplaced ; with the
" backward" Kinpland and }ranchise, this seemed real
good form on the part of the Mounseer, as he won so
easily ; but another tale was told very shortly ;
the placed trio having all been pegged back whenever they
met such things as Lady Elizabeth, who in the off-day's
half-mile again had a severe tussle with Grimaton,
only shaken off after a dead beat. In the same race the
Baron's colours were again third, King Alfred finishing so
far off as made him appear some 1011) behind his little
neighbour, Gri instep, wbo had earlier iu the week made a
sad exempla of 100[118 old flyers, and one or two nursery
candidate. in the all-aged Heathoote Plate, • description
of race that exactly suited him. At any rate, racing under
high weights against Lady Elizabeth,even on • short course
that was all in his favour, does not seem to have been hie
game, for he never won • race after his three desperate
tussles with the Danebury flyer, and was done with alto-
gether before July was over. A new Plate for juveniles
showed us Orion in his true colours at last, as he beat
King Alfred, besides Wild Blood, very cleverly st
41b advantage ; and in some minor matters we had Patti
in tune when the money was on ; nevertheless,
all such class animals must go to the rear while the
review of the celebrities of lee 7 is pending, and I should
have to quite pass over the busy " week after the Derby."
had not Evelina, Torch, Sawyer, and the useful Pero, and
(when wanted) Presideet Lincoln, given us • testa of their
quality at Newton-in-the-Willows.
Ascot has tinny a time and oft introduced us to the best
of aspiring youngsters, and this year we were quite
swamped with wondrous dibutants, who took the places of
nearly all the old celebrities they happened to meet. At
the very commencement, quite a new named was enrolled
among the winners, Slack Diamond staying so well as to
win the mile Trial, though the weights are so lenient to
the two-year-old that this was not surprising, the second
to the son of Dundee receiving no less than 54 from the
third in the race, old Ostreger. The Diamond was claimed
for the entered selling price (6001.) by the Letter's party,
who have, however, been unable to make anything of him,
for he has been in a queer strait ever since. Many much
higher characters went in for the Maiden Plate, and Real-
crucian, Charnwood, Contempt, Banditti), and Betty were
about the best five in the large field, which included the
patiently waiting Eastby, Yardarm, Paul Jones, and others
on the same mission as they. Looking at what his opponents
have done since, the easy victory of Rosicnician in this
instance becomes one of his beat performances, and there
was no mistaking the formidable front " Sir Joseph" pre-
sented for The Derby when bis Blue Gown disposed of
Grimston next day, not only at his own distance, but his
own weights. It was for a new-comer, Seesaw, to figure
the beat in the all-aged Queen's Stand Plate that has
brought out many a flyer; yet he had tosuccumb to Cecrope
when in receipt of hat, and was not home very far before
the 516-penalised Speculum, who, like Formosa (also
close up) was just beginning to get cherry-ripe. See-
mlier ran • good race with Suffolk and Vale
Royal the same day, no lesser lights than The
Earl (untrained) and Tregeagle being behind the
trio ; but Suffolk won easier than many supposed, and
Tregeagle, too, showed on the same course what a good
horse he was when in the humour, by running away from
both Seesaw and Formosa two clays afterwards. Vale Royal
also ran badly in his second essay on the royal ground, as
he was =placed to the fresh-coming Europa, with 17ncaa
and Formosa, in the Triennial, that hes looked like
a false run race ever since. Still, he was disgraced in
good company, Pearlfeather, The Parson, and Reetitu-
lion being equally unfortunate, to say nothing of Michael
de Basco, tried so highly that there was quite
a rush on the Derby books " before he won." To wind up
the juvenile races with Lercie we had many vaunted dark
things in the New Stakes, and a brace of them—Rabican
and Chelsea—wen of such good repute that many of the
talent confidently expected Lady Elizabeth, with her 51b
penalty, would receive a check in her hitherto victorious
career. But, getting what she wanted for the first time in
her life, • scope of ground, she eclipsed all her previous
doings by running clean away from everything at last,
and ell the consolation the Derby bookers of the pair just
named had, was that they were " backward." After tide,
the prospect of a filly's carrying off the Blue Riband in
1806 was talked about in earnest, and the (+van:anti went
home from Ascot satisfied they had learned something,
Blue Gown having betrased as much improvement as the
Marquis of Hastings' lady, and the four days' proceedings
having introduced them to a string of pearls like Real-
erucian, Charnwood, Contempt, Seesaw, Vale Royal,
Tregeagle, Europa, and Black Diamond, leaving out
all considerations of the lot that did not exactly
distinguish themselves—such as The Earl, Ban-
ditto, Michael de Basco, Chelsea, and 'tableau
—but merely premised to do so come day.
The supplementary meetings to Ascot, Windsor, and
Hampton showed us Scotehman's Pride, Purveyor, the
Parson, Beatrice Grey, and Betty in their true light,
which is more than can be said of Nome that were behind
them. Maestlerwen's two splendid tussles with Veda, so
difficult to understand now, were perhaps an " incident
but nothing deserting of especial note came out during the
three days at Manchester, where Torch was the shining
light. At the gathering in the north the next week,
again, there was only Miss Euclid to create a new sensa-
tion, the other victorious one at Beverley, Stella, being
well known. A somewhat similar story to this has to be
told with reference to the four days at Stockbridge,
where, in despite of fourteen two-year-old stakes worth
an segregate of more teen 15,0001. to the winners being in
waiting, the fields were miserably small, Danebury scaring
away, with its Athena, Manielnke, Europa, Seesaw, and
lady Elizabeth—everything of note except Lion* For-
mosa, Contempt, Innerdale, Rabizen, Mnrtemer, Iron-
master, St. Ronan, and Angus. The four last-named
were new lights, the latter pair being the 2,500 guinea and
2,000 guinea yearling celebrities of Middle Park the year
before : but they all had to depart, defeated by the home
division, who, however, lost the richest stake in the pro-
gramme. This was the Hamilton Sweepstakes, wherein
Leonie, after a dead heat, easily upset the odds of 5 to 2
laid on Athena, a blow it took some time to recover from,
and that the successful d :bat of Idameluke in the other
heavy sweep, the Donnington, did not at all wipe out. It
was thought this latter colt would improve materially on
his bead defeat of Innerdale some day, though the fact of
his having been let go, at the recent sale, for about one-
sixth of the Earl's mice, does not say much for her Derby
chance now, much as it may have been fancied once.
Athena's defeat reduced the apparent strength of the
stable ; and it was more the way she won than what she
beat that added to Lady Elizabeth's prestige there being
nothing to eclipse Leonia's form in her overthrow of St.
Ronan, Rahicao, and Ironmaster, who also succumbed to
Europe and Seesaw, on the same ground. In fact, people
began to talk of the July wick at Newmarket being likely
to rem the very latest edition of " Crucifix " defeated ; and
In waiting for this such minor matters as that strung
coining out in the meantime of Frolicsome, Donaldbain,
and La Mousse at Newcastle, of Dulcet at Worcester,
and et some old hands at Chelmsford and Ipswich, created
no stir whatever. But Lady Elizabeth was NI great over
the three-quarters " behind the ditch" as that at Ascot,
and beat not only Leonie for the Jule, but also Le Su-
main, Restitution, and the slashing 'Court Mantle ; so that