The Express.
London, England, 1866-05-17 00:00:00

THE DERBY.

(PROM OUR aromING CORRESPONDENT.)
And so the Derby-day—the " day of days" in
the Racing Calendar, come round again, tom: and perplex
prosperous merchants with " mammy " clerks ; to fill the
minds of anxious materfamiho with fears for the safety of
leo exubwaat offspring, and to upset the profound
calculations of people that persist, year after year, in
dabbling with • badness foreign to their general occu.
potions. After all, to make • bet or two on the Derby is
ao great sin, for the force of example is said to
be strong, and the commoners do but follow the
bent of the sporting aristocracy, who make heavy
wagers on turf unoertaintiea—there are no inch
things as " certainties "—and occasionally become as much
" abroad" as the veriest novices in racing matters. How
many fair ladies were teased and tormented yesterday by
the spirit of speculation it is impossible to say, but cer•
Wady there was no lack of the sweeter portion of humanity
among the votaries of betting, and though the Easter
week—by which racing fixtures are invariably regulated—
caused the great Derby race this year to come off • fort.

might earlier than usual, their toilettes were as gay as in
the height of summer. The old tale about the companymin-
aot be repeated, for the attendance was rather below the
average, and this must be set down to the early date fixed
for the race. Many holiday people, doubtles,reserved them-
.

pelves for Whitsuntide, and many more refused to trust to
the weather, which is generally unsettled about the
middle of May. The foreign element, too, was lacking,
and the ring and stand did not present the cosmopolitan
aspect it did last year, when there was a Gladiateur to at-
tract the lively Gaul, and money to be won by sailing in
the good ship commanded by Count Lagrange. Will it be
remembered what was said at the termination of the great
struggle of 1865 !—That the Derby had become an " in-
ternational" race, and that the ice once broken, we should

have our French neighbour annually bringing over the
flower of their racing stock to give battle to John Bull

limn his own ground. The owner of Gladiateur could put
nothing on the card yesterday but a were plater, and the
oount,of all the band of sportsmen across the Channel,waa the
only one who attempted to beard the lion in his den. In
the winter, Auguste, trained by the Anglo-French trainer
at Newmarket, was put forth as likely to follow in the
footsteps of the redoubtable Gladiateur, but he ran a
" bad horse " in the Two Thousand, albeit he could

not have been so bad as represented, for at Chan•

tally, on Sunday last, he was made a great favourite for
the French Derby. We year after year find horses occu-
pying prominent positions in the Derby quotations, only

to tumble from them before the race coulee off, and

Auguste was not the only broken reed trusted to by ill-
advised and too sanguine backers. Where was Student*
that much vaunted representative of the Russley stable, so
suoceasful with Thormanby in 1860, and so formidable in
alter-years with Dundee, Buckstone, and Scottish Chief?
Where was Delight, the hero of the Spring Meeting, and

the racer that Wall to scatter to the winds the pretensions

el Lord Lyon and Rustic, and to demonstratethat indif-
ferent two-year form may be tuned to Blair Athol or
Gladiateur pitch. Alas ! hones cannot run without

legs, and those of the Student, to use a racing term, were
" dickey" months since ; and Delight was " settled" by the

Lard ground at Cheater, where many a good horse has

before broken down. The Delight party were forced to take
what chance remained to them for Laneret, who was
known to be inferior to the winner of the City and
Suburban. Janitor was not thought much of, and it was
considered that his pretensions, and the money he was
backed for during the winter, took leave of him at the
First Spring Meeting at " headquarters," when Lord
Lyon almost broke his heart in the race for " The Guineas."
That struggle must also have shown the owners of Free.
_ . .

dons, H;refield, and Sealskin how futile were their
hopes, but still the three last named were " coloured "
on the card, as well as twenty-six others, and
the prophetic anticipations indulged in a week ago
that there would not be more than fifteen or sixteen run-
ners, hardly looked like being verified. Owners of horses,
like Baron Rothschild and Lord Stamford, do not like to
be unrepresented at the " national carnival," and to this
we may set down the fact that there were a few good and
many moderate animals among those with numbers pre-
ceding their names. In the opinion (.1 the "talent"
there were not above six or eight with a chance, and the
only one of the " dark " division considered capable of
emulating the triumph of Blair Athol in 1864 was the
Bribery colt, but from the equivocal position the
brother to St. Albans had occupied in the market,
the confidence of his early backers was some.
what shaken until within the last few days, when
Lord Ailesbury's colt again occupied a prominent position
in the quotations. But after 11 to 1 had been taken,
just before the racing commenced, the son of Stockwell
and Bribery receded to as much as 20 to 1, attributable to
the fact of his noble owner having already backed his
horse for all the money he desired to have on. The race
really appeared to lie in a nutshell. Where was anything
like Lord Lyon to be found, so highly bred, despite a pre_
some.' taint of " softness" on his dant's side ; and so well
tried a public performer ? what could put forth any form
like that displayed by him in 1845 at Doncaster and New.
market, and again at the latter place a month back ? Who
looked so fit to cope with him as Rustic and Redan? Thefirst
named was said to be a long way the best horse at weight
for age in the lucky Danebury stable, the home of that
splendid schoolmaster, The Duke, and Lord St. Vincent's
horse was the only one that had Lirly tackled Lord
Lyon. l'eople will follow public form, and as no two can-
didates were supported for more money by the general
body of racing speculators than the celebrated pair that
ran a dead heat for the Champagne Stakes on the Don.
caster TON RI Moor last September, the money sent
into market to Lack Rustic and Blue Ribband, ema-
nated mainly from that section of the higher ranks of turf

society that allow people to think for them, and certainly
the statement of the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Hastings, and
John Day gave a strong colouring to the probability that the
" lout " would prove a thorn in the aide of the "
From some cause not explained, however, Rustic retreated
in the quotations cr. Monday and Tuesday, and before the
first race came off on the Derby day he did not hold a
position in the market for five minutes together. Those
that knew all about him, however, were not dismayed at
his retrogression, and many believed in the pretensions of
Monarch of the (;hi: and Knight of the Crescent, though
the pair were def eated easily enough by Mr. Sutton's colt
at Newmarket. The Knight was said to have greatly
improved, and being 14 Yorkshire horse, those fond of
peculiarities began to liken him to Kettledrum, who,
though he got no nearer than third in the Two
Thousand, managed afterwards to win the Derby.
But there was Westwick, another connexion of the cele-
brated Whitewall establishment, and he was supposed to
be the handsomest of all the lot appointed to take part
in the struggle ; albeit, he did not play a prominent part
in the betting on account of the queer form Le displayed
at the Craven. The Toxophilite colt did not come into
notice till Saturday last, and then some hundreds of
pounds were invested at the clubs and at Tattersall's, bat
his " trial " nag (the Rapid Rhone's dam colt) cannot he
said to have performed satisfactorily, for en Tuesday he
was easily defeated by The Duke, and it may reasonably
be supposed that John Day thought be had the
measure of Lent Glasgow's representative, who was
tried to be only sonic 101 b. better than the roan. Thos.:
that rushed at Itarpenden upon Abergeldie were not well
pleased at lust, it was very evident, and the retreat of the
horse among the middle rank arose from the wretched
manner in which the Clown (who " tested" him a few
days previously) performed in the Craven Stakes. Cont.
paratively few believed in Veapasian, the :::est noticeable
of the remaining candidates, though the el inions of Mr.
Chaplin and Captain hfachel are rarely treated with dis.
respect. Vespa.sian was supposed by the coorioacenti to lack
staying power, and it is somewhat remarkable that the
progeny of Newntinster, despite the sire's fashionable
blood, are recorded as but once successful for the great
race at Epsom, and once for that at Doncaster.
The announcement that the Prince of Wales intended
to honour the occasion with his presence was received with
great satisfactionby the public, who delight in seeing the
heir-apparent to the throne associating himself so unmis-
takeably with the national pastime. By early dawn the
streets of the metropolis presented that peculiar bustle
and excitement so familiar on Derby day, and which is ob-
servable as much in the east as in the aristocratic west,
the only difference being that in the latter locality dashing
barouches, drags, and smart hansoms are the chief vehicles
that meet the eye at every turn : while eastward, gaily.
decked vans, omnibuses, and " Whiteehapels" are the
principal means of locomotion brought into requisition,
although, on this occasion, every conceivable vehicle could
be seen on the road. As the morning wore on, the
" road"presented its customary animated appearance ; and
it is a fact beyond contradiction that never was it so largely

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