The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-17 00:00:00

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

I If London was jubilant last week over the Royal nuptials,
' 1 Liverpool, when I reached it, seemed in a besotted state of
frenzy, and the crowds in the streets at night were, without
exception, the most brutal and the most obscene ever let
loose from' purlieu and kennel. They seemed to have un •
disturbed possession of the highway, and to have blockaded
the respectable inhabitants within doors. Their manner of
doing honour to the auspicious occasion was to crowd the
gin palaces till half drunk, and then stagger on to the pave-
ment, uttering all things foul and abominable. How diffe-
rent from the great metropolis which I had just quitted.
There, despite the masses which filled the streets, all was
good humour, with a keen sense of enjoyment and harmless
chaff. Let others, however, whose more immediate pro-
vince it is, tell us why there should be such a marked differ-
ence in the character of the populations of two such im-
portant cities. Notwithstanding the bad odour attaching
to the Liverpool Steeplechase of recent years, there is no
denying the fact that on the present anniversary it
created a great deal of interest, and even excitement.
Your contemporaries, in condemning the robberies and
" milkings" connected with the chase, should not forget
that, after all, it still has a place in the affections of the
people, and that last week it produced as beautiful a race
as was ever witnessed, although, of course, the distance
by which Emblem won deprived it of any great excitement
at the finish. Still, gentlemen who love sport for itself,
cannot but regret to see this race degraded year by year
into a medium of speculation for "legs" and sharpers. It
is very singular, however, that the public are annually vic-
timised, and that they still insist upon throwing their money
into the mat ket, and filling the pockets of a gang of play-
men and hell-keepers, or people with, at all events, no
higher moral tone. I for oue must confess that nothing
would give me greater satisfaction than to hear that the
Liverpool Steeplechase was altogether reformed or sup-
pressed, as it stands a blot and a disgrace to British
sport. As for Mr. Topham, he cares not one jot for the
repeated admonitions of the press, and looks with a har-
dened contempt upon the propositions of those who have
the interest and wellbeing of the sport at heart.
The race of last Wednesday was no more a grand
national display than a donkey race on Blackheath.
I felt that the event had descended to its lowest stage when
such a wretched " hair-trunk" as Real Jam was brought
out as a fit companion for cross-country horses. Taken
altogether, the sport was, with one or two exceptions, ex-
tremely poor, and there was no event likely to have much
influence on the future, On Tuesday old Leontes com-
menced the series of successes which he carried on through
the meeting, and caused a general feeling of irritation
among owners of horses, inasmuch as he is the property of
Mr. William Topham, son of the clerk of the course and
handicapper, and their persistence in running him was a
delicious piece of impudence, and a further evidence of the
disregard paid to general interests at Liverpool. At the
Autumn meeting Mr. Topham, senior's, horse, Gardener,
had it all his own way, and I am at a loss to conceive what
fresh " crock" Messrs. Topham will get for this next meet-
ing, to keep the handicaps in the family. The allusions to
these matters were anything but complimentary, and the
jockeys were especially sarcastic, one of the light weights
bitterlyremarking that he wondered there was not a "little
Topham or two that they might be their ownjockeys as well as
handicappers I" The Tyro Stakes gave us the first rattling
finish et the season, as there were three heads, and only a
neck with the fourth. Mr. Merry's Bonne et Belle was
made a good favourite, and, I am told, greatly disappointed
the stable, as they had tried her at home the best of the
young ones. Lord Zetland was also greatly fancied by
Wadlow's people, who had sent a commission to London to
back him. Hypatia, the winner, is a small speedy filly,
and a sister to Diophantus, but is too small ever to do Lord
Stamford much credit. In the Spring Cup William Day
gave us another taste of the form of his stable, by the suc-
cess of Tolurno, who, having won his trial with Manrico,
was backed by "Lord Frederick" for a "lump," and con-
sequently became a great favourite. Bohemia, who has not
grown an inch since last season, never figured in the race,
which caused some illogical disbelievers in the Derby
favourite to ask, " What do you think of Lord Clifden
now ?" They seemed to forget that he was a sluggish
horse, who would have made a race with a donkey, and to
overlook his cantering away from such an unquestionably
good filly as The Orphan at the Epsom Spring meeting.
Bohemia's running bad had a depre, sing effect upon Saccha-
rometer's position, both for the Two ' housand and Derby,
as your readers will not fail to have noticed by his
decline in the betting. In reality it no more affects him
than any other horse in England, except that the layers
fancy that, consequently, Lord Strathmore's stable is out
of form. The Grand National, as usual, brought an immense
concourse of people to Aintree, and at last even those who
pretended to be disgustei with the very name of the race
were roused to a pitch of excitement. Jealousy became a
great favourite at the close, and Mr. Justice, like all young
enthusiasts, walked at her head as she entered the ring, as
proud as if he were leading a Derby favourite in the pad-
dock at Epsom. His confident expression was almost dis-
spiriting to c,mtemplate, for old stagers like myself know
how soon his day-dream of victory might be dispelled, and
the .4.700 for which he had backed her fell into the hands
of the bookmakers. No mare in England could look better,
although it struck me she had lost a good deal of the quality
she once showed. The race was very pretty, and when
Emblem was seen to have everything " safe " there was a
roar of satisfaction from those fortunate to be on. When
George Stevens brought her back to weigh he was received
with a burst of cheering which he well deserves, for it is
well known that he will not do any of the ordinary
dirty work, even for his own stable, and an
owner who wants one " stopped " knows that it is
no use applying in that quarter. With all the rigging in
the market, the "legs" were all sorely discomfited, for the
second and third, as well as the winner, were ridden by
jockeys not to be "squared," and Mr. Goodman, who rode
Arbury, is literally what his name indicates. Jealousy's
ignominious defeat seemed to astound his young owner,
as his mortification was quite painful to witness. Emblem
looked surprisingly small and narrow for such an ordeal,
but to my eye she was the only one of the lot really trained,
for I never saw an animal so literally trained down to bone,
sinew, and muscles. I was fortunatein having Emblem as
one of my two selected ones in your paper of last Monday
evening, and that I made very little error about The Dane,
is proved by the manner in which he ran at Shrewsbury on
Friday. In a race where so much chicanery existed, I
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though, as I told your readers that, in the face of her per-
formances, I could not see what there was to beat Lord
Coventry's mare, besides recommending Arbury, the second,
to be "held harmless." Death has taken from us one of the
most remarkable men of the sporting world, for a man who,
like John Gully, had fought his way to the position
of Champion of England, been a butcher, a publican, a
member of Parliament, the owner of two winners of the
Derby, and a winner of the Oaks, and made himself almost
a millionaire, must fill the most conspicuous place in Turf
History. Mr. Gully was 80 at the time of his death, and
Lad never sullied his hand or his heart by a dishonourable
act. In Parliament he was, of course, a prominent figure,
but no legislator, and from the effect of late hours upon his
health resign d alter two sessions in the first Reform Par-
liaments. It would fill more space than you could spare,
were I to expatiate upon the career of this very remarkable
man, but his name will ever be mentioned with honour in
the sporting world. He leaves a widow and ten children,
five sons and five daughters, one of whom is the wife of Mr.
Pedlev, the owner of Cossack, and a second of Captain
Bastard of the Royal Artillery. One of his sons was
murdered in China, and all the surviving sons are gentle-
men of position and promise, The present week will be
occupied with the Doncaster and Warwick Spring Meet-
ings, but as the first day of the Northern gathering will be
over before this will reach the majority of your readers, my
anticipatory remarks will be confined to Warwick.
Mr, Henry's meeting takes place on Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday, the programme being very
promising,
•commensura
taend
TlhehTavreiallistttlaekesdohualost
atchaepitsaploretntwryil,lthbee
weights, with penalties and allowances, being as -under :
Yr st lb Yr st lb
3 7 0
Twilight
o rwoih t .. . .. .
..
55_ 9
42
KLeinMgaorfecUhtaolpia .
9 2 Sea King 3 6 11
5 9 2 Datura
Fairwater ........
al iggh Patrick
Arbury last week, as we saw, satisfactorily, he must now
Atherstone showed himself last season to
abnedonheavofintghetbrieesdt
horses in England over this distance,
einamfOrnmg'thane
beon Neither
etrroLuebl;isearnree.
to show, but the 3 yr-
chal nor King of Utopia are likely
and will
Twilight. in findhis
the City and Suburban by the drunken "helper," may put
old, Sea King, so kindly recommended to Mr. Arnold for
in an appearance, but with no chance of defeating Ather-
stone, unless as good as his prophet declared, The Wil-
loughby Handicap has five left in, and if Duleibella should
be brought out sbe will win, but if reserved, Loiterer may be
safely reckoned upon. The Five Furlong Handicap should
fall to Margery or Ellerton. In the Match I prefer Pip to
Paddy from Cork. On Thursday there are seven races,
the chief events being the Great IV arwickshire Handicap
and the Two-Year-Old Stakes. In the last-mentioned
Vates, Starbeam, Whitefield, Lady di Vergy, Coimbra, the
Merry Sunshine's dam filly, Lady Nichol, and Faith, who
have already performed in public, are engaged. Lady Nichol
has incurred 41b penalty for winning at Nottingham, but
the three furlongs is so directly suited to her speediness
that I fully anticipate her success. The Debdale Stakes,
for horses that have been regularly hunted, ought to be
won by the best of Wadlow's—Shropshire or Pot Pourri.
The Handicap Plato of £5O I shall award to Hungerford or