The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-18 00:00:00

SPORTING NOTES.

Epsom races, which commence to-morrow, will this year
be honoured by the presence of his Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales, who has signified his intention of being
present on Wednesday to witness the tussle for the bluo
riband of the turf.

The list for Tuesday extends to six items. For the
Brighton Stakes 29 horses are weighted, the best in of which
are Southport, Bosh, and Ossian, and if with them I couple
Libellous. always a dangerous horse on the T.Y,C., I think
the winner will be found among the number. In the
Woodcote there are 60 two-year-olds engaged, more than a
third of which have run without producing anything better
than Molly Carew, Sister to Queen of the Vale, Midnight
Mass, and Clairvoyante. Molly Carew, as we saw at Bath,
is not invincible, but as she has no penalty to carry here,
I can see nothing likely to beat her, unless it be sister to
Queen of the Vale. The acceptances for the Rous Handi-
cap are two less than last year, as they now only number
23, including Scamander and Miss Armstrong, both of
whom will doubtless be reserved for their engagements in.
the Derby and Oaks. Should they run, either ought to win,
or they are unworthy of the confidence reposed in them
for the two great races. In their absence I must look to
Balham or Gardener to furnish the winner. For the
Heathcote Plate there is a splendid entry, as it includes
among the old horses Lady Clifden, Miss Julia, Welland,
Queen of the Vale, Bing of the Forest, Twilight, Lord Bur-
leigh, Livingstone, and Overture, while among the young
ones are The Beaver, Whitefield, and several others; but
Lady Clifden ought to prove the winner.

Wednesday will bring us round to another Derby Day,
and again we shall witness almost the entire population of
the me`ropolis forcing its way into Surrey to witness the
determination of an evert which millions have been consi-
dering with the deepest anxiety for upwards of a twelve-
month, and which will take less than four minutes to de-
cide. The present Derby does not differ in the slightest
degree from the preceding ones ; horses have gone up and
down in the market like quicksilver in the barometer, only
moved by human inst, ad of atmospheric influences. From
the subjoined list of starters, which is as accurate as human
foresight can arrange, the field for the Derby will be worthy
of its prestige ; and all that is to be hoped is that the best
horse may prove the winner, and a clear stage and no favour
allowed to all corners :

PROBABLE
HORSE. TRAINER. JOCKEY.
T nra ClifdAn E. Parr
Maccaroni ..
Saeoharometer .... Channell Midgley
- -

...
Gillie .. W. Day
King of the Vale .. Hayhoe
The Ranger Goater
Tom Fool
Hospodar
Jarnicoton Jennings
National Guard .. Watson
Donnybrook Watson
Scamander
Blue Mantle Harlook
King of Utopia.... Lye .. H. Grimahaw
Fantastic
Giles the First .... Scott .. Ashmall
Early Purl
Golden Pledge .... Osborne
Rapid Rhone .... Dawson
Phyealis colt Dawson
Trojanus
Tambour Major
Dunkeld Price
Baldwin H. Goater .. Gray

Taje
- -

Melrose
Avondale
Splitvote colt A. Taylor

Tademus
LORD CLIFDEN—the premier of the lot, purchased at as
large a price as was ever given for a two-year-old—may be
said to have taken the lead in the betting, and to have held

it up to the present time. With regard to the public per.
formances, his first victory at Epsom was decidedly superior
to those which he accomplished at Doncaster; but then it
is alleged Fordham could have won them much easier had
he wished. Whether this assumption is correct lam not
in a position to say, but I can answer for this much, it was
not the current opinion among many of the best judges who
saw the Champagne and the other race. He has held the
position of first favourite all through the winter, and will,
no doubt, retain it till the horses leave the starting-post;
and, in the hands of Fordham, he will be difficult to dis-
pose of.
MACARONI stands his ground nobly against all comers,
and is the beau ideal of a Derby horse. That he likes a
distance has been already wisely ascertained by his owner,
who, when his horse butt Saecharometer, Blue Mantle, and
Hospodar—the three greatest two-year-olde laat season,
with the exception of Lord Clifden—had a right to be proud
of him, and think well of his chance. As the hill makes no
difference to Macaroni, he will have an advantage over
Lord Clifden, and I imagine he will run just the longest,
and eclipse the crack.
SACCILLROMETER is now much more fit than when he
run in the Two Thousand, but I do not think he will be
able to turn the tables on his former conqueror.
HOSPODAR, ainording to the gossips of the day, is quite
another animal to what he was when he run for the Two
Thousand, notwithstanding Stradella and Haddington beat
him in a trial at Hambleton on Monday. But whether or
not he is improved, he will not forget for many a day the
work he underwent before the Two Thousand.
TO)1 FOOL has been backed by his owner to win a fabu-
lous sum, and if speed was the sole criterion for a winner of
the Derby, he would have a tremendous chance.
KING or TILE VALE has become the fancy of Newmarket,
now Automaton has been unfortunately struck out, and he
must be pronounced to be a commanding horse, worthy of
attention in a field where the racehorses are the exception,
and not the rule. Re will be ridden by Wells, and is
almost certain to be amongst the first three, if not the actual
winner.
NATIONAL GI:LARD has been beaten in his trial easily by
Miss Armstrong.
DONNYBROON. would not appear to advance with Adven-
turer's successes at York, and he still remains at his old
price, although he did a good thing with Wetsail a short
time baok.
BALDwirr turned out at Bath to be only a common horse ;
and TAIE, if he had even a chance, must have diminished
it very much by the stoppage in his work.
SCA.MANDER, from a favourable trial with Fairwater, has
come to a short price within the last few days. but the
mare seemed to have lost all form at Chester from her in-
different running with Buckstone and Asteroid.
GILES TILE FIRST or EARLY PURL will represent
John Scott's stable, but I do not think " The Wizard" has
a surprise in store for the ring on this occasion.
TILE RANGER, after having been in great force, has met
with strong opposition in several quarters, but his owner
has backed him to win a large sum for a place.
AVONDALE is a beautiful mare, and acquitted herself
very well last year; but, as there is nothing in the stable
good enough to try her, I cannot think sufficiently well of
her to say more than that her owner has backed her, and
thinks well of her.
BLUE MANTLE was one of the best two-yr-olds in train-
ing last season. The easy manner in which he won the
New Stakes at Ascot, carrying a 51b penalty, makes him
the best outsider in the race, and if he only runs kindly he
will be very difficult for the favourites to dispose of. I
consfler, at his present price (66 to 1), he is a better invest-
ment than any of the favourites.
GILLIE has been backed by the Woodyeate's division to
win an immense stake; and the horse's pretensions ought
to be held in great respect, as Wm. Day, when in earnest,
seldom makes a mistake.
FANTASTIC, Golden Pledge, Avenger, and Tambour
Major may help to swell the field.
On Thursday the principal race is the Cup, for which
Buckstone and Stradella will fight their battle over again,
as the former meets the latter on 81b. better terms than at
Newmarket, and I give the preference to Mr. Merry's horse.
Queen of the Vale will win the Two-yr-eld Stakes, and
Amy the Shirley Stakes.

It will be seen from the above that I expect the winner
will be amongst the following four, viz., MACCARONI,
KING OP THE VALE, LORD CLIIDEN, and GILLIE. I
shall expect the judge to place them in the following
order :

MACCARONI
KING OF THE VALE 2
LORD CLIFDEN

If an outsider win it will be BLVE MANTLE.
On Friday, the Oaks promises ns a better field than usual,
and more books at this period have been opened than I
recollect. The Oaks runners in all probability will include
Lady Augusta, Flying Fish, Borealis, Queen Bertha,
Amelia, Miss Armstrong, Old Orange Girl, the Orphan,
Avondale, Fantail, Marigold, Cadeau, Crafton Lass, and
Fiancee.
LADY AUGUSTA spreadeagled the field opposed to her in
the One Thousand, and if I couple QUEEN BERTRA. With
her, I think I shall have named the winner.
A FRESII MAN.

RACING 1N FRANCE.
CHANTILLY SPRING MEETING— 0001.,
Stu/DAT.
The Prix du Jockey Club, or French Derby,
ft ,of 20,
500 if
added to a Sweepstakes of 1000 f. each, 600 and
declared, for three-Yr-old colts and fillies bred in France,
La Toucques
Dollar ..........................
.... • .................................
Faust .. .a
length. Sixteen ran,
3
Won easily by

DEPARTURE OF THE GREAT EASTERN FOR NEW
YORK.-00 Saturday last the Great Eastern, under
and of Capt. Paton, left the Mersoy at half-past
tghae command
.
mfmor New York. The landing stages and pier boats
were thronged with spectators desirous of seeing the big
ship off, and her passage down the river was often greeted
with loud cheers. The Great Eastern takes out 600 pas-
sengers, 80 of whom are first-class, the remainder being
steerage and intermediate passengers. The rumour that
the ship was to carry out 1,300 recruits for the Federal ser-
vice is incorrect, and no application was ever made to the
agents of the Great Ship Company to fit up aeoemmodation
for mob a large number of male passengers.