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 blue
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
aro 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 I aces. 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, King 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 metropolis forcing its way into Surrey to witness the
determination of an event 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 comers :

PROBAPLE
HORSE. TRAINER. JOCXEY.
Lord Clifden E. Parr
Maccamni J. Godding Challoner

Saccharometer .... Channell Midgley
Gillie

King of the Vale .. Hayhoe

The Ranger Goater

-- -
Tom Fool

H ospod ar
Jarnicoton Jennings
National Guard .. Watson
___

Donnybrook ...... Watson
Scamander

Blue Mantle

King of Utopia.... Lye .. H. Grimshaw
Fantastic
Giles the First .... Scott

Early Purl Scott
Golden Pledge .... Osborne
Rapid Rhone .... Dawson
Physalis 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
ho 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 beat Sascharometer, Blue Mantle, and
Hospodar—the three greatest two-year-olds 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.
SACCHAROMETER is now much more fit than when he
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able to turn the tables on his former conqueror.

HOSPODAIL, according 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 Hambieton 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 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 OF 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. He will be ridden by Wells, and is
almost certain to be amongst the first three, if not the actual
winner.
NATIONAL GUARD has been beaten in his trial easily by
Miss Armstrong.
DONNYBROOK 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 bank.
BALDWIN turned out at Bath to be only a common horse ;
and TAJE, if he had even a chance, must have diminished
it very much by the stoppage in his work.
ScAMANDER, 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 Buokstone and Asteroid.
GILES THE FIRST or EARLY RCM, will represent
John Scott's stable, but I do not think " The Wizard" has
a surprise in store for the ring on this occasion.
THE RANGER, after having been in great force, has mot
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.
BLED MANTLE was one of the beat two-yr-olds in train-
ing last season. Tho easy manner in which he won the
Now Stakes at Ascot, carrying a 451 b 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
consider, at his present price (66 to 1), he is a better invest-
ment than any of the favourites.
Gums 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 bores.
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 OF THE VALE, LORD CLIPDEN, and GILLIE. I
shall expect the judge to place them in the following
order :

MACCARONI
KING OF THE VALE
LORD CLIFDEN

If an outrider win it will be BLUE MANTLE.

On Friday, the Oaks promises ns a better field than usual,
and more books at this period have been opened than
recollect. The Oaks runners in all probability will include
Lady Augusta, Flying Fish, Borealis, Quoen 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 BERTHA with
her, I think I shall have named the winner.
A FRESH MAN.