The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-29 00:00:00

RAILWAYS

SPORTING NOTES.

The Newmarket First October Meeting commences to-
morrow and extends over Friday. We have now two
great handicaps—the Great Eastern (late Eastern Coun-
ties) Railway coming off on the first day, and the October
Handicap on the last. In addition to these, there are the
four, three, and two year old Triennials, with the Hopeful,
Granby, Rutland, Grand Duke Michael, St. Leger, and
two valuable sweepstakes, which are already complete in
the bill of fare, besides eleven Matches ; and with the four-
teen minor prizes that close the evening before running,
each day's card will be pretty well filled—eleven of the
events being set apart for Tuesday, nine for Wednesday,
eight for Thursday, and nine for Friday. The October
Handicap has been a great success, the entry being three in
excess of last year, when it was thought that 84 subscribers
were only a sort of compliment for the purpose of success-
fully inaugurating the race, and that such a number could
not be maintained with the Eastern Counties—now the
Great Eastern—Handicap in the same bill of fare ; but
these fears have turned out groundless, and it is remarkable
that this lost-named race has not suffered from the counter
attraction. On the contrary, the number of subscribers
(103) is greatly in excess of any previously obtained, and
the First Newmarket Autumn Meeting is now deserving
of patronage as either of the two following. It is to
hoped something will be done at the one now under dis-
cussion to stir the betting on the Cesarewitch, which has
been at a complete standstill since Silkstone came so hot,
in consequence of her performance at Doncaster ; for, if
not, one of the best productions ever issued by the Admiral
will be spoiled, and perhaps only by a phantom. The
doings of the current week might bring to light some-
thing equally formidable, and if Silkstone happened to per-
form in the October Handicap her pretensions might be
more correctly measured than they were in the race with
Tim Whiffler and Asteroid. To-morrow there are 12 items
set for decision, including the Grand Duke Michael Stakes,
the Thirteenth Triennial, the Hopeful, the Great Eastern'
Counties Railway Handicap, three minor events and five
matches. The subscriptions to the Grand Duke Michael
Stakes only number 19, of which Sir Joseph Hawley has
two, Argonaut and St. Alexis, engaged, with a likelihood
only of being opposed by Vanguard or Ross, neither of
whom can hope to beat Argonaut over a course so favour-
able to him as Across the Flat. In the Triennial for 4-yr-
olds there are 50 horses engaged, with a likelihood of no
more than Camerino, Violet, West End, Ducat, Reveille,
Prince Plausible, and Frailty reaching the starting-
post, and of these no one can doubt the success of
Camerino, though he would undoubtedly perfer a shorter
course than from the Ditch in (2 miles 119 yards). The
thirty-one nominations to the Hopeful include the follow-
ing winners : --Fantastic, Wasp colt, Etna, The Gunner,
Cachuca, and Golden Dust, who are bound to beat all the
other public horses, while the only names of the " dark"
division heard of in connection with the future are Hampton
Court and Ace of Hearts. Golden Dust, according to their
Devon and Exeter running, ought to beat both Cachuca
and The Gunner.

For the Great Eastern Counties Railway Handicap, pre-
viously simply known as the Eastern Counties, there are no
fewer than 103 horses weighted, being 15 more than last
year, to select the winner from among which, owing to
the conditions leaving the race open to the post, is a mat-
ter of such difficulty, that I can no more than select the
following lot as likely to include the winner :—Waterwitch,
Nemesis, Humphrey, Maggiore, Vancouver, Lava, Don-
caster, Sporting Life, and Limosina, and, unless beaten by
some of her stable companions, it would not surprise me to
see Maggiore turn up the actual winner. For Wednesday
there are seven races in the list, the principal of which is
the Three Year Old Triennial, in which forty horses are
engaged, which, if not virtually reduced to a match be-
tween Hurricane and Buckenham, is sure to see them
occupying the first two places, and it will doubtless be as
nice a point between them as it was in the spring, when
Buckenham beat Mr. Valentine's filly for the Aske Stakes
by a head. On this occasion, however, I expect to see
the head the other way, as we have a right to infer
so much from Polynesia beating Buckenham the week
before last for the Doncaster Stakes. The St. Leger, as I
have said above, contains no name of note. It may be con-
tested by Welcome (or Vanguard), Harlequin (or Scandal),
Malek, the Splitvote colt, and Carisbrook. The latter first
distinguished himself in the spring on this course when
running for the Newmarket Handicap, and I doubt not will
do so again, having a strong hill to finish against. For the
Granby Stakes, in which fourteen two year olds are en-
gaged, there is no occasion to look beyond Bohemia for the
winner, even though the entry contains the name of Somer-
led (the brother to Donna del Lago), for whom Lord Stam-
ford gave 850 guineas last year at Doncaster. The only
closed races in the list for Thursday are the Rutland Stakes
and the Two Year Old Triennial, to both of which consider-
able interest attaches, as in the former Blue Mantle and
Saccharometer are likely to fight their July battles over
again, joined, perhaps, by Carnival and The Beau. In any
instance, however, I shall look to Saccharometer to furnish
the winner, as, after Lord Cafden, I esteem Lord Strath-
more's horse to be the best two year old that has been in
public this year, Nearly a moiety of the forty •three two
year olds engaged in the Triennial have run, of which
Early Purl, the colt by Windhound out of Elcot's dam,
Tassell, and Tornado alone have won. Through Armagnac
Lord Stamford will have the means of knowing how
Automaton is likely to stand with Early Purl, so if his
lordship backs his horse I shall look to his overthrowing
Tornado, who would havo been beaten by Livingstone at
York for the Convivial, had the latter not been shut in
The list for Friday extends to eleven items, inclusive of the
October Handicap, two Two Year Old Sweepstakes, two
Handicaps, a Selling Stakes, and five Matches. The Two
Year Old Stakes, confined to fillies, has 22 engaged, of
which Cerintha has so distinguished herself, there is no
occasion to look beyond her for the winner; and the other
scorns confined to Gentilhomme, Canace, and Etna, the
latter of whom, on so short a course as the First Half of
the Abingdon Mile, I think entitled to the preference. The
October Handicap, like the Great Eastern Counties Handi-
cap, being open to the post, it would require too much time
and space to analyze the chances of the 87 horses engaged.
Mr. Ten Broeck's and Mr. G. Bryan's stables are strongly
represented, as the former has Umpire, Maggiore, Even-
hand, Myrtle, and Rubicon engaged, while Mr. Bryan has
a no less formidable lot in Waterwitch, Faultless, Stanton,
Fig, and Watchman. Either of these stables will, I have
a strong notion, furnish the winner, but should they fail,
either St. Alexis, Ophelia, or Drumstick may do so. With
regard to the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire I would
strongly advise them to be let alone for the present, as
there will be great changes in the course of the week.

A FRESH MAN.

MANCHESTER AUTUMN MEETING.
BETTING ON THE COURSE.
CESAREWITCH.
13 to 2 agst Silkstone (taken)
20 to 1 agst Dulcibella (taken)
25 to 1 agst Balder (taken freely)
25 to 1 agst Chere Arnie (taken and offered)
30 to 1 agst Moorhen (taken)
100 to 1 agst King of Diamonds (taken and offered)

SCRATCHINGS.—Jack's Alive was struck of the Chester-
field Handicap, and Donne Canne out of the Northern
Metropolitan Handicap, at Manchester, on Thursday even-
ing last.