The Sun.
London, England, 1825-09-10 00:00:00

HORSE RACE IN RUSSIA.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER, DATED PETEBSBURCH, :.liG. 17
The long-talked-of match between two English horses and
two Cossack horses, for 71 versts, or 47 English miles and a
third, took place on the 4th of August, and was won by 'sae' of
the • English horseti.- The match was originally proposed by.
the Cossack General Count Orloff Dencessoff, Generals Alexeij
Orloff, VasssiltshiscofF, Levascheff,.and Prince Dolgorouki, the
Master of the Horse, and was accepted by Count Matuszewie.
The stakes were 50,000 roubles, and road fixed upo:, was from
the Ligova Canal through Zarsko-sselo to Gatchina, a distance
of 35i versts, and back to the starting post. The road is paved
at the bottom, and the surface dreadfully hard and stony. The
Cossack party had -taken every precaution to procure the best
horses of the breed. Count Orloff Deneessoff went hiself to
the Don, in order to'pick them out; and there was not a tribe
of the Cossacks but what furnished their quota. Cossacks of
the Don, the Black Sea, and the Ural, Calmuks, Baslikirs, and
Kirgnees, all sent their most celebrated racers ; and in this
way above twenty horses arrived at- St. Petersburgh, from
which the two best were selected after 'a variety of trials, which
rendered their party quite confident irf. success. In the mean
time the English horses-were neither seen nor heard of.. It
was only known that Count Matuszewic had imported some
for the parpose, with grooms to train and ride them; and the
English party went on steadily backing their horses at 4 to 3,
and 5 to 4, without alarming themselves at the whispered
miraculous trials of the Cossacks. The day arrived, and the
horses fixed upon were a bay Cossack of the stud of the late
well-known Hetman Count Platoff, and a chesnut, Zeonide,
of the stud of Count Kutcinikoff. The former was rather a
coarse vulgar animal, high in the hips, but good in the loins,
and showing considerable powers. The latter, though bred on
the Pon, was a very neat horse, betraying clearly its Arabian
descent. The English horses brought to the post by Count
Matuzewic were Sharper, by Octavius, dam by•Gohanna, bred
by the Earl of Egremont, and Mina, by Orville, out of Barosa,
by Vermin, . bred by Lord George Cavendish.—The horses
started at five minutes past five in the morning, the Cossacks
leading on one side of the road at a Moderate pace, and the
English following on the other side about three or four lengths
behind. Before they had gone half a verst, the stirrup iron of
Thomas Arthur, who rode Sharper, broke in the eye, and the
horse ran
.away with him, passing Mina, who would not stop
bshind. Owing to this unfortunate accident, the two English
horses ran a tremendous pace up Pulkovashill, and through
Zarsko-sselo, bidding defiance to the utmost exertions of their
riders to pacify them; the Cossacks following about 200 yards
behind. The English horses arrived at Gatchina in one hour
and four. minutes, the Cossacks coming in two minutes after
them. - Here the two English horses were quite fresh and full
of running, as was the chesnut Cossack also, but the bay was
already very much distressed, and fell about three versts after
turning, never appearing again• in the race. .• Before reaching
Zarsko-sselo, on their return, Mina burst his coronet,.from the
-hardness of the road, and was immediately pulled up and
taken to a stable at that place. Soon after this, the re-
maining Cossack began to flag ; -and the accompanying
Cossacks, contrary to all -rule or agreement, began to drag
him on by the bridle, throwing away the saddle and
putting a mere child on his back. Before reaching Pulkova-
bill,at the early part of the race, and on descending
Sharper spewed the effects of the pace he had gone, when
much distressed, but it was evident he must win;
woafatslaiye extraordinary foul play of the Cossacks, who now
trifnhauienrsnlply'iiinticelg away
on their horse, some dragging him on by a rope
and the bridle at his head, others actually pulling him on by
the tail, and riding alongside of his quarters to support him,
and push him along, relieving each other repeatedly in this
fatiguing employment. Sharper cantered in much distressed,
but game enough to have gone considerably farther. He did
the whole distance in 2 hours, 43 minutes, and 42 seconds, and,
had it not been for his running away, might have done it in
less time, without being so much distiessed. The Cossack was
warped, and carried in 8 minutes after him' and, had he been
left to himself and his rider, would, undoubtedly, have re-
mained at Pulkova-hill. The English horses at starting car-
ried full 3 stone more than the Cossacks, and during the latter
' half of the race the difference was still greater, as the Cossacks
had a mere child 'on their horse for form's sake. The concourse
of spectators was immense, and amongst others, their Imperial
Highnesses the Grand Dukes Nicholas and Michael honoured
the race with their presence. The road for the whole distance
was lined by the Cossacks of the Guards at regular intervals ;
and some telegraphic movements of .their pikes, unintelligible
to any but the initiated, occasioned some brisk betting at one
moment during the race, for which they smarted in the end.

Last week an apple was plucked in a garden
at Penrith, which' meastired 13 incites in circum-
ference, and weighed ounces.