The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-22 00:00:00

TO TIIE EDITOR OF TIIE SUN.

Sse„—As your columni are always cpen to th 3
discussion of anything that is of public interest, I
venture to address you a few lines on the merits of
the candidates for the blue ribbon of the turf, to be
decided on Wednesday next, and shall take the
names in the order they appear in the 'lists of the
betting, commencing with The Wizard, whose vie-
tory for the Two Thousand, caused so much astoe
niehment to the aristocratic audience of the private
performance at Whitewall, and sent him to the
head of the list of favourites for the Derby. The
mistake in the trial has never yet been accounted
for; but, on looking at The W;zard's two-year-old
performance, I find the first time he came out he
won in a canter, beating Trovatore and Emily (no
very grand opponent), and the second time with 5
to 1 on him, was beaten by Vanquisher, an animal
that was soon afterwards proved to be very mode-
rate. I may be told that the Wizard was amiss,
but they_do not usually lay 5 to 1 on a horse that
is amiss ; therefore, my opinion is that the Wizard
is a horse that can run when he likes, but that is
not always. The field behind him in the Two
Thbusand, from the position of,the King of Dia-
monds, was very moderate, and from there being,
nothing beat till half way down the Bushes Hill,
it must have been but an indifferent pace. Still
the Wizard won like a racehorse, and , though he
will meet very different tackle in the Derby, he
must, with John Scott's skill, if in the humour, be
extremely dangerous. Umpire's position in the
betting is most extraordinary, unless there is some-
thing that people, who only study Ruff's "Guide,"
are not aware of; at Goodwood he won the Nur-
sery, receiving 171bs. outright from Cheescake, who
could have been second if persevered with when
her chance was out, and we then find Restes
rum-sing' this same mare to a head, giving 121b5., so
that ne could have won the Nursery at Goodwood,
Carrying 271bs. more than Umpire did, and yet his
price for the Derby is 40 1, Umpire at Stockton,
with 6 to 4 against him only, andereceiving 21bs.,
beats High Treason by a head, the said High Trea-
son having run twice at York the. week before ; the
next day he received slbs. from the same horse,
and of course beat him more easily ; and I should
think there must be seine truth in the report
that Mr. Jacques only started his horse for the
fourth time in nine days at a further disadvantage
of weight, because he thought that there was some
informality in Umpire's entry. Nor do I like a
horse on the spot not running for a great engage-
ment like the 2,000 guinea stakes, worth nearly
£4,000, especially when the field, from peculiar
circumstances, was supposed to have dwindled
doWn to horses of very moderate pretensions. I do
not think this form good enough, and shall, there-
fore, unhesitatingly pronounce Umpire " out."
" Thormanby'' has done work enough as a two-
year-old for the life of most horses, and curious to
state, at the end of the season showed more form
though that was good
horseg has never been beat
and the way ho beat
enoughothanv
er ah dfdioisrdt
aaannt
cytethheoi
nfb
ge
ground ti
insin,
Thunderbolt for the Criterion, giving hitnBlbs. shows
that his running with Melbourne was amistake, for
Thunderbolt was unquestionably in form later than
at Goodwood, having won three races in succession
just before, and afterwards beating Rattlebone, at
Sibs., over a mile; a performance not to be despised
when we saw how the grey performed over a dis-
tance of ground at Salisbury. I consider Thor.
manby one of the Most dangerous horses in the
and shows no
);\
against him,
l l
him,
last
year, it will
and I shall
take him as one to furnish the winner. Main-
stone'sashear first performance was with Thormanby,
when, receiving Ms., he was beaten by a head,
he at the same time being very unfit to run,
and would now hardly be recognised as the great
rough-coated unfurnished . horse he looked at
Northampton. Isis next performance was
at Salisbury, where over half a mile he defeated
the speedy Lady Falconer, who the day before had
equally easily disposed of a field of seven, amongst
which was Fravola. He then ran at Stockbridge,
• when his stable (not being bad judges) bid 9 to 4
I on him from what they knew at home. His per-
formance did not please all the cognicenti for two
reasons; first, they thought he won in a slovenly
manner; and, secondly, Leprauchaun was second.
But this latter horse never looked or went better
than he did that day, and gained many friends
after cantering up the course; and from the way
he was backed at Ascot, John Scott must have
tried him to have been a good horse at some time ;
and I believe it was from his exertions in this race
that he never ran respectably since. I am the more
strengthened in this opinion, as the field behind
was far from despicable. Apollo we saw win in a
canter twice at Salisbury. St. Albans was there,
and Twang, who was last, was good enough to go
to. Newmarket the next week and give the great
Umpire 31bs and a beating, though this, I suppose,
was only an interesting problem for some of our

This horse, since Stockbridge, has never had a
days' illness till last Monday, when after a mile
and a half gallop with Kinnersley, giving him 3st ,
his off fore fetlock showed signs of filling—having
had his last sweat on the Saturday,
they were in no hurry with him,
and he walked the next three days, and on the
Friday resumed his work, and passed his exami-
nation before Professor' Spooner on the Saturday,
instead of Professor Promised Laud as was pre-
viously intended. A finer looking horse will not
be stripped for the Derby, and if he has half as
much pluck as his owner he will be very near win-
ning. Buccaneer was always considered the best
two-year-old last year, and he made a sad example
of his opponents in the July, but when we come to
consider that Nicholas and Blue Ruin were the two
behind him, we are not so much lost in astonish-
ment. His owner ordered him to be ridden
out, and the consequence was he became a
great favourite for the 2,000 and the Derby.
Whether such a policy has answered, the warning
as regards two stable-boys, in the Racing Calendar,
will speak to; but the horse appears to have been
attacked with something resembling the itch, and,
therefore, without punning, had to be scratched
for the 2,000. Since then he has joined the for-
midable lot of Isaac Woolcott, and has not only
been with Seclusion, but in it also, as nobody has
been allowed to see him. I doubt, after his illness,
his being got sufficiently fit to successfully compete
for eo great a stake as the Derby.
Nutbourne, on paper, is the best performer
out, but labours under the disadvantage of
being a large, difficult horse to train, and
also is only in a small private establishment.
His late jockey, I fear,' will hardly ride him, but he
has always appeared to be surrounded with so
much talent that there will be no difficulty about
that, but I shall not take him as my winner. High
Treason has been backed by clever people, and his
owner is very sanguine ; at all events, he has a
right to expect to be where Umpire is, but, as I said
of the latter, I do not think the form good enough,
and shall not stand on him.

Horror I hear a good account of, and he has been
backed for a good deal of money. His first appear-
ance in public was not in his favour, but his stable
are clever people, and he may, for all I know to the
contrary, be the best horse in England.
Cape Flyaway has won every time he has started
this year, and if not in The Wizard's stable would
be a great favourite. I expect to see him run well.
Kestes, from last yeah running Cheesecake to a
head at 121bs. says a good deal for him, should an'
outsider won he would be thy selection.
Brother to Rainbow keeps all the Dee Stakes
horses and a host of others safe, though we have
seen a horse defeated for the Dee won the Derby,
but there were peculiar circumstances that year
that may not happen again. Having thus gone
through the merits of most of the horses
that are likely to start,- I shall select
three to stand upon, viz , The Wizard, and
the two old opponents at Northampton, Thormanby
and Mainstone; and of these I think the early
form will be found the best, and those two'will be
close together again, but that this tithe Mainstone
will be found to have improved the most, and also
to have a trifle the best of the speed ; and Mr.
Clark's return of the Derby, 1860, will be---
M AINSTONE

THORMANBY
WIZARD

WHALEBONE.

lE NA V.l'.

The ad vices from Malta report the return to that
port on the 15th of May of the Hannibal, bearing
the flag of Rear• Admiral Rodney Mundy, accom•
panied by the Agamemnon, Cressy, and Neptune,
screw steamships of the lixe, which, with the Marl-
borough, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Fan-
shawe, Commander in Chief, Renown, London, and
St. Jean d'Acre screw steamships of the Line, re-
mained at anchor in the harbour of La Valetta on

the 16th, together with the Hibetnia, receiving-
ship, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Codrington,
the Admiral Superintendent of Malta Dockyard,
and the Assurance and Intrepid gunboats. The
following movements are also reported :—The
Scylla, steam corvette, left for Messina on the Bth,
and the Boxer on the same day for Tripoli; the
Assurance gunboat, which left for Girgenti and
Marsala on the 12th, returned on the 14th. The
Caradoc despatch steamer left for Naples on the
15th. The Russian line-of-battle ship Gangano,
bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Nordmann, left
for Nice on the 10th. The Royalist barque arrived
from London on the 14th ; and the Curlew brig and
the Banshee brigantine, from the same port on the
15th, with naval and military stores. In a post-
script, dated the 17th, the departure of the Assur-
ance and Intrepid for Sicily on the day preceding
is announced ; also that of the Neptune for Naples.-
The Cressy, St. Jean d'Acre, London, and Renown
were also about putting to sea.

The anniversary of the Queen's birthday was
signalised at Queenstown by a series of novel naval
displays, including the storming and capture of a
miniature battery. The entire display went off
with admirable precision, and furnished a most
agreeable and novel spectacle.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—George Wright, master,
additional, to the Castor; Thomas Nelson and Chas.
M'Shane, surgeons, to the Castor; James Long,
confirmed to rank of surgeon ; Edward Ingledew,
second-class assistant-engineer to the Wellington,
for charge of the machinery of the Procris ; W. H.
Philpot, promoted as acting second-class assistant-
engineer to the Racer ; J. Hancock, acting third-
class assistant-engineer to the Asia, for service in
the Sprightly ; J. Keep and R. Anderson, acting
third-class assistant-engineer, to the Himalaya, as
supernumeraries.