The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-05-30 00:00:00

SPORTING NOTES.-THE DERBY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LITERPOOL STANDARD.
ISlU,—Since John Scott strained at the gnat and swal-
lowed the camel, in not permitting Wells to declare the
extra weight, as was previously ;intended he should, to
steer Acrobat on to victory in the late Chester Cup,—a
victory -which, save for such untoward bungling, was un-
questionably his (Newminster having broken down) ;
since, therefore, it has been opined that, with this excep-
tion, the " Theban general" proved himself more than a
match for the Indian Warrior, and all the other "animal
warriors" that showed fight, not even .since the due ac-
complishment of all these unforeseen eventualities have
."
things in general" taken a better tern,.er has the Derby
betting (never yet very brisk) increased much, either as
regards variety' or quantity. Well, indeed, :(for the book-
makers) that " two" of the leading favouritestave at length
been discarded, and have stood (not unmoved) to their
" peppering," which, if all be true, they so richly deserved ;
for, comparatively speaking, scarce more than six animals
have, since the commencement of operations, been tho-
roughly invested in, or in other words earuestiv,:backed,—
not to speak, of conece, of the various ' flys taken at
many outsiders at "long shots."
Before proceeding further, I must be allowed to remark
that it is some time since I gave my ideas on this (went ;
it might not be superfluous to add, in prologue, the sub-
stance of those preliminary observations, which have
' already appeared in detail through the medium of the
Standard.
I never named but one horse (Dervish), which, I said,
would prove ultimately the true representative of Scott's
stable. Will the incredulous now believe him to be the
best' of Lord Derby's, since all the others have been
scratched? Was not the information then, I ask, as con-
tained (through my humble aid) in the Standard mouths
ago, nue chose qui tne'rite d'ftre vie ? And particularly
so when we regard the fact that the whole of the string
Were severally among the "returns"—Dervish, Acrobat,
Meteora, Boiardo, Ortolan; and all, too, at about the
same figure.
Well, I never entertained but one well-grounded opinion
on the subjeet, despite the long-expressed opinion of
Acrobat being the best of Scott's horses. I scarcely think
the'starters will number more than a score, and I doubt
whether either Autocrat or King Tom will be among the
number. The most certain starters are these :—Alembic,
Andover, Belgrave, Bracken, Canute, Champagne, Dervish,
Early. Bird, Grey Plover, Hermit, Hospodar, Knight of
St. George, Marsyas, Middlesex, Neville, The Trapper,
Wild Huntsman, and Winkfield.
The first named is not worth
play a tho
sin ce ughtthe . There
with has
been a very pretty little game in 2000
Gully's two ; Andover, however, is 3 lbs. better than
Hermit, and that is all; and Scott can measure him to a •
nicety, from the running of Hermit, with respect to
Boiardo. Andover must be very forward, but not suffi-
ciently so to win. Bracken (who is to cut out the wor
Bir k
pads
for Dervish), Belgrave, Canute, Champagne, Early ,
apd Grey Plover I dismiss without comment, andben ens
over Dervish pour la present. Hospodar has
trusted to win, with the aid of Mason, an immense stake :
he is not the horse Voltigeur was in his year ; but, from
all I can gather, I apprehend he will be placed. Knight
of St. George is a deceiver on the wrong side ; has no
business to be an outsider, that ' is, if the "professionals"
are aware of his powers. I fully anticipate he will prove
a second Russborough, and will merit the confidence with
which he has been entrusted : there is no fear about his
staying, as there is no question about his racing powers ;
so he is rendered a most dangerous 20 to 1 : he will see a
very short price. England's difficulty is Ireland's oppor-
tunity, too; in turf matters. If, then, old England be in
difficulties with regard to the Turk (Dervish), I should be
justified, in this instance, in asking the assistance of
Ireland in her Knight of St. George.
The regime, with the exception of Neville and Wild
Huntsman, are not worth consideration, and these two I
place only a second-rate confidence in, although they are
fancied by so many knowing hands.
I now resume with Dervish.
he All
ridde know the
racing
powers of Acrobat—many, how was n the
othnerNefoere,
just reveal
Chester cup, and how lie finished—but two lengths from
Epaminondas, to whom he gave a stone.
ne.Now all may ,
w-
not be awarteheoffabc
tosw
bFeirwstas, thhendd, elnet w
lie could beat Acrobat
minster was the horse entrusted, es