Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-08-20
THE GooDWOOD CONTEST.


The well posted editor Of Porter's Spirit of The
Times INDUCES in the following not very gOOd-hu-
| mored, comments in regard to the recent contest
for the GoOdwoOd Cup. The time, which is reported
in Bells Life at minutes 16 seconds was certainly
not equal to the past exploits the American horses
and gives room for hope that we may yet retrieve
our defeat
The great contest for the Goodwood Cup is over,
and the prize for which we commended with France
and England, has passed to MOnarque, a French
horse and the American horses Prloress and Pryor
have been ingloriously beaten. We say inglorious-
ly beaten, for believe that we had speed enough
upon the GoOdwood Cup track on the Both July, to
have borne off the prize, had horses been brought
to the post in proper condition. We say this on the
authority of the English press itself, and we point
to their expressions which almost those of SYM
pathy, that through the deficiency of those who
brought our hoses to the post, we had no better
chance to win. By reference to our special tele-
graphic report, which will be found in the 18th page
it will De seen, that though our horses looked fine
to the eye that Prioress ELECTED involuntary burst
of admiration when she first appeared, that
they felt the strain of the contest they rothed and
lathered and gave unmistakeable evidence of being
full of fat. This grossness of condition may be at
ributed to several causes, but more particularly to
the deficient judgment and want of discrimination
on the part of their traine-.
The reputation of Palmer, to whom Mr.. Ten
Brock unfortunately entrusted his stud is rather
that of a feeder than trainer, and it has been the
leading of his life to bring his horses too high
in flesh to the post; indeed it has been feature in
his career that his horses have usually been beaten
in their preliminary of the season, and have
repeated their misfortunes in this way until they
had conditioned themselves by public running.
As one of the evidences of this, it will be recol
lected by all who witnessed the celebrated contest
between Wagner, Grey Eagle, and others, in 1889,
that Mr.. Palmer trained Hawk Eve, for that race,
and brought him to the post fat enough to show at
fair He was evidently unfit to run; but on his
trainers repeated assurances of his Fitness" he
was started and the result was, that though horse
of ability and previous exploit, he was disanced In
the first heat in minutes, 4S seconds. Soon after
this I'VE believe in lS4l) Mr.. Palmer, either through
want of reliance his own capacity, or growing
doubt of his experience on the part of owners of
horses disappeared from the Turf, and was lost to
public view for some fourteen or fifteen years.
This is the person-this timid, deficient, and be-
hind the age traner-into whose hands the credit of
Our Turf has been unluckly entrusted
How could such a man as this welded as he is to
an old system and without sufficiently active grasp
of mind to comprehend new one, be expected to
cope successfully with the exigences of a strange
climate foreign feed, and different style of race?
There were difficulties enough before US, in
daring experiment, TO require capacity and an ex
perence of the highest and most accomplished kind;
and the difficulties which presented themselves in
this case at the outset, those which Palmer, of
all men, was most unable to meet The stimulating
climate of England, too hot nor too cold, is
peculiarly adapted TO increasing animal life; while
the rong feed of English oats, and the pea, either
of which are nearly up to the strength of corn
must have coated their insides with fat, which he
had neither the knowledge nor the courage TO work
off.
There is something to be said, also, in relation to
Mr. Ten Brock in this matter, who, 1t will be re-
H.
months after his arrival in Europe. 1t has been his
misfortune either through want of judgment or ex-
perience in racing, to imagine that there is not much
difference in the capacity of trainers, and that
horses merits are paramount to any deficiency on
their part. Hence his large losses at the COM
mencement of his Turf career. His subsequent sue
cess may be, in great measure, attributed to the
fact of his having fallen in with the best trainer in
America-Mr. Pryor.
1t will be seen therefore that our horses at Good
wood had but poor chance to win-the owner being
very superfcially informed in relation TO the charac
ter and capacity of the racehorse, and the trainer
being considered scarcely secondrate in this coun-
try There is but little wonder, therefore that the
glariug deficiency of our horses, in relation to want
of condition, should have elected the sympathy even
Of their English opponents.
We do not wish to enlarge further on these mis-
fortunes their causes at present, but will JUS
tfy ourselves in the ground that We have taken, by
reference to fact before stated in print but
nevertheless true, that it has been widely predicted
by trainers and turfmen throughout the county,
who knew MIR. Palmer's incapacity and prOclivities
for feeding that he would bring long idle horses
t. the post at GOodwOOd just fat enough to get bad
ly beat.
We predict, however, that in this case, as in the
previous msfortunes of Mr.. Palmers career the de-
termined merits of the horses he has in charge will
indicate themselves over the drag of his dull mind,
and that they will themselves into condition, in
despite of him and his system which will make them
yictors in many brilliant field
-FOUR friends Of PortsT's Spirit are rather hard on
the trainer Is it not better to own ourselves beaten
and try for "better luck next timeY"l