The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-11-02

'p" '" NWcItca. AT hrSt view there
may NOT seem much reason for TransatIan-
NC PRIDE IN the winning OF handicap. the
distinguishing feature OF which Is that
every horse Is so weighted, comparatively
wilh bis competitors, as to give him a
reasonable chance Of the prize. An
animal OF very moderate merits. OF
Whon no country would have reason 20
ooast might come In frst, owing simply
70 'he hight weight imposed upon him out
OF consideration for his mediocrity. But
t,iS cannot be said Of yesterdays race.
FoNhall carried substantially more weight
IMAM any animal OF the same age which
contendcd. As compared with some OF
our best English horses, he was not treated
WIN lenicncy by The Handicapped. and he
Won in manner which showed that his con-
spicuously handsome shape Is no more than
= mir indication Of his merits as q racer.
we may, therefore, az honestly as VIC do
I cheeriully, congratulate America upon an
other solid triumph, not unworthy OF those
ny which the present racing season has
been already marked. The " double FIRST"
taken by lroquois in the Derby and 50.
Leger, FoNhalPs own victory i'm the Grand
frizc OF Paris, and his brilliant perform
ance OF yesterday in carrying of almost
our principal and most kccniy-contcstcd
handicap constitute formidable batch OF
| trlumphs, and in the annals OF the turf
1881 viii no doubt be conYentiOnally dis
tinguishcd a. the American year.
We hope we may say that Englshmen
generally regard these defeats upon their
own ground with no ungenerOus dissatis-
I faction. The spirit which makes us wish
TO see the best horse win predominatcs
over any little feeling OF disappointment
/ that may be occasioncd by series OF i'm
portant defeats in a pursuit supposed
/ to be peculiarly our own. In this
spirit the triumph Of Ir0Qois over
Pcregrine in the Derby was received.
+ But when iroquois won the st. Lcger,
/ il ia not too much to say that
there was no one-with The pardonable
exception OF those who suffered materially
by the cyent-whO was not pleased. The
state Of the betting market before that race
/ pointcdly indicated that something was
wrong. Money was always forthcoming to
he stakcd against his chance, although his
health and condition were satisfactory. II
/ he had not won the st. Leger an impress
sion would have always prevailed that he
1 had not had fair play; and for this reason
his victory NJ DOncastcr was received
with especial pleasure by The Eng
+ lish public, notwithstanding that il I'M
doubleday tried their patriotism to see him
carry Of the two crest races Of The ycar-an
achievement which had been accomplished
only once before in fifteen years and only
on eight occasions during the present cen
tury. 4 man-Gladiatcur-Was one
Of the eight who won both Derby and 81.
Leger, and Hungarian car
ried OH the former. Bat. with the cXcep-
- -
/ United Kingdom ever gained the two chief
/ threc-ycar-old races until IroGuois came
upon the English tur'. II may be well TO
rccollcct, too, tins; the Cesarewitch OF yes
terday was not the first that has gone TO
America, PriOress having won that race in
/ 1857 after the most unusual occurrence Of
dead-heat between three.
While, however, we ungrudgingly ac-
knowledge the character Of the victories Of
Iroquois and IoXhall, and cordially con-
graduate our Transatlantic friends upon
their increasing ability 10 cope with lis in
our own peculiar pastime, we may in fair
ness put i'm q plea which tends t. mitigate
the feelings Of the yauqui-hed. These
triumphs are not purely American. Like
most OF the inhabitants OF the country
from which they come, both lroquois
and Foxhal are OF pure English, or, we
should accurately say, OF English and Irish
descent. IrOquois is The son Of Leaning
ton and the grandson Of Faugh-a-Ball3gh.
while among the immediate ancestors OF
/ Foxhal are King Tom and llar&away.
/ Though bred in America, neither the win
/ ncr OF the Derby and st. Legcr nor the
hero OF Yesterdays Cesarewitch IL Of
| American breed. They belong to the race
Of horses that has been so long settled in
this country az to constitute the English
racc-horse. They run in competition with
members OF their own family, descended
/ from the same parents, and inheriting the
same qualities; while though lroquois is 10
doubt trained by an American, FoXhall
was prepared for yesterdays contest by
/ William Day, and the jockey ip each III
stance is IN Englishman. We may there
/ fore fairly claim an international share in
these successes. American breeding and
American training have their difficulties to
contend with in racing in the old country,
and we gladly recognize in their victories OF
/ this wear q fitting and wcll-earned reward OF
enterprise and intelligence. We hope, how
ever. that they may not continue to beat
lis. and that when Bend Or and Iroquoi.
meet in q few hours, the representative OF
the old country will show that, on great
occasion, We can continue to hold our own.
However that may De, the English turf
need not at present own 10 anything more
than partial defeat. Until one OF our
great races /, Won by horse OF American
blood and breeding, trained by AL Amerl-
can, and ridden by an American, English
men will not feel bound TO acknowledge
total discontinue.