Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1884-1886, 1886-05-14
THE RACES AT EPSON.
AN ENGLISH VILLAGE WITH MINERAL
SPRINGS AND FAST HORSES.

EPSON - . Fashionable Resort Some
200 Years Ago-The Oaks and the
'.Dsrby''-Eclipse. the Famous Race
Horse-A Retrospective Sketch.
Every one has heard of EPSON salts" al
most every one of the "Derbyn as the great
horse race Of England is known, and thou
sands have heard and read of the EPSON
races" without knowing that EPSON salts
were 50 named because they were the solid
precipitate from certain mineral springs in
the village Of EPSON, where is the world
renowned race course on which is run the
@Derby,n the Oaks and certain other noted
races.
The first heard Of EPSON as fashionable
resort was some 200 years ago when the viz
tues Of the mineral spring tsulphate Of mag
nesia) first became recognized, and being ex-
aggerated, as is the custom in all similar
cases, the waters were looked upon as absolute
and almost infallible cure-alls. EPSON be
came the most fashionable resort in the king
dom, immense hotels and boarding houses
were erected, paviions, gardens and dance
halls were erected, and the other watering
places Of England were deserted. EPSON
itself is now large, quaint, irregular and
interesting town; it is unlike other places, and
with its broad street or parade wears an air
Of past grandeur. 1t is mainly built on the
high road, with smaller streets and rows Of
houses and shops branching off on either
side.
THE RACES AN ESTABLISHED SPORT.
Charles II. was the first to fix the races at
Epson as an established sport, but be objected
81, ia Of he.
of Cambridgeshire. In 1719, the then earl of
Derby, q thorough-going sportsman of the old
fashioned type, had a hunting box called
1.-THE Oaks" in the vicinity Of EPSON, and in
gratitude Of the kindness shown him by his
neighbors, he in that year established the race
known as 1.-The Oaks" to be run by year
old fillies. In the next year Q7s0) the Derby
was established and named after him, and
this race has become not only the blue rib
bon Of the English turf, " but Of all the world,
and is invariably graced by the presence of
royalty.
For the first twenty years the average Of
subscribers to the Derby sweepstakes was
thirty six and the average Of starters ten Be
tween 1900 and 1870, average 43 and II; from
1870 40, 90 and Is, and from the latter date
to 1850, $50 and o. The average for the
twenty years ending 1888 shows about 21C
subscribers, while the fields all round do not
prove as large. The smallest field was in 1874
when only four ran and Dndalus won. The
The largest was in 1862, when thirty-four
started and Caractacus won. In 1866 the net
value of the stakes was $50 500, the largest
Derby ever run for. The horse that won this
stake, Lord Lyon, was trained at Ilsley, in
Berkshire, and exactly 100 years before his
birth was foaled at the same place the
founder of the present breed of English race
horses-Eclipse by name. The horse was SC
named from having been born during the
eclipse in 1854; and his name became singu-
larly appropriate when he was found to sur
pass all other horses in speed The secret Of
his success was made known, after his death
by an autopsy, when his heart was found &c
weigh thirteen pounds
WINTERS RETROSPECTIVE SKETCH.
From The London Daily Telegraph il
quoted the following retrospective sketch,
written upon the eve of the Derby of 1883
There are many things which time takes
away, but still more that he leaves behind.
We have little difficulty in picturing to our
selves what the racing man of 100 years age
was like when, in 17SS, he stood upon the very
spot at EPSON which the feet of so many OF
his posterity will press to-day. Different in
manners, education and dress from his repre-
sentative Of the present period, he has be
queathed the same passion for the beautiful
animal whose limbs and frame are the EN-
bodiment Of speed.
"Nor is much else altered about the Derby
day. Within the last 103 years there have
been many changes in the Derby course, but
the winning post stood in 17s0-when Sin