Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-04-18
THE RACES At EPSON.
AN ENGLISH VILLAGE WITH MINERAL
SPRINGS AND FAST HORSES.

EPSON A. Fashi"uable Resort some
200 Years Ago The Oaks" and the
Derby Eclipse, the Famous Race
Hor,, 1 Retrospective sketch.
Every one has heard Of Epson salts al
most every one Of the Derby a. the great
horse race OF England Is known. and thou
sands have heard and read ut the EPSON
races" without knowing that EPSON salts
wer,. 80 named because they were the solid
przlIItate from certain mineral springs III
the village of EPSON, where Is the world
renowmsi race course on which l. run the
~Dtrhv, the "Oaks" and certain other noted
rac,S
The first heard Of EPSON as a fashionable
resort was some 2O Years AZ" when the VIZ
tues Of the mineral spring tsulphat" ot mag
n,~ial first lSsame recognized, and being "N-
aggt.rate,l. "a is the custom IN all similar
CaSs=s, the waters were looked upon aS absolute
and almost mfalhhle curr~alls. kl~om lie
came the most fashionable resort III the king
dom immense hotels and boarding houses
were erected. pavIlIunS gardens and dance
halls were eT,s't,d, and the other watering
PLACES Of England We're deserted EPSON
itself Is now a large, quaint. irregular and
interesting town. 1t Is unlike other places, and
with its broad street or parade wears an arr
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 ESTABIISHED SPORT.
Charles ii WAS the first to fix the races at
EIrom A. an established sport, but he objected
to the distance of the course upon the downs
of CamhTidge~hire In l179 the then earl Of
Derby, a thorough going sportsman of the old
fashioned type, had huntIng box called
The Oaks" In the vicinity Of EPSON, and IN
gratitude of the kindness shown him by his
neighhors he in that year established the race
known aS The Oaks" to b. run by 3-year-
old flleS. In the next year ,l'SN the Derby
was established and named after him, and
this race has become not only the blue rib
bon Of the English tart, but Of all the world,
and is invariably graoed 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 1850 and $50, average Is and u; from
lS2U-4O ~ and IS and from the latter date
to 1850 ISO and 2G The average for the
twenty years ending 1888 shows abou; 21C
subscribers, while the fields all round do not
prove as large. The smallest field was III 1874
when unly four ran and Du-ialus Won. The
The largest WAS i'll 1862, when thirty four
started and CaraCtaCus won. In lSGG the net
value of the stakes was 81. so. the largest
Derby ever run for The horse that won this
stake Lord Lyon, was trained at llsley, III
Berkshire, and exactly 100 years before hls
birth WAS fualed at the SAME place the
founder of the present breed Of English rae,
horseS-EChTse hy name The horse was -
named from having been born during the
eclipse in l5,+; and his name became singu-
larly appropriate when he was found Ia sur
I,aSS all other hurs,s i'll speed. The se,Iet Of
his success was made known, after his death,
by an autopsy, when his heart was found K
weigh thirteen pounds
WINTERS RETROSPECTIVE SKETCH.
From The London Daily Telegraph is
quoted the following rttruspectiye sketch
written upon the eve Of the Derby of lNs3
There are many things which time takes
away. hut still more that hr leaves behind.
We have little difficulty in picturing to our.
selves what the racing man Of 100 years age
was like when. in l5S5. he stood upon the very
spot at Epson which the feet Of - many Of
his pusterity Will press to-day. Different in
manners, education and dress from his repre-
sentative of the present period. he has l+~
queathed the SAME passion for the beautlfu
animal whose limbs and frame are the EN-
bodiment Of sI-ed
Nor is much else altered about the Derby
day. Within the last lG} years there have
been many changes in the Derby course, but
the winning post stOod in l'HJ-when Sir
Charles Buubury'S Doomed was the first win
ner Of what Is now called 'England's histori
cal race-preCiSely where It stands to-day.
Although between l1Se} and lSSi the Derby
has passed through many strange vciSSi
tudeS, 1t comes TO Us tins year another and
yet the same Cor. Detroit Free Press