Arizona republican., 1910-07-19
SOME STRANGE INCIDENTS
 OF FAMOUS RACE COURSE
Some Stories of Famous Race
 Meeting.

There is no more fascinating func- ton during the London season than the race meeting at Ascot, although this year it will not be graced by the presence of members of the royal fami- ly, and will thus be robbed -0f much of it's dignity, says the London Globe. And in view of the calamity that has befall en the nation, one cannot help recall
 ing that the visit of our late monarch to Ascot on June 16, 1903, was the first occasion upon which a king of England had appeared at the lncloSure since William " occupied the throne Queen Victoria saw William Day win the cup for Lord George Bentinck in 1888, and she was present at the opening of the new stand in 1889, whose foundation stone had been laid the previous Janu- ary by the earl of Errol. master of the BuckhOunds. Upon one occasion a lad won the Ascot stakes after desper ate struggle, and had the honor of be- ing introduced to the queen. Brought into the royal presence by Lord Lich- field and presented with a Gl0 note, little Bell was asked what his weight was, and replied, Please, ma'am, mas ter says l mustn't tell anybody how much l Weigh"-an answer which na turally created a great deal of aInuse- ment
 After the royal marriage the queen and Prince Albert were frequent visit ors to the Ascot races but in the mid de of the eighteenth century their sur roundings were anything but royal The racing at that time was often of d rather meagre description, so that various other kinds of sport then in high favor with our forefathers were freely indulged in. In the neighbor hood of Windsor there were cock fights and wrestling matches, and prize fights took place on the course, il being recorded that in a struggle be- tween Woods and Selway for ( 800 the latter was defeated and lost an eye Sometimes, too, remarkable wagers originated on Ascot race course, one of the strangest being made by fashionable lady at the meeting of l76s The bet appears to have been actually made by her husband, the lady being backed to ride loo miles in ten hours for ( 5000 Her better half was so enamored of the powers of the spouse that he offered to lay another 5000 that at the end of the performance she would eat the best part of a leg of lamb and drink two bottles of claret. Unfortunately history seems silent as to the ultimate result of the wager.
 A still better story recalled by this fashionable sporting gathering is con- nected with the famous Dr. PuseY, who had a country house at Ascot. A par son interested in horse racing revisit ing Oxford- during Ascott week in quired about the famous Tractarian leaders health, whom he had venerated when an undergraduate. He was told by the censor of Christ church that Pusey had gone to Ascot You don't mean to tell me" exclaimed the clergy man, who was naturally astonished. that the dear old doctor has gone rae ing at his time of life," Well, he has not exactly gone racing" replied the other, but he certainly is making a book" And the book that Dr. Pusey was making" proved to be his classic commentary on the<"Minor Prophets" which had, of course, no connection with modern turf prophets.
 But coming to the actual racing at Ascot the most important event is the contest for the gold cup, established in 1907, the first winner being Master Jockey, a 2-year old. It was the am bition of George " to win this race an ambition that was never fulfilled His brother the duke of York. however, won the. cup with Aladdin in 1915, while six years later his Banker was given a walkover The cup day of lS44 was one of the most notable in the his tory of the race, Tor Nicholas l, emper- pr of Russia. and the king of SaXony were among the notables present. The race was won by an unnamed colt, owned by Lord Albemarie, who paid a compliment to the cZar by christening if The Emperor This pleased the au tocrat, immensely, who thereupon re- quested to be allowed to present every year a piece of plate of the value of
 ( 500, to be called The Emperor's Plate, to take the place of the gold cup. The offer was accepted. and from 1S45 to 1853 inclusive the gold cup was su perseded. The first trophy given by the cZar was handsome piece of work, being a reduced copy of Falcon etti's statue of Peter the Great, raised on a three -cornered base, on the sides Of which were engraved views Of Windsor castle the winter place at St. Petersburg, and the Kremlin at Mos cow
 In 1S45 the race was again won by The Emperor, in spite of the fact that he started at an outside price. The stewards were placed in a difficulty in 1854, for this country was then at war with Russia. Though it was advertised on the official card that the winner of the race would receive "a piece of plate. value 800 sovereigns, the gift of his majesty the emperor of all the Russias," the prize itself had not been and never was, received from Russia. so the old state of things was once more resumed, and ever since the gold cup has remained the leading item in the Ascot program.
 There are, however, thousands of other interesting happenings connect ed with Royal Ascot. many of them i concerning the jockeys. For instance, probably the lightest jockey who ever won on the British turf was the one who rode the winner in the Ascot