THE GRAND PRIX.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 678, 22 August 1876, Page 3

THE GRAND PRIX.

The Paris correspondent of the Pall Mall Gazette gives the following account of this racp, which took place on June 11th : The weather has been cold and stormy in Paris for the last two or three days, but the sun has been shining nearly all the afternoon, and the Grand Prix was run for under very favourable conditions. The company was quite up to the average in point of numbers, but the toilettes were certainly not so brilliant as usual, though this may easily be accounted for by the doubts in the morning as to how the day would turn out. Marshal. MacMahon and the Duchease do Magenta arrived early in the afternoon, and received in the central stand reserved for the Chief of the State the Ambassador of Morocco and hir, suite and several of their personal friends. The Duchesse de Magenta was wearing a costume of blue and white silk ; and it seemed as if blue was the prevailing colour, not only in the State box, but all over the ground. The French have always eujoyed the reputation of being particularly wellmannered in crowds, and it has been said that they know how to extricate themselves from a crush without incommoding those who are near them,but anybody who had witnessed the scrimmages which took place this afternoon upon the lawn facing the State box would have quickly altered his opinion. The crushing and crowding referred to might perhaps be tolerable if the object of those who made so free with their elbows and feet was to testify their respect to the head of the State ; but as those who offend merely get to the front in order to indulge m more or less unseemly jokes, or at best to gratify an idle curiosity, there is not even that excuse to be advanced. It is impossible to give a list of the most notable persocs present, for all Paris was there, and among the occupants of the stand were the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess Michael of Russia. The Duke of Hamilton had come over to see Wild Tommy run, and Sir George Chetwynd, who was a large winner by the result of the Derby, was present with the three brothers Baltazzi. Mr A. Baltazzi, the owner of Kisber, had been by far the heaviest winner by the result of this afternoon's race, for he accepted a bet of SUOO to 500 about the " Mineral colt," as he was then called, some time before the Derby. Since the decision of that race little money has been invested on the Grand Prix, so certain did it seem that Kisber must win. As is usual on these occasions, the races preceding the great event excited but little interest, though the defeat of Count de Lagrange's Nougat in the Prix des Pavilions caused some surprise among those interested in racing. In the third race, the Prix de la Ville de Paris, a most unfortunate accident occurred, for, owing to the overcrowding of the spectators upon the far side of the course into the running track, two of the horses bolted and threw their jockeys, one of whom was severely injured. The horses knocked down several of the people, and seven or ei»Ut of them were severely hurt. It is doubtful, indeed, whether two or three who were brought into the police station within the enclosure will recover. There was great difficulty experienced in clearing the course, and though the Grand Prix was set down for half-past three, it was not until after four o'clock that the eleven competitors were led out from the stand on to the course. Most of them had been walking about on the plot of grass at the rear which does duty for a paddock, and it is not too much to say tbat Kifiber and Enguerrande were voted to be looking the best of the lot, though Mondaine is a very neat and compact filly, The elezen runners comprised Mr A, Baltazzi's Kifber (Mnidment), Baron Alphonse de Rochschild's Kilt (T. Cannon), M. Lufin's Enguerrande (Hudson), Count de Lagrarge's Braconnier (Glover), Camelia (Morris), and Bijou (Kelly), M. E. Fould's Moncaine (Hunter) and Soussarin (Mills), the Date of Hamilton's Wild Tommy (distance', M. Moreau-Chaslon's Ashantee (T. ChabDer), and M. Aumont's Basquine (Carratt). After one or two delays, caused by the fradiousnees of Camelia and Braconnier, tl» flag fell to a capital start, and Bijou a once went to the front in order to male the running for his two stable companions He was almost at once passed, howevr, by Ashantee, whom Chaloner sent alag in such good earnest that he soon held lead of several lengths. Kisber, who had taken a good place from the moment tb flag dropped, drew up second, and Maidmat did not attempt to take the lead until tb field had reached the brow of the hill nar the village of Boulogne. But when he ace let him have hid head the race was over, for he at cn<:e assumed the command, and icreasiug his advantage cantered past tb post five lengths ahead of Engoerrande, Tbw

was the same distance'as that by which he won the Derby, and he had so much in hand, that Maidment, who rode Cremorne in the Grand Prix of 1872, turned round to see what was next to him. So far the race resulted in accordance with general expectation, and though Enguerrande beat horses that had defeated her at Chantilly, it cannot be said that her forward position created any surprise, for it was the general impression that she would be favored by the extra distance of ground. Kilt, it may be remembered, defeated her by a head in the French Derby, just a week after she had run a bad third to Mondaine and Filoselle in the Prix de Diane, while at Epsom in the Oaks she ran a dead heal with Camelia. These three horses were all beaten by her this afternoon, and this because she has more stamina than they have. Two lengths divided Enguerrande from Mondaine, who only obtained third place by a head, Basquine making a great fight for that position, while Wild Tommy was fifth, and Kilt sixth. The surprise of the race was undoubtedly the bad figure cut by Count de Lagrange's two representatives ; and it may be taken for granted that, while Camelia found the distance too great, Braconnier is not in such good form as he was in a month or six weeks ago. The value of the prize to the winner ia £5598, the second receiving £4OO, and the third £2OO, inclusive of their entrance money. The victory of Kisber cannot be set down as an English one, for the son of Buccaneer and Mineral was bred in Hungary, and belongs to a Hungarian. The victory was received without any demonstrations either of hostility or delight, and the most uneventful contest for the Grand Prix ever witnessed was at an end.