THE RACE FOR THE CESAREWITCH.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 777, 16 December 1876, Page 3

THE RACE FOR THE CESAREWITCH.

(From the Fall Mall Gazette,') Admiral Rous, at all events, is not likely to feel much satisfaction at the result of the Cesarewitch. though he has a better answer than last year to those who state that hie skill as a handicapper has been at fault. Last year Prince Soltykoff’s Duke of Parma, a three-year-old, with at least one good performance to recommend him, was accorded the light impost of Gat, simply because a few days before the weights were issued he had run badly in a small race at Yarmouth, and he won with all imaginable ease. Here the Admiral was unquestionably at fault, for he should have followed up his own principle of handicapping a horse to his best, not to his worst, previous performance. But the case was very different oa Tuesday. Rosebery, the four-year old colt by Speculum out of Ladylike, ran twice as a two-year old as Weymouth, and was each time unplaced : as a three-year-old, he ran in two small handicaps at Cheltenham and Liverpool, and was last for both ; while, as a four-year-old, he had not run at all. Admiral Rous, taking for granted that nothing occurred to prevent him displaying his true form in the races for which he competed, and allowing for the possibility of considerable improvement, cannot, therefore, be said to have erred in

assigning him the medium weight of 7st 51b. The same with regard to Woodlands, who has never won a race since he defeated Count de Lagrange’s Galba at Goodwood and at Brighton as a two-year old. He has run for many prizes since that time : for the Derby of 1875, twice for the City and Suburban Handicap, for the Chesterfield Cup at Goodwood, and for the Lincolnshire Handicap last March, in which, though he started favorite, he ran very badly. Analysing all these performances, Admiral Rous arrived at the conclusion that 7st 21b would be a fair weight, though it is difficult to understand upon what ground he supposed Woodlands would be inferior to Rosebery, for public running certainly indicated the contrary to be the case. However, the result of Tuesday's rac has scattered all these theories and conjectures to the winds, and Admiral Rous was treated to the spectacle of two horses, the property of bookmakers, whose previous performances had been miserable, galloping home in front of twenty-seven opponents, Woodlands started the better favourite of the two ; for in the last few hours Rosebery, who was not generally liked by the supposed good judges of horseflesh, receded to a longer price than was obtainable about Sir John Astley’a Hopbloom, who ran fast (as in the Hunt Cup at Ascot), and will probably take his own part in the Cambridgeshire The retrogression of Rosebery may have seemed an alarming symptom to some of his adherents ; but it did not prevent his winning in the commonest of canters by four lengths. So easily did he win that he had the race in hand at the “ Bashes”—a point which is more than half a mile distant frem the judge’s chair. Woodlands was evidently a genuine candidate, for he beat all the public performers, and his owner could not have suspected the presence of another four-year-old even more carefully preserved than his own, Two years ago the owner of Woodlands was even nearer winning the Cesarewitch ; for the Truth gelding was only beaten a head by Lord Ailesbury’s Aventuriere, who, having run through all her engagements in a very honest fashion, had received a heavy weight for a three-year-old. It need scarcely be said that the victory of SAventuridre created great satisfaction, and so would the defeat of Woodlands have done on Tuesday had it been effected by some such sterling animal as Merry Duchess or Umpire. The former filly struggled very gamely, for she was only beaten a neck by Woodlands for second place, and once more finished third, She occupied that position in the Newmarket International Handicap, in the City and Suburban Stakes, and in the Oaks ; while she finished second in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Epsom and in the Great Yorkshire Handicap at Doncaster ; so that she must have proved a very disappointing animal to her owner, unless he has learned to be content with place honors and profits. The Irish bred Umpire ran very well, and proved himself to be by far the best of the three-year-olds ; for he was close up with Merry Duchess, who was in receipt of 141 b, and next to him came Mr Stirling Orawfurd’s Finis, who started at very long odds. John Day, heavily as be was supported by his owner, ran very badly, and in the general opinion would have been beaten by his stable companion Coomaaaie if she had been persevered with, and Cataclysm, Professor, Talisman, all of whom were thought to have more or less of a good chance, also failed to come to the front. But Rosebery so evidently had the race in hand some way from the finish that some of his opponents may not have continued a futile pursuit. He was well ridden by F. Archer, who won the Oesarewitch upon Salvanos in 1872, and who has been paid £IOOO for his mount by the ownerof Rosebery, to whom belonged Hartington when he seemed this handicap fourteen years ago. The result is in favour of the much-contemned Blacklock blood, for Rosebery is a son of Speculum, who was a grandson of Voltigeur, while Hartington was a sou of Yoltigeur himself. The Cesarewitch being decided, it will remain to be seen how far the result will be confirmed or reversed by the Cambridgeshire Stakes; and though year after year the winner of the one is defeated in the other, he continues to find favour if engaged in the short distance race. Upon the present occasion, Rosebery, weighted at 7st 61b in one as in the other, will carry, including a 141 b penalty, Bst 51b in the Cambridgeshire ; but even at this weight he has as good a chance as his two nearest opponents on Tuesday, meeting Woodlands on only 21b and Merry Duchess ou 111 b worse terms Neither Umpire nor Finis who finished fourth and fifth, have been engaged, but twelve other runners in the Cesarewitch—Ooomassie Courtomer, Bracconnier, Blantyre, John Day Hopbloom, Wisdom, Petition, Miss Lizzie, Bon-Bon, Correggio, and the Try back colt—have a second opportunity of winning one of the Newmarket handicaps.