THE MELBOURNE CUP.

Grey River Argus, Volume VIII, Issue 589, 26 October 1869, Page 3

THE MELBOURNE CUP.

The following remarks by " Ragpicker" in BeiVs Life i» Melbourne, on the various horses entered for this event, will be read with interest : — Tim Whiffler, won't start ; My Dream is now scratched, and 1 don't like Gasworks; Manuka will start nearly first favorite, having arrived safe and sound after his long voyage. Warrior, not pace enough to enable him to give the weight away to Beveral of his opponents ; Stumpy, won't come without Tim Whiffler; The Earl, no good this time ; Strop, with only a slow chance ; Coquette, overweighted, and, on the footing of her Bandwick running being true, has small chance to get a place ; Darkie, no go ; ditto, Architect; Australian has not the pace to keep the fast company of the Cup horses ; Traverton, his reputation rests on two facts— l. That two years ago he did a, mile and three-quarters, under about his present weight, in 3min. 16sec, and was bought in by his then owner ; 2. That he has now got into first-rate hands to bring out a Cup winner ; Phoebe will come, but only to serve stable companions in other races ; Circassian, the winner, barring accidents ; Ragpicker, no go ; Sir John must improve much upon his Randwick form to give him a chance of seeing the front ; Blondin, out of place here altogether; Shenandoah, will have all done for her that can be done by good treatment and careful training, under the eye of her fond owner — but the mare has a temper of her own, and a spirit of nonacquiescence in the time and form of leaviug the starting post, that might go against her chances ; Sir William, no go ; Lapdog, not good enough for the company ; Albany, ditto ; Barbelle, dangerous if she starts, as Bhe probably will ; Salem Scudder, a terror amongst country horses, but not up to the Sydney

form; Marksman, scarcely likely to show ; Orville, ditto, on his own account ; The Monk, not good enough ; Charon, an unlikely starter with the Derby intervening ; Lamplighter, well through the three-year-old event, if backed by his friends for the Cup, will be a very warm favourite ; Barbarian, no go ; Oymbla, a a fine liily, well treated in the weights, may prove to be the moat formidable of Wilson's lot ; Freetrader, may have some such chance as that of Exile in former years ; Barwon, a sure starter, but has not got faster aa he has grown older j Norma, cannot win, unless the race is a slow one, and the speedy ones leave one another beat a quarter of a mile from home ; The Moore, Melancholy Jaques, and Bishopbourne, belong to the division lying almost beyond the region of hope ; The Fop, one of the dangerous sort, who may become whimsically forminable before the race ; Praetor, and Phosphorus, not of quality to make a successful journey to fetch the Cup ; Detective, likely to stay at home to get information as to future events ; Kestrel, would have to meet better youngsters of her year ; Surbiton, in^aformidable stable, and can be measured to a nicety, but that has yet to be done ; Partisan, Aurora, and Plenipo, no go ; Palmerston, speedy, and doubtful of staying even under his light weight ; Sheet Anchor, remarkably well in, and at a mile and three-quarters, if all goes on well as at present, must finish m the front rank, but that other quarter of a mile ! (Nous venons ! said Humb-Hug, native in his dialect.) Paddy's Land can hardly be good enough for a Melbourne Cup event, but has, nevertheless, all the appearance of a usoful country horse, under moderate weight ; Masaniello, no go, ditto Coldstream, Coeur de Lion and Lilly, though, perhaps the latter may be found amongst the starters ; Shamrock, Dolo, The Fly, Miss Constance, and Miranda, all suspected of a disposition to face the starter, may find sst 71b no hinderance to one or more of them seeing the leading horses in the race at some 'part of the journey ; but the Fly will most likely be foremost of the lightweights when the judge's decision has to be pronounced. The Age of the sth inst. contains the following : — The betting yesterday was very limited) the conversation turning principally upon the new arrivals. There was a great rush last week to see Manuka, and the general impression is favorable to the horse, but unfavorable as regards his chance for the Cup. He is unquestionably a magnificent animal, but he is too backward in his condition to hope to win the Cap with 9st. 41b. on his back ; and that, there is reason to believe, is his •trainer's opinion. 100 to 8 can be got against him, and nothing but the power and force of money will drive him up to a shorter price. Circassian is a firm first favorite at 4 to 1, and is expected over here next week. Traverton looks a good handicap horse, and, as far as appearances go, is a dangerous rival at the weights ; but knowing men stand off him, and he is rarely backed, though 6 to 1 can be got. Sheet Anchor is firm at 10 to 1. Warrior is, however, not in favor, and the public do not take 12 to 1. Salem Scudder remains stationary in the market, but Strop has risen to 100 to 5, taken ; 500 to 20 was laid to his trainer, Sara Haynes, but 100 to 5 is the price elsewhere.. Kestrel was also backed at 200 to 5 to win L3OOO.