THE MELBOURNE CUP.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1143, 3 April 1872, Page 2

THE MELBOURNE CUP.

SOMETHING LIKE A KACE. The following is the Argutfs description of this great race :— -.';. Nothing attracted less than the grey Saladin, who, in 'spite of his splendid condition, wasednsidered tb^bi 1 out of the hunt because of the weight he had to carry. At the start Lapdog, who evidently went to. make the running for 1 Mermaid, performed his mission satisfactorily, and led the field a pretty dance for • over a mile and a half. At the feaok of the course, Saladin stumbled and nearly came to grief, and something galloped- on to Mermaid, and cut her rather, severely, the grey losing half a dozen lengths by his mishap, but he was with his horses at the abbatoirs, and at the turn, where Hamlet (who up to this time ran a good colt) cut it, the Arab and Flying Dutchman came through, Mermaid joining issue, but the weight told on the latter, and the finish was left to the other two, the brown having the best of it, .as it appeared Wiup at the post, which,we .thought he reacheda good head in advance of Saladin. The judge, however, thought differently sand -v pronounced it a dead heat ;tt 'the no small amazement of 999 persons outof every 1000. As the Dutchman pulled up very lame, it was thought that the grey would have no difficulty in landing the stakes in the run-on ; and before and afterFlyr ing Scud had cleverly, won the Half-mile Plate, odds werer freely laid on Saladin, but Lang, finding that the lameness only arose from a prick from a nail, adopted measures which enabled him to bring ooutt t the horse comparatively sound, the publioj greeting both horses with loud cheers^ as they appeared in the straight. < The second contest was even mbre'.exV V. citing than the first, for after gallpp]mg f ,,, together for nearly two. miles, a deter- "'"' mined struggle took place between the two, the grey this time seemingly having— the best of it, and most people thought he had won, but Mr Bo we again- decided — that they had run a dead heat. ■ As thVT Dutchman did not betray such, symptoms f *- of lameness as he did after his previous; v '\ effort, the talent thought; it good '[enough'!'? to lay 5 and 6 to 4 on him for the third, I( heat. After the usual 'half-hour's j grace . had been allowed, the two gluttons onfeeT more made their appearance," the "excite- " ment by thistime having: risen (to fever heat. After a break away, Mr Watson despatched them on their journey,: theJ grey leading by a length until, they gott-i. into the straight. From this point not a length separated them until they approached the sheds, when Saladin. im- . proved the pace, and was a clear length!* ' in front before they rounded the turn for home. His opponent, however, yerjf re» solutely came again, and cries of '* The Dutchman, 0 followed by shouts of f'Sa jn ; ladin, ' filled the air as they rußhe^ intQibr the straight • buVthe grey had most left in him, and though Flying Dutchman ran. l as honestly and.gamely as horse could ran 'T and young Day tried his best, the Arab was more than a match for him, and won-- a cleverly by nearly half a length, amidst the uproarious oheers of the spectators, with whom the winner appeared to be a most popular favorite. 1 Thus the wellkept " moral " was upset, after three contests certainly, unparalleled in the annals of the Australian turf ■:> and though we >>. were delighted to. see so good a sportsman o? as Mr Crook triumphant, we cannot help expressing a belief that his horse wag« beaten on the first occasion. Greater 1 \ gameness was never displayed by any two ' horses that ever stripped. * ;'