THE MELBOURNE RACES.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1342, 16 November 1872, Page 2

THE MELBOURNE RACES.

' THE DERBY DAY. The V.R.C. Spring Meeting opened on Saturday, the 2nd inst., the weather being lovely, and the attendance very 1 large— about 15,000 persons being present. . The racing commenced with the Melbourne Stakes, one mile and a quarter, for which eight horses went to the post, including Dagworth, the Cup favorite, and Hamlet, also Pyrrhus. It was a I weight-for-age race, and was won in a r canter by Contessa, a four-year-old by I Vagabond, the mare being at once in- ' stalled as first favorite for the Cup. Dagworth, the winner of the Randwick f Metropolitan, far from up to the mark, I was only fifth, and Hamlet, also not himself, was second, the flying Barbelle being third. Dagworth at once declined in tho ■ Cup betting to 8 and 10 to 1. The r Hotham Handicap brought out a field of . 15 horses, and resulted in a good race between Early Morn and Misty Morn, the former winning cleverly, and having been splendidly ridden by young Wilson, s Old Nimblefoot was third. Early Morn is $ by Panic, and from the Western district. The Maribyrnong Plate, to which Messrs Petty, Hunter, and Phillips contribute 650 soys., brought out a fine field indeed of youngsters, no less than 13 facing the 1 starter, and a capital lot they were. The race ended in a match between Mr Wilson's Dagmar, by Maribyrnong, and Mr Saqui'a My Leah, by Fireworks ; Dagmar winning cleverly "and easily at lasr, Nothing else" was near the pair. Benvolio, 1 by Peter Wilkins out of • Juliet, and Lapidiat, by Fireworks out of Chrysolite, were the next best of the lot, as far as looks go. The Victorian Derby, with its 500 soys. added, was a mere canter for the wonder Loup Garou, by Lord of Linne. out of Hebe. He is, perhaps, the best three -year-old that ever ran in Australia, and the way he gets over the ground is something to witness. He is a fine colt, over 16 hands, rather narrow to look at from behind, and with not . the best feet in the world, but the style in which he ran through his field, and won, hard held, in excellent time, stamps him as a groat horse. King of the Ring, Mr Thompson's game little colt by Ace of Clubs, ran well at the finish, but had no chance with the " Wolf." The Essendon Stakes, two miles, weight for age, was a runaway affair for. Mr Dowling's Blue Peter, three years old, by Kingston, Mr lilgate's Dolphin second, and The Quack third. Sir Hercules won the Footscray Plate, aud was bought in for L 220, the club' profiting largely thereby. THE CUP DAY. Twenty-two horses came put for the great contest of the year, the Melbourne Cup, which wa3 run on the 7th. The Ace looked well, though a little big. Valentine wa3 in excellent trim so far as appearances went. Irish King did not bear out the favorable reports given out as to. the improvement that had been effected in him since last year, The Quack's unpre*

' ending appearance did not attract much attention. Dagworth looked extremely well, and at the last moment many of tis former backers returned to their good •pinion of him. Contessa was in great favor up to the last. King of the Ring. 3cemed rather stale. Benjiroo looked very gay and corky, and with his light;: weight, the backers of this muscular little hone felt that he had a real good -outside chance. The start seemed from the stand to be a fair one. Valentine, Irish - r King,» and Benjiroo coming away in the lead, almost abreast. Gironde, Count, aud I Contessa were running close behind the front rank. Dagworth miist have got away badly, as he was in a very bad posi-tion-when the horses came past the po3t. King of the Ring could not get on his legs for the first half mile, and, passing the post, he was fully 50 yards behind' the first horse. Benjiroo led the field to the abattoirs. Irish King was in a good position till near the railway bridge, when he faded away. Valentine never showed in the race after going the first turn.". Conttissa fell back until near the' abattoirs, when she came up with Dagworth,;, but soon retired again. * Quack took up the running at the sheds, and led all the way home. The Ace passing Benjiroo at the same time, and running the rest of the distance in the secsnd place. Dagworth ' came up to the leaders at the sheds .. with Barbelle, but he did not seem toget , through .his horses cleverly at the turn,and had a deal of ground to make up coming the straight. He ran very gamely/ and finished like a racehorse, 7 a very close , third. Misty Morn ran very well throughout the race, and took up a much better position at the finish than Early Morn j who beat him in the Hotham Handicap ; on Saturday last. Contessa cut up badly, ' and Dolphin was very little better. The. Quack's superior condition won him the race, and brought him Home a comfortable winner when his two great rivals were in difficulties. 'Benjiroo ran very gamely from the sheds home, and finished in a good position. King of the Ring made.; up his lost ground in the last inUe in a most wonderful manner. The well-known colors of Mr Tait were loudly cheered by the people on the flat and the immense, throng on the hill as the Quack came back to scale. The Quack is a bad winner for the bookmakers. He was heavily backed for the Cup when he ran second to Dagworth in the Metropolitan Stakes. By a strange coincidence,, tbe Pearl, who won the Cup last year under Mr Tait's colors, was also second in the Metropolitan that year. The Quack is a low-set horse, of great muscular power, with a plain, determined head. He was long thought to be a second-rate horse, but after his performance this season, he must be placed in the front rank. It is a peculiarity worth noticing, that of the first- five horses in the Cup not one is Victorian bred. Quack was bred by Mr Field in Tasmania, the Ace is an Adelaide horse, and Dagworth, Barbelle, and Misty Morn hail from New South Wales. The race . was done in exactly the same time as last year. - . The horses which came in first in the other events were as follow :— Maiden Plate — King of Clubs, Secret, Sunshine.. Railway Stakes^ — Blue Peter, Pyrrhus, Loup Garou. Hurdle Race — Polka, Gray ; and Darling Stakes— Warrior. *