SENSATIONS OF THE TURF.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 21 September 1907, Page 3

SENSATIONS OF THE TURF.

FORTUNES IiOST THROUGH ACOI-' DENTS TO RACEHORSES. j It is remarkable that so few eclcbratcd thoroughbred horses meet with mis- '; haps. ;

The lirst sportsman in England, the ; King, has met with more than lix 3 share of bad luck in this respect, however, j For many years His Majesty could do no right. Fate, seemed to have decreed that no horse should carry his famous colors to victory. At last a two-year-old named Counterpane, ridden by the renowned jockey Fred Archer, won a small race for His Majesty. But misfortune was in store, for this horse—the King's lirst winner on the flat—fell down dead after passing the winning post at Stoekbridge races. The filly is buried in the wellknown horse cemetery in Danebury, close to the grave of Bay Middleton, the Derby hero of 1536. FATE OF AMBUSH 11.

When Ambush 11. won the Liverpool Grand National Steeplechase for King Edward, there was tremendous rejoicing among sportsmen. The horse had been purchased in Ireland for a few hundred pounds. He was confidently expected to win the great chase a second time. But while training for the race at the Curragh one morning the animal dropped dead. After Moifaa won the cross-country Derby at Liverpool, three years ago, he was purchased by the King with a view to winning the same event the following year; £2OOO was the price paid for the horse.

Starting favorite fir the race, the Royal representative met with an accident during the contest which caused him to fall. Not long ago the daughter of the King's trainer was riding the horse at Newmarket as a hack.

So recently as the Lincolnshire Handicap, Fra Diavolo, one of the leading favorites for the race, met with an accident shortly before it was run. Backed by his connections, who considered him little short of a certainty to win a small fortune in bets, he unfortunately got cast in his box, which caused his hock to swell. The day before the decision of the handicap he pulled up lame after a morning gallop at Lincoln, and was almost immediately scratched for the race. It is cruel fate to have a classic race like the Doncastcr St. Leger torn from one's grasp by an accident at the last minute. Yet Lord Rosebery met with this misfortune. Two years ago Cicero won for the Primrose Earl his third Derby. The St. Leger—bar accidentswas practically a walk-over for the namesake of the famous orator.

Tlin unexpected happened, and Cicero, meeting with an accident while finishing his training, was scratched on the eve of the race, which was won by an outsider, the very moderate Challaeombe. The flying lilly Sceptre, who achieved a record when she won all the classic races with the exception of the Derby, very nearly lost the Two Thousand Guineas—worth £3oso—owing to a mishap. As shi| was about to leave the starting post, her owner noticed that the filly had nearly wrenched off one of her racing plates (shoes).

A LOOSE SHOE. There was no blacksmith near, and he had no tools. Desperate measures were necessary. He took hold of the mare's leg, and, after exerting herculean strength, he managed to tear the plate clean away from the hoof without injuring her in any way. Then Sceptre won Hie valuable race and the big sums in bets. Perhaps tlie most sensational race that lias ever been run on the English turf was the Derby of eleven years ago, when the Sandringham-bred horse Persimmon, after a most desperate finish, lieat Mr Leopold Rothschild's St, Frusquin by a neck, amidst a scene of unparalleled enthusiasm. A great many sportsmen fully expected to see the second in the Blue Ribbon turn the tables on his conqueror when they met again in the St. Lcger. St. Frusquin, however, after winning the £IO,OOO Eclipse Stakes, broke down in his training owing to the hard state of. the ground, and never ran again. His Majesty's horse had consequently no difficulty in winning the St. Leger.

It is rarely that famous horses are "got at" nowadays, the poisoned Derby candidate Orme being a notable exception. Many years ago the poisoning of racehorses was a common occurrence. A notorious hanger-on of the turf, Dan Dawson, destroyed a number of valuable racehorses, the property of Lord Foley and others, at Newmarket, by injecting arsenic into their locked drinking troughs. A reward of five hundred guineas was offered for information that would lead to the apprehension, and conviction of the culprit. Dawson was arrested, and indicted under a resurrected Act called the Black Act of George I. After a sensational trial, at which royal princes and noblemen were present, he was found guilty, sentenced to death, and hanged in front of Cambridge Castle in the presence of twenty thousand persons.

"NOBBLED." Plenipotentiary, who had won the Derby very easily, was a hot favorite for the St. Leger. On the morning of the race his attendant discovered him lying prostrate in his box. Powerful restoratives were administered, and "Plenipo" ran, but it was obvious that the "nobblei's" deadly drugs had accomplished their fell purpose, as he finished last but one. His career was completely ruined. The year after the plunging Marquis of Hastings lost £103,000 in bets over Hermit's "snowstorm Derby," his favorite inare, Lady Elizabeth, was backed by him to win the Blue Ribbon for suliicient money to replenish his sadly depleted coffers. Alas! the "nobblers" put m their deadly work, for the pride of Hastings' heart had undoubtedly been drugged. Blue Gown met with an extraordinary fate for a racehorse. He was sold to a wealthy American for £4OOO. Very rough weather was encountered when the horse was crossing the Atlantic. The Ribbon hero succumbed to it, and was buried at sea, he being then fourteen years old. An exactly similar fate befel Kingcraft, another Derby winner, while on his way to "the land of the Stars and Stripes."