The Life of a Great Sportsman 



THE DERBY 



SOME REMINISCENCES 



By JOHN MAUNSELL RICHARDSON 



{Reproduced by permission of the proprietors of "The Daily Telegraph ") 



To old stagers like myself — and I fancy there are a goodish 

 number left — who, with pleasurable recollections of its past 

 glories, would feel it weigh heavily on our conscience did we 

 fail to put in an appearance at Epsom on the Derby Day, it is 

 positively sad to note the apathy with what was wont to be 

 looked upon as the greatest event of the year in the Sporting 

 Calendar is now regarded — not so much by the lower, as the 

 upper, classes of society. Whereas formerly, not only London, 

 but the whole country, was agog with excitement as the day 

 for the great event drew nigh, and which was likely to be Sir 

 Joseph's best, and how the favourite was getting on, were the 

 popular subjects of conversation, to the exclusion of all other 

 topics, the Derby now excites little but passing interest. It is, 

 indeed, not too much to say that on the present occasion, were 

 it not for the welcome presence of Minoru amongst the field, 

 the famous race — which the great Sir Tatton Sykes, then 

 studying law in a solicitor's office in Bloomsbury, and not over- 

 burdened with money, thought it worth while to tramp down 

 from London in the early morning to witness — would command 

 even less attention than usual. 



Five and thirty years ago, and even later, when hotels were 

 much scarcer than is the case now, any one coming to town 

 during the Derby Week without having secured rooms in 

 advance would have found it exceedingly hard to obtain even 

 a bedroom in the West End, especially in Clubland ; whilst, 

 from an early hour on both Derby and Oak Days, the streets 

 of London, both east and west, alive with vehicles of every 



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