HANDICAPS I03 



Like so many other long distance races, the Ascot 

 Stakes has fallen off of late years. The stake was 

 originated in 1839 and won by a three-year-old mare 

 called Marchioness, who carried the indefinite liofht 

 weight described as a " feather." There was at this 

 time no minimum, and indeed in the following year 

 the Stakes was won by Darkness, with only 5 st. 4 lbs. 

 on her back. That good stayer. Musket, who has 

 done such admirable service at the stud in Australia, 

 won in 1870 with 8 st. 12 lbs., a very heavy burden 

 for a three-year-old, though for some reason or other 

 the field consisted of only four runners. There have 

 indeed seldom been many starters for this race ; 

 twenty-three ran in 1848, when Vampyre won the 

 first time (he was successful again the following year), 

 but on no other occasion have the runners exceeded 

 ■eighteen. The late Sir Joseph Hawley in 1870 won 

 with Rosicrucian, who three years previously had been 

 regarded as good enough to win the Derby, in which 

 he was beaten by his stable companion, Blue Gown. 

 The remark, "horses for courses," has already been 

 noted, and it is remarkable how often there seems 

 justification for it. Thus Pageant won the Chester 

 Cup twice, as did Dalby and Dare Devil. Ivanhoff 

 was twice successful in the Manchester Cup, Shan- 

 crotha won in 1893, ^^^ was not beaten — he ran a 

 dead-heat — in 1894. Vampyre, as just remarked, 

 twice carried off the Ascot Stakes ; Teviotdale did 

 so in 1880 and 1881, and Lord Lome in 1889 and 



