116 THE ENGLISH TURF 



that sprint racing predominated during the four days of the 

 meeting. 



Two-year-old racing is one of the features of the Epsom 

 Summer Meeting, and the Woodcote Stakes (on the 

 Tuesday) is the first race of the year in which the 

 youngsters run six furlongs. The Woodcote is considered 

 to be a genuine test of merit, and though its bead-roll 

 of winners will not compare with those of such events as 

 the Middle Park and Dewhurst Plates, or the Champagne 

 Stakes at Doncaster, it is often won by a good horse, and 

 Ladas and Cremorne may be quoted as Derby winners who 

 made their debut in this race. Another notable two-year-old 

 prize is the Great Surrey Breeders' Foal Plate, decided on 

 the Thursday, and the Stanley Stakes and Acorn Stakes, 

 the latter for fillies only, are conspicuous features of the 

 programme. Much the most popular of the Epsom Handi- 

 caps is the City and Suburban, run on the second day of 

 the Spring Meeting, and this race shares with the Jubilee 

 Stakes at Kempton the suffrages of the best handicap 

 nags in training during the spring. The City and Suburban 

 is quite one of the first half-dozen handicaps of the season — 

 I place the Csesarewitch and Cambridgeshire first in im- 

 portance, and next to them the Kempton Jubilee Stakes, 

 the City and Suburban, the Royal Hunt Cup at Ascot, 

 and the Stewards' Cup at Goodwood — and it is very often 

 won by a really good horse. In 1876 Thunder, owned 

 by the late Mr. Clare Vyner, won with 9 st. 4 lbs. in the 

 saddle, and four years later Master Kildare, who dis- 

 tinguished himself at the stud by siring the Derby winner 

 Melton, carried 9 st. 2 lbs. into first place. In the following 

 year Bend Or, who had won the Derby a year before, 

 carried 9 st. to victory, and a more recent good performance 

 was that of Worcester, who won in a canter with 8 st. 12 lbs. 

 up. It is often said that the course, on account of its 

 ups and downs, is one on which roguish horses figure to 

 advantage, and a notorious rogue who won the race in 

 1872 was Digby Grand. Another of the same kidney was 

 King Charles, who won in 1893, and no doubt bad-tempered 

 horses are more likely to win here than at such places as 



