THE YORKSHIRE MEETINGS 



133 



what her three-year-old career would have been. Another 

 important event on the first day's card is the Great York- 

 shire Handicap of a mile and three-quarters, and on the 

 third day the Portland Plate vies with the Goodwood 

 Stewards' Cup in being the most popular short handicap 

 of the day. On the last day the Doncaster Cup and the 

 Park Hill Stakes, in which three-year-old fillies run the 

 St. Leger distance, claim the most attention, and the Don- 

 caster Cup now takes about equal rank with the Goodwood 

 Cup, and of late years has perhaps been a more difficult 

 race to win. A memorable victory, of which the writer was 

 a witness, was that of Lily Agnes (the dam of Ormonde) in 

 1874, ^^^ since that time the race has fallen to a host of 

 celebrities, though it has not such a brilliant record as the 

 Ascot Gold Cup. Still, taking the list from the year in 

 which Lily Agnes won, we find such names as Craigmillar 

 (who also won the St. Leger), Hampton, Isonomy, Thebais, 

 The Bard, Carlton, Tyrant, Queen's Birthday, and the Irish 

 mare Laodamia, while many of the other names are suggest- 

 ive of the best long-distance handicap form of the time. 



Before leaving Doncaster I will briefly analyse the pro- 

 gramme of the September Meeting, and also point out that 

 long-distance racing is encouraged much more than at 

 the Park meetings. Indeed, the four days analyse pretty 

 well in this respect, the twenty-six races of 1900 being as 

 follows : — 



The Doncaster Cup . 

 St. Leger 



Great Yorkshire Handicap 

 Park Hill Stakes 

 Rufford Abbey Plate 

 Zetland Stakes 

 Doncaster Stakes 

 Bradgate Park Plate . 

 Alexandra Plate 

 Doncaster Welter Plate 

 Cleveland Handicap . 

 Scarborough Stakes . 

 Westmoreland Plate . 

 Prince of Wales' Nursery 



