TFIE RACING SliASON, 1S4() 



239 



At Chester, things carried a very high liead. The 

 Tradesmen's Cup, a prize of considerable value, was specu- 

 lated upon to a very great extent by the Manchester sports- 

 men. The Dey of Algiers, in very fine trim, gained the 

 race by a neck, from Melbourne, a horse decidedly his supe- 

 rior; but the weight (twenty-two pounds difference) and 

 the severity of the pace caused Melbourne's leg to fail — 

 otherwise he could scarcely have been beaten. The fa- 

 vourites Llanercost (with a little mountain upon his back) 

 and Cowboy gave up early in the race, although the latter 

 managed to struggle on to the end. Few meetings can 

 boast of the spirit shown at the Chester races, and fewer 

 still the judicious management displayed by the committee 

 in catering for sport. 



The Second Spring Newmarket Meeting was a very vapid 

 affair; the only race of interest beino- the Rowley Mile 

 Plate. This little trifle was won by Amurath, an outsider 

 in the Derby odds, but as it was '' a race," the betting on 

 the great Epsom event underwent no change. About a 

 handful of spectators were on the Heath. 



Passing by Gorhambury, where the sport was good, to- 

 gether with the York Spring Meeting, where every thing 

 was " flat, stale, and unprofitable," we come to the great 

 event of the year, the Derby race at Epsom. Speculation 

 during the winter had been heavy enough to satisfy the 

 greatest gourmand, and many had " books" upon the old 

 principle of " betting round " to a very high figure. The 

 most money getting horses to the legs were the Angelica 

 colt. Confederate, Theon, Bokhara, Lord Jersey's twocripples, 

 and Wardan. Scott's lot had been betted against heavily 

 at 4 to 1, but the layers got out by taking the odds about 

 Launcelot at 1 1 to 1 some time before the race. The morn- 

 ing was delightfully fine, and the hubbub in the town of 

 Epsom equal to former years. The public saw only three 



