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THE GREAT ST. LEGER STAKES,
of Fifty Sovereigns each.h jf, colts, Ost. bib ; fil
lies, Hst. 3lb; St. Leger Course ; seventy-one Subs,
Lord Westminster's b. o'. Touchstone, by Gomel—
Banter ( Galloway') ? 1
Lord -Sligo s cb. c. Bran, by Humphrey, out of
Velvet (Darling) ? 2
Sir J. Boswell's eh. c. General Cha'sse, by
A ctieon (Johnson) ? ? 3
Duke of Cleveland's br. c. Shilelah, by St.
Patrick (Chifney) ? 4
The following were not placed : —
Mr* V/. Richardson's b. f. Lady le Gros, br
Y. Phantom (Scott) ? '. 0
Air. J. Miirson's bl. c. Louden, by Chateau Mar
gaux (M arson, jun .) ? 0
Mr. Hesel tine's b. c. Woilaby Baylock, by
Blucklock (Nelson).*. ? 0
Mr. Witt's b. c. Bubastes, by Blncklock —
— s. to'Coulon (Nicholson) ? 0
Dukoot Leeds' oh. c. Valparaiso, by.Velocipudo
(Tumpleman) ? 0
Mr. Bnteon's ch. c. Plenipotentiary, by ISmelius
Harriet (Conelly) ? 0
Mr. Chisholm's b. f. by Partisan, d. by Walton
er Orville (Garbutt) ...... ? : . . . . 0
II is long .since so small a field started foil
the St. Leper, and still longer since then
wan inch apparently good reasons for it
The calculations up lo the- week precediii|
had marie out fifteen ; but first Cotillon wai
declared not to go, then Bequest and
Spume, and,' lastly, Air. Powlett's colt
which had been taken with the distemper
The betting for the last' day or two wai
?till more limited, as nothing would gc
down but the favourite, Shilelah, Chasse.
and Worlaby Baylock. The night pre
ceding the race, the first two and the lasl
were iu high force, and large sums were
laid out at 5 to 4 on Plenipo. 5 to 1 ogainsl
Shilelah, and 8 to 1 against Worlaby. A I
this 'lime Cliasse was not so much in de
mand,' it being half suspected that he was a
little off; fur the same reason Bran was nol
backed, whilst almost any odds could be
got about Bubasles and Louden. Touch*
stone was at . 30 to J, and he was only
backed in conjunction with Lady le Gros,
12 to 1 against the two having been taken
in l^ree or four quarters. On the morning
of the race, Sliileliih sprung to 4 lo 1
(taken), nnd Worlaby Baylock to G to
1 ; the eftecV'of this was a slight decline in
Plenipo. Chasse was not backed under II
to I, nud the others were scarcely men
tioned. The closing prices in the Stand
were: — II to 10 on Plenipotentiary, 7 to
2 against Shilelah, 6 to 1 against Worlaby
Baylock, II to 1 against General Chasse,
20 to 1 against Bran (taken), 25 to 1
against Lady le Gros, 33 to 1 against Lou
den, 40 lo 1 against Touchstone (as high
as 50 to I being laid against him While
running) — -so that the worst favourite won,
and the first was last but one ! !
At a quarter past three, the horses took
their preliminary gallops before the Grand
Stand. All eyes were of course fixed upon
the favourite, and it requiied only a glance
to be satisfied that it was not the same Ple
nipo that won the Derby — in fuct, he was
more like a pig than a race-horse, and could
scarcely raise a gallop. So dissatisfied
were two or three gentlemen (his backeis),
who had quitted the Stand to take a nearer
view of him, that they returned with all
possible speed to get off as much money a*
they could, and Shilelah was watched with
no small anxiety — he looked as well M a
horse could' look — so did Worlaby Bay
lock ; but neither Bran nor Chasse ap
peared in their best form. Scarcely any
body bestowed |a look or a thought upon
poor Touchstone, and those who did were
only the more eager to bet against him — so
cood a thing was it thought.
i* About half-pastuhree the. hones were at
the post, where two false starts occurred j at
the third attempt they got off well together,
Bubastes taking a lead of nearly iwo lengths,
at a rattling pace; the positions of the
other horses were indefinite until they
n eared the gravel road, at which spot they
had settled their places — Lady le Gros,
liran, Warlaby Baylock, and Valparaiso,
w«-re now lying in a cluster behind Bu
bastes — Plenipo, Chass-*, and Touchstone
in the centre, and Sliilflah last of all. On
getting over the hill, Plenipo was a little
more in advance, but even at this oaily part
of ihe race he was not going comfortably,
and Conelly wns obliged to touch him every
now. nnd then lo keep him in position. —
Shilelah was al-o mure forward at this
lime. Buhnstes led them along at a merry
pace as fnr ns the Urd -House, anil here he
declined, having performed a vast deal
more than we expi c'etl of him, nnd quite as
much a» thu Blucklock stouk cm: bo re
quired to do. Chisltolni's filly was nlso
L) ii ten off here ; nnrl, worst of till., Plenipo
— the pride of tlu; South, and the terror of
tin1 Norlli — 'Was ?* found wauling !' Whip
nnd spur were ns--d in vain — ho wns ilencl
bent 1 — and, lind it nut heeu for Cliisliolm's
fi |y, would nctunlly have beun the lust
horse in the r»ce 1 I Lurly le Gros now
wpnt in front, Worlaby Baylock, antl Val
paraiso, lying with her, Gcnurul Chasse
just oh Ihe point of joining company, ami
Sliitelah and Touchstone still waiting in the
centre. On reaching the last'turn, Touch
stone went up to the leading horsesi but did'
not attempt to quit them until about half a
distance from home. 'The race, however,
was ovor at the distance — for, although
Chifney brought his horse near the front,
he never could quite get up. The remain
der of the ground is shortly disposed of.
Touchstone went right away from his
horses, Bran and General Chasse struggling
only for second place, the former obtaining
it by a head only, but losing the race by at
Ions l a length and a half. Shilelah was
beaten nearly a length from Chasse ; be
hind him were Lady le Gros, Louden, and
Worlaby Buy lock ; then Bubasles, Valpa
raiso, and Plenipo, all in a lump, but Ple
nipo lust of them; and, last of all, Chis
holm's filly a long wayastdrn. If we could
believe. that Plenipo /'was right; it would be
impossible to reconcile this result with pub
lic rtiuning'; but we assert, unhesitatingly,
that he was not fit to run for a shilling, and
that there' whs scarcely a horse in the town
that could not have beaten him. The thing,
however, speaks for itself — had. he been
third or fourth, we might then have thought
that the Derby was a '* mistake,' and that
the South-country horse had been over
ruted ; but it is absurd to suppose that a
horse which had beaten Glencoe in one of
the fastest rac--s ever seen at Newmarket,
and afterwards won the Derby, beating the
same horses-just as easy — Glencoe subse
quently, winning the Goodwood Cup in a
canter, although opposed to old horses —
could be nearly last for the St. Leger, and
yet in proper racing condition. The run
ning is not correct, and ko it will be proved
by future events. Having all along des
cribed him as a very superior horse, it will
doubtless be thrown in our teeth that WE
? have made a' mistake. ' It must be recol
lected, however, that our calculations have
been founded on public running, and we
have this consolation, that, if we have gone
astray, it has been in good company. We
have no idea of impugning Touchstone- —
he is, beyond doubt, a good horse — so are
Bran and Ch.isse ; but we must protest
agaiust any comparison being instituted
between them and Plenipotentiary till the
latter shall meet them on equal terms. —
There are various opinions as to the pace ;
the best judges, however, agree that il was
very fast to theUlecl House, after which it
slackened — and no wonder; for horses thai
have gone at the top of tlieir speed for a
mile can hardly be expected to hold on for
another three quarters. Value of the
Stakes, j£2,075. The race was run in
three minutes and twenty-three seconds
exactly.
Pedigree of Touchstone. — lie '.was bred
by Lord Westminster, and got by Camel,
out of Banter (brecTby his Lordship in
1826), by [Waster Henry, out of Boadicea
(sister to Bucephalus),. by Alexander, her
dam Brunette, by Amaranlhus, out of
Mayfly, by Matchem — Ancaster Starling —
Grasshopper — ^Sir M. Newton's Aubran —
Port, &c.
The Settling. — The settling look place
on Wednesday morning, and went off very
satisfactorily. In most instances the ba
lances were small, a reasonable dread of the
favourite huving deterred many from bet
ling against him, whilst the smallnessof the
odds since the Derby prevented others from,
backing him. Several, however, who had
profited by his success at l£psotn were again
nn him, and lost their money as a matter of
course, but nol to any serious extent. The
gentlemen connected with Scott's stable,
where Touchstone has been trained since
Liverpool Races, are only moderate win
ners, most of their money having heen
placed on Lady le Gros, who is reported to
have had rather the best of the trials. —
Amongst the betting men, the principal
winners are Messrs. Ridadale, Hobinson (of
Manchester), Yeasley, Wagstaff, Hicks,
&c.
$