the stake, do recommend to the stewards of all races not to allow this exception in future." At this meeting the Hon. G. W. Fitzwilliam was elected a member of the Club. A STEEPLECHASE HORSE NOT A RACE-HORSE.-A local surveyor of taxes having prevailed on the district commissioners to sanction a surcharge on all the horses which ran for a steeplechase at Grantham in the spring of this season, one of the appellants wrote direct to head-quarters, and in return received the following satisfactory reply : "Inland Revenue, Somerset House, London, Sept. 14, 1854. "SIR, I have laid before the Board of Inland Revenue your letter of the 6th inst., requesting to know whether, under the circumstances therein stated, you are liable to be assessed for a race-horse. In reply, I am directed to inform you that the board have made inquiry into the matter, and they find you are charged only the ordinary duty on your horse for the present year, and that, under the circumstances, you will not be assessed for a race-horse in respect of the use of your horse on the occasion to which you allude.-I am, &c., "THOMAS KEOGH." It is with sincere regret that we have to record the decease of Mr. Meiklam, a staunch turfite, and very strong supporter of the north country meetings. He was the owner in his time of the famous mare Inheritress, The Italian, Fancy Boy, and others, to which Dawson and Templeman did full justice. We have further to report the somewhat unexpected death of Mr. Joseph Rogers, the well-known trainer at Newmarket, on Friday, 26 ult., at the age of 65. There were few men more looked up to in the town. The October running does not say much for our stock of two-yearolds at least, of those out; for the more we see of them, the more moderate do they become. Despite, then, the coyness exhibited about Græculus Esuriens, he and De Clare promise to winter well, with another piece of exciting argument for the public to determine which is the better of them. Both are just now in great force. The Lord of the Isles, Oulston, and Wild Dayrell are also amongst the more favoured; while of others, but lately in high places, there is something for nearly every one to be said in extenuation, and plenty of time to say it in. Such in and out running, however, as we have had of late does not look much like winning a Derby. But then look at Andover, and the backers of the beaten ones get fresh heart. October 10. October 24. October 28. THE DERBY, 1855. October 2 (Newmarket.) October 16. (Newmarket.) (Newmarket.) A REVIEW OF THR RACING SEASON, 1854.-BY CRAVEN SKETCHES IN SCARLET.-BY GREYBEARD THE ATHERSTONE HOUNDS.-BY HAL OF THE WEST MEMOIRS OF SPORTING IN FRANCE.-BY ACTEON AMATEURS AND PROFESSIONALS.-BY HARRY HIEOVER WILD RED-DEER HUNTING ON EXMOOR FOREST.-BY LINTON COUNTRY CRAYONS.-BY THE DRUID. 3 30 3 50 4 10 4 25 4 40 5 0 7 T Spelthorne C. M. Ridgway C. M. r 7 5417 8 F Ampthill C. M. 9 S 10 11 M Second after Adbent. 's 3 4918 7 3 r 7 5619 8 12 s 3 4920 9 22 5 20 5 40 [Coursing Meetings. r 7 5821 10 34 6 0 6 25 12 T Mountainstown and Southminsters 3 492211 46 13 W Hainton C. M. 16 S Cambridge Term ends, r8 023 Morning. s 3 4924 0 58 6 45 7 10 7 40 8 10 8 45 9 20 9 5510 25 14 T Caledonian and Altcar C. M. 15 F 55 11 20 179 Third Sunday after Advent. 18 M Oxford Term ends. r 8 427 4 5611 50 No tide 19 T Cardington C. M. Limerick C. M. r 8 20 W Ember week. 21 T Market Drayton C. M. 22 F 23 S 4928 6 24 0 15 0 35 SETS afternoon 24 Fourth Sunday after Adbent,'s 3 52 5 9 46 5 10 5 35 25 M Christmas Day. 26 T Scorton C. M. 27 W Burneston C. Meeting. 28 T East Surrey C. M. 29 F 30 S r8 8 611 9 6 0 6 30 8 3 54 7 Morning 650 7 20 r8 8 8 0 29 7 50 8 20 s 3 55 9 1 47 8 55 9 30 r 8 910 3 410 010 35 s 3 5711 4 2011 511 40 31 S First Sunday aft, Christmas. r 8 912 5 34 No tide 0 10 A REVIEW OF THE RACING SEASON, 1854. BY CRAVEN. "Plus doit douceur que violence." La Fontaine, The final Meeting of the year, the Newmarket Houghton week, was richer in interest than principal. Monday's issue of account was the Criterion Stakes, for which, out of an entry of thirty-three, eight ran, and three were placed. The favourite was Rifleman, with 6 to 4 on him. The winner was the Duke of Bedford's Para, not in the Oaks; Rifleman the last of the trio placed. The field was a very moderate one most assuredly without the promise of a Derby champion. In a match for £300 each, Lord Glasgow's Physalis colt beat Lord Derby's Dervish, 5 to 4 on the loser, a solution of the eminent St. Leger emeute. The list contained eight plates and stakes, of which five were £10 sweepstakes. The evening quotations left Græculus Esuriens first for the Derby, backed at 12 to 1. I never could probe the principle of that colt's Epsom position. The ring cynosure of Tuesday was put on the scene by a fifty-pound plate, and a lot of five sweepstakes from £15 to £10 each. Then came the Cambridgeshire Handicap of £25 each for all starters, non starters from £10 to £15; Course, express for it, the last mile and a distance straight-not a picturesque line. One hundred and fifty subscribers: nineteen at the post. The close of the odds gave 5 to 2 against Rattle, various prices about others; 12 to 1 against Scherz; and finis, 50 to 1 against Gamelad. The start was very confused, the victory in Scherz's favour by a head; and the tail a "long drawn out" one. As usual with handicaps, there was mischief en avant, and also en arrière. Nancy began the rumpus, and Rattle gave it coup de grace. grace. It was a bad anniversary for the fielders. Wednesday dawned heavily with clouds above and below it rained showers upon the heath, and sorrow upon its cultivators. The list consisted of ten events, eight of them thus: two Fifty Pound plates, and half-a-dozen Sweepstakes, varying from £15 to £10. The other twain involved a Match of £200 each; Course, first half of the Abingdon Mile; between Mr Greville's Pyrrhic, and Mr. J. M. Stanley's Contention-won by Pyrrhic, 6 to 5 on him. Second, a Sweepstakes of £200 each, half forfeit, for two-year-old fillies; Course, T.Y.C.; Six Subscribers; run a Match between the Duke of Bedford's Habena, in the Oaks, 5 to 1 on her, and the Marquis of Exeter's Almond; won from end to end by the favourite, and the favourites altogether winning eight out of the half-score of speculations. The third of the Houghton may well be called "a bad day." The result was a "weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable" rendezvous at "the Rooms;" the Betting, that is to say, in posse, being in reference to the Nursery Stakes, "heads I win, tails you lose." ་ Thursday opened with a Fifty Pound plate; three £10 Sweepstakes; one £15 ditto, followed by a Sweepstakes of £50 each, half forfeit, for Two Year Olds; Course, the Abingdon Mile; Eleven Subscribers. Oulston, with 7 to 4 on him, won by ten lengths-at a good pace, it was said; but as racing is not timed at Newmarket, the conclusion was only guesswork. So up he went for the Derby, and down he came again. The renewal of the Glasgow Stakes, £100 each, for Two Year Olds; Course, the last three-quarters of the Rowley Mile, thirteen Subscribers, came off trio; one of the half-score scratched being the favourite for the Derby-Græculus Esuriens. The runners were "pas grand chose." In the ring, Claret was first, and Pugnator last; in the race the last won, Claret second, Tynemouth at the tail. A Handicap Sweepstake of £100 each, half forfeit; Course across the Flat, Eight Subscribers, was run a Match between Ivan, 5 to 1 on him, and Lord Glasgow's Physalis colt: the favourite won easily, and then became one of Lord Londesborough's lot. A Handicap Sweepstakes of £15 each, £5 forfeit, &c., for all ages above Two Years Old, Six Subscribers, Poodle, 5 to 2 on him, won, beating a quartet, and so the list finished. This evening the Nursery was again in an uproar. Friday, like its antecessor, was full of small Sweepstakes; six of them being from £15 to £10 each. A Match for £100 each, half forfeit, Course the first half of the Abingdon Mile, the Duke of Bedford's Weathercock, 6 to 4 on him, won, beating Mr. Greville's Refraction colt, easily. An interval of three wholly unimportant events at length brought the Nursery Stakes to their destiny, "good, bad, or indifferent." This two-year-old handicap is run over the Ditch Mile. There were Twenty One Subscribers, whereof sixteen showed at the Post, and three were placed. The winner was Lady Tatton, daughter of Sir Tatton Sykes, famous for the St. Leger in 1846, and just the reverse for the Derby in that year; the odds were 6 to 1 against her; Harry of Hereford, nowhere in the race, the favourite. Sir Charles Monck's Vindex walked over for the Audley End Stakes, and there the business of the day closed. Saturday, October the 28th.-We have now come to the close of the season, for horse racing in November is a sheer burlesque of the turf, with its hay and corn Anniversary. The Engagements ranged between Sweepstakes of £15, £10, and £5. A Match for £50 was won by Guitar, beating the Dandy, 6 to 4 on him. I cannot set my seal upon this notice of the last meeting of the year at Newmarket, without expressing regret that, contrary to hope and anticipation, Frank Butler, the first of English jockeys, both for honour and the perfection of his professional performance, was still absent from the scene on which he threw such credit and embellishment. Most heartily do I trust that the coming season may restore him to the turf and his friends, including-as of course-every member of it, and all who know him. The practical antecedents of the Season's Racing being brought to their termination, the Annual Review of them is put forward to the best of my theoretical ability. The first Meeting worthy of reference was the Epsom Spring of that ilk. The weather was hot and close almost to suffocation-the site smothered in clouds of dust. The "opening day" was Thursday, April the 6th; the interest chiefly centred in |