"DERBY DAY"
SPORTS.
This name has been adopted in this country for one of the most
exciting of out-door recreations, and the scene here will readily
be recognized by the lovers of that sport. Its origin or establishment
is associated with the celebrated "Derby Day" of England,
which is, perhaps, the most noted and universal of holidays in
that kingdom, and the name is derived from the Earl of Derby,
by whom the game was marked out. In the month of May, on a particular
day or date, the best horses are run, with certain specified stakes
for the winner, a plan now imitated in almost every country,
and the private stakes put up on the result are innumerable, and,
in many cases, enormous. The locality here shown is Washington
Park, in the suburban portion of Chicago; and probably no finer
ground, in its present improved condition, is to be found in the
country, of such an extent and accessible to so vast a multitude
as desire to be present. It is hardly necessary to remark that,
as such races have grown so rapidly in fame and popularity, the
usual scenes of confusion and excitement are repeated in the New
World that characterize the Old. But the lovers of the sport declare
that any excesses accompanying it are compensated for by the superior
qualities that are being imparted to the equine race. On the score
of superior speed this statement is easily corroborated, and the
wonderful examples of "quick record" which have been
developed under specially favored pedigrees and the most critical
training and care is a matter of universal note, together with
the fabulous values represented by such animals, in many instances,
in the "horse-flesh market." Improvement has also been
made in horses of ordinary stock.
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