Today is Derby Day, Not quite the same, perhaps, as thosẹ vivid prewar occasions with all the pomp and ceremony of the Blue Riband of the Turf and the shifting pageantry of the enormous Derby Day crowd on Epsom Downs, That huge canvas has been narrowed to fit the smaller frame of the New Derby to be run on the Newmarket scene, But though the bright colouring may be somewhat subdued and the usual mass wagering may be relatively cut down to keep the perspective, nothing—mot even the war—can pale the historic event into significance, The spirit is still there.
Even if the world-famous venue has had to be changed, even if the crowd is smaller and the atmosphere has been shorn of some of its glamour, the problematic winner of the Turf's greatest classic still holds the concentrated interest of the world's betting publi eyes, metamophorically speaking, will be focussed on that green course where the cream of England's thoroughbreds will do battle for the most coveted prize in turfdom.
In connection with this great class-ie, it is of specific interest to local punters to turn the calendar back 45 wears to the Derby of 1896. when the Prince of Wales's Persimmon won the race. On that great occasion the "North-China Daily News" published an "Extra" at 3 p.m. on June 4, the day of the race, running as follows:
Supplied through Reuters Agency Pur Ed to the "North-China Daily ews
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.