"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.