The Press: All the Queen’s ‘Orses

In London for Derby Week, when the “talk of the town is ‘orses, ‘orses, ‘orses,” the San Francisco Chronicle’s Stanton Delaplane could not restrain his admiration for the way the British press writes about ‘orses. For readers of his syndicated column back home, Pulitzer Prizewinner Delaplane described the basic English race-track story:

“The writer opens with the Queen arriving at the track ‘while thousands cheer.’

“Second paragraph: How the Queen reacted. She acknowledged the cheer graciously.

“Third para: What the Queen wore.

“Fourth para: What the Queen Mother wore.

“Fifth para: Who was with the Queen. Where they sat. How the weather was—it was to the Queen’s taste.

“In the sixth paragraph we get down to what horses are running.”