The Sporting Duchess
literary work
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The Sporting Duchess is an 1895 play by Cecil Raleigh, Henry Hamilton and Augustus Thomas. In England it was titled The Derby Winner and played at Drury Lane. Because Hammerstein's Harlem Opera House opened a play called The Derby Winner in February 1895, the name of the English play had to be changed, with the New York World approving it with "apologies to Sir Gus, that seems to be a much more fascinating title." Produced by Charles Frohman, it ran for 212 performances in New York at the Academy of Music, debuting on August 29, 1895, and was the second longest Broadway production of the year, after The Heart of Maryland. Twenty horses appeared in the race scene. The show closed on February 29, 1896.
Adaptations (1)
The Sporting Duchess was adapted into a 1920 film.
The Sporting Duchess1920 · film · dir. George Terwilliger · IMDb ↗Very jealous of the Duke of Desborough's prize race horse "Clipstone," Major Roland Mostyn schemes to destroy his rival and thus obtain possession of the animal. After framing the duke's wife Muriel in a false adultery suit which results in divorce, Mostyn ruins the young duke at cards, thus forcing him to auction his horse in order to pay his debts. Muriel, heartbroken by the separation, persuades her old friend Captain Streatfield to purchase the horse and enter him in the derby. Mostyn bets all his money on his horse and attempts to fix the race but his plot is discovered and Clipstone wins the contest. After Muriel's innocence is proven, Mostyn's villainy towards the duke is finally stopped and the couple is happily reunited.
