Each stable consists of an imprinted ACD Society/Wessex Cup box containing:
• Your horse, which will feature unique, bespoke, distinctive, tasteful decorations created by equestrian outfitter extraordinaire Peggy MacFarlane. The horse, which is about four fingers tall, is made of finely crafted cuts of a variety of woods and runs on sturdy wooden wheels powered by gravity. (In other words, it is a rolling wooden toy horse, customized for the Wessex Cup.)
• Special wooden horse-safe guides (selected and decorated with an eye to pleasing every student of Doylean literature) that will enable your horse to easily start every race properly.
• A numbered, limited-edition print version of the latest issue of The Doylean Sporting Times (aka The "New Pink 'Un"), and perhaps one or two other things.
A Few Simple Purchase and Participation Rules
ACD Society members get first dibs on purchasing stables until December 15.
One stable per purchaser.
The purchaser of a stable is its Owner.
An Owner may at any time designate up to three Trainers as their collaborator(s) by emailing notice of the designation to us at acdsocy@gmail.com.
Each stable must be claimed in person by its Owner or a Trainer at the ACD Society’s Doylean Honors ceremony at Otto Penzler’s The Mysterious Bookshop (58 Warren Street in NYC), on January 16, 2025, by 11:05 a.m.
A stable that is not claimed on time will be transferred to some worthy person at the Doylean Honors ceremony — probably a friendly on-the-spot purchaser — with no refund to the original purchaser. (So, if you purchase a stable, please make sure to show up on time, or designate a Trainer who will!)
How the Wessex Cup Will Be Run
The Wessex Cup races will be run in Otto Penzler’s The Mysterious Bookshop (58 Warren Street in NYC) as part of the ACD Society’s Doylean Honors ceremony on January 16, 2025, beginning at 11:15 a.m.
There will be a total of 7 two-horse races, with the final race being for the championship:
• Round 1: Horses from the 8 stables will compete in pairs — 4 races resulting in 4 winners.
• Round 2: The 4 winners of round 1 will compete in pairs — 2 races resulting in 2 winners.
• Round 3: The 2 winners of round 2 will compete to determine the champion of the Wessex Cup.
All races will be run on the same course — a straight, inclined, 3-foot-long, Victorian-era track with a green felt surface. So, the total time to run all 7 races will probably be only about 20 minutes!
The champion will receive a trophy, as well as bragging rights until the next running of the Wessex Cup.
N.B. Owners who want to get in a little practice ahead of time may have an opportunity to do so if they arrive at The Mysterious Bookshop a few minutes early on January 16.
Interested? We hope so!
The stables listed below and accompanied by a Paypal button are available for purchase. Please bear in mind that until December 15, members of the ACD Society get first dibs.
Before you consider the available stables, please permit us to explain why so few are available. In early December, we invited the 3 stable owners whose horses did not win a race in the 2023 Wessex Cup and then achieved the same result in the 2024 Wessex Cup to acquire a stable for the 2025 competition. The ACD Society believes in second (and even third) chances. Two of the owners took us up on the offer. So, that means there are 6 stables left (or there were when we first posted this announcement). They are listed below.
Please select and purchase one of the available stables below (before December 15 if you are an ACD Society member, after that date if you are not).
Each stable is designated by the name of its horse (this year's new names are from ACD's article The Island, published in the April 25, 1884 issue of The British Journal of Photography). An owner who wants to change the name of their horse should check with Ross Davies (who is a pushover for pretty nearly anything Doylean that's used in a context-appropriate way). All stables will be properly labeled and ready for pick-up at The Mysterious Bookshop no later than 11:05 a.m. on January 16.
We hope to see you there!
______________________________
A Duckling Among Swans
SOLD
______________________________
Duke of Wellington
SOLD
______________________________
Imperturbable
SOLD
______________________________
Isle of Wight
SOLD
______________________________
Spider
SOLD
______________________________
The Doctor
SOLD
______________________________
Ticket to Ryde
SOLD
______________________________
Unfortunate Pony
SOLD
______________________________
Questions? Please feel free to email us at acdsocy@gmail.com.