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HISTORY

OF THE

BRITISH TURF.

^\ Vi

THE HON. ADMIRAL ROUS.

History

OF

The British Turf,

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO
THE PRESENT DAY.

BY

JAMES RICE

(Of Liiicohis Inn, Darristcr-at-Laiv; formerly of Qncens' College, Cambridge).

"Thou that mayst fortune to be of myne ophiion and condytion to love horses, take hedc tha
thou be not beguiled as I have been an hundred tymes and more." — Bake of Husbandry, by Sir A

Fitzlierbert, Justice of the Court of Common Pleas.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.

LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, AND RIVINGTON,

CROWN BUILDINGS, 18S, FLEET STREET.
1879.

TO
THE MOST HONOURABLE

The yVlARQUESs OF -Partington, /VL.P.,

AND TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

THE EARL OF HARDWICKE, F.C.,

MASTER OF THE BUCK-HOUNDS,
TWO OF THE STEWARDS OF THE

JOCKEY CLUB,

THIS

"HISTORY OP TUB BPJTISH TURF"

IS DEDICATED,

WITH THEIR LORDSHII'S' PERMISSION,

BY

THE A UTHOR.

ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.

Vol. I.

Page 99, line 5, for "107" read "187."

Page 125, line 5, perhaps for "Marsk " read " Marske."

Page 128, line 9, for " oS"- wheeler " rectd " near- wheeler. "

Page 129, lines 20, 22, for "Marsk" rccul "Marske." The name is spelt

indifferently in both ways.
Page 139, cause Jockey Club v. Hawkins — an action exactly like this was

tried at the Cambridge Assizes in 1866, against the sporting corres2)ondent

of the Morning Post, with like result.
Page 142, line 22 — The TiU'n of the Lands to the Winning Post is the last

mile of Beacon Course, not quite a mile therefore — for " the whole " read

"that part."
Page 173, top line, for " Baron" recul " Chief Baron."
Page 211, line 29, after "this name" insert " originally called Maccabaius, and

next Zanoni. "

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. — Early History of Horse-racing in England —
Acts relating to Horse-racing — Taxes and
Restrictions i — 19

II. — The Fathers of the Turf — Long Courses —
Give and Take Plates — Portraits of Famous
Racers ....... 20 — 39

III. — The First Derby — Costume of Jockeys — New-
market— E. O. Tables — Ascot . . . 40 — 6^

IV. — George IV. and Chifney — Dispute with the
Jockey Club — Retirement of the Prince
from the Turf — Death of Chifney . 64 — 85

V. — Leading Patrons of the Turf in Reign of
George III. — Mr. Pratt, of Askrigg — Hamble-
tonian and Diamond — Shorter Races —
Matches 86 — no

VI. — Captain Barclay's Match — Bets and the Jockey

Club — Daniel Dawson — Sir C. Bunbury — The

, Duke of York — " Cardinal Puff " — The Whip

— Buckle's Whip — Holders of the Whip hi — 133
VII. — Turf in 1825 — Hon. C. Wyndham — Jockey Club
Cup — James Hirst — George IV. — Blacklock
— W. Flint — Extraordinary Matches — Mr.

OSBALDESTON 1 34 1 64

VIII. — Mr. Radcliffe — William IV. — Arabian Plates
— Mr. Bowles — Plenipotentiary's Year — Rids-
dale v. Gully — Epsom Downs — Lord Derby
— Mr. Mytton 165 — 183

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

IX.— Ascot Grand Stand— The Queen at Ascot —
Railways v. Coaches — Sue's History of Schari
— Sir J. Lade — Pavis — The Canadian Affair —
Lord George Bentinck v. Connop — The Duke
OF Cleveland — Mr. Wilson — Mr. Thornhill
— NiMROD — The Derby of 1844 — Running

Rein 184 — 234

X. — Mr. John Orton — Mr. Weatherby — Crommelin's
Case — W. Scott — The Flying Dutchman and
VoLTiGEUR — State of the Turf in 1800-1825-
1850 — Tipsters — The Betting Houses — The
Act of 1853 235—259

XL — Famous Jockeys 260 — 286

xn. — Ellington's Derby — John Gully — Sir Tatton
Sykes — Ascot Cup — The Marquis and Buck-
stone — George Osbaldeston — Luke Snowden

287 — 301
Xni. — The New Tattersall's — Testimonial Dinner —

Bad Sportsmen — Military Races . . 302 — 322

XIV. — Mr. Greville — Caractacus — Caller Ou — Gla-
DiATEUR — Blair Athol — John Osborne — J. F.

Herring 323—353

XV. — Lord Hastings's Horses — The Duke — Kan-
garoo— Lady Elizabeth — Racing Debts — Ex-
travagance— The Scratching of the Earl —
Correspondence — Death of the Marquess —
Comments of the Press on his Career . 354

PREFACE.

Perhaps the Centenary of the Derby is not an unfitthig
time for the issue of a History of the British Turf. For
some two hundred years the pursuit of Horse-racing has
been attractive to more of our countrymen than any
other out-door pastime, yet no popular account of the
Sport has hitherto appeared. It is true that in 1840
Mr. Whyte pubHshed a history, in two volumes, chiefly
filled up with lists of the principal Stakes run for in
successive years; while in 1863 an anonymous author,
whose name I have been unable to discover, though I
have been at considerable trouble in the effort to do so,
issued an account of Horse-racing, which gave some
valuable topographical details of the places of Sport, but
rarely, if ever, mentioned a horse.

The present work is a humble attempt to supply the
deficiencies of the two former accounts. It is mainly
a compilation from the Sporting Magazines and news-
papers, and from books relating to the subject — a list
of which is appended. The plan of the work was entirely
approved by the late Admiral Rous, from whom I received

X PREFACE.

several valuable hints, and to whom, with his permission,
the book would, had he lived, have been dedicated.

The object I have steadily had in view in writing this
work has been to collect all the most interesting facts
connected with the Turf, to give the pedigrees of some
of the best horses, short historical notices of those locali-
ties famous in connection with the sport, and biographical
sketches of the principal actors in its varied scenes, from
its earliest period to the present day.

The matter contained in these volumes has been col-
lected from various sources of information, too scattered
and difficult of access to be obtainable by most readers,
even had they the time and inclination to pursue their
studies in this direction so far. For instance, a set of the
Sporting Magazine — an invaluable repository of informa-
tion about the Sport — now sells, when in the market, for
about one hundred guineas; and the difficulty of finding
anything in the bound volumes of a newspaper, even when
procurable, needs no comment.

At the present day no apology is needed for the existence
of a History of the Turf. Never before were the great
Meetings so largely attended, or the funds at the dis-
posal of Race Committees so large. At the recent Ascot
Meeting, no less a sum than i^ 14,5 50 was given in added
money to the various Stakes during the four days — ^2,000
being added to the Hardwicke Stakes (the richest prize
of the Meeting) alone, a race named in compliment to
the Master of the Buckhounds ; while ;C8,ooo have been

PREFACE. xi

expended since last year in replacing the old Alexandra
Stand by a new and handsome structure.

Let us turn now to the representation of the interests
of what has been called with justice the National Sport
in the Press. There are at the present time 1,763 news-
papers published in this country, whereas at the time
Mr. Whyte's book appeared there were only 447 ; and
in the vast majority of these organs of public opinion
Racing has its regular place. Mr. Whyte says : — " In the
literature of the country the Turf maintains two weekly
newspapers and four monthly magazines — viz., the old
Sporting Magazine, commenced in 1792; the new Sporting
Magazine, started in 1824, by Nim South, a favourite
writer for many years previously in the old Sporting
Magazine ; the Sporting Review, edited by Craven, who
left the old Sporting Magazine to begin this Revieiv in
1837; and the ^/ct/j-w^;/, originated in 1829. . . .In
addition to these, we have ' Weatherby's Racing Calendar,*
the * Sportsman's Pocket Reference Book,' the * Turf Re-
membrancer,' and two Sporting Almanacs, all of which
are published yearly."

This seemed an extensive Sporting literature forty years
ago. Let us see the amount of pabulum specially pro-
vided for the followers of racing now. We have one
daily, one bi-weekly, and six weekly papers wholly devoted
to Sporting matters; while there are very few newspapers
published in the country in which some space is not set
aside for the same subject. Moreover, since the passing of

xii PREFACE.

the Act which rendered illegal the publication of Sporting
prophecies, a considerable number of circulars of tipsters are
issued — some of them daily during race meetings — under
the guise of newspapers, for the purpose of giving the
selections of the prophets for the day's events.

Mr. Whyte's history was published just before the
railway era, and he compares the stage coach of 1840,
running down to Oxford from London (fifty-seven miles)
in six hours, and the express coach between Gosport and
Charing-cross, doing the journey of eighty miles in eight
hours, with the coaches of 1742 and 1798, occupying
twelve and nineteen hours in travelling over the same
distances.

How much greater the change in our methods of loco-
motion since 1840. We can now run down to Portsmouth
in two hours and ten minutes, and to Oxford in one hour
and forty-five minutes.

This great change has affected all our institutions, and
not least the Turf; and the fact that the last and first
publication of a History of the Turf took place in pre-
railway times may well be my reason for offering to the
public a new work on the same subject.

London^ September, 1879.

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHAPTER I.

EARLY HISTORY OF HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND — ACTS
RELATING TO HORSE-RACING TAXES AND RESTRIC-
TIONS.

IT is probably of little importance, either to the re-
gular habitii^ of the Turf or to him who takes
only an occasional and dilettante interest in the national
Sport, to learn that the people of Thessaly were famous
equestrians, that the Egyptians were the first nation
which made the horse economically useful, or that it
is a disputed point whether David or Solomon esta-
blished for the first time an inconsiderable cavalry
force among the Jews. Yet these recondite facts, to-
gether with atangle of references, Biblical and classical,
coupled with the information that the army of Xerxes,
when he reviewed his forces in Thrace, contained
eighty thousand horsemen; that Solomon had forty
thousand stalls of horses for his chariots; that Homer,
in the sixth book of the "Iliad," and Virgil, in the cor-
responding bookof the "yEneid," wrote respectively, in
unexceptionable Greek and Latin verse, spirited de-
scriptions of the horse ; that remote report attributed

VOL. I. I

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the parentage of the chariot horses of CEnomaus,
King of Elis, to the Winds, while those of Achilles
were got by Zephyrus out of Podarge ; and much
similar matter, have usually preceded any historical
account of the horse in Great Britain.

It is apart from the design of this work to import
into its pages, unnecessarily, any matter that is not co-
vered by the title. Leaving Homer and Solomon, then,
Greece and Judeea, for the first of our Stuart princes,
Tregonwell Frampton, and the British Isles, we will
endeavour to direct our attention to those matters
which bear strictly on the history of the British Turf.

Precedent, however, makes it almost absolutely
necessary that we should remark, on the authority of
Cuvier, that the horse is a distinct genus, belonging to
the order of Pachydermata; and, further, that Buffon
"justly says of him" that he "possesses, along with
grandeur of stature, the greatest elegance and propor-
tion of parts of all quadrupeds" — an opinion which, in
Great Britain at least, will be generally endorsed.

The horse is found in every region of the world,
often in considerable variety of breed in the same
country. In England, he exists in the well-known
forms of the racer, hunter, charger, hackney, troop
horse, machiner, cart horse, cob, pony — all of which
trace their descent, more or less directly, from the
gentil horses, the running horses, the palfreys, hob-
bies, clothseks, monteaux, curtals, gambaldynges,
and amblynge horses of the merrie England of
Elizabeth.

EARLY HISTORY OF HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND. 3

America, whose stock of horses is derived mainly
from English importations, possesses also the trotting
horse, now a distinct breed of great value and excel-
lence.

Horses existed in England before histories, and
the earliest of our historians do not appear to have
taken the trouble to make any extensive inquiries as
to where our native breed originally came from.

From all that can be gathered on the subject, it
seems probable that the horse was not indigenous to
Britain — at least, within historic times — and that the
noble animal was first brought over to our shores
from France. The native stock — remote descend-
ants of these Gallic sires and dams — were by no
means contemptible animals, when James I. gave;!^i54
sterling (in his time and long afterwards a great
sum of money) for an Arabian entire horse, with a
view to improving the breed of horses in his new
kingdom of England. The Markham Arabian was
purchased by James in 1616, at which date horse-
racing can hardly have been counted among the
usual Sunday afternoon sports and pastimes of the
people, or it would probably have been mentioned
in " The Pope's Kingdom," published a few years
previously, which says —

"Now when their dinner once is done, and that they well have fed,
To play they go; to casting of the stone, to runne or shoote,
To tosse the light and windy ball aloft with hand or foote ;
Some others trie their skill in gonnes; some wrastell all the day;
And some to schooles of fence do goe, to gaze upon the play;
Another sort there is that do not love abroad to roame,
But for to passe their time at cards or tables still at home."

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

There is in this enumeration of the pastimes of
that age no allusion to the bear-baitings, cock-fights,
and other sports of the time; but a contemporary
writer, quoted by Strutt, complaining of the indecent
hurrying through the morning prayer, says the
minister "posteth it over as fast as he can galloppe,
for either he hath two places to serve, or else there
are some games to be played in the afternoon, as
lying for the whetstone, heathenishe dauncing for
the ring, a beare or a bull to be baited, or else a
jackanapes to ride on horsebacke, or an interlude to
be plaide; and if no place else can be gotten, this
interlude must be playde in Church." This is from
Thomas Cartwright's Admonition to Parliament,
1572; and there is little doubt that if horse-racing
had proved part of the Sunday afternoon recreations
of the less staid portion of the community, he would
have noticed it, as well as the baiting of bulls and
bears, the heathenish dancing, the interlude, and the
jackanapes on horseback.

James, who thought proper to "rebuke some
Puritanes and precise people" during his journey
through Lancashire for prohibiting and unlawfully
punishing his "good people" for using their lawful
recreations and honest exercises on Sundays, pub-
lished a declaration (May 24, 1618) setting forth
what games might be played, which included dancing,
both for men and women, archery for men, leaping
vaulting, or any other harmless recreations. May
games, Whitsun-ales. morris dances, and the sports

EARLY HISTORY OF HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND, s

of the Maypole are especially permitted. To these
amusements of his subjects James added by the
establishment of public races in several parts of the
kingdom, and by giving his royal countenance and
patronage to the sport, especially at Newmarket.

With the reign of James I. horse-racing, as a
public sport, may be said to have had its origin. It
is true that the horse was valued in England at a
high rate from a very early period, and that matches
were made between animals belonging to noblemen
and gentlemen, and the more opulent class of yeo-
men ; but they appear to have been races or matches
of an irregular kind, and not of annual recurrence at
stated dates. There were no jockeys, the owners
or their grooms riding the horses; the races were
ridden at catch weights, there was no attempt at
weighing before and after the race; the courses
were any stretches of turf that served, without start-
ing or winning posts; and these early races appear
also to have been run purely for amusement, and
without any element of gain except some small prize
or stake.

As early as the ninth century, when Hugh Capet
was a suitor for the hand of the sister of -^thelstan, he
sent over to that prince, as a present, several running
horses, caparisoned with saddles and bridles orna-
mented with gold. This fact, however, does not es-
tablish the existence of the practice of horse-racing
among the Anglo-Saxons; on the contrary, the run
ning horses of Hugh Capet were, it is sufficiently

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

proved, animals swift in the chase, and called running
horses on account ot their superior speed.

Races were run in Smithfield in the reign ot
Henry II.; but they were either contests for the public
amusement on great holidays, or run for the pur-
pose of selling the horse that had the best of the
struggle. Fitzstephen says of these races, after de-
scribing the jockeys: — " The horses, on their part, are
not without emulation; they tremble, and are impa-
tient, and are continually in motion. At last, the
signal once given, they strike, devour the course,
hurrying along with unremitting velocity."

Strutt, in his "Sports and Pastimes of the People of
England," quoting several contemporary authorities,
supports the opinion that horse-races were run in the
middle ages. An old black letter pamphlet, contain-
ing the poetical legend of Sir Bevis of Hampton,
mentions Whitsuntide as a season of the year at which
races took place, and goes on —

*' Whiche horse that best may ren,
Three niyles the cours was then,
Who that might ryde him shoulde
Have forty pounds of redy gold."

That horse-racing was commonly practised at Easter
in some parts of England is proved by the fact that,
at the end of the seventeenth century, it was prohibited
"as being contrary to the holiness of the season."

At Chester, racing, first for a wooden ball "em-
bellished with flowers," and afterwards for a silver
bell, on Shrove Tuesday in every year, is of great

EARLY HISTORY OF HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND. 7

antiquity. These races were run over the Roodee,
as at present; but the course was five times round it.
The silver bell, value three shillings and sixpence, was
substituted for the wooden ball in the thirty-first year
of King Henry VIII. The first record we find of
precise rules, and penalties in the nature of forfeits
for disregarding them, occurs in connection with a
race at Chester, in the reign of Charles II. The
Sheriffs of Chester, instead of indulging in their an-
nual calves' head feast, did without it, and applied the
money it would have cost to the purchase of a piece
of plate, to be given to the winner of the race to be
run for on that day. The High Sheriff borrowed a
Barbary horse of Sir Thomas Middleton, and won the
piece of plate himself, not allowing the horses of Sir
Philip Egerton and Mr. Massey to start for the race,
because "they came the day after the time prefixed
for the horses to be brought and kept in the city."
This high-handed conduct of the Sheriff, however,
had the lamentable effect of causing "all the gentry
to relinquish these races ever since."

In those days a horse-race occasioned the gather-
ing together of a great crowd, and formed only one
of several items provided for the day's sport. "Two
centuries back," writes Strutt, in 1801, "horse-racing
was considered a liberal pastime, practised for plea-
sure rather than profit, without the least idea of
reducing it to a system of gambling,., It is ranked
with hunting and hawking by an old Scotch poet,
and one of the Puritanical writers of the reign of

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Elizabeth, who, though he is very severe against
cards, dice, vain plays, interludes, and other pastimes,
allows of horse-racing as 'yielding good exercise,'
which he certainly would not have done had it been
in the least degree obnoxious to censure."

Such races were of purely local interest, though
undoubtedly provocative of much innocent amuse-
ment. With the reign of James I. and the esta-
blishment of public races, came the laudable attempt
on the part of that Prince to improve the breed of
horses in the kingdom. The prize was almost in-
variably a silver bell, and for this reason the races
were called bell courses. In the reign of Charles I.
races continued to be held, the most noteworthy
being the meetings in Hyde Park and at New-
market. The Commonwealth checked for a time
the progress of the sport; but with the Restoration
there came a revival of horse-racing, Charles prov-
ing himself a good and zealous patron of the sport,
and attending the races at Newmarket, Datchet, and
Epsom.

Of the last named place Baskerville writes, in

1690: —

" Next, for the glory of the place,
Here has been rode many a race —
King Charles the Second I saw here;
But I've forgotten in what year.
The Duke of Monmouth here also
Made his horse to swete and blow;
Lovelace, Pembrook, and other gallants.
Have been vent'ring here their talents."

It did not require, however, the patronage of the

EARLY HISTORY OF HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND. 9

nobility at horse-races to secure a due amount of
care in the breeding of our horses, or a just regard
for the importance of maintaining a superior breed
of horses, for all the purposes of war and peace
within the nation. Our ancestors were ever careful
of their horses, and their foresight and painstaking
are evidenced by several Acts of Parliament. The
27th Henry VIII., c. 6 (1535-6), is an Act passed for
the laudable purpose of improving the breed of
horses; the exportation of horses from England
had previously been prohibited by the nth Henry
VII., c. 13, in 1495.

For many years previously it had been the custom
to turn horses out to graze at large over the great
pastures and commons of England. This promis-
cuous herding of a large number of animals of vary-
ing size, merit, and breed, led to bad results, as a
matter of course, as regards their progeny; it was
therefore enacted by 32 Henry VIII., c. 13 — "That
no person shall put on any forest, chase, moor, heath,
common, or waste (where mares and fillies are used
to be kept), any stoned horse above the age of two
years, not being fifteen hands high " — here follows a
list of twenty-six counties of England, and the whole
of North Wales. It was further enacted by the same
useful statute, that in any county no horse under four-
teen hands should be turned out under the circum-
stances mentioned, under penalty in all cases of for-
feiture of the animal.

There was every inducement to the loyal subjects

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

of that day to see that this law was carried out to the
letter, as the statute provides that anybody who hap-
pens to notice a horse in one of the forests, commons,
or pastures, which is under the legal stature, may go
to the keeper of the forest, or to the constable of the
nearest town, and require that officer to go with him,
catch the horse, and bring it to the pound, where, in
the presence of "three honest men," it is to be mea-
sured forthwith; and if found to be below the standard
of height appointed by law, it is to become the pro-
perty of the informer. Further, the constable who
refuses to carry out the law is to be fined 40s. ; and
it is likewise imposed upon him that, at Michaelmas
in every year, a careful inspection of all the horses
and mares on the common lands is to be made, with
the object of weeding out the undersized entire horses,
and likewise of "killing and burying" such mares,
fillies, foals, and geldings as "shall not be thought
able, nor likely to grow to be able, to bear foals of
reasonable stature, or to do profitable labours;" and
this responsibility is vested in the constables, forest
keepers, and others who make the yearly examina-
tion. When we consider the wide extent to which
the practice of turning out horses, the property of a
number of owners, upon the same unenclosed pastures
to graze obtained at this time, we shall be able to re-
cognize the importance of this statute. To its enact-
ment we may attribute the gradual dying out of the
smaller native breeds of horses, and the universal ap-
pearance in their stead of a race of useful and stout

EARL V HISTOR V OF HORSE-RA CING IN ENGLAND. 1 1

animals, well calculated to take part either in the
battle, the chase, or the pageant, and to carry their
heavily-weighted riders with credit.

In the reign of Henry, also, it was enjoined upon
various classes of his subjects that they should keep
a certain number of horses of a certain kind. A man
of the rank of an archbishop or a duke was ordered
to keep at least seven trotting stone-horses for the
saddle, all of which were to be at least fourteen hands
high. The clergy holding benefices of the value of
one hundred pounds per annum, and such laymen
as had wives who wore French hoods or bonnets of
velvet, were ordered to keep at least one trotting
stone-horse ; the penalty for not doing so being twenty
pounds. By another Act passed in the reign of the
same Prince (33 Henry VIII., c. 5), in 1 541-2, the no-
bility were ordered to breed "great horses." In the
reign of his successor, horses generally having become
more valuable, it was a capital offence to steal a horse
(i Ed. VI., c. 12). "No person convicted for felo-
niously stealing of horses, geldings, or mares, shall
have the privilege of clergy." The plural number
being used in the statute, raised a doubt in the legal
mind whether a conviction under it could be main-
tained against a man who only stole one horse, mare,
or gelding; accordingly it was amended by a subse-
quent statute (2 and 3 Ed. VI.).

There can be little doubt that the increasing value
of the horses roaming at large on the very numerous
unenclosed spaces throughout the kingdom led to the

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

passing of this Act; and it may be worthy of notice
that, in the reign of Edward I., a good horse sold for
£\o\ in that of Henry V., there is a record of a horse
sold for ^50; in the reign of Henry VHI., two
Friesland horses were purchased for £'^'^, but two
large horses cost respectively £2)^] and ^53; on the
other hand, in 1547 two horses were sold in Smith-
field for £df 13s. 6d.

By the time of James, horses of merit had acquired
a more settled value, being more commonly an article
of commerce. Animals that had run with distinction
at Garterly in Yorkshire, at Croydon, at Theobalds,
became famous, and their pedigree valuable in pro-
portion to their own quality and the achievements
of their sires and dams. The races also began to
be governed by rules — rigidly enforced — as to weights
and distances, the methods in vogue for preparing the
horses for their engagements being not very much
unlike the practice of trainers in the present day.
By the latter end of the reign of James, English-bred
horses had acquired a Continental reputation as run-
ning horses and hunters, and they were exported to
France in considerable numbers. Bassompiere, in
his memoirs, writes: — "English horses were so much
admired for their speed, that they have (since their
first importation) been always employed in hunting
and on the road," a practice till his time unknown
The French likewise endeavoured, at the same time
that they imported our horses, to adopt the English
method of training and managing them.

EARLY HISTORY OF HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND. 13

The troubled reign of Charles, and the Puritanical
innovations of the Commonwealth, left little oppor-
tunity for further improving and cultivating the horse.
Some noblemen and country gentlemen, hov/ever,
who possessed good stock, appear during these years
to have done their best to prevent it from degenerat-
ing. With the Restoration came the development of
racing, and the Merry Monarch was hardly ever better
amused than when witnessing the races on Datchet
Mead, or gathering round him a gay Court at his
palace at Newmarket; and from his reign we may
trace the gradual and almost unchecked progress of
the taste for horse-racing as we know it in England.

Although the sport from the first met with the
patronage of the Court, the support of the nobility and
squirearchy, and the hearty approval of the people,
for whom it was calculated to provide holiday amuse-
ment of a kind that was highly appreciated, its pro-
gress met with numerous denunciations concernino: its
influence upon the reputed growing vices of the age.
One old-fashioned writer says: — "And here I have
an opportunity of doing justice to modern invention,
by stating that horse-racing, as a system of gaming,
is among the glories of the seventeenth century; and
that the improvements of more recent times may,
perhaps, bring the honour of this invention still lower
down. At what precise time two horses began to
supply the place of two dice or of a pack of cards is
uncertain. But that this is a real improvement, and
not a variety only, will appear plainly, if we consider

14 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

that horse-racing was originally practised by way of
exercise, and then the owners were riders. That
intrepid, able, and honest race of young men, the
jockeys, is modern; and they first introduced the
various uses of a rusty nail, or a pail of water season-
ably administered."

Another writer proposes a remedy to check the ex-
tensive gambling that prevailed, which subsequently
became law. He candidly admits that the sport is
immensely popular with all classes of society, and
allows that the "diversion of horse-races, peculiar to
England, has its charms," which lie in the assemblage
of persons of fortune or distinction, on horseback or
in gay equipages, on the fine turf of a racecourse in
the open country, where they may "observe the evo-
lutions of the horses upon the course for two or three
miles, watching them with eager eyes." " This," he
adds, emphatically, "is no vulgar entertainment."
But, as a blot upon it, remain the cruelty practised
upon horses, the "villainy of jockeyism," and also "the
frauds of horsedealers." This last grievance, however,
can hardly, with justice, be charged against the prac-
tice of horse-racing. Having thus introduced his
remedial measures with a suitable preface, he pro-
ceeds : —

" But the fraudulent practices committed at races
are a reproach to those who interest themselves in
them. It would be happy if a law were made to
curb the licentious spirit of gaming which prevails
at horse-races Horses of most speed are

EARL V HISTOR V OF HORSE-RA CING IN ENGLAND. 1 5

of least use, unless they are also hardy and fit for
the road. If premiums were allotted to those who
produced the three largest or most beautiful horses,
of best paces, for cart, coach, or saddle, it might pro-
duce happy effects. To prevent idleness, the meet-
ing should be only once a year according to law.
The horses must be brought to the raceground
above ten , miles from the place where they were
foaled."

In 1740 it was judged by Parliament that horse-
racing had become too common and prevalent a prac-
tice throughout the country for the welfare of the
"idlers" who were supposed chiefly to attend race
meetings. An Act to restrain excessive horse-racing
was therefore passed, and it was thought that a stop
could best be put to a number of county meetings at
which very paltry stakes were offered for competition
to indifferent animals, by raising the stakes run for.

It was therefore enacted that, after the 24th June
in that year (1740), no plate should be run for in the
kingdom of less value than ^50 — the penalty for
transgression of the law being ^200. Another pro-
vision of this Act was that no person should start
or run any horse, mare, or gelding of which he was
not the bo7id fide owner ; and further, that no owner
should enter more than one horse for any plate, the
penalty for entering more horses than one being
forfeiture of the animals illegally entered. This
clause of the Act forms a strong contrast to the
"any number of horses the property of the same

i6 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

owner may start for this plate " condition of modern
racing-, or the practice of one owner entering a
dozen colts and fillies for a great weight for age
race. Parliament, at this time, further settled the
weights to be carried in all races as follows: — Five-
year-old horses were to carry ten stones, six-year-
olds eleven, seven-year-olds and above that age
twelve stones; the penalty inflicted upon the owner
of any horse or mare carrying less than these
weights being the forfeiture of the horse and the
payment of a fine of ^200 besides. Matches were
allowed to be run at Newmarket and Black Ham-
bleton only, for stakes of not less than ^50 value,
under a similar penalty of £200. The moneys re-
ceived under this severely restrictive Act were, as far
at least as one moiety of them was concerned, put to
a good purpose; for though the informer took one-
half of the penalties for his own share, the other was
directed by the Act to be given to the poor of the
parish, except in the case of such mulcts made in
the county of Somerset, when the charitable half
was to be given in all cases to the hospital at Bath.

Informations under this act — the 13th Geo. II.,
c. 19 — were numerous, and the question early came
before the courts wheth(ir, if two men contributed
£2^ each to the stakes of a match to be run be-
tween their horses, that was a stake of the value of
£So. The judges decided that it was a stake of
;^5o within the meaning of the Act, though the
owner would only receive £2^ of his opponent's

.^

EARL Y HIS TOR V OF HORSE-RA CING IN ENGLAND. 1 7

money^ The leading case is that of " Ridmead
against Gale." Mr. Baron Perrot directed a verdict
for the plaintiff, with leave to move in arrest of
judgment. On appeal, Lord Mansfield delivered
the judgment of the full Court, which was unani-
mously in favour of the defendant.

Nearly half a century later, race-horses became,
for the first time, the subjects of a tax and a source
of revenue to the Exchequer of the country. In
1785, in the second year of Pitt's first administration,
it struck that "heaven-born" Minister, that a tax
might be levied on every horse that ran for a plate
without doing much injury to anybody, and with-
out provoking much opposition. Lord Surrey,
however (afterwards Duke of Norfolk), who was
an ardent sportsman, rose and remonstrated very
strongly against the proposed tax, affirming that it
was both unjust and absurd, as it would fall on a
large number of losers. Unfortunately, his lordship,
before resuming his seat, made a suggestion. " I
think," he said, "it would be much fairer, if we are
to tax race-horses at all, to put a tax of ^50 on
every winner of a certain sum." To his surprise
and annoyance, Pitt jumped up, smiled, bowed,
thanked him for his suggestion, and announced his
Intention of laying on both taxes. Lord Surrey was
very angry, and expressed his feelings on the matter
in an audible tone aside, whereupon it is reported that
an honourable member admonished him with —

"Jockey of Norfolk, be not too bold."
VOL. I, 2

1 8 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

From the earliest times of which trustworthy ac-
counts have reached us, it will be seen that the people
of Eno-land were lovers of the horse, students of the
art of horsemanship, and careful conservers and im-
provers of the breed of horses. The Scotch nation,
boasting a breed of Galloways of great fame, said to
be descended from the Spanish horses washed ashore
from the wreck of the Armada; and the Irish, rejoic-
ing in their "hobbies," a breed of native horses, main-
tained for centuries "a race of horses," we read, "much
valued and admired for their easy paces and other
pleasing, useful, and agreeable qualities," and whose
"pleasing paces and perfections" led Dr. Sterne to
apply the word hobby to any man's strong propen-
sities or pursuits — ran an almost even race with the
English in their regard for their horses and their love
of sport.

Deriving from Arabian importations most valuable
qualities of speed and stoutness, the Eastern graft
upon the English stock gave horses to the world.
Nearly a century ago, the English racer was first past
the winning post on the Plains des Sablons, and on
the springy courses of Kentucky and Virginia. The
work has been well carried on by the successors of
the early breeders, generation after generation; and
it may now be said, without fear of contradiction, that
the best horses in every civilized country are derived
from English-bred sires and dams.

The race-horse of the last century and a half, pos-
sessing both speed and "goodness," or bottom, pre-

EARL V HIS TOR V OF HORSE-RA CING IN ENGLAND. 1 9

sents a. remarkable contrast to the "runnynge-horse"
of earlier times ; but it must be remembered that the
length of journeys, the rarity of wheeled carriages, the
badness of the roads, and the custom universally pre-
vailing for horsemen to hght in their armour, made it
necessary to breed horses of great size and strength,
rather than to aim at the production of speedy ani-
mals. With the reign of James came the common
use of fire-arms, and the consequent abandonment of
armour for all practical purposes. From that time
the heavy horse, suited to the requirements of the
knight armed cap-a-pie, begins to disappear, and the
more modern types of racer, hunter, hackney, and
machiner occupy the Turf and the road in his stead.

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHAPTER II.

THE FATHER OF THE TURF LONG COURSES GIVE AND

TAKE PLATES PORTRAITS OF FAMOUS RACERS.

JUVENAL, in one of his most pleasing satires,
invites his friend to leave Rome for a day, and
dine quietly with him in the country. *' I will
give you," he says, " fresh eggs, a tender kid, a well-
boiled fowl, a bunch of magnificent grapes, and a
bottle of good wine. If you are wise, you will come;
for to-morrow is the great day of the chariot races,
and the whole city will be so mad — these for the
success of the green jacket, those for the triumph ot
the red — that, as we sit over our meal, we shall hear
the roar of their voices wafted across the whole
breadth of the Campagna; while the excitement will
be as keen as if news had come that the enemy were
at our very gates." The poet plainly had no sym-
pathy with the sport, and preferred the quiet of his
country house to the roar of excitement on the course.
The taste for that sport, however, which he briefly
but graphically describes in the few lines above
quoted from one of his satires, has been very general
among both ancient and modern nations. It is

THE FATHER OF THE TURF.

claimed for our own country that the practice of
horse-racing dates from the earHest times. In the
form in which we know it, however, we may consi-
der that it has really flourished since the beginning
of the eighteenth century; for although the Round
Course at Newmarket was laid out in the year 1666,
and horse-races, patronized by Charles the First and
his Court, took place there as early as 1640, the first
authentic published records of matches at Newmarket
date only from 1718; while the turf annals of the
county of York begin in 1 709, nine years earlier.

Noblemen and country gentlemen, who prior to the
beginning of the eighteenth century tried to break
the monotony of a country life, remote from the
capital, by occasionally matching their "bred" horses
with those of their neighbours, took an equal interest
in cocking and coursing, and left the breaking,
physicking, and training of their horses to the same
servants as fed and dubbed their game birds, and
curbed the impatience of their hounds. Racing up
to that date was almost entirely in the hands of
amateurs. One name stands out, however, claiming
recognition as the property of one who was strictly
professional, whether he matched horse, cock, or
greyhound, to win the guineas of his acquaintance.

Tregonwell Frampton, a gentleman of some small
landed estate, originally, was perhaps Keeper of the
King's running horses to the gay Charles; and if there
is truth in contemporary stories of his cruelty to his
horse Dragon, in adding him to the list the day after

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

he had won him a good stake in a severely contested
match over Newmarket Heath, in order that, having
beaten the best horse in England, he might be
qualified to beat the best gelding, he was a monster
of avarice. All the accounts of him tend to show
that he cared for little else besides money; but he is
accredited, possibly with as little reasonable founda-
tion as in many other cases, with a proud title. Hip-
pocrates has been called the Father of Medicine;
^schylus, the Father of Tragedy; Terpander, the
Father of Greek Music ; George Edwards, the
Father of Ornithology; George Varley, the Father
of Water-colour Painting; Oliver Baselin, '' le Pere
joyeux die Vaudeville i' Tregonwell Frampton is
styled the Father of the Turf.

Perhaps the owner of Dragon's right to the title
is as well warranted as that of any of the others to
their patriarchal designation. If the accepted de-
finition of the "father" of an art is that it is he who
is foremost in bringing that art to any notable degree
of perfection, then there seems to be reason for ap-
plying the title to Frampton, in the absence of a
better claimant; for there can be no doubt that he
had a leading part in making the art of training
horses what it had become by the middle of the
eighteenth century, and that he likewise reduced
the practice of the sport to orderly rules and metho-
dical procedure. There are two portraits of Mr.
Frampton ; in one he is designated Royal Stud
Keeper at Newmarket; in the other, dated 1791, by

THE FATHER OF THE TURF. 23

J. Jones, "the Father of the Turf." On his monument
in the parish church of All Saints, Newmarket, his
death in 1 728, at the age of eighty-six, is recorded, as
well as the fact that he had been Keeper of running
horses to William III. and his three Royal successors.
From this it appears doubtful if he ever filled that
post in the reign of Charles II. In the Adventurer,
No. 2)1^ he is referred to in connection with Dragon
in as delicate a manner as the circumstances of the
case permit. The essayist thus finishes his story: —
" When I had heard this horrid narrative, which
indeed I remembered to be true, I turned about in
honest confusion, and blushed that I was a man."
Nevertheless, there is probably not a word of truth
in the tale, which is supported by no other evidence
than that of the essayist in the Adventurer, and the
portrait on which appears the extract from this paper.
In the early part of the eighteenth century we
find horses running generally in matches, and over
long courses, varying from four to twelve miles in
length. In the year 1718, twenty-three matches
were decided on Newmarket Heath, and in all but
one of them the distance was four miles. In April,
1 7 19, the Duke of Wharton, a leading patron of the
Turf, made two matches of six miles each. In the
county of York, during the same period, the races
over Clifton and Rawcliffe Ings, and at Hambleton,
were run over four-mile courses, and usually in three
heats. Over the former course, the Earl of Carlisle's
chestnut gelding Buckhunter, by the Bald Galloway,

24 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

ridden by Match'em Timms, won "her late Majesty's
(Queen Anne's) Gold Cup, value lOO guineas." This
race was for six-year-old horses, carrying 12 stones
a-piece, three heats over a mile course. It was run
originally in 1714, when Mr. Childers's bay mare
Duchess came in first, ridden by Robert Hesseltine.
The third heat was contested very closely by
Duchess and Foxhunter, owned by Mr. Pierson.
The heat was adjudged to the second by the tryers,
owinof to a charo-e of foul ridino^. A fio-ht between
the jockeys, and a dispute of no very amiable character
between their masters, followed. Both Mr. Childers
and Mr. Pierson claimed the gold cup, bets were
drawn, and a lawsuit supervened, the Lord Mayor
of York being entrusted with the care of the trophy
in the meantime. The Court before which the cause
was heard ruled that all the horses not distanced
were equally entitled to the prize. Messrs. Childers,
Pierson, Young, and Moore sold their shares for
twenty-five guineas each. The Duke of Rutland
purchased two, the Earl of Carlisle one, and Sir
William Lowther the other; and they agreed that
the race should be run over again. This accord-
ingly happened on July 19, 1719, Lord Carlisle ob-
taining the coveted prize.

Saturday, the 8th of August in the same year,
was remarkable for another race for a Royal Cup
given by George the First, value 100 guineas, for
five-year-old mares, carrying lost. each. The dis-
tance was four miles, and the race was won by the

LONG COURSES. 25

Duke of Rutland's black filly Bonny Black, one of
the best, if not the best, performer of her day. She
was by Black Hearty, son of the Byerley Turk, her
dam by a Persian horse. No less than thirty-one
mares and fillies went to the post for this race, and
the judges placed sixteen out of the total number of
starters. The principal North-country patrons of the
Turf were represented on the occasion — Sir Ralph
Milbank, Mr. Hutton, Mr. Ramsden, Sir James
Pennyman, Sir Robert Cotton, and others, sending
their competitors to the post. At that time large
fields for the Royal Guineas — or Cups, as they were
then called — appear to have been the order of the day ;
eighteen competitors, all placed by the judges, start-
ing for the same race the next year, when Black
Bonny again won the Cup for the Duke of Rutland.
In 1720 there were twenty-six matches run on
Newmarket Heath. In none of these was the dis-
tance less than four miles, and in some it was six
miles. In the month of October in that year, the
Duke of Wharton's Coneyskins, carrying list. lolbs.,
was matched against Lord Hillsborough's Speedwell,
i2st., the best of three heats, twelve miles, for a
thousand guineas. In 1721, twenty matches were
run, or forfeit paid, at Newmarket, and in all these
races the distance appears to have been four miles
or upwards. But the published accounts of racing
at Newmarket, except for the short period men-
tioned, disappear, and it is not until the latter part
of the last century that we get regular records of

26 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

races run at Newmarket. By the industry of Mr.
John Orton, however, the Turf annals of York and
Doncaster have been collected and published, the
record making a complete list from the year 1 709.
York Races were run on Clifton and Rawcliffe Ings
up to the year 1731, when they were run over the
Knavesmire, and have continued to be decided over
that excellent raceground ever since. But for a
very wet summer, the races might have been run on
Rawcliffe Ings to this day; but in August, 1730, in
consequence of continued rains, the River Ouse,
which skirts the old ground, became swollen and
overflowed its banks, and the racing set for decision
on Wednesday had to be put off until the Saturday
following. This disappointment made the worthy
Yorkshire folk consider whether they could not have
a racecourse so situated that such an accident was
impossible. The Knavesmire was decided upon as
the best ground near York upon which to lay out
a racecourse; and Mr. Alderman Telford planned a
course which, though at first very moist in wet
seasons, a thorough system of drainage has made
one of the best racecourses in the kingdom.

At this early period in the history of the national
sport, what were known as " give and take " Plates
were both common and popular. On the authority
of Mr. Orton, the following were the conditions of
these Plates: — The horses entered for them carried
weight for age and weight for inches, each horse
being required to be measured under a standard

GIVE AND TAKE PLA TES.

V

before starting for the Plate. The general scale is
said to have been, for aged horses and mares of
thirteen hands, 7st., and for every additional one-
eighth of an inch fourteen ounces extra. From this
it would appear that if a horse stood fourteen hands
he carried Qst., and fifteen hands, list. Six-year-
old horses carried 4lbs. less, and five-year-olds 1 2lbs.
less. One of the stones on which horses about to
compete for give and take Plates were formerly
measured was replaced in one of the rubbing-houses
on York racecourse, where it had stood years before.
Here the horses were led to be tried by the standard.
It is a flat stone, 6ft. 4in. long by 3ft. 3in. broad,
after this shape^

The two broad lines on the diagram refer to
two deeply cut lines on the stone, which are 5ft.
apart. The length of each line is 2ft. The length
from one line to the other being the extreme
distance allowed for the animal to extend his fore-
legs from the hind ones, and the length of the line —
2ft. — being the distance allowed between the two
fore-feet: the same distance was allowed between
the hind ones.

28 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

The author of " Turf Annals of York and Don-
caster" (1844), says: — "This stone had long remained
buried under an accumulation of rubbish, until a few
few years ago, when a give and take Plate was run
for in Scotland, upon which considerable dispute
arose as to how far it was right for the animal to ex-
tend his legs when measured." The dispute caused
application to be made to Mr. Orton, who found
some veteran who had been for many years em-
ployed on York racecourse, and had assisted in
measuring horses. They made a search, and dis-
covered the identical stone used, which was replaced
in its old position in the rubbing-house, and the
veteran labourer gave the explanation of the rules of
measurement in give and take Plates set out above,
and by these means the disputed question was
settled.

This is a return of a give and take Plate, run over
Knavesmire, Aug. 21, 1753: —

A Plate of;^5o for horses, <S:c., give and take; 14 hands, aged,

9St. — 4 mile heats.
Mr. Hudson's br. m. Pickering Molly (afterwards Blacklegs),

by a son of Smiling Ball, i3h. 2in., 8st i i

Lord Rockingham's ch. h. Silverleg, by Young Cartouch,

i3h. 3^in., 8st. 81bs. 120Z 3 2

Sir J. L. Kaye's b. g. Adam, 1311. 3in., Sst. 7lbs 2 dr.

" Reginald Heber's Historical List of Horse
Matches," published in 1753, gives full tables of the
weights horses are to carry that run for give and
take Plates, from twelve to fifteen hands high, four-
teen hands carrying Qst.

GIVE AND TAKE PLATES. 29

The weights are reckoned exactly as Mr. Orton s
veteran said, viz. : — Twelve hands and a half, 5st. ;
and half a quarter of an inch, 5st. olbs. 140Z. ; a
quarter, 5st. lib. 1 2oz. ; and so on up to fifteen
hands, i ist.

By the middle of the last century the assiduity of
the noblemen and gentlemen who were interested in
improving the breed of our horses, the taste of the
people throughout the whole country for horse- racing,
and the interest of those whose livelihood depended
upon the sport more or less directly, had caused the
general spread of race meetings, most of which were
well organized and largely attended, and at almost
all of which added money was given. In the year
1752, for instance, Cambridgeshire had four meetings
at Newmarket; Berkshire, Ascot Heath, Reading,
and Lambourne, the counties of Bucks, Cumber-
land, Derby, Gloucester, Hants, Hertford, Leicester,
Northampton, Nottingham, Oxford, Kent, Surrey,
Warwick, and Wilts, had meetings in two places;
the counties of Chester, Durham, Lincoln, Middle-
sex, and Northumberland had three towns where
meetings were held. The following counties had a
meeting in one place only: — Dorset, Essex, Hants,
Lancaster, Norfolk, Somerset, and Sussex. Suffolk
had four places at which race meetings were held or
races run. Yorkshire, of course, occupies the first
place in point of number of meetings or races held,
and as appears from the returns, with the exception
of Newmarket, in the quality of the sport provided;

30 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

there being, a century and a quarter ago, races at
Black Hambleton, York, Doncaster, and at seven
other towns within the limits of the premier county.
This list of places of sport sufficiently indicates the
widespread popularity of horse-racing at that period,
and although (with the exception of racing in the
county of York — at York, Doncaster, and Hamble-
ton) we have at the present day few trustworthy
records of the races run before that time, it was then
proposed to publish by subscription a work called the
" Noblemen, Gentlemen, and Breeders' Useful Li-
brary," which was to contain a treatise on the breed-
ing of horses and farriery, " to which will be added a
complete historical list of. all the horses, &c., that
have run for the Royal Plates, and also all matches.
Plates, and prizes that have been run for in Great
Britain and Ireland for near forty years last past, to
be brought down to the end of the present year,
1752." This advertisement fixes the year 1 712, or
thereabouts, as the first beginning of racing of which
proper records were kept, not only of the results of
the matches, sweepstakes, and Plates, but the pedi-
grees of the animals engaged, the weights, and (in
some cases) the names of the riders.

Pictures of famous racers, engraved from the
original and spirited paintings of James Seymour,
were popular with all classes of sportsmen then as
now. The walls of the study in which the squire
dispensed justice to offending poachers, and the

PORTRAITS OF FAMOUS RACERS. 31

wainscot of the parlour at the sporting inn, were
both hung- with truthful portraits of such favourites
as Bay Bolton, Old Starling, and Childers, Mr.
Panton's Molly, and Mr. Williams's Squirrel. At
this date (1750), no less than thirty-three such prints
had been published, at a shilling or eighteen-pencc
a-piece plain, or five or six shillings " the horses
painted the exact colour," with the arms of the noble-
man or gentleman to whom the plate was inscribed
emblazoned in heraldic tints at the foot. The low
prices, in a " neat frame, gilt edge, and the best
glass," and the number published, speak sufficiently
for the popularity of the series, and for the general
appreciation among the patrons of the sport of the
proprietor's " willingness that the public in general
should be serv'd with this genteel, entertaining, and
useful furniture at as low a rate as possible."

Seymour was the first painter of the race-horse
whose portraits of equine celebrities are worthy of
attention. George Stubbs, R.A., his successor, at-
tained perfection in the art of faithful portraiture of
horseflesh; and he has been worthily followed, in
modern times, by Herring and Hall.

The popular prices of Seymour's portraits of win-
ners, published by Thomas Butler, in Pall Mall, about
1 740 to 1756, contrast favourably with the four-guinea
proofs and two-guinea prints issued forty years later
from the original drawings of Stubbs; but the work
was very different. Messrs. G. and G. T. Stubbs
opened a gallery in Conduit-street on June 20, 1794,

32 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

where subscribers' names were entered, and where
the pictures to be engraved were exhibited. At the
head of the Hst, of course, stood the Godolphin
Arabian, " the most valuable foreign horse ever
brought to this country, and justly called the Father
of the Turf," with his cat in attendance; Marske, the
sire of Eclipse ; next the portrait of the sire being
that of his illustrious son — with him arc the boy
who looked after him, and Sam Merrit, his jockey.
Beyond this canvas were the portraits of the com-
pact Volunteer and Dungannon, sons of Eclipse;
the beautiful little Gimcrack, Sweetbriar, and Sweet
William; the stout yet delicately-limbed Mambrino;
the famous Sharke ; the Prince of Wales's Oatlands
winner. Baronet; and His Royal Highness's Anvil
completed the collection, which comprised sixteen
pictures in all. Whether the following couplet,
which concludes the prospectus of the Titrf Revieio
of the Messrs. Stubbs —

" Genius like this adorns the British shore.
Oh! may it flourish till the land's no more." —

refers to the art of breeding the subjects, or to that
of placing their lineaments on canvas for the behoof
of posterity, it is, perhaps, difficult in the present day
to determine.

At the former date — 1752 — sixty thoroughbred
stallions of merit covered in various parts of the
kingdom, the fees being generally very moderate.
Oronooko heads the list, at twenty guineas and five
shillings; Bolton Starling, eight guineas and half a

PATRONS OF THE TURF. 33

crown.. One, two, and three guineas were the most
usual fees, such horses being generally the property
of persons who had at heart the improvement of
the saddle horse and hunter, and in this manner
placed their stud horses at the disposal of their
tenants and neighbours at an unremunerative fee.
Of these sixty stallions, eight only were reputed
imported Arabians; and there is reason to believe
that some of these were not of the pure blood, but
bred in this country from imported foreign sires.
To the general lowness of the above tariff, Flying
Childers, some years later, was a remarkable excep-
tion: his fee was 50 guineas, afterwards 100 guineas,
and during one season 200 guineas a mare.

It may be interesting to compare some of the
stakes in the middle of the last century with our
knowledge of those of our own time. All horses
then reckoned their age from May-day, instead of
from the ist of January, as is done at present.
Matches to be contested over Newmarket Heath
were often made many months before, between the
sportsmen of the day, among the most prominent of
whom were his Royal Highness the Duke of Cum-
berland; the Dukes of Ancaster, Kingston, and
Marlborough; the Marquesses of Hartington, Rock-
ingham, and Granby; the Earls of Antrim, Godol-
phin, Gower, Northumberland, Eglinton, Portmore,
and March ; Messieurs Manners, Panton, Duncombe,
Curzon, Townsend, and many others. The ages of
the horses generally running in matches and sweep-

VOL. I. -i

34 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Stakes, &c., on the Turf, were four-year-olds, five,
six, seven (then reckoned separately from the aged
horses), and aged. At that time, in England and
Scotland, there were given fifteen King's Plates of
lOO guineas each — no insignificant sum; thirty-two
Plates, varying in value from nine guineas to 120
guineas; and one hundred and forty-five Plates of
50 guineas each, and one subscription purse of 260
guineas — the total amount being ;!^ 10,906 15s. The
stakes in matches and sweepstakes, contributed
solely by the owners of the animals engaged, likewise
amounted to a very large sum in addition. The
stakes in races of this description were often very
large, when we consider the enhanced value of
money in our times — e.g., in Easter week, 1757,
some of the patrons of the Turf just mentioned sub-
scribed a stake of 1,200 guineas to be run for over
the Beacon Course at Newmarket. The race, how-
ever, was to be run each year for five years; the
colts to be the produce of mares the property of the
subscribers at the time of foaling, and to be named
before they were two years of age. One hundred
guineas was a very common stake in a match ; and a
thousand guineas was by no means uncommon,
"run or pay."

All the races were run over what we should
now consider long courses, and certainly the ma-
jority of them in heats. The King's Plates were
for horses (and mares) four, five, six, and aged, ge-
nerally in three and four mile heats — four-year-

PATRONS OF THE TURF. 35

olds carrying Qst, five-year-olds lOst, and six and
aged 1 2 St.

When, by the judicious intermixture of imported
blood with the best-bred mares, our ancestors had
succeeded in producing an animal better in most
respects than his dam and his sire, they took the
greatest care to ensure accuracy in all matters relat-
ing to the pedigree of their horses; and the pedi-
grees of their horses could be traced without dis-
pute, not only to Barley's Arabian at the latter end
of the reign of Queen Anne, but to the numerous
foreign horses imported during the reign of Charles
the Second, or even, in some instances, to Place's
White Turk, to the Helmsley Turk, or to Fairfax's
Morocco Barb. Writing from Cambridge in 1755,
a gentleman who desires to be sarcastic at the
expense of breeders of horses, says — in a paper, the
raison d'etre of which is the supposed death of a
racer called Whitenose, at DonCaster — that we hear
of his rapid victories in the field, more surprising
than Marlborough's, by which he won Tewkes-
bury, Chipping Norton, Lincoln, York, and other
Cups, and " contemplate with reverence the illustri-
ous names of his great-great-great-great-great grand-
sires and granddams: there is not the least flaw in
the blood of Whitenose's family."

It is true that, a century and a half ago, breeders
were as careful to avoid a cocktail stain as they are
now, and kept a record of the pedigrees of racing
stock with equal accuracy. The imported horses

3—2

36 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

introduced into England immediately after the
Restoration were put to mares whose blood had
already been ameliorated by foreign horses. The
effect of such crossing is as follows: — The first cross
gives one-half, or 50 per cent., the second 75 per
cent., the third 87! per cent, and the fourth 93! per
cent. It is plain that a horse having the last-named
proportion of what is called pure blood in his veins
ought to show but very little of the inferior quality
of an under-bred horse, and that in the next and
succeeding generations this proportion should con-
stantly decrease. For several generations, however,
he is a half-bred or cocktail, and the flaw in his
breeding is carefully recorded — a racing cocktail being
a horse not thoroughbred, but having some little stain
in his pedigree traced as far back as his great-great-
granddam or sire. Mr. Darrill says: — ''Although a
cocktail horse, in the common acceptation of the word,
is not thoroughbred, yet he is so near of being so as
to be able to beat any casually half-bred horse; which
latter is generally understood to be a horse tolerably
well, or, indeed, he may perhaps be very near
thoroughbred."

The breeding of the half-bred was generally such
that the flaw in the pedigree was accidental: that is,
he became a racer by accident, having been bred for
a hunter; but, showing good speed, was entered for
races.

The cocktail, on the other hand, was bred from a
dam having a very slight stain in her pedigree, suffi-

COCKTAILS AND HALF-BREDS. 37

cient to qualify him to run in races for half-breds,
hunters' Plates, and such stakes; the object being to
get him as nearly thoroughbred as possible, at the
same time that the law of such races was satisfied.

Our early breeders endeavoured chiefly to get a
breed of horses of great staying power, bottom, or, as
it was quaintly termed, "great goodness." Seymour's
picture of Old Partner, painted in 1718, shows a
horse of compact form, with a very capacious chest.
Sedbury, painted by the same artist in 1739, was a
son of Old Partner: he has powerful stifles and grand
limbs. Both these horses were compact animals, and
our breed of horses was undoubtedly of lower stature
at the period when they ran on the Turf than it is
now. Curwen's Barb is said to have been only a
trifle over thirteen hands high, Cartouch stood four-
teen hands, and the stock of the imported horses
was certainly smaller than the average race-horse of
the present day. But the suitability of the climate
of certain parts of England to the breeding of these
horses; the lucky cross of the Barbs, Turks, and
Arabs with the native stock; and, much more than
either, the skill and perseverance of our breeders, had
produced, more than a century and a quarter ago, a
breed of horses that was superior to that of any
other country in the world, of greater swiftness than
the Eastern horses, and capable of sustaining violent
exertion for a greater length of time. Childers, who
earned for himself the honourable sobriquet of Flying,
started during his career on the Turf many times,

38 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

running against the best horses of his time without
ever sustaining defeat. A calculation was made that
this horse, in more than one race, moved at the rate
of eighty-two and a half feet per second, or not far
short of a mile in a minute; and it is said he ran
round the course at Newmarket, at that time about
four miles, in six minutes and forty seconds. No
wonder that it was an old-fashioned article of faith
in sporting circles that Childers was the fleetest
courser ever bred. Bay Malton, got by Sampson,
ran, at York, four miles in seven minutes forty-three
and a half seconds. Eclipse emulated the example
of Childers, whose fame he shares in race-course
story. Highflyer, Sharke, Match'em, and Dorimant
were likewise heroes in their generation, and, while
they earned glory for themselves, placed consider-
able sums of money in the pockets of their owners.
Dorimant, Lord Ossory's famous horse, won prizes
amounting to ;^i3,363; Childers only about ^2,000;
the Marquess of Rockingham's Bay Malton, in seven
prizes, ;^5,ooo; Highflyer, the best horse of his time,
won and received nearly ^9,000, though he never
started after he was five years old. During his career
he was only once beaten, and once paid forfeit.
Sharke won for his owner eleven hogsheads of claret
— wine with our grandfathers was a very common
prize — a cup, value 120 guineas, and ^15,507 in
Plates, matches, and forfeits. Match'em's fees, re-
ceived during his nine years at the stud, amounted to
upwards of 1 1,500 guineas; and Eclipse's amount must

EARNINGS OF RACE-HORSES. 39,

have greatly exceeded this sum. When Walpole
was Prime Minister, the Dukes of Bolton, Somerset,
Bridgwater, Hamilton, Oueensberry, and Rutland
were represented on all the better English race-
courses; and from these figures it will be seen that
the value of a good race-horse was not very much
less " in the days when George the Third was
King," or in those of the first monarchs of the House
of Hanover, than it is in the reign of their illustrious
descendant, her present Majesty.

40 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHx^PTER III.

THE FIRST DERBY COSTUME OF JOCKEYS — NEW-
MARKET— E. O. TABLES — ASCOT.

TOWARDS the latter end of the last century,,
three weeks or so before Londoners were
terrified by the Gordon riots, what was, even then,
the race-ground most frequented by inhabitants of
Cockayne and its dependencies was the scene of the
first Derby Stakes. From about that time dates the
flourishing period of horse-racing, the taste for which
was afterwards annually augmented by the ever-grow-
ing interest taken by all classes of people in the sport,
and by the easier and cheaper means afforded for
the conveyance of horses and followers of the sport
from one place of meeting to another.

The first Derby was, as everybody knows, won by
Diomed, a compact, well-formed, chestnut colt, the
property of Sir Charles Bunbury, by which stroke of
luck the horse made himself and his owner famous
in the annals of the ^mx{, primus inter pares, enjoying
the unique distinction of heading the illustrious list
of winners of the Derby. He was got by Florizel,
out of a Spectator mare, bred by Mr. Panton, foaled
in 1763, and counting among his ancestors on the
dam's side, Childers, and two distinguished horses of

THE FIRST DERBY. 41

foreig-h blood, the Pagfet Turk and the Leedes Ara-
bian. Diomed's first appearance on the Turf was
in the same year that he ran for the Derby, where,
at the Second Spring Meeting at Newmarket, car-
rying 8st., he won a sweepstakes of 500 guineas
each, beating three respectable opponents. His next
appearance in public was on the first Derby Day,
the 4th of May, 1 780, when, with 6 to 4 laid against
him, he started first favourite, beating the celebrated
Major O'Kelly's Badroo, second, and seven others,
all of whom were placed by the judge. There were
thirty-six subscribers, twenty-seven of whom paid
forfeit. All the nine competitors were colts. The
conditions of the race were thus set out on the day's
card:— ''The Derby Stakes of 50 gs. each, h. ft,
by 3-yr.-olds, colts, 8st. ; fillies, 7st. 11 lbs. — the last
mile of the course." From this it will be seen that
the conditions of the great race have been ma-
terially changed since its institution by the Earl of
Derby.

Subsequently, Sir Charles Bunbury's Derby winner
appeared at the Newmarket July Meeting, where he
scared away other competitors for a Sweepstakes
across the Flat. At the First October Meeting he
won a Sweepstakes, Ditch in, beating four opponents;
and the next day he secured the curious Perram
Plate, also from the Ditch in, beating ten other
animals that were started in the hope of securing
the "donation," to which the town authorities had
added ;^5o; but the chance was a slight one, for,

42 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

with odds of 3 to i betted on him, Diomed won in a
canter. In the same week he received forfeit of lOO
guineas in a match. His last appearance that year
was at the Second October Meeting, where he won
easily the First Year of a Subscription of 20 guineas
each, for three-year-olds, with 4 to i laid on him. It
has been the fashion to underrate the Derby victory
of Diomed; but the history of his three-year-old
career on the Turf, given above, shows that he was
a good performer, and won or received forfeit in
his engagements, proving himself thereby one of the
best three-year-olds of his time.

Sir Charles Bunbury's colours were pink and
white stripes, with a black cap ; though at this period
caps of all colours were used, as they are at the pre-
sent time — originally, a black velvet cap, like that of a
huntsman, was the only cap in use on the Turf — and
the costume was also that of our own time. At the
early period of the history of horse-racing, the jockey
wore a black velvet cap, with long French peak, with
a bow of black satin riband behind ; long hair, falling
to his shoulders; a white cambric neckcloth, of ample
folds, tied at the back; a long body-coat, with flaps,
wide skirts, and three buttons at the side, where it
opened, as well as in front and behind; knee breeches,
strapped just below the knee; white cotton stockingSj
and black leather shoes of the pattern now known
as Oxford, but with a long " tongue " and silver
buckles. The inconvenience of riding a close finish
over the Heath at Newmarket or Ascot, with a high

COSTUME OF JOCKEYS. 43

wind blowing, in these long tails, naturally led to a
compromise. Necessity is the mother of invention,
and some early jockey — there is no existing chronicle
that points out who he was — hit upon a happy idea,
and tucked his skirts inside his breeches. Their then
length, no doubt, made them cumbersome; and the
next step towards the costume of the modern jockey
was to curtail them. The jacket of the present day
shows in its cut, most unmistakably, its origin: it is
still a garment that might, from its shape, be worn
over the breeches, but, for convenience sake, its skirts
are invariably " tucked in." The palmy days of the
Turf can hardly be said to have begun before Diomed
won the first Derby: they date in reality from a few
years later, in the days of Pitt and Fox, just before
the Prince of Wales was married to Caroline of
Brunswick, and about the time that the first Ame-
rican Minister was received, somewhat ungraciously,
at the Court of St. James's.

At that time, when Mr. John Elwes, with a cold
partridge in his pocket and no bread — because bread
cost money, and partridges could be got off the
estate for nothing — trotted to Newmarket in a bag-
wig to see the races, the purple waistcoat with scarlet
sleeves, trimmed with gold, of His Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales, the purple and gold of the Duke
of York, the sky-blue of His Grace of Grafton, and
the deep red of the Duke of Queensberry, were
everyday sights at Newmarket, Ascot, and Don-
caster. The Turf also had regular habittcds, and in

44 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

many instances enthusiastic supporters, in the Duke
of Bedford, Lords Grosvenor, Clermont, Winchilsea,
Sackville, Darlington, Egremont, Cavendish, and
Belfast; in Sir Charles Bunbury, Sir H. Fether-
stone, and Sir F. Standish; the Hon. C. Wyndham
and Mr. Fox; Messrs. Vernon, Panton, Bullock,
O'Kelly, Hamond, and many others, representing
the best families in England; for in that day it was
almost true that " only gentlemen raced." The good
old house of Weatherby was represented at New-
market by Mr. James Weatherby, Keeper of the
Match Book; there was a Tattersall ready with his
hammer when a stud, from ill-luck or other cause, came
to be dispersed; Mr. Hilton was judge to the Jockey
Club; Mr. Betts starter; and James Fisher, with a
trusty staff of " eighteen pole-men to assist in keep-
ing the course clear," did duty on the Heath in the
days before the whipper and the rural constable had
come into existence. There were seven meetings at
Newmarket in the year, at which times the houses of
the aristocracy and gentry, which had greatly in-
creased there, were filled to overflowing. For the
morning, there were the gallops to be seen, and
cracks at exercise; at noon, the racing began, the
card, for the most part, being what is now called
" meagre." The races were over early in the after-
noon; then came dinner — with port and walnuts, or
port and dry biscuits, according to the season — the
whist-table, hazard, and E. O.

The Craven Meeting, lasting four or five days,

NEWMARKET MEETINGS. 45

began on Easter Monday; the First Spring Meet-
ing, which lasted six days, on that day fortnight ; the
Second Spring, six days, on that day month; July
Meeting, four or five days, according to the number
of items set down for decision, as nearly to the 8th
of July as Monday fell. The First October Meet-
ing, six days, began on the Monday before the
first Thursday in October; the Second October and
the Houghton respectively on that day fortnight
and on that day month, each lasting over the whole
week.

But even this large amount of racing in the year
does not appear to have been a day too much to please
either the Newmarket tradespeople — who lived by
the influx of gentry and their camp followers
whom the Meeting weeks brought to their clean
little town — or the zealous sportsmen of that age.

The Oatlands Stakes (named in honour of the
Duke of York) was a great race, over the two miles
and ninety-seven yards of the Ditch in, well supported
by subscribers at 50 guineas each, and was run at
Newmarket in two classes at the Craven Meeting.
The Derby and Oaks at Epsom had already become
very popular over the lengthened course (a mile and a
half), and the list of subscribers included all the best-
known names among breeders and owners — "the
stakes to be made to Mr. Weatherby, at his office,
No, 7, Oxenden-street ; or at the Oaks, under the
same penalty for non-performance as is established
at Newmarket by the rules of the Jockey Club."

46 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

There seems to have been an intention of giving
up the Oaks (happily not carried into effect) over
the mile and a half course; for in 1793, the "third
and last year of the Oaks Stakes of 50 gs. each,
h. ft.," was advertised in the Calendar. The Prince
of Wales and the Duke of York entered all the
youngsters they could for each race, with or without
a reasonable hope of winning.

The subscriptions to some of these stakes were
high (our Black Duck at York is a relic of our
ancestors' love of gambling). The Port Produce
Stakes at Newmarket was by subscription of 500
guineas each, the A. F. Sweepstakes of the same
amount. There were several sweepstakes of 200
o^uineas each. In some cases the stake was limited
to a certain number of subscribers, as the 1,400
Guineas Stakes, of seven subscribers of 200 guineas
each. We are very familiar with this principle in
the nominal Two Thousand Guineas and One Thou-
sand Guineas stakes of a later time.

Plates and sweepstakes having smaller entrance
moneys were very numerous at the head-quarters of
the Turf, and matches filled up the card — par excel-
lence the form of racing of that period. Ascot,
York, and Doncaster had also excellent racing, and
well filled stakes in plenty, the King's Plates all
over the country usually producing good races.

Mention has been made of the game of E. O.,
which was for many years a very fashionable form
of "punting" among English gentlemen at the West-

E. O. TABLES. 47

end of London, at Bath, Scarborough, and Brighton,
as well as at Newmarket and York,

The E. O. table was circular in form, and, though
made in various sizes, was commonly four feet in
diameter. The outside edge formed the counter or
d^pot on which the stakes were placed, and was
marked all round with the letters E. O., from which
the game took its name. The interior of the table
consisted of a stationary gallery, in which the ball
rolled, and an independent round table, moving on an
axis by means of handles. The ball was started in
one direction and this rotary table turned in the other.
This part was divided into forty compartments of
equal size, twenty of which were marked E. and
twenty O. The principle was pretty much that of
roulette without a zero ; but the ingenuity of the pro-
prietors appears, at an early date in the history of
these tables, to have supplied this defect. At first
the game was played on the same terms that hazard
then was — viz., whoever won or threw in three times
successively paid, when gold was played for, half a
guinea to the proprietors of the table. This, how-
ever, as might have been expected, was too simple
and unsophisticated a method of procedure to last.
The game was too fair; but, as it was very popular,
it must be made profitable to the man of business,
who could not be expected to travel from race meet-
ing to race meeting all over the country for half-
guineas in cases of exceptional luck. Accordingly, he
became obliged to take all bets offered either for E.

48 THE HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

or for O., and made two of his forty spaces into "bar-
holes." The name sufficiently explains the utility of
the device to the keeper of the table. If the ball fell
into either of these bar-holes, he won all the bets on
the opposite letter, and did not pay to that in which
it fell. Unfair tables, having the compartments of
one letter larger than another, abounded; but there
seems to have been little necessity to cheat at the
game, as with a proportion of two in forty, or five
per cent., in his favour, the keeper should have
reaped a heavy harvest of profit from his venture.
The gentlemen who had played the game at the
time when the occasional half-guinea was thought
enough to remunerate the proprietor could hardly
have liked the innovation, regarding the five per
cent, "pull" against them as "a circumstance which, in
the long run, would infallibly exhaust the Exchequer'
much more than the breeches-pockets of the young
squires.

The booths on Ascot Heath and the taverns at
Windsor were at race-time great haunts for the
keepers of the E. O. tables, some of whom were
respectable men in their calling, and might be trusted
to give twenty, or even more, shillings for a guinea ;
but the majority, gambling for twopenny-pieces and
sixpences, were little if anything better than the
thimble-rig and prick-the-garter gentr}.' of that or the
three-card practitioners of our own time. Ascot,
indeed, was then a race meeting of the first import-
ance, and the week was a fair of the most attractive

RACING AT ASCOT.

49

character to the Berkshire landlords and their
tenantry. The Oatlands Stakes was transferred to
Newmarket from Ascot after a memorable race
when a hundred thousand pounds changed hands;
and we read that the Turf was a barren and dreary-
prospect — for the losers. " Horses are daily thrown
out of training, jockeys are going into mourning,
grooms are becoming E. O. merchants, and strap-
pers are going on the highway."

The 28th of June, 1 791, was a great day for Ascot
Heath; the Oatlands Stakes above-mentioned — " the
greatest race ever decided in this kingdom" —
being run for and won by the Prince of Wales's
Baronet, beating Mr. Barton's Express and seven-
teen others. It was computed that upon the event
upwards of a hundred thousand pounds were lost and
won. Originally there were forty-one subscribers of
100 guineas each, half forfeit; the net value of the
stakes was 2,950 guineas.

No less than forty thousand persons were present
on the Heath to witness the race, numbers of them
coming from the most remote parts of England.
The course was ill-kept, the crowds that lined the
sides of the running track retarding the horses; and
in consequence of complaints being made on this
score, the Oatlands Stakes was next year run in
April at Newmarket, the net value of the stakes in
1792 being 3,725 guineas — a sum not far below the
value of the great April Stakes in our own day.

Ascot at that time was the most fashionable place

VOL. I. 4

so HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

of sport in the kingdom ; for many years George the
Third and the "royal groupe" that surrounded his
sturdy figure had been seen on the Stand at the Royal
Heath. In 1792, the Royal birthday falling on the
same day — June 4th — as that set for the first day's
sport, the races were postponed for a week. From
time immemorial Ascot races had begun a fortnight
after Whit-Monday; they lasted a week, and afforded
ample amusement for all who attended them. The
horses started for the first race at one o'clock; there
were usually about four races during the afternoon.
The sport was followed by public dinners and as-
semblies at Egham and Windsor. The King was
never absent when the 100 guineas he gave for
horses that had been regularly hunted with the Royal
staghounds were run for, and frequently attended
with the Court on more than one day afterwards.

The distance of Ascot from any considerable mar-
ket town tended to make it difficult to procure sup-
plies; the wants of the hungry and thirsty, however,
were satisfied by a couple of hundred booths erected
in the middle of the Heath. Some of these were
quite commodious inns under canvas, their owners
paying to the authorities as much as five guineas for
the privilege to erect them. A concourse of people
was gathered from all parts of the country — Ireland
and Scotland sending their due complement; large
numbers of carriages came down from London;
statesmen, noblemen, members of the House of
Commons, the squire and the parson, everybody

RACING AT ASCOT.

SI

who had the slightest pretence to fashion or pleasure
was present. Thirty or forty covered stands, each
seating from two to three hundred ladies, held the
rank and beauty of the land. Sharks and pick-
pockets, thimble-riggers and bonnets, flocked down
from the metropolis to a rich harvest; the hazard
table, dropping false dice, hustling in the hat, and
pricking in the belt, held carnival. Ten marquees
were allotted to the E. O. tables, for which privilege
a hundred guineas was paid by the proprietors
towards the stakes. Every farmhouse and decent
cottao-e in the surrounding^ villacjes of Eorham,
Staines, Bagshot, Wokingham, and Sunninghill had
its tenants for the week, who were made to pay
smartly for the accommodation afforded them for
holding jubilee at Ascot. But the troubles of in-
convenient lodgings, the rapacity of landladies, and
the fatigue consequent upon travelling many weary
miles to the Royal Heath, might well be forgotten
in the presence of such a scene. The sight of the
King and Queen, followed by the First Gentleman
in Europe and his three Royal sisters, condescending
to pass along the booths between the lines, amidst
the plaudits of the loyal crowd ; the lords and ladies,
the wits and celebrities, and the facilities for E. O.,
made Ascot in the race week a paradise to many
who cared little for the sport that brought the motley
assemblage together.

The business of the E. O. tables at Ascot was
carried on in a comparatively primitive fashion,

4—2

^2 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

though there were plenty of Puffs, Squibs, and
Flashers always on hand to assist the proprietors
in decoying and fleecing the public, such personages
being dressed suitably to the rank of the usual
frequenters of the table. Mere country play, how-
ever, did not require the retinue of officials which
hazard in St. James's-street or the Haymarket de-
manded. A first-rate hell was supposed to be only
properly supplied and managed when it boasted a
list something like the following: — (i) A Commis-
sioner— always one of the proprietors — who looked
in every night, and, with two others of the pro-
prietors, audited the accounts ; {2) a Director, who
superintended the room where play was going on ;
(3) an Operator, who dealt the cards at faro and
other games ; (4) two or more Croupiers, who
watched the game, and gathered the money for the
bank ; (5) two Puffs, who decoyed the players with
money supplied them for that purpose ; (6) a Clerk,
who checked the operations of the Puffs ; (7) a
Squib, who was a sort of apprentice Puff; (8) a
Flasher, whose business it was to swear how very
often the bank had been stripped or broken ; (9) a
Dunner, who went about to recover from gentlemen
the money they had lost to the establishment; (10)
Waiters, to fill the wine-glasses, serve refreshments,
snuff the candles, and generally attend in the gam-
ing-room ; (11) an Attorney of the sharpest kind;
(12) a Captain, ready to fight any gentleman who,
being peevish at the loss of his money, attempted to

LORD BARRYMORE. 53

disturb the harmony of the evening; (13) Ushers, to
hght the company up and down stairs, and give the
word to the porter; (14) the Porter, often a dis-
charged Lifeguardsman ; (15) an Orderly-man, who
walked up and down outside the door, in readiness
to give the alarm of constables to the porter. The
list is completed by runners (who received half a
guinea reward for the earliest news of the constables
being out), link-boys, coachmen, chairmen, drawers,
common bail affidavit-men, ruffians, and bravoes, for
the services of all of whom there was more or less
often requirement in carrying on the business of the
house.

This year saw the end of the eccentric Lord Bar-
rymore, who had played a prominent part on the
Heath even a couple of years before he came of age.
His career on the Turf lasted httle over four seasons.
He soon made himself "as complete a jockey as any
on the Turf," studied the difficult art of handicap-
ping, and speedily arrived at such perfection in it
that only Charles James Fox could dispute the
laurels with him. The best horse Lord Barrymore
owned probably was Rockingham, for whom he gave
3,000 guineas ; but Chanticleer, a horse he sold to the
Duke of York for 2,700 guineas, was a very good
animal. Lord Barrymore 's eccentricities were many,
from cooking fowls in a billiard-room to uncarting a
blind stag for his hounds and his friends to follow.
His natural abilities enabled him to hold his own on
the Turf, where he was a large winner; but what he

54 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

won by his matches he too often lost in the card-
room at night. No fortune, however large, could
support such extravagance as this young nobleman's.
His huntinof establishment was more like that of
Lewis the Fourteenth than of an English subject;
his stud at Newmarket was kept up at an enormous
outlay during the four years of its existence. With
this young nobleman everything was done en prmce,
reckless of consequence or cost; and when he died,
at a very early age, he had for some time been a
hopelessly ruined man.

It was easy in those days for a young man to run
through his property. Stakes and bets at cards, at
hazard, and on the Turf were high, and Lord Bar-
rymore's rent-roll was not of the largest. For the
owner of a fairly good horse to make a match of a
thousand guineas after dinner, and in the next fort-
night to get on five times that sum in bets, was an
everyday occurrence. When he was unable to find
all the money in time to post it and save his forfeit,
he would often borrow of his friends. For instance,
when Lord Abingdon had made a match for 7,000
guineas at Newmarket, which he was likely to win,
but was unable to find the necessary money by the
day appointed, he was indebted to the celebrated
miser, Elwes, for the loan of the sum. The owner
of Marcham, who would lend at usury though he
would not spend, was so much interested in the
match that he rode from his seat in Suffolk to New-
market to witness the event. He was accompanied

DERBY OF i7gi. 55

by a clergyman, who had eaten no breakfast. After
riding almost all day, at four o'clock in the afternoon
the parson ventured to suggest dinner, making an
apropos remark about the keen air of Newmarket
Heath, when Mr. Elwes bade him dine as he did, at the
same time pulling from his great-coat pocket a piece
of an ancient and crushed pancake, which he said he
had brought from his house at Marcham two months
before, remarking that it was " as good as new."

By the year 1793 the Derby had grown into
great popularity, and on the i8th of May the "re-
newal of the Derby Stakes of 50 guineas each"
was decided, in the presence of the Prince of Wales,
many of the leaders of fashion, and as large a
general company as had ever been seen on a race-
course. Waxey won ; but the event of the day was
the appearance in the enclosure of Sir John Lade in
trousers, which, a contemporary authority records,
puzzled the crowd to tell whether he was the captain
of a privateer or an ambassador from the Great
Moaul.

Although the Derby, the Oatlands, the St. Leger,
and some other stakes were eminently attractive,
matches still retained their pride of place in the
affections of sportsmen. They freely matched their
champions in the cock-pit, on the v/alking-path, and
in the prize-ring, as well as on the Turf ; and large
numbers were commonly interested in the decision
of these events. Cheshire against Lincolnshire, or
Staffordshire against Lancashire, with stakes of 20

56 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

guineas a battle and 500 guineas the main, with
^20,000 in bets depending on the issue ; walking-
matches for a thousand guineas, from the Standard
in Cornhill to Guildford, to Leicester, or to York ;
illustrations of the noble art of self-defence, with
fabulous sums staked upon the Chickens and the
Pets ; matches at Newmarket for a year's income,
with bets equal to the anticipation of three or four
years' receipts from a moderate estate, were the
order of the day. Even cricket did not escape the
love of wagering that prevailed. Lords Winchilsea
and Darnley (among other similar instances) playing
a match at Lord's for a wager of 1,000 guineas. In
this year occurred the first match at cricket, " One
arm verstts one leg" — a young nobleman "of great
notoriety in the kaiif ton'' having made a match
" Legs against Wings," which was played by Green-
wich pensioners on Blackheath.

Sport there was in plenty in Merry England, but
its zest was rather marred than aided by the ruin-
ously high stakes and bets that were the mode.
One gentleman, having lost upwards of ^70,000
in one night's play at Brookes's Club, next staked
and lost his carriages, horses, plate, and furni-
ture — gambling on a scale that quite puts into
the shade the baccarat and poker of our own day
at certain London clubs. Being now completely
ruined, a gentleman who was present proposed that
an annuity of ^50 per annum should be settled
upon the ruined member, and paid out of the

HIGHFLYER. 57

general fund of the club. This proposal was carried
nem. con. It was afterwards resolved that every
member of the club who might happen to become
completely ruined by play should be allowed a
similar annuity, on condition that he never played
in the house ao^ain.

A fitting illustration of the results of the hio^h
play and heavy betting that prevailed is to be found
in the career of Thomas, Lord Foley, who died July
2nd, 1793. He was as liberal a patron as the Turf
ever had : amiable, beloved, kind in all the relations
of life, he left behind him a stainless name, but a
bankrupt exchequer and an encumbered estate. He
began his career on the Turf with ^100,000 in
ready money and a clear estate of ^18,000 a year.
By disastrous speculation he ran through all his
fortune, and parted with all the interest he had in
his landed estate.

In October, 1793, Highflyer, the property of Mr.
Tattersall, founder of the celebrated firm of auction-
eers, died, after a long and glorious career on the
Turf and at the stud. Childers and Eclipse ex-
cepted, Highflyer was the most celebrated horse up
to that time seen on the English Turf He was got
by King Herod, his dam (Mark Antony's dam) by
Blank. During the time he was in training he won
many valuable prizes, the chief of which was a
sweepstakes of 2,600 guineas in the Second Spring
Meeting at Newmarket, 1778, for four-year-olds.

S8 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Among his numerous engagements he counted only
two that were not victorious ; he paid forfeit once,
and was beaten once, when a three-year-old. High-
flyer was undoubtedly the best horse of his time in
England. He won in stakes 8,920 guineas, though
he began to race at three years old, and never
started after he was five. Among the best of his
progeny may be enumerated Rockingham, Delpini,
Sir Peter Teazle, Young Highflyer, Skyscraper,
Omphale, Balloon, Spadille, Walnut, Volante, and
Slope.

At the time of his death he was earning his
owner about 1,200 guineas a year at the stud. It
is proudly acknowledged by the family of Tattersall
that to this horse they owe the foundation of their
fortunes. The death of Highflyer called forth an
epitaph, of which the following lines are only part: —
" Here lieth the perfect and beautiful symmetry of
the much lamented Highflyer, by whom and his
wonderful offspring the celebrated Tattersall ac-
quired a noble fortune, but was not ashamed to
acknowledge it. In gratitude to this famous stallion
he called an elegant mansion he built Highflyer Hall."

The owner of the famous sire did not long survive
the horse in which his heart was bound up. Mr.
Richard Tattersall died on the 21st of February',
1795, at his house at Hyde Park Corner, in the
seventy-first year of his age. He was a native of
the county of York, and in due time learned the
mystery of wool-combing; but having the love of

HIGHFLYER. 59

horses and adventure that has from time imme-
morial distinguished Yorkshiremen, he found his
way to London, and obtained employment at Mr.
Beevor's Horse Repository, in St. Martins-lane.
Mr. Tattersall's good conduct and knowledge of
horseflesh obtained for him a recommendation to
the Duke of Kingston, into whose service he en-
tered as superintendent of the stables; and in this
capacity he remained until he began business for
himself as an auctioneer of horses. He was well-
fitted for the duties of his new avocation, and suc-
ceeded in making for himself such a reputation that
all the great studs of his time came to be dispersed
under his hammer. Mr. Tattersall was the archi-
tect of his own fortunes ; he made a great name in
his particular business, which flourishes and pro-
gresses year by year. The name of his family is
a household word, not only in sporting circles at
home, but all over the world : there is scarcely any-
body in an English-speaking country but has heard
of " Tattersall's." The founder of the house left his
descendants an honest name, a good business. High-
flyer Hall, and his estate near Ely; but they had,
perhaps, occasion to regret that Mr. Richard Tat-
tersall did not confine his transactions entirely to
horseflesh.

Mr. Tattersall bought Highflyer of Lord Boling-
broke for ^800, and he gained altogether about
^25,000 by his purchase. At the time of his be-
coming the possessor of Highflyer, the favourite

6o HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Stallion was Eclipse; but the chances of produce
were very uncertain, and breeders were already
getting tired of sending mares to him. Highflyer
was very successful at the stud; and, seeing this,
Mr. Tattersall bought a number of well-bred mares
■ — for the most part at low prices — and in due course
possessed as fine a stud of brood mares as any in
the kingdom. In dealing with the produce of his
paddocks, however, he pursued a policy just the
opposite of that followed by Captain O' Kelly, who
trained nearly every animal he bred. Mr. Tatter-
sall, on the other hand, never trained any of his
young stock, selling them all untried ; and this course
he found to be by far the most remunerative he
could adopt.

Having now acquired a considerable fortune by
his business as an auctioneer, he unfortunately de-
cided to try his hand at managing a newspaper. It
was pointed out to him that if he became part pro-
prietor of a respectable morning paper, he would
derive the profits from the large necessary expendi-
ture in advertisements connected with his business.
It had become proverbial that all Mr. Tattersall
touched turned to gold, and it was with a firm belief
in his own lucky star that he lent no unwilling ear
to the persuasions of his friends — Skinner, the Lord
Mayor, Church, the auctioneer. Bell, the bookseller,
and others — and joined them in purchasing the
Morning Post. The Rev. Mr. Bate was the editor,
and the result was a profit of ;^3,ooo a year — an

OLD MR. TATTERS ALL. 6i

amount that would be an unconsidered trifle in the
total profit of a leading daily paper now, but then con-
sidered a handsome return for the capital invested.
Journals managed by committees are dangerous pro-
perty ; and though the parson appears to have been
able to pit three against three at the council-board,
he always had the seventh against him. Mr. Tat-
tcrsall became disgusted with the doings of the
committee, and established the Moinihig Herald in
opposition to the Post. This speculation at first
proved a bad one — the Hei^ald could not hold its
own against the Post ; but the calm retirement of
a prison cell gave Mr. Tattersall ample leisure to
master the details of newspaper management. " I
was fortunately," he says, " convicted of a libel on
the Duke of Richmond, and imprisoned in the
King's Bench." After three months his Grace re-
lented, and consented that Mr. Tattersall should be
set at liberty. After his term of incarceration in the
King's Bench was over, his conduct of the paper was
successful, and the Herald soon took the lead of its
rivals. Scandal was a prominent feature in the
paper — the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Fitz-Herbert
being very roughly handled, and Fox libelled daily,
until Mr. Tattersall changed his tactics and his
politics at the same time, and all three became
angels in the columns of his paper. He was also
for some time proprietor of the English Chronicle;
but after some years' experience of the anxieties and
risks of owning and managing newspaper properties,

62 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Mr. Tattersall disposed of his interest in these ven-
tures. He lived to a good old age, to dispense with
liberal hand the hospitality of Highflyer Hall, to in-
crease his fortune, and to give the toast of "The
Hammer and Highflyer," with him an after-dinner
rule without an exception.

Epitaphs in the papers were the fashion of that
day, in which a man's qualities, good or bad, were re-
corded largely in capital letters. A few days after
Mr. Tattersall's death the following lines were pub-
lished. They may serve in this place at once to
show the opinion his contemporaries held of the
founder of the " house at the Corner," and to illus-
trate a custom once universal but now fallen into
desuetude : —

Sacred to the Ashes of

RICHARD TATTERSALL,

Late of Hyde Park Corner, in the County of

Middlesex, Esq.,

who

By his indefatigable Industry,

Irreproachable Character,

And unassuming Manners,

Raised himself

From an humble, though respectable, origin

To Independence and Affluence.

To the rare excellence of bearing Prosperity with Moderation,

HE

By his inflexible integrity

united

{As he justly acquired)

The exalted Appellation of

HONEST MAN!

EPITAPH. 63

And continued uncorrupted even by

Riches. Thus

Universally respected and beloved by all who knew him

He lived; and died as universally regretted

On the 2 1 St day of February,

In the year of our Lord,

i795>

And in the 7 1 st year of his age.

But though

His perishable part, together with this frail tribute to his ashes,

shall decay,

yet

As long as the recollection of

Honest worth,

Sociable manners,

and

Hospitality unbounded

Shall be dear to the memory of man.

The remembrance of him shall live: surviving the

Slender aid of the proud Pyramid,

The boasted durability of Brass,

and

The wreck of Ages ! ! !

64 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHAPTER IV.

GEORGE THE FOURTH AND CPHFXEY DISPUTE WITH

THE JOCKEY CLUB — RETIREMENT OF THE PRINXE
FROM THE TURF DEATH OF CHIFXEY.

IN the year 1 784, George the Fourth, then Prince
of Wales, made his first appearance on the Turf
in the character of an o^vner of race-horses. Seven
years later — namely, in October, 1791 — his Royal
Highness retired from the Turf for the second time,
under the following circumstances. On the 20th
and 2 1st days of October, in the year above-
mentioned, a horse named Escape, the property of
the Prince, was entered, and ran for two different
races at Newmarket. On the first day the race was
from the Ditch in; the stakes were sixty guineas,
and four competitors faced the starter for it: —
Mr. Dawson's Coriander, Lord Grosvenor's Sky-
lark, Lord Clermont's Pipeator, and his Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales's Escape. They
passed the post in the order named : the betting
previous to the race having been 2 to i against
Escape, 4 to i against Coriander, and 5 to i against
Skylark. The result, of course, led to no remarks.
The defeat of a favourite was as common a thing on
the Heath then as it is now. The fact that Escape
was the property of the First Gentleman in Europe,

GEORGE THE FOURTH AA'D CHIFNEY. 65

did not make his backers angry when they saw
the Royal purple and gold buttons looming in the
rear. But on the following day, the 21st, the Prince
thought proper to start Escape for a race over the
Beacon Course, a subscription of five guineas each,
for which there were twelve subscribers, six of whom
sent their representatives to the post. These were
his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales's Escape,
Lord Barrymore's Chanticleer, Lord Grosvenor's
Skylark, the Duke of Bedford's Grey Diomed, Lord
Clermont's Pipeator, and Mr. Barton's Alderman.
They were placed by the judge in this order — the
betting at the start having been 7 to 4 against
Chanticleer, 1 1 to 5 against Skylark, 5 to i against
Escape, and 6 to i against Grey Diomed.

Immediately after the race, angry remarks were
made about the running of the Prince's horse, and
insinuations against His Royal Highness's honour
and the riding of his jockey, Sam Chifney, were
general. The direct reversal of the running of
Escape on the previous day certainly called for
notice. The Jockey Club accordingly took the
matter up. The stewards were Sir Charles Bun-
bury, and Messrs. Ralph Dutton and Thomas Pan-
ton, and they sent for Chifney and examined
him upon the subject of their inquiry. To the
Prince Regent and his connection with the Turf, and
to Samuel Chifney as a great horseman, so much
interest attaches that it is necessary to tell over again
the oft-told tale of the Escape affair, of the Prince's

VOL. I. 5

66 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

squabble with the Jockey Club, of his consequent re-
tirement from the Turf, and of Sam Chifney's ex-
planation and defence.

The explanation and defence, giving the full
though ex parte history of the Escape affair, are to
be found in "Genius Genuine," a book of some 170
pages, first published in 1795, when the author was
in reduced circumstances, and four years after the
events which furnished its interesting chapters with
matter. The title-page of "Genius Genuine," by
Samuel Chifney, of Newmarket, sets out that his
work contains " a fine part in riding a race known
only to the author; why there are so few good
runners, and why the Turf horses degenerate; a
guide to recover them in their strength and speed,
as well as to train horses for running and hunters
and hacks for hard riding; to preserve their
strength and their sinews from being so often de-
stroyed; with reasons for horses changing in their
running; likewise a full account of the Princes horse
Escape's running at Newmarket on the 20th and 2 ist
days of October, 1791; with other interesting par-
ticulars. Sold only for the author, 232, Piccadilly."
The price was five pounds, or at the rate of almost
eightpence a page. The sale was evidently greater
than was expected, though there are now no data
by which it is possible to determine the number of
copies printed; for a second edition, likewise "price
five pounds," appeared on the 9th of January, 1804.

Nor had the great jockey been silent in the

GEORGE THE FOURTH AND CHIFNEY. 67

meantime, for in 1800 he advertised his publication
at a moderate price. Half a crown was the sum he
charged for the " Narrative, or address of Samuel
Chifney (rider for life to his Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales), to the public in general, but more
particularly to such of them as heretofore have been,
now are, or hereafter may be, connected with the
Turf."

Of the two effusions inspired by the Prince's
jockey — for he was not without material assistance
in the authorship — the cheaper is, for all practical
purposes, by far the more useful. For although it
may be admitted that in 1795 a number of owners
and others engaged in training thoroughbred stock
did feel an interest in penetrating the mysteries of
riding, training and " preserving" horses — of which
Chifney said he was the sole repository — yet five
pounds a copy were given for " Genius Genuine,"
chiefly by benevolent patrons of the Turf, who
thought that Chifney had been hardly used, and
by curious people, who were still very much inte-
rested in all the matters connected with the Prince's
second retirement.

The jockey could tell the story better than any
one else. He had been party to all the proceedings
which had driven his master from the Heath he
loved. To Chifney, therefore, the public went for
those " full particulars" he alone of the persons
originally concerned in the Escape transactions of
1 79 1 was able and willing to give. And mainly

^ — 2

68 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

because his five-pound book contained their recital
were two editions of it sold; and solely from this
cause was it that his half-crown pamphlet reached a
large sale and enjoyed a high degree of popularity.

The influence of Johnson upon English literature
was still very strong within the first twenty years
after his death, and men who devote themselves to
Turf pursuits are usually conservative to a very high
degree. Accordingly, Sam Chifney's literary ad-
viser in 1800 thinks it necessary to put forward
his "Reasons for this Publication" in quite a John-
sonian strain. " Amidst the great variety of cha-
racters, from the highest to the lowest ranks of life,
which are to be found on the Turf," we are told, ** the
number of those who make an unfair use of their
knowledge and experience of it is comparatively
small; but the effects of their unfair exertions are
very extensive." Presently, however, we come to
the actual narrative, doubtless told in Sam's own
words, lengthened syllabically as the grandeur of the
occasion requires.

He does not conceive that anybody can be ig-
norant of the sensation that was made on the Turf
when he had the honour of riding his Royal High-
ness's horse Escape at Newmarket, on the 20th
and 2 1 St days of October, 1791. Most wonders last
only nine days — so the proverb says; but after a
lapse of nine years the old jockey finds himself suf-
fering from the effects of the occurrence of those
days, with a family he Is unable to provide for out of

GEORGE THE FOURTH AND CHIFNEY. 69

his very scanty means. He is justly indignant at
the imputation of dishonesty, and he presumes that
the Hberahty of his readers will induce them to
admit that his character, name, and reputation are as
dear to him and as important to his family as if he
had been placed by Providence in the most exalted
situation in life.

With thus much of preface we come to the
narrative of his connection with the Prince of
Wales.

On the 14th of July, 1790, his Royal Highness
engaged Chifney for life, at wages of two hundred
guineas a year, to ride his horses.

Mr. W. Lake had then the superintendence of the
Royal stable, and the Prince told Chifney that he
was always to take his final orders from that gentle-
man : —

"Sam Chifney, if at any time it should happen
that I give you orders how to ride, you will always
go to Mr. Lake for your final orders; and. Mr. Lake
and you will make any alteration you like and where
you please."

Now nothing can be clearer than this: it was pro-
bable that the Prince would often give orders to his
jockey how to ride; but, as a matter of prudence, he
left it to better judges than himself — to the gentle-
man to whom he had entrusted the making of his
matches and to his jockey — to decide at last what
it might be best to do. This plan was adhered to to
the letter — Mr. Lake was consulted in the last re-

70 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

source, as the Prince had directed; but where Mr.
Lake's orders ran contrary to Sam Chifney's ideas
his superior went to the wall.

Of this, in his " Address " and in " Genius
Genuine," he gives four or five instances. The
cases in point are those of the running of Scota
at Lewes, on the 7th August, 1790, where he plainly
states that Mr. W. Lake had laid money against
the Prince's mare; a match at eight pounds be-
tween his Royal Highness's Magpie, and Lord
Barrymore's Seagull, in which Mr. Lake seems to
have been interested in getting Magpie beaten; and
a match between his Royal Highness's Traveller
against Lord Barrymore's Highlander, in which
Traveller cut up very badly. Of this match Chif-
ney says : —

" On the morning they were to run, his Royal
Highness sent for me whilst Mr. W. Lake was in
his room, and said, ' Sam Chifney, will Traveller
run to-day?'

" I replied, ' No, your Royal Highness; I don't
think he will.' "

Mr. Lake took up the jockey with warmth, and
praised the mare's merits so extravagantly that
Chifney came to the conclusion that the Prince's
sporting Mentor wished to " disguise the truth."

In the next case quoted by Chifney, Pegasus was
going to run against Cardock and another horse for
the King's Plate at Newmarket, and Mr. W. Lake
ordered him to make play with his Royal High-

GEORGE THE FOURTH AND CHIFNEY. 71

ness's horse. Chifney objected strongly, but Mr.
Lake insisted. In the actual race, however, he
played his own game, and won on the post.

Mr. Lake came up and said, " I give you joy,
Chifney. I was glad to see the horse win. I mean,
I was glad for the horse's master's sake, for I don't
mind anything about them myself."

At this time it was Chifney's belief that Mr. W.
Lake was not always on the side of his Royal
Highness in betting transactions, and that Neale
was a very incompetent trainer, or, as he was then
called, groom to the Royal stud.

" I thought it," he says, " my duty to make known
to the public the incapacity of Neale for his situa-
tion; which, whether known or not to Mr. W. Lake,
I considered to be much encouraged by him, to the
severe loss of his Royal Highness."

In fact, Chifney's opinion was that Mr. Lake
permitted the Prince to employ an incompetent
trainer, who constantly brought his animals to the
post untrained in order that he might profit by
laying against them when his Royal Highness and
his friends backed them.

We now come to Escape.

Chifney had long had his eye on the horse. So
far back as April, 1 789, he had seen him beaten by
Harpator when they ran the four miles of the
Duke's Course together. In October, of the same
year, he saw him beat Nimble, "a fast runner,"
across the flat; and so came to the conclusion that

7^ HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Escape was a horse possessing a fine turn of
speed.

At Ascot, in June, 1 790, Escape lost the Oatlands
Stakes, in Chifney's opinion through not running
a waiting race. Then comes his personal connection
with an animal that proved most unfortunate to him.
In August, 1790, he was ordered to York, and to
ride Escape. The Prince had taken in one bet 3,000
to 2,000 guineas that his horse won both the Great
Subscriptions.

The first of these races Escape won, in the second
he was beaten very easily by most of the other
runners. The double event bets were consequently
lost, and, as the jockey thought, solely because the
Prince's horse was " very unfit to run."

On several important occasions he seems to have
sent up a similar message to the Prince, and his
master had the good sense to act upon his advice.
Two animals, respectively named Traveller and
Creeper, which the Prince had matched, or Mr. W.
Lake had matched for him, for large sums of money,
seem to have given a great deal of trouble to every-
body connected with them ; and, according to Chif-
ney's account, were pretty nearly always "unfit to
run." At York, owing to Chifney's advice, Mr.
Lake had hedged nearly all the Prince's money —
in fact, his Royal Highness only stood to lose 350
guineas by the result.

On the first day of the meeting, Chifney says
that Escape was run very hard by a horse that was

GEORGE THE FOURTH AND CHIFNEY. 73

publicly known to run but very moderately; on the
second day, in better company, he was beaten very
easily by all his opponents.

So far, then, it would appear that Escape was an
uncertain horse — an animal that could not be de-
pended upon; but one of which, when in condition,
Chifney entertained a very high opinion.

This brings us to Newmarket October Meeting,
when Escape's performances led to the retirement
of his Royal Highness from the Turf — an event that
was keenly regretted by lovers of the sport through-
out the kingdom. Chifney had been accused of
" tricks" on Escape before — notably, when Baronet,
in his own stable, beat him for the Oatlands Stakes
at Ascot, a race on which an immense sum of money
had been betted. The Prince told Chifney he stood
to win seventeen thousand on Ijaronet. But there
is not a jot of evidence to show that Escape was not
on that occasion beaten on his merits; and beaten,
Chifney again states, because he was badly trained,
by grooms whom he describes as " honest fellows
who knew no better." However, he seems to
have been trained by the 5th of October, for on
that date he placed two races to the Prince's
credit, who was so pleased with Chifney's master-
like riding that he shook him by the hand, and
said, " Sam Chifney, no person but you shall ride
for me."

On the 20th, when Chifney was riding his cob on
to the raceground, with his saddle tied round his

H HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

waist, he passed the Prince and a party of friends.
As he went along at a hand gallop through the gap,
the Prince called out in a loud tone, "Sam Chifney,
Escape is sure of winning to-day, is he not?"

Chifney reined in his cob, and riding up to his
master, said, touching his cap, "Your Royal High-
ness, I do not think Escape is sure to win to-day."

"Yes," replied the Prince, "Escape is sure of
winning to-day."

" I then," says Chifney, " took the liberty of ad-
vising his Royal Highness not to bet upon him, as
the odds, from his previous performances, were likely
to be high upon him, and much might be lost, though
little could be won."

" No," returned the Prince, " I shall not bet upon
him, but he is sure of winning," and trotted on, to
join the company already riding down the lower
side of the running-ground to the turn of the
Lands,

Chifney professes that he was now under a " pe-
culiar embarrassment," as he very much wanted an
opportunity of telling his Royal Highness that he
thought it very likely that Escape was not quite fit
to run. Nothing would have been easier for him to
do than to turn his pony off the grass and ride after
the Prince's party down the road. He did not do so,
however. Nor did he communicate his reasons for
thinking Escape would lose when, after a race or
two had been run, the Prince was in Lord Barry-
more's carriage at the rails by the turn of the Lands,

GEORGE THE FOURTH AND CHIFNEY. 75

and called out to Chifney to come to him to receive
his final orders about riding Escape.

"Sam Chifney," said his Royal Highness, " I wish
you to make very strong play with Escape."

To this remark the jockey says he made no reply.

The Prince continued, " I am never afraid when I
am giving South and you orders, for I know you
are both too good jockeys to overwork your horses.
But now I will not compel you to make play with
Escape. If there is no other horse to make play,
then you are to do so. I hope you perfectly under-
stand me?"

Chifney replied, " Yes, your Royal Highness, I
perfectly understand."

The Prince then drove with Lord Barrymore to
the betting-post, and his jockey did not see him
again till after the race.

Mr. Lake, however, saw Chifney immediately the
Prince had left him, and asked what orders he had
got about riding Escape. Chifney repeated the
Prince's injunctions. They both agreed that it
would be madness to make play; and Mr. Lake
said, " I think, as you do, that Escape had better
wait, so you will wait at all events ; and as I see the
Prince's carriage, I will go up at once and make
everything perfectly pleasant."

At the saddling stable, Chifney says he asked if
Escape had had a sweat since he ran his last race — ■
a fortnight before ; and the groom told him he had
not.

yS HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

The horses were started. Chifney waited with
Escape, and was beaten.

On returning to scale, the Prince said, " Chifney,
you have lost this race by not making strong play as
I desired you."

He excused himself, and expressed a hope that
the Prince had not lost any money over the race.

" No, I have not lost a stiver," his master replied,
" but that don't argue. Escape would have won if
you had made play. I am a better jockey than you
and Mr. Lake together. You have lost the race by
not obeying my orders."

At a subsequent interview with the Prince and
Mr. Lake, the former said to Chifney, " What is
the meaning of Escape's being beaten to-day? for
you tell me Escape is the best horse in the world."

" I did tell your Royal Highness," replies the
jockey, " that Escape was the best horse in England,
and I think the same of him now. It is a fortnight
since he ran last. He has not had a sweat since,
and though he looks straight and handsome to the
eye, he is unfit to run; and I believe that was the
cause of his being beaten to-day."

The Prince announced to Mr. Lake his Intention
of running Escape the next day, when Chifney
said, " I am very glad your Royal Highness does run
Escape to-morrow. This sharp rally to-day will not
fatigue him, has sweated him, opened his pores, and
lightened his flesh. He will run both faster and
longer to-morrow ; and his running to-day is my only

GEORGE THE FOURTH AND CHIFNEY. 77

reason for wishing your Royal Highness to back him
to-morrow ; for had he not run to-day I should not
have wished your Royal Highness to back him to-
morrow."

According to Chifney's account, this is all that
passed between him and the Prince on the subject
that afternoon. The next day, October 21st, when
they met on the Heath, the Prince told Chifney that
he wished him to make play with Escape in his race
if no other horse made play, concluding his instruc-
tions with the words, " God bless you !" as the jockey
reports them, who adds, " As his Royal Highness was
leaving me I said, ' I wish your Royal Highness to
back Escape,' and he called to me saying, ' Yes, I
will.

Chifney then thinks that, having thus advised
his master, he had better, for the look of the thing,
back the horse himself. Accordingly he applies to
Mr. Lake to lose twenty guineas for him upon Escape,
but that gentleman replies, " No, I will have nothing
to do with it, there are so many unpleasant things
happen." Why Mr. Lake should thus prophesy the
unpleasantness that followed so shortly after does not
appear in the narrative. Mr. Vauxhall Clark, how-
ever, was more accommodating, and laid Chifney the
odds to twenty guineas, as he wished.

Then came the race, in which Skylark made play.
Chifney waited with Escape, and won easily. Then
there was a sensation produced among the habitiUs
of the Heath — ugly things were said about Sam Chif-

78 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

ney's riding, and equally ugly things were whispered
about his master,

" As I came from scale," he writes, " I was told
Mr. W. Lake had been saying something severe to
his Royal Highness concerning Escape's running."

The Prince, according to Chifney, only won a few
hundreds by the success of his horse. "It was under
four hundred guineas and it was near four hundred
guineas," is his account.

The subsequent events in connection with the
Prince's retirement from the Turf are thus summa-
rized:— On the morning after Escape's second race
at Newmarket the jockey was sent for, and met his
master in his dressinof-room.

" Sam Chifney," said the Prince, " I have sent for
you upon very unpleasant business. I am told that
you won six or seven hundred pounds the day before
yesterday, when you rode Escape and was beat on
him."

Chifney replied that he believed his Royal High-
ness had not such an opinion of him. But the Prince
added that he had also been told that he won about
the same sum in the race he had won with the horse.
Chifney protested.

The Prince appears to have believed him entirely,
but told him to make an affidavit specifying all the
bets he had on both races. This was done. He was
"had up" before the stewards of the Jockey Club,
Sir Charles Bunbury and Messrs. Button and Panton.
They were not satisfied, and in consequence of the

GEORGE THE FOURTH AND CHIFNEY. 79

resolution of the Jockey Club he received a letter
from Sir John Lade, telling him to attend at once
upon the Prince at Carlton House. There he was
told by his master that Sir Charles Bunbury had said
that if Chifney were suffered to ride the Prince's
horses no gentleman would start against him. It
was a bitter pill to swallow; but the Prince behaved
like a man, and gave up his favourite amusement
rather than sacrifice his servant.

His Royal Highness told Chifney he should not
be likely to keep horses again. " But if ever I do,
Sam Chifney, you shall train and manage them.
You shall have your two hundred guineas a year all
the same. I cannot give it you for your life, I can
only give it for my own. You have been an honest
and good servant to me."

The racing season for the year 1791 was over,
and early in 1792 his second retirement from the
Turf was announced. In the month of December
of that year, two stallions of his, eleven brood mares,
and fourteen horses in training, with their engage-
ments, were sold, together with six horses of the
Dpke of York's.

A country squire, who possessed a copy of Chif-
ney's five-guinea edition of " Genius Genuine" — who
treasured the volume and honoured the memory of
the author — has left this account of Chifney 's end in
autograph on the fly leaf: —

" The author of this pamphlet was the most cele-
brated and favourite rider of races on the Turf. In

So HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

consequence, I believe, of the affair of Escape he fell
into disgrace, and consequently into poverty. This
little book was published at the high price of five
guineas for the purpose of relieving his necessities.
He died in the King's Bench Prison; and of his last
moments I am told the following anecdote: —

" A gentleman who had long known him, and
compassionated his forlorn condition, called on him,
and said, ' Sam, you should think a little of a future
state. If you please, I will get a clergyman to come
and pray by you, and give you religious consolation.'

" Chifney expressed his thanks, but wished for a
little tim.e to think upon it. The gentleman said
he was going out for a short time, and would soon
return. When he came back, he said, ' Well, Sam, I
have spoken to the parson of the parish, and he will
come to see you whenever you please. What do
you say to it?'

" ' Why, sir,' answered Chifney, * I am obliged to
you all the same, but I have thought upon it. I
have made up my mind. I'll stand it all. I won't
hedge.'"

He did not; but died, without seeing the parson,
at his wretched lodgings in Fleet-lane, within the
rules of the Fleet Prison, in January, 1807. Born
in Norfolk, about 1753, we find him, after a short ap-
prenticeship to the mysteries of his craft, recognized
as one of the best of those jockeys among whom he
afterwards became prinms inter pares. His compa-
nions and contemporaries in the pigskin were the two

GEORGE THE FOURTH AND CHIFNEY. 8i

Arnolds, John and Sam, Clift and Oakley; and to-
wards the close of his Turf career Buckle pushed
him hard at a finish across the Flat or Ditch In.

He was "jockey for life" to his Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales; and he rode at different times
for the leading noblemen and gentlemen who kept
a stud of horses at Newmarket and patronized the
Turf.

Stubbs took his portrait on Baronet, the property
of his Royal master; and this picture well exhibits
his backward seat in the saddle, and his peculiar
slack rein style of handling his bridle. He was not
only the author of a guide to the recondite secrets of
training, but the inventor of a bit intended to reduce
his theories to practice, and known in its day as the
Chifney bit. This favourite jockey of the latter end
of the last century and beginning of the present, was a
muscular, lightly built man, about five feet six inches
in height, of comely features, respectful in his man-
ners to his superiors, kindly among his associates
described by one who knew him well in his pros-
perity and in his adversity, and who always stood by
him, as "a thorough good servant, and the finest
rider that ever threw his thigh over a racer."

He entered Fox's stables at Newmarket in or
about 1770, from whom he learnt the rudiments of
the art of jockeyship; and a year or two afterwards
he entered the service of Richard Prince, training
groom to Lord Foley. Chifney thus served his ap-
prenticeship to two men who were accounted the

VOL. I. 6

82 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

best trainers of their time. He says of himself : —
"In 1773 I could ride horses in a better manner in
a race to beat others than any person ever known
in my time, and in 1775 I could train horses for run-
ning better than any person I ever yet saw. Riding
I learned myself, and training I learned from Mr.
Richard Prince."

His "Genius Genuine" contained not only his
elaborate defence of his proceedings in regard to the
riding of Eclipse, but also his reasons for riding with
a loose rein, and the causes why "the Turf Horses
degenerate, and Guides to recover them to their
Strength and Speed."

As to the former, he writes : — " Now, in my own

defence, I will name one of those very fine parts in

riding a race, as it is thrown in my face to this hour

as a very great fault in my riding — viz., my riding

with a loose rein. The Duke of Bedford was near

taking me off his horses, saying the people teased

him because I rode his horses with a loose rein, and

desired me to hold my horse fast in his running. I

was sorry his Grace was thus troubled, as it puts a

horse's frame all wrong, and his speed slackened,

where the horse has that sort of management to his

mouth. My reins appeared loose, but my horse had

only proper liberty, and mostly running in the best

of attitudes. It is usual when that grooms are taking

and giving orders to their riders, to hold the horse

fast in his running; and where a horse is intended to

make play, their orders are to hold the horse fast by

THE SLACK REIN. 83

the head, and let him come, or come along with him;
but it is very much against a horse to hold him fast,
or let him bear on his rein in his running: it makes
him run with his mouth more open, and pulls his
head more in or up. This causes him at times to
run in a fretting, jumping attitude, with his fore-legs
more open ; sometimes it causes him to run stag-
necked ; this makes the horse point his fore-legs
(otherwise called straight -legged). Sometimes it
makes the horse run with his head and neck mol'e
down, crowding and reaching against his rider. This
reaching his neck against his rider pulls the horse's
fore-legs out farther than the pace occasions. In all
those attitudes his sinews are more worked and ex-
tended, he has more exertion, his wind more locked,
and this reaching and pointing his fore-legs makes
them swell and tire.

"That the first fine part in riding a race is to com-
mand your horse to run light in his mouth^it is
done with manner; it keeps him better together, his
legs are more under him, his sinews less extended,
less exertion, his wind less locked ; the horse running
thus to order, feeling light for his rider's mounts, his
parts are more at ease and ready, and can run con-
siderably faster when called upon to what he can
when that he has been running in the fretting,
sprawling attitude, with part of the "rider's weight
in his mouth.

" And as the horse comes to his last extremity,
finishing his race, he is the better forced and kept

6—2

84 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Straight with manner,* and fine touching to his
mouth. In this situation the horse's mouth should
be eased of the weight of his rein; if not, it stops
him little or much. If a horse is a slug, he should
be forced with a manner up to this order of running,
and particularly so if he has to make play, or he will
run the slower and jade the sooner for the want of it.
" The phrase at Newmarket is, that you should
pull your horse to ease him in his running. When
horses are at their greatest distress in their running,
they cannot bear that visible manner of pulling as
looked for by many of the sportsmen; he should be
enticed to ease himself an inch a time, as his situa-
tion will allow.

" This should be done as if you had a silken rein
as fine as a hair, and that you was afraid of breaking
it.

" This 'is the true way a horse should be held fast
in his running.

" N.B. — If the Jockey Club will be pleased to give
me two hundred guineas, I will make them a bridle
as I believe never was, and I believe can never be,
excelled for their light weights to hold their horses
from running away, and to run to order in, as above-
mentioned, as near as I thus can teach; and it is
much best for all horses to run in such; and ladies
in particular should have such to ride and drive in,

* The word "manner" is throwing, putting, and keeping self
and horse in the best of attitudes. This gives readiness, force,
and quickness.

DEGENERATION OF HORSES. 85

as they -not only excel in holding horses from running
away, but make horses step safer, ride pleasanter,
and carriage handsomer."

As to the matter of the asserted degeneration of
racers, Chifney writes: —

" The outcry is, 'Why are there so few good run-
ners, or that the Turf horses degenerate?' Some
say they think it is from running horses too young.
My opinion is this, viz. — That the best running
mares are trained till their running is gone from
them, little or much, then turned into the stud ex-
hausted of their juices, as above described. Perhaps
drop a foal on the following year, and so on year
after year, suckling one foal while breeding another.
The mare is thus turned into the stud drained of
her strength, and her continually breeding keeps her
so, without she lays herself barren a year or two by
her mis-standing. This chance manner of her lay-
ing herself fallow gives her an opportunity of re-
covering her juices, or strength to enable her to
breed a strono-er foal. And it is the same with the
horses. They are turned out of training into the
stujd thus drained of their nature; and the better
runner he is, the more he is immediately pressed
with numbers of the best mares, and, in a manner,
all to the stallions at one time. These are my
reasons why the Turf horses degenerate in strength,
speed, and beauty."

86 ' HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHAPTER V.

LEADING PATRONS OF THE TURF IN THE REIGN OF

GEORGE THE THIRD MR. PRATT, OF ASKRIGG

HAMBLETONIAN AND DIAMOND SHORTER RACES

MATCHES.

ALTHOUGH George the Third was fond of
hunting, and kept two packs of hounds,
he had no affection for the Turf; and his annual
visit with his family to Ascot Heath was all the
encouragement he gave the sport — if we except
a plate of a hundred guineas, to be run for by
horses that had regularly been hunted with the
Royal Hounds during the preceding winter. In
the Heir Apparent, however, was found a warm
partisan of the Turf; but the circumstances attend-
ing the first appearance of the Prince of Wales
as an owner of race-horses at Newmarket were
not of good omen; and his second entry upon
the scene in that character ended in the retire-
ment from the Turf recorded in the last chapter.
When the House of Commons was asked to pay
debts amounting to nearly ;^640,ooo, it was only
to be expected that a large part of his indebted-
ness was charged by the public to the expense of
his racing establishment and his liking for betting.

LEADING PATRONS OF THE TURF. ' 87

The Duke of Queensberry, who had in the course
of a long hfe fifty years' experience on the Turf,
was the wealthiest and one of the most pro-
minent patrons of the sport during that period.
Having succeeded to the family honours and im-
mense estate acquired by the ''political industry"
of his ancestors, at an early age the accumulations
at his majority constituted a great fortune. He
had a genuine taste for racing — one of the only
two real pleasures of his life; he had good sense
and judgment about horses, which enabled him to
form a well-selected stud; and he always main-
tained from thirty to forty animals in training.

The Duke of Cumberland, the most popular
member of the Royal Family, filled a leading place in
racing circles; and to his Royal Highness's devotion
and skill we are indebted for the well-made matches
that produced Crab, Marske, Herod, and Eclipse.

The Duke of York, though he raced at New-
market, and bred also some thoroughbred stock,
owed his introduction to Turf pursuits rather to the
persuasion of his elder brother than to any love of
his own for the pursuits of the field and the stud.

" A blazing comet of the Senate, and a leading
member of the Jockey Club," almost as soon as his
college days were over, Fox gave his hearty support
to the Turf; though all his life he preferred the
"music of the bones "in St. James's-street to the
thud of a gallop at Newmarket.

The Duke of Bedford, whose advent on the Turf

88 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

immediately followed his emancipation from the
hands of his tutor, early became an adept in the arts
of the trainer and the breeder. His stud at New-
market soon acquired formidable dimensions, and
was in a year or two from its establishment the most
brilliant seen since the dispersion of the Duke of
Cumberland's horses, after his death. From his first
appearance at Newmarket, it was currently reported
of his Grace that the elders of the Turf could not
circumvent him, nor the blacklegs lay him under
contribution. The colours of the Duke of Marlbo-
rough, the philanthropic and generous Earl of Egre-
mont, the unpopular Lord Lonsdale, the Earl of
Jersey, Lord Grosvenor, who expended ^300,000
during thirty years of unequalled success on the
Turf, the Right Hon. Wm. Windham, Mr. Panton,
Sir Charles Bunbury, and many others, were fre-
quently seen on the Turf Among the most cele-
brated Turf men of that day, however, must be
mentioned Mr. John Pratt, of Askrigg, in Wens-
leydale. He was the son of a hackney coach pro-
prietor, who had realized a considerable fortune in
London, and had purchased a small estate. He was
sent to Cambridge, and his visits to Newmarket in-
spired what afterwards became the passion of his life.
Mr. Orton says of him : — " At no one period of his
life did he possess above ^700 per annum in landed
property; yet, strange as it may appear, with these
limited means, aided by his success on the Turf,
he built himself a handsome mansion, with commo-

MR. PRATT OF ASKRIGG. 89

dious stabling and extensive paddocks; kept a re-
tinue of upwards of twenty household servants, a
pack of hounds, huntsman, whipper-in, &c., and an
excellent stud of hunters, in addition to his numerous
stud of race-horses, which he raced at Newmarket,
and the different meetings of York and Doncaster,
and other places in the north of England." He
bred nearly the whole of his stud from a celebrated
Squirt mare, bought of Mr. Hammond, twelve of
whose foals turned out excellent racers. Mr. Pratt
sold Camden, by Highflyer out of Purity, to Mr.
Peregrine Wentworth for 700 guineas. Camden was
re-named Rockingham, and sold to the Prince of
Wales by Mr. Wentworth for 2,000 guineas — a cir-
cumstance that brouo^ht about the death of his
former owner, from chagrin at having sold a good
horse for a lower price than its real value. Mr.
Pratt died at Newmarket on the 8th of May, 1785.
His virtues are celebrated in an epitaph, which intro-
duces also the names of the most famous among the
horses he bred. He was an honest man, and de-
served the following, the last lines in his epitaph: —

> " To sum up the abstract of his character,

It may be truly said of him,

That his frailties were few,

His virtues many;

That he lived

Almost universally beloved;

That he died
Almost universally lamented."

On the 25th of March, 1799, at the Newmarket

90 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Craven Meeting, the celebrated match between Sir
Harry Vane Tempest's Hambletonian, 8st. 3lbs.,
and Mr. Cookson's Diamond, 8st., was run over the
Beacon Course — four miles, one furlong, one hundred
and thirty-eight yards.

The stakes were 3,000 guineas, and in addition
the owners had a bye-bet of 800 guineas. Long
before the decision of the match, it had been the
subject of great interest among sporting men ; and
Hambletonian, being a Yorkshire horse, was backed
for a very large amount by the Yorkshiremen.
Dennis Fitzpatrick, who rode Diamond, appeared
in lilac, with a straw-coloured cap ; and Buckle, who
rode Hambletonian, in Sir Harry Vane's purple and
yellow. The betting was 6 to 5 in favour of the
Yorkshire horse at starting, and the result justified
the confidence placed by the layers of odds in
Buckle and the favourite. The horses ran a despe-
rate race over this severe course, each struggling
for the lead. When they came in sight of the
spectators, opinion was generally in favour of Dia-
mond, as he went more easily than his opponent,
and had not been whipped or spurred nearly so
much. The belief that Hambletonian was ex-
hausted was ill-founded : he ran with the greatest
gameness ; and in this way, neck and neck, whipped
and spurred, they reached the distance, and even
before they came in were nose and nose. In the
very last stride the favourite won by half a neck,
amidst the victorious shouts of his backers, and the

HAMBLETONIAN AND DIAMOND. 91

enthusiasm of all who witnessed this extraordinary
struggle between two of the best horses and two of
the best jockeys of their day. The time occupied
by the race was seven minutes and fifteen seconds.
Sir Harry Tempest won almost as much again as
the stakes in bets. The ■event drew together the
largest concourse of people ever collected together
on Newmarket Heath. Every bed in Newmarket
was bespoken three weeks before the race ; and
Cambridge, and every town and village within
twenty miles of the head-quarters of the Turf, were
thronged with visitors. Stabling it was impossible
to get, and horses and grooms camped out, or slept
in the vehicles that had brought their masters to the
scene. Not only had the metropolis emptied itself
of the sporting world for the occasion, but the
followers and patrons of the Turf from all the
neighbouring counties were present : the " oldest
inhabitants," as they walked home from the top of
the turn, declaring that the Heath had never wit-
nessed such an assemblage before.

London was anxious for the news, which reached
town between nine and ten the same evening — a
Mr. Hull, of Moorfields, who had three horses on
the road, being the first to arrive. An hour later.
Sir Harry Tempest, who had travelled from New-
market in a post-chaise and four, arrived at the
Cocoa Tree, and announced to the company assem-
bled there the victory of his horse.

Francis Buckle, a monarch of the saddle, who

92 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

rode Hambletonian, was born at Newmarket in
1 766, the son of a saddler, to which trade the great
jockey was at first apprenticed. He absconded
from his master's service, declaring that nothing
should induce him to follow anything but horses
and the stables. He made his first appearance as
a jockey on the Heath in May, 1783, on a colt of
Mr. Vernon's called Wolf, and soon distinguished
himself in his calling. He married for the second
time, at Lichfield, in 1807, Miss Jane Thornton, the
daughter of a veterinary surgeon there, by whom he ,
had three sons.

He lived for some time at Peterborough, occu-
pying a farm under Earl Fitzwilliam, and he fre-
quently went thence on his hackney to Newmarket,
rode his trials there, and returned to Peterborough to
tea at six o'clock — a distance of ninety-two miles,
besides his work on the course. He had during
a number of years many of the best mounts, riding
for the Duke of Grafton, Earl Grosvenor, Sir
Charles Bunbury, Messrs. Cookson, Wilson, Durand,
Udny, and Colonel Mellish. He was always able
to ride yst. lolbs., and often 7st. 8lbs., without
even taking a walk; and to the end of his long
and successful career he retained his splendid nerve
and firm seat, which, with a keen ardour for the
sport, always distinguished him. His last race was
on Mr. Udny's Conservator, November 5th, 1831,
exactly fifty years from the beginning of his public
life. He had entered Mr. Vernon's stables on the

LEADING PATRONS OF THE TURF. 93

5th of -November, 1781. He died of inflammation,
somewhat suddenly, on February 7th, 1832, in his
sixty-fifth year, and was buried at Long Orton,
where he had lived for some years.

"Eclipse was the horse of all horses that ran,
But whate'er be our horse now. Buckle's the man.
Oh! where is the match for a treasure so rarel
Look round the wide world, and ye'll ne'er find a pair;
For, train'd to the Tiuf, he stands quite alone,
And z.pair of such Buckles was never yet known."

Dennis Fitzpatrick, the rider of Diamond in the
great match, was an Irishman, whose struggles and
victories on the Curragh of Kildare had procured
for him a call to Newmarket, where he found
foemen worthier of his steel. He rode for Lords
Clermont and Egremont, for the latter of whom
he won the Derby, in 1805, on Cardinal Beau-
fort. Mr. Orton (" Turf Annals of York and Don-
caster") considers Fitzpatrick must have been at
the top of the tree in his profession, to be engaged
for such a momentous event as the match between
Diamond and Hambletonian — "a race of such in-
terest and importance that its result was anxiously
looked for even in remote parts of the world."
Buckle always spoke of "Denny" as a most able
horseman, and considered him and "Old Chifney"
as models of perfection. Dennis Fitzpatrick died
at Newmarket, on the 27th of June, 1806, in the
forty-second year of his age.

In this year ( 1 799) an important alteration was made

94 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

in the rules relating to the King's Plates. The London
Gazette, on March 14th, contains a notice, by order
of the Master of the Horse, setting forth that his
Majesty has been pleased to give a Plate of one
hundred guineas, to be run for by horses, mares,
or geldings, at Newmarket (three), Salisbury, Ips-
wich, Guildford, Nottingham, Winchester, Lincoln,
York, Richmond (Yorks.), Lewes, Canterbury, Lich-
field, Newcastle, Bradford, Carlisle, Ascot, and War-
wick. These Plates, which have hitherto been run
for by six-year-old horses, are not to be limited
to such for the future, but are to extend to the fol-
lowing ages also, viz. : —

St. lbs.

Four-year-olds, carrying ... 10 4

Five „ „ ... ... ... II 6

Six „ „ ... ... ... 12 o

Aged ,, ... ... ... 12 2

This alteration in the conditions upon which the
King's guineas were to be competed for gave great
satisfaction to the owners of horses generally.

These altered conditions were mainly brought
about by critics who had already begun to bemoan
the decline of the Turf, the Sam Stirrups and Dick
Whips of the sporting column of the newspapers,
who looked with concern on the decadent state of
their "favourite summer diversion," the Turf, and
lamented the golden days of the first Duke of Cum-
berland, of O'Kelly, Stroud, Bertie, Wildman, and
others of the old school, whom nobody now alive,
except the Dukes of Queensberry and Grafton, could

SHORTER RACES. 95

even remember. Advice was frequently tendered
as to the principles which should guide the Sovereign
in encouraging the Turf, and how the present exist-
ing evils should be remedied. The growing ten-
dency to shorter courses — six, eight, and ten mile
courses being now quite out of fashion — led to end-
less jeremiads of a kind the Turfites of the present
day are not unfamiliar with. Speed, it was urged,
the Racing Calendar showed, was the sole deside-
ratum of breeders, and nineteen horses out of twenty
were only capable of carrying a feather weight.
Therefore, as the object of the King and his advisers
ought to be to obtain a breed of horses whose speed
shall be as a medium of their service, let none but
aged horses run for public money, and let them carry
at least twelve stones weight.

There was in fact, however, no reason for the
note of the croakers. The characteristically English
sport of horse-racing, long ago rooted in the affec-
tions of the people, was really gradually and surely
increasing its hold upon all classes. The interest
felt in the great match just described, the large and
distinguished assemblage regularly attending the
Newmarket meetings, the races recently established
at Bibury, and the vast improvements at Goodwood,
sufficiently exhibited what was not improperly called
the " reviving splendour of the Turf," which had
suffered injury from the impoverishment of the
country by six years' continuance of a war carried
on at unparalleled expense, and falling with unusual

96 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

weight upon the higher classes and more opulent of
the King's subjects, as well as by the loss through
death of several of its noble supporters. The new
racecourse at Goodwood was completed in 1801;
and at the latter end of April a numerous company
assembled, and a very gay time followed. Good-
wood House was filled with guests; five or six tents
were pitched, in which luncheon was served, " every
dainty in season being profusely provided, ice even
not being prohibited."

In the evenings of the two race days the company
patronized the theatre at Chichester and the ball at
the Assembly Rooms. The Prince of Wales sub-
scribed to the races for the year following, when the
meeting was to be extended to three days ; and the
Duke of Richmond made it known that he would
build a Grand Stand, which should be in readiness
for the next meeting.

Attractive as the matches between horses of re-
nown— such, for instance, as that between. Hamble-
tonian and Diamond — proved to the followers of
the Turf and the sporting world generally, matches
between racers were by no means the only contests
of the kind in which our ancestors' passion for sport
was gratified. The mail coaches were not very un-
commonly matched against one another; and one of
the most interesting matches of this kind took place
in the second year of the present century, when the
London mail, horsed by Mr, Land, of the New Lon-
don Inn, Exeter, with four fine greys, raced the Ply-

LORD MARCH'S MA TCH. 97

mouth mail, horsed by Mr. Phillipps with four blacks,
for 500 guineas, from St. Sydwell's to Honiton. Mr.
Cave Browne, of the Inniskilhng Dragoons, drove
the London mail coach, and Mr. Chichester the Ply-
mouth team. The London coach won, Mr. Browne
driving the sixteen miles in one hour and fourteen
minutes. This race took place on May 20th, 1802,
and attracted a very large number of sightseers.

The most celebrated match upon wheels, however,
was, perhaps, that decided on the 29th of August,
1750, on Newmarket Heath. A wager was made
between the Earls of March and Eglintoun, with
Messrs. Theobald, Taaffe, and Andrew Sprowle,
for 1,000 guineas. The conditions of the articles
were, to get a carnage with four running wheels,
with a man in it, to be drawn by four horses nine-
teen miles in one hour. The carriage, made by Mr.
Wright, of Long Acre, was of the lightest possible
construction ; the harness was made of the thinnest
leather, co^%red with silk ; the man sat on a seat of
leathern straps, with velvet ; the boxes of the wheels
were provided with tins of oil, to drop slowly on the
axle-trees for one hour. By an ingenious contriv-
ance, the traces ran into boxes with springs when
any of them hung back, thereby preventing the
traces from getting under the horses' legs. The
race was begun at seven o'clock in the morning,
near the Six-mile House on Newmarket Heath.
The course lay between the Warren and Rubbing-
houses, through the Running Gap, where, turning to

VOL. I. 7

98 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the right, the vehicle was drawn three times round
a corded piece of ground of four miles in circum-
ference, and then back to the starting-post. The
carriage and harness all together, weighed only one
and a half hundredweights. The backers of the
horses won, as the match was performed in fifty-
three minutes and twenty-seven seconds.

At the latter end of the last century and begin-
ning of the present, matches of all kinds against
time were very much in vogue. On the 2nd of
April, 1 80 1, Captain Newland rode a match which
attracted a good deal of attention. He backed him-
self for a heavy wager to ride 140 miles in eight
successive hours on hackneys, most of which he got
from the landlord of the Swan at Chichester. He
performed the distance in seven hours and thirty-
four minutes, having completed his first hundred
miles in five hours and five minutes. This match is
remarkable from the class of horses Captain New-
land rode ; but the hackneys he was supplied with
must have been of a good stamp, quite coming up
to the poet's description of an old English saddle-
horse : —

" His head is like the snake,

His neck is like the swan,

His back is but a span, sir.

His shoulders well put on,

Is my fine old English hackney, boys,

One of the olden times."

But matches to ride against time are a very old-
fashioned English institution. A match of this kind

CAPTAIN BARCLA Y. 99

is recorded in Fuller's " Worthies," who states that,
"in the year 1606, John Lepton, Esq., of York, for
a considerable sum engaged to ride six days in suc-
cession between York and London — and he won his
wager: he consequently rode 107 miles a day."

On the 9th of November, 1801, Captain Barclay
began his walking match for ^10,000. He had
made a match of ^5,000 a side with Mr. Fletcher,
a North-country gentleman, and well known on the
Turf as an owner of race-horses, that he would go
on foot ninety miles in twenty-one and a half suc-
cessive hours. He started at midnight, at Ayton
a place on the road from York to H ull, and walked
a mile out and a mile in, the road being well lighted
with lamps. He finished his walking at twenty-two
minutes four seconds past eight in the evening,
having one hour, seven minutes, fifty-six seconds to
spare. Captain Barclay was a Scottish gentleman
of fortune, and was, at the time of this match,
twenty-two years of age, and stood five feet eleven
inches in height. During the walking he fed
heartily on boiled fowls and mutton steaks, and
drafik strong old ale. He finished his task perfectly
fresh and well, saying he could very well go twenty
miles farther. Thousands of people on horseback
and on foot attended during his walk ; and when he
had finished his match, he was loudly huzzaed, and
carried on the shoulders of the people in triumph.
An immense sum of money in bets depended on the
issue, and the betting was always in favour of the

7—2

loo HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Captain, slight odds being laid on him at the start ;
and at the finish (when he had completed eighty
miles), 15 and 20 to i that he won his wager.

Nor did matches of horses and of pedestrians,
cock-fights and prize-fights, complete the list of such
sports. In 1 80 1, a bulldog named Bottom, the pro-
perty of Mr. Simpson, of Kennington, was matched
to fight a man. Bottom, who was already a champion
of high renown, "having borne away the laurels in
all the battles he had fought with dogs of his own
kind, and had m.ade the stately bull and shaggy
bear humble them^selves before him, was at length
brought to the field to dispute it with a man." The
man was stripped to the waist, and only used his
fists against the dog. Bottom was muzzled, and,
being rather shy when let loose, the odds were in
favour of the man ; but being encouraged by his
master, and grinned at by his antagonist, he made
a most furious onset, in which he came off victorious
by knocking down his opponent. Though the bull-
dog was muzzled, he managed to slip the strap in
such a way that he tore open the man's stomach, so
that the entrails became visible. When the chal-
lenger recovered his senses, he gave in at once, ac-
knowledging the supremacy of the bulldog. Under
the title of " Gentleman and the Bulldog," the fight
is engraved in the old " Sporting Magazine " (vol.
xviii., frontispiece). It would be ungenerous to
suggest for a moment that here is to be found the
original of the description of the celebrated fight' at

COUNSELLOR LADE.

Hanley, between the bulldog and the Dwarf, which
severed the old-standing connection between a well-
known journalist and the proprietors of the paper
for which it had been his business to supply de-
scriptive matter.

The Turf lost a supporter, and the world an
eccentric character, in Counsellor Lade, who died in
November, 1 799. Bred to the law, he abandoned
the practice of his profession for the more congenial
pursuits of the Turf, breeding and training a number
of horses at his seat at Cannon Park, between
Kingsclere and Overton, in Hampshire. Mr. Lade's
attention was principally turned to endeavouring to
win country Plates, as he never sent a horse to New-
market until the last few years of his life. He was
of the same school as Miser Elwes, and extended
his saving propensities to his stables, as well as to his
kitchen and pantry ; and so wretched was the con-
dition of his numerous stud when, after his death,
his horses were sent to be sold at Tattersall's, that
they excited universal pity in the towns and villages
through which they passed on their way from
Hampshire to London. Lade was systematically
parsimonious : he would drive his curricle and greys
the fifty-seven miles between London and Cannon
Park without taking them out of the harness, or
giving them more than a handful of hay and a drink
or two of water. He made the journey unattended,
as he considered " servants on the road were more
troublesome and expensive than their masters." His

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

best horse was Oatlands, so named after winning
both classes of the Oatlands Stakes at Newmarket
in 1797.

About this time a fat figure of singularly important
carriage was missed from the meetings at Ascot and
Egham, where it had often figured in the wake of
royalty. Weltje, the Prince of Wales's cook, betted
no more on his master s horses, having died of apo-
plexy at Chiswick, while drinking tea with his friend
and countrywoman, Mrs. Mayersbach.

The cook was as fond of horses as his master, and
holding the appointments of chief cook, clerk of the
kitchen, and purveyor to Carlton House, had the
means of gratifying his tastes for laying wagers on
cocks, dice, horses, and prizefighters. His pride
was the cause of his fall, under the following circum-
stances. His daughter having fallen in love with a
good-looking young cook, one of Weltje's subor-
dinates in the kitchen at Carlton House, Weltje
became incensed beyond all bounds at the prospect
of such a 7ndsalliance in his family. Neither the
Romeo nor the Juliet being amenable to reason,
Weltje, after their marriage, appealed to the Prince,
who advised him, In a jocular way, to make the best
of the affair. Weltje, however, urged persistently
the discharge of his subordinate, threatening to
bring both his daughter and the offending swain to
Indigence. Finally, the Prince, who thought less of
Weltje's dignity than of his own soups and entries,
put an end to the squabbles that distracted the Royal

MONSIEUR GROSS LEY'S TOUR. 103

kitchen by discharging his chef, and raising his son-
in-law to the place thus rendered vacant.

The views of an intelligent foreigner and his
impressions of English institutions and maxims are
always matter of interest. In the year 1800, Epsom
was visited by Monsieur Grossley, a Frenchman,
who afterwards published " The Tour to London ;
or, New Observations upon England."

It will be interesting to compare M. Grossley's
description of Epsom Downs with that of M. Taine,
three-quarters of a century later, printed in the ac-
count of Epsom in the second volume of this work.

M. Grossley found cock-fighting and horse-races
carried to a pitch of madness among the English by
wagering great sums of money on them. At Epsom
were a considerable number of the inhabitants of
London and all the neighbouring gentry assembled
for the occasion.

" The course at Epsom," says our author, " is in
the midst of Downs, intersected by three hills in
parallel lines : in the vales between these hills the
champions entered the list. Several of the specta-
tors came in coaches, which, without the least bustle
or dispute about precedency, were arranged in three
or four lines in the front of these hills, and on the
top of all was scaffolding for the judges who were to
decree the prize. There are neither lists nor barriers
at these races : the horses run in the midst of the
crowd, who leave only a space sufficient for them to

I04 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

pass through, at the same time encouraging them by
loud shouts. The victor, when he has arrived at the
goal, finds it a difficult matter to disengage himself
from the crowd, who congratulate, caress, and em-
brace him with an effusion of heart which it is not
easy to form an idea of without having seen it."

The deference to the victors is not confined to
these transient homao-es. All the houses of the coun-
try gentlemen, all the inns, are lined with pictures of
horses. M. Grossley found the crowd so great which
covered the place where the horses ran that he could
only see them on the ridge of the second hill. He
regretted their gaunt and meagre appearance, and
the " awkward manner of stretching out their necks,
depriving them of all their beauty, the principal of
which in a horse is to hold its head in a graceful
attitude." At least so thought this French gentle-
man. Gaunt and meagre as the runners were, how-
ever, he remarks that this is the breed that furnishes
the English racers so highly esteemed. The horses,
he tells us, are sometimes mounted at races by noble-
men, who are willing to run the risk for the glory of
victory. They are not exposed to such great peril
as might be thought, being less likely to bruise
themselves or dislocate a limb " than to be deprived
of respiration by the velocity of the motion."

M. Grossley pays a tribute not only to the excel-
lence of our breed of horses, but to our great kindness
to them, his observation of our habits in 1799 and
iSoo leading him to the following conclusion : —

THE DUKE OF BEDFORD. 105

" The English in general have a degree of friend-
ship and affection for horses which few men show
even to their own species. They seldom or never
strike them, and the long switch which coachmen
and carmen carry in their hands is rather to direct
by signs than by blows ; they seldom speak to
them except with a gentle and affectionate tone of
voice."

How changed was Epsom and the habits of its
drivers when M. Taine visited the Downs on Derby
Day a few years ago, when the fonr-in-hand drag,
with " swells " in dust coats, white hats, and gauze
veils, had taken the place of the " buck " who rode
down from town on his neat crop-tailed "tit,"
dressed in his green riding frock, with plate buttons,
cordovan boots, and round hat, " in true sporting
taste, so that altogether I don't believe there was a
better figure on the course."

In 1802 the Turf lost a staunch supporter in
Francis, Duke of Bedford, who died on the 2nd of
March, at Woburn Abbey, at the early age of thirty-
seyen, universally lamented, as he had been generally
beloved. This young nobleman had kept one of
the best studs of race-horses in the kingdom, was an
accomplished gentleman rider, and passionately fond
of the sport. On the loth of September, 1792, his
Grace rode his celebrated horse Dragon against
Sir John Lade on Clifden, on Newmarket Heath,
and there are several other instances of his riding

io6 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

in public ; and he is mentioned in the " Receipt to
make a Jockey," some contemporary verses, viz. : —

" Take a pestle and mortar of moderate size.
Into Queensberry's head put Bunbury's eyes,
Pound Clermont to dust, you'll find it expedient —
The world cannot furnish a better ingredient —
From Derby and Bedford take plenty of spirit
(Successful or not, they have always that merit),
Tommy Panton's address, John Wastell's advice,
And a touch of Prometheus — 'tis done in a trice."

Mr. Wastell was remarkable for his knowledge
and judgment as a breeder ; Mr. Panton was the
most polite Turfite of his day ; Sir Charles Bun-
bury's eyes were so good that he was able to see the
horses the length of the Beacon Course ; and the
Duke of Queensberry (" Old O.") was said to have
the longest head of all his contemporaries.

In August of the sam.e year the orange and black
cap of the first Earl Grosvenor made its last appear-
ance on the Heath. The Earl had been a keen
sportsman all his life, and his loss was much re-
gretted on the Turf. He was not only one of the
oldest but one of the greatest supporters of racing.
He bred all his own horses, and had more animals
in training than any other sportsman of his time.
It was in a match between Lord Grosvenor's colt
Gimcrack and Lord Abinordon's Cardinal York that
his Lordship borrowed 3,000 guineas of Mr. Elwes,
in order to make his stakes. The money appears
to have been willingly lent, Elwes volunteering the
loan, the betting being 7 to 2 in his Lordship's

EARL GROSVENOR. 107

favour.; and he must have let his opponent walk
over if he could not make the stakes. On leaving
the course to go home, it is recorded of Elwes that
he scrambled over the Devil's Dyke on the Heath
to avoid paying three-halfpence at the turnpike.

In 1805 the long career on the Turf of the Earl of
Clermont was brought to a close by his lordship's
death, at Brighton, at the good old age of eighty-
four. Lord Clermont, who began to race as early
as 1 75 1, had the good fortune to enjoy his health
and faculties for some years after he had become, by
the successive deaths of contemporaries who were his
seniors, the Father of the Turf He was very fond
of thoroughbred horses, and, in partnership with
Lord Farnham, he had a very large stud — Creeper,
Trumpator, and Mark Antony being among his
most famous sires. In the accounts of the Earl's
life is to be found the anecdote of his driving over
Bagshot Heath with the Prince of Wales, wrapped
up in flannel about the head, in a manner suited to
his great age and the coldness of the weather. The
people whom they passed on the road appear to
have mistaken the identity of the old Earl, and the
Prince overheard some of them saying how very
good a young man he was thus "to take his old aunt,
the Princess Amelia, out for an airing," an anecdote,
it is said, the Prince was very fond of telling.

The death of another Statesman and sportsman
has to be recorded as having taken place at about

loS HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the same time as Lord Clermont's. The Right
Hon. Charles James Fox, then Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs, died in September, 1806. That
Fox loved the pursuit of horse-racing almost better
than the fascinations of the green cloth we have
previously seen; and as the confederate of the Hon.
Mr., afterwards Lord, Foley, for twenty-one years,
from 1772 to 1793, he was the owner of some very
good animals, the list including such performers as
Pyrrhus, with whom alone the partners won nearly
1 2,000 guineas. The author of the epigram " that
the greatest pleasure in life next to winning is
losing," was not the man to see his horses run without
backing them, if he thought they had a fair chance ;
and the 16,000 guineas he won in 1772 by half a
neck, in a match at Newmarket, is only one of the
many stories told of his landing great coups ; but it
must be admitted, per contra, that he quite as often
lost large sums, which were invariably paid with
punctuality and perfect good temper. Of Fox's
interest in a race, Mr. Whyte quotes the following
passage from Mr. Walpole's "Recollections" of the
o^reat Whisf minister: — "When he had a horse in a
race, Mr. Fox was all eagerness and anxiety. He
always placed himself where the animal was to make
his final effort, or the race was to be most strongly
contested. From this spot he eyed the horses
advancing with a most immovable look; he breathed
quicker as they accelerated their pace; and, when
they came opposite to him, he rode in with them at

MR. HELLISH' S SALE. 109

full speed, whipping, spurring, and blowing as if he
would have infused his whole soul into the courao-e.
speed, and perseverance of his favourite racer. But
when the race was over, whether he won or lost
seemed to be a matter of perfect indifference to him,
and he immediately directed his conversation to the
next race, whether he had a horse to run or not."

The value of the thoroughbred in Fox's time was
not so much inferior to that which obtains in the
present, as the following prices realized by horses
sold by auction at Mr. Mellish's sale, in 1S06, will
show — when Streatham Lass fetched 950 guineas;
and Eagle, by Volunteer, and Smuggler, by Ham-
bletonian, 1,200 and 1,800 guineas respectively.
Colonel Mellish, who had made a great name on the
Turf in his day, died at Hodsack Priory, in 181 7,
a ruined man, having run through his immense
paternal property at Blythe.

The year 1809 saw the last of two of the oldest
among English sportsmen — men whose names are
handed down to posterity in the Stud-book and the
Calendar: Mr. Wentworth, who was a contemporary
of Lord Clermont's, having begun to race in 1754,
and Mr. Panton, one of the oldest members of the
Jockey Club. These venerable gentlemen were
eighty-seven and eighty-eight years of age respect-
ively, at the time of their deaths. Mr. Panton
had known intimately all the great Turf men of
his time, and had rarely in his life been absent
from an interesting or important race. Mr. Went-

no HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

worth, of Towlstone Lodge, Yorkshire, had bred
and owned many of the best horses of the day: the
list of names in his stud from 1747, when he first
began to breed, to 1806, fifty-nine years, headed by
Little David, by Foxcub, and ending with Amethyst,
has not often been surpassed in merit by the sires
and racers of any other breeder.

CAPTAIN BARCLA V.

CHAPTER VI.

CAPTAIN Barclay's match — bets and the jockey

CLUB DANIEL DAWSON STATE OF THE TURF

AFTER WATERLOO SIR CHARLES BUNBURY THE

DUKE OF YORK "CARDINAL PUFF " THE WHIP

HOLDERS OF THE WHIP BUCKLe's WHIP.

CAPTAIN BARCLAY'S walking match for
^10,000, mentioned in the last chapter, was
followed, some eight years later, by the famous
match in which he accomplished the feat of walking
a thousand miles in a thousand successive hours.
This exploit, which may be regarded as the original
and progenitor of the many similar efforts which
have followed since Captain Barclay's time, took
place on Newmarket Heath from June ist to July
1 2th, 1809. Although universally known in the
sporting world by his assumed surname of Barclay,
the athlete's real name was Robert Barclay Allar-
dice; and at the time of this then unrivalled perform-
ance he was about thirty years of age, stood five feet
ten and three-quarter inches in height in his stock-
ing feet, and weighed I2st. I3lbs. Captain Barclay
had the ground rolled for his match, and the grass
cut as short as possible, so that on the short sward
pn which he walked he might have seen a sixpence

112 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

roll a hundred yards before him. During this feat
of endurance, Captain Barclay breakfasted at five on
beef or mutton, cold, with a cup of tea or coffee and
half a pint of strong ale; for luncheon, at twelve,
he took some roast or boiled beef and a pint of ale;
and for dinner, at six, roast beef or mutton, two
glasses of good old port, and a pint of ale; and at
eleven he supped on broiled or roast meat, drinking
strong ale with it. During his laps, when thirsty,
he drank freely of Madeira and water.

Mr. Tattersall, son of "Old Tattersall," the founder
of the house, who had followed in his father's foot-
steps, and carried on the business at "the Corner"
to the satisfaction of all with whom he had dealings,
died January 23rd, 1810. He left the business to
Mr. R. Tattersall and his other sons, who succeeded
him in it.

It was not always the practice of the Jockey
Club to decline to make any interference in the
matter of disputed bets ; on the other hand, the
contrary practice prevailed. The regulation of the
Jockey Club was as follows, and under these con-
ditions alone would the Stewards give their opinion
in disputed cases : — The matter in dispute must
relate to horse-racing. The parties must agree
upon a statement of the case in writing, request the
opinion of the Stewards of the Jockey Club thereon,
and agree to abide by their decision ; and such

DECISION OF BETS. 113

statement and submission must be signed by the
parties. If such a dispute occurred elsewhere than
at Newmarket, the reference to the Jockey Club
must come through or with the sanction of the
Stewards of the races where the dispute happened.
Except in cases arising at Newmarket, the Club
refused to give any opinion, whether upon bets or
other matters, such as complaints of foul riding,
unless the facts were absolutely undisputed, wisely
thinking that disputes about facts could be most
effectually investigated on the spot, whilst the
matter was fresh in the memories of witnesses, when
their attendance was easily procured, and their cre-
dibility best tested.

The following is an instance of the Stewards of
the Jockey Club deciding a bet : — For Thursday
in the Ascot Week in 1815 the lists of the day
announced four races — namely, the Ten Guineas
Stakes, the Gold Cup, the Windsor Forest Stakes,
and a Plate. One man betted another that he would
not be able to name the four winners. The case was
stated, and Messrs. R. Neville and J. Payne, the
Stewards of the Club, decided it: "We determine
that the first race, having been void according to
the article at the time the bet was made, is to be
considered as no event, and the bettor must pay the
whole bet." But the modern practice of the Jockey
Club, of referring all betting disputes to the Com-
mittee of Tattersall's, has much to recommend it,
and is certainly a wise regulation.

VOL. I. 8

114 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH 7 URF.

In the autumn of 1810, the mysterious and sudden
deaths of several horses at Newmarket caused a
painful excitement in the town, and led to suspicion
being cast upon several persons connected with the
stable where they were trained. At length the in-
quiries that were instituted led to the arrest of one
Daniel Dawson, a professional horse-watcher, and
Cecil Bishop, whose calling does not appear. Daw-
son was employed by several persons betting in the
Ring to supply them with information of the doings
of horses trained at Newmarket ; but there was no
insinuation that any of them had actively instigated
the crime committed by Dawson and his accomplice
in guilt. As, however, the most probable apparent
motive Dawson could have had must have been to
oet money for the non-success of a favourite put out
of the race by the means he adopted, it seems almost
a necessity to the systematic perpetration of such
courses that he should have had other accomplices
than Bishop, whom he employed to administer the
poison.

The trial of the. criminals took place in May, 181 1,
at the Cambridge Assizes, when counsel for the pro-
secution put Cecil Bishop into the witness-box, he
havine turned Kino-'s evidence. The horse for
killing which they were actually indicted was the
Eagle colt, the property of Sir F. Standish, at New-
market; but Bishop, when in the witness-box, ap-
pears to have made a clean breast of it, and told the
whole story of their atrocioiis poisonings, beginning

DANIEL DA WSON.

IS

in the year 1808. As to the death by poison of the
Eagle colt, Bishop said that, at the instigation of
Dawson, he had 'gowii to Newmarket for the pur-
pose, and had taken a fittingr occasion to introduce
a solution of arsenic into the locked drinking-
troughs at Mr. Prince's training stables by means
of a crooked syringe, which he carried for the
purpose. He stood concealed at a distance, and
watched the horses till he had seen them drink,
when he rushed off to Dawson with the tidings, in
order that Dawson might communicate with the
other conspirators of the betting-ring.

By a technical objection, Dawson was acquitted
on this charge by the direction of the judge — though
his guilt was fully proved- -for in the eye of the law
he was not a principal.

This acquittal, however, did not serve him to any
material extent, as he was at once arrested on
another charge of having poisoned two brood mares
and a hack, in the years 1809-10, and the judge
refusing to take bail, he was kept in Cambridge
Gaol till the next assizes, when he was convicted,
and sentence of death passed according to law.

Dawson, who was a profound hypocrite, was
known very widely at Newmarket as an honest,
jovial boon companion, and good servant, and up
to his arrest much liked. On this account, several
noblemen endeavoured to procure a remission of the
capital sentence, but without effect.

He had behaved with gross levity at the trial. On

8—2

ii6 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

his way to the scaffold, seeing a number of old
friends, he said, "Good-bye, my Newmarket lads,
you see I can't shake hands with you."

On March 28th, 1818, Hambletonian died, in
the twenty-seventh year of his age. He had been
famous on the Turf in his day, and was fairly suc-
cessful at the stud, having got Norval, Camillus,
Joan of Arc, and many other winners, one of which
won the Riddlesworth Stakes at Newmarket, the
value of which stake in the year in which Hamble-
tonian died was 4,500 guineas.

The long peace that began after the Battle of
Waterloo was advantageous to the interests of the
Turf, and more persons than ever before became
interested in the pursuit of horse-racing, either as
owners, more or less frequent layers and takers of
the odds, or attendants at race meetings. Tatter-
sail's presented a busy scene : Dandies, Exquisites,
and Ruffians met there as at a club, whose ranks
were swelled with the numbers of men connected
with the Services, who naturally took to sport when
war was no more the order of the day. A contem-
porary description of the scene at the Corner says
that a masquerade could scarcely exhibit more
motley groups than the frequenters of this fashion-
able resort. The company to be seen on any sale
day comprised peers, baronets, members of Par-
liament, Turf gentlemen and Turf servants, jockeys,
grooms, horse-dealers, gamblers, and touts. Repre-

TATTERS ALUS IN 1816. 11;

sentatives of the bluest blood in England stood
on the pitching, wearing long-caped coats of many
buttons, that might well have helped them to pass
for coachmen ; or in the hot weather wearing
tight cord breeches and top-boots, that made them
look like the whippers-in to their own hounds.
Master and man met there to consult on the all-
important questions of the purchase and sale of
their horses. Noblemen and gentlemen made the
Corner a rendezvous for meeting jockeys and trainers
whose advice they were desirous to obtain on the
chances of a race or a match. The assemblage was
increased by the attendance of the smart young
farmer, or flashy tradesman in new boots, aping the
gentleman, and by the presence of idlers, loungers, and
gentlemen who had nothing to busy themselves with
but attending sales without purchasing, races with-
out betting, and the Park without knowing or being
known to anybody. Here were to be seen Members
of Parliament talking over last night's debates, there
dandies chatting gaily of their amours: the "ruffians"
canvassed the merits of Smolensko, and the "ex-
quisites" those of Lady Mary or Miss Lydia. A
dozen dragoons and Lifeguardsmen, dressed half en
bourgeois half a la militaire, were elbowed by the
gambler from St. James's-street and the buck clergy-
man from the shires ; wriggling about in the throng
was a due leaven of pickpockets and other light-
fingered gentry ; while above all the din and bustle
was heard the voice of Mr. Tattersall, and ever and

Ii8 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

again the sharp knock on the desk of this great
Knight of the Hammer.

Never, however, was the Corner a scene of more
angry excitement than after the St. Leger Stakes
of 1 8 19, when the bets came to be settled for that
twice-run race. The beg^inninof of the events which
have made the St. Leger of this year memorable
was the breaking-down of Mr. Crockford's Sultan,
the first favourite. Sultan broke down on the race-
course while taking his gallop, and was with diffi-
culty got into Mr. Maw's stables at Belle Vue,
adjoining the Town Moor. The scene produced by
this untimely accident was astonishing. There were
no friendly wires to flash the news all over England
in a few minutes, and the "early birds" who had
been lucky enough to witness the disaster hastened
off the course at the top of their speed, back to
Doncaster, to hedge their bets if possible ; while
others, as soon as the news was known, drove off to
Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, and other towns, in
chaises, in order to arrive there before the news of
the accident, and get as much as possible out of
their information.

There were fifty subscribers to the St. Leger in
that year, and the result was — Colonel Cradock's Sir
Walter, first ; Mr. Peirse's b. c. by Walton, second ;
and Lord Eglinton's Archibald, third. A large por-
tion of the field took part in the first race, when
Antonio came in first ; but as Sir Walter, Agricola,
Bronti, Wild Boy, and Harmodius did not get off,

ANTONIO'S ST. LEGER. 1 19

and so took no part in the race, the Stewards thought
proper to declare it a false race, and it was accord-
ingly run a second time. Curiously enough, Mr.
Peirse's colt and Archibald were also second and
third to Antonio. It was a good race both times,
but Antonio beat his horses more easily than Sir
Walter. Mr. Ferguson, the owner of Antonio, de-
clined to start him a second time, on the score of
the starter being ready to make an affidavit of the
start for the race in which Antonio came in first
being a fair one.

The affair ended in a series of disputes, many
of the losers crying their bets off on both races.
The British Statesman, in its report of the occur-
rence, said : — " This day has presented a scene of
confusion unprecedented in the records of the Turf."
With a view to quelling the disturbance, the follow-
ing notice was posted : — " It has been determined
by the Stewards and the gentlemen of the Don-
caster Racing Club that a reference shall be made
to the Jockey Club to decide whether the race shall
be given to Antonio ; and if not, whether the second
heat shall be deemed a race, the horses not having
been started by any person deputed for the pur-
pose." After the first race, Mr. Lockwood, the
starter, had flung down his flag in disgust, and sided
with the owner of Antonio, who in the end got the
Stakes ; for on October 5th the Stewards of the
Jockey Club awarded the race to Antonio, on the
evidence of the starter and judge, and decided that

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the second race ought not to have been allowed by
the Stewards.

Mr. Ferguson, the owner of Antonio, was a sub-
stantial innkeeper at Catterick Bridge. He re-
ceived the Stakes in due course, and sold his St.
Leger winner for i,ooo guineas to Mr. Clifton.
The respectable "legs" and bettors paid over the
race, in conformity with the decision of the Jockey
Club ; and there was a general understanding that
nobody should bet again with such as chose to take
advantage of the dispute because their losses inclined
them to do so. But the troubles arising from the
dispute did not end here. Messrs. Watt and Lamb-
ton summarily dismissed their trainers; some other
gentlemen took back their caps and jackets from
jockeys who had been years in their service ; and it
was even proposed to make it a law of racing that
there should never be more than one start for a
race.

By the death of Sir Charles Bunbury, on the 31st
of March, 182 1, at the ripe age of eighty-one, the Turf
lost one of its oldest and most constant supporters.
Sir Charles had been passionately fond of horses
from his earliest youth, and under the tuition of his
friend, Mr. Crofts, a Norfolk breeder of thorough-
breds, who owned at that time one of the most
famous horses of the day — Brilliant, by Old Crab
— he rapidly became proficient in the arts of Turf
pursuits; and as early as 1765 he had a considerable

SIR CHARLES BUNBUR V. 121

String of horses in training. Sir Charles's first horse
of note was Bellario, who appears to have been a
good animal ; but as he had the misfortune to be
a contemporary with a horse of unapproachable
excellence, he was hardly a respectable second ; for
he had to meet the "terrible, matchless, super-
equine Eclipse, who, to use an old Newmarket
phrase, never failed in a single instance to ^I'ue them
all their gruel, and the need of a spy-glass to see
which way he went, and how far he was off"

Apropos of Eclipse, it may be mentioned that in
this year his skeleton, in a case, was offered for sale
publicly, the price asked being 1,000 guineas. It
does not appear, however, that a purchaser was
forthcoming.

But Sir Charles, though he had plenty of oppor-
tunities of seeing the vast superiority of Colonel
O'Kelly's horse, affected never to be convinced of it.
Bellario was not more successful at the stud than he
was on the Turf. Nor was Diomed, Sir Charles's
winner of the first Derby, more lucky — the best of
his progeny being Young Giantess, from whom Sir
Charles bred his famous mare Eleanor, by Whiskey.
The worthy old baronet, although he had many
peculiar humours and eccentric traits in his charac-
ter, was the kindest and most tender-hearted of
men. He was respected by the public, and enjoyed
for many years the especial friendship of the Duke
of York. He gave a long life to the sport he loved ;
but of all his achievements, not his least claim to

122 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

posthumous fame is that he owned the winner of the
first Derby.

The Duke of York, although by no means so fond
of racing as his elder brother, was an owner of race-
horses as early as the year 1 800, though he had only
a couple in training at that time. A few years later,
he began afresh at Newmarket, and soon possessed
some good horses. He was the patron of the old
Bibury Club, where only gentlemen riders were
allowed, regularly taking up his residence for the
week at the seat of Lord Sherborne, near the course,
where he met his old friend Sir Charles Bunbury,
Mr. Mellish, the Duke of Grafton, and other leading
followers of the sport. At the meetings of the
Bibury Club, mounted on his roan hack, he would,
with the greatest good humour, mix among the
company assembled. The Duke was lucky in win-
ning the Derby, when Mr. Mellish, with three times
the number of horses in training, always missed it.

During the second lustrum of the present century
the fortunes of Newmarket were brilliant indeed,
and except at the time when the Duke of Bedford,
Charles James Fox, Earl Grosvenor, and the Duke
of Ancaster were in the zenith of their glory, they
probably never were more so. In 1806, Mr. Mellish
was at his best, with Sancho and a long string
of twenty-two other horses in training there ; the
Prince Regent had ten in training, including Orville,
Haphazard, and Selim ; the Duke of Grafton had a
like number, amonost which were Parasol and Pe-

THE DUKE OF YORK. 123

lisse ; Lords Grosvenor and Foley had large studs,
as also had Lords Darlington and Egremont, and
Messrs. Ladbroke, Arthur, and Howorth. Most of
these noblemen and gentlemen had houses at the
head-quarters of the Turf, giving great support to
the tradespeople of the town ; while things were so
good in the Ring that the word of more than one
betting-man of the day was good for half a million
of money, while Lord Grosvenor was never known
to open his mouth in the Ring " tinder five hwidred
guineas'^

Up to 182 1, with the exception of Sir H. Wil-
liamson (who won the race once), none of the great
North-country breeders had won the Derby. Lord
Foley had won it once, and run second for the Oaks
once. Lord Grosvenor, who had been the greatest
breeder of thoroughbred horses of his time, and
whose debit account of his racing establishment
he admitted to have exceeded ;^200,ooo, won the
Derby three times and the Oaks five times, three
years being in succession with his famous Herod
blood. The King had won it once, in 1788, with
Sir, Thomas, and the Duke of York had won it
twice. His Royal Highness's first trainer was
Thomas Smith, and afterwards he employed Bird,
Cooper, and Butler to manage his stud, all of whom
came from Lord Egremont's stables. His favourite
jockeys were W. Wheatley, S. Chifney, Goodison,
and S. Day ; and, for many years, Mr. W. Lake,
brother of Lord Lake, who grew old in his master's

124 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

service, had the direction of his training establish-
ment. His paddocks, which were extensive, how-
ever, produced Httle profitable stock ; and his pre-
judices increasing with his years, he continued to
breed from worn-out or second-class stallions. At
Newmarket the Duke lived in what remained of the
old Palace, having Mr. Greville for his neighbour.
In "Post and Paddock" (pp. 123, 124), Mr. Dixon
remarks, writing of the Duke : — " The quaint old
toast, ' I drink to Cardinal Puff,' may be said to
have died with him ; and perhaps there is hardly a
man alive who would know how to propose it with
all its intricate but graceful honours."

It seemed difficult to discover at the present day
what these " intricate but graceful honours " were,
as the foregoing sentence is quoted in " Notes and
Queries" ( 1 863, Third Series, vol. iii., p. 1 5 1 ), to which
the following query is appended : — " What is meant
by, ' I drink to Cardinal Puff' ? The sentence was
written of the Duke of York." Among the numerous
and learned readers of that publication, no one seems
to have been able to answer the inquiry, as no answer
appears. In the old "Sporting Magazine," however
(1825, vol. Ixv., p. 79), may be found the following
letter to the editor from " Bibuliculus": — "The cere-
monious and catch toast, ' Cardinal Puff,' so cus-
tomary of late at the higher tables — is it a novelty,
or merely an old joke revived ? After much inquiry
among our dinner men, I have not been able
hitherto to ascertain this, and would be thankful to

CARDINAL PUFF. 125

any reader of the Magazine for the needful informa-
tion. My only reason for supposing the toast an
old one is the recollection that, many years ago,
Lord Abingdon had a horse named Cardinal Puff
(by Marsk), and the probability that his Lordship
so named his horse from the toast. To those who
have not heard the toast, it is necessary to state that
certain ceremonious observances are required in the
person who gives it, for the omission or wrong
expression of which he is fined a bumper. I have
heard it drunk but once, and cannot recollect all the
forms and expressions of it ; but the commencement
is somethins: like the followinof : — ' I drink Cardinal
Puft"' — Cardinal Puff repeated with a flourish of the
glass, which descends, and is then elevated, with
a number of forms and manoeuvres which I am
unable to describe. A friend of mine, who has had
the honour to dine with the Duke of York, assures
me that his Royal Highness gives this toast in all
its forms with greater accuracy than any other bon
vivant in England. Now, as the Royal Duke is
known to be a reader of the * Sporting Magazine,'
and will no doubt see this article, I request, with all
humility, that his Highness will commission some of
his guests to present us with the toast in all its accu-
racy of form and circumstance. And his petitioner
shall ever pray, etc."

It does not appear that the Duke, if he saw this
'* humble appeal," ever suggested the communication
of the mysteries of the toast he could give so well.

126 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

It is certain, from other evidence to be found on
the subject, that the words were few, as in Caleb
Plummer's famous song of "We'll drown it in a
bowl, my boys ; " and that the Duke's art consisted
in giving the peculiar turns and twists to the glass
he held in his hand when proposing his historic toast
of " Cardinal Puff."

A gentleman, who has been a great traveller in
his day, and who preserves many of the traditions of
the old school of 6o7i vivatits, furnishes the following
account of the manner in which the Duke of York —
and all who gave the toast in proper form — turned
and twisted their glasses in honouring
Cardinal Puff.

" The proposer is supposed to be sitting at a table
with a glass — with something in it, dieji enteridu — be-
fore him. He lifts the glass with his thumb and one
finger — i.e., the index finger of the right hand — say-
ing, *I drink to the health of Cardinal Puff;' taking
one sip of liquor, he puts the glass back on the table,
rapping the table once with the bottom of the glass.
He then wipes his right moustache, or the place
where it should be, with his right fore-finger once,
repeating the same action once on his left moustache
with his X^ix. fore finger ; he taps the table ojice with.
right forefinger, and once with left fore-finger; and,
finally, he taps the ground once with the right foot
and once with the left. The whole exercise is then
to be gone through again, every action being doubled
that I have indicated by italics; and, lastly, a third

THE WHIP. 127

time, trebling everything in the same way. The
fun of the thing is, that, before trying it, everybody
thinks the thing perfectly easy; but the most atten-
tive beginner always breaks down, either by leaving
some action out, or by not performing it the re-
quisite number of times, I have introduced the
Cardinal into all kinds of company, from a mess
of Russian officers on the banks of Medea's Phasis,
to an inn -room full of bagmen on the shores of
the Atlantic, and have always found him heartily
welcomed."

The Whip, a valued prize less than half a century
ago, and occasionally challenged for, was not a very
splendid trophy. Of most ancient appearance, the
heavy handle is of silver, with a ring at the end of it
for a wrist-band, made from the tail of Eclipse ;
the upper part like that of all other whips, except
the lash, which is made from the mane of Eclipse.
In 1822 it was held by Mr. E. L. Charlton, of Lud-
ford Park, and was reported to be the identical
whip which Charles the Second was in the habit of
riding with, and presented by him to the nobleman
whose arms it bears, he being at the time the owner
of the best horse in England. George the Fourth,
when Prince Regent, challenged for and won it in
1787, with Auriel ; and the Whip remained in his
possession until the autumn of 1822, when Mr.
Charlton challenged for it and won it with his horse
Master Henry. Assuming the wrist-band and lash

128 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

of this famous Whip to have been made of the hair
from the mane and tail of Eclipse, they must have
been added when the whip was more than a century-
old, if it was really the ridin^^-whip of Charles the
Second, as Eclipse was not foaled till after the death
of George the Second. It is in the style of an old-
fashioned postillion's whip, very straight and very
heavy — such a one as might have been used by the
rider of the off-wheeler, in days when it was not
unusual to take the four long-tailed blacks from the
plough to pull my Lady through deep ruts and
heavy roads to church. There is an Earl's coronet
in silver at the butt.

Mr. Charlton did not hold it long, as Lord Foley
challenged for it with his horse Sultan ; and, Mr.
Charlton declining the challenge, Lord Foley re-
ceived the ''ancient trophy."

The arms on the butt of the Whip are said, with
a great degree of probability, to be those of the
Master of the Horse to Charles the Second, to
whom we are largely indebted for our race of run-
ning horses. The. intrinsic value of the Whip is
very small, but the necessity of staking 200 guineas,
to be run for over the Beacon Course, by a horse
carrying ten stone, and challenging the holder in
order to obtain it, made it a coveted prize. The
first winner of the Whip was Dimple, but the parti-
culars of his race are not recorded in the Calendar.
The following short account of the challenges for
this ancient trophy is of interest ; —

HOLDERS OF THE WHIP. 129

In April, 1756, Mr. Fenwick's b. h. Match'em, by
Cade, dam by Partner, ridden by John Singleton,
beat Mr. Bowles's b. h. Trajan, by Regulus out of
a daughter of the Devonshire Blacklegs. At the
Turn of the Lands, the betting was 100 to i on
Match'em and Singleton.

In April, 1764, the Duke of Cumberland's b. h.
Dumpling, by Cade, out of Cypron (the dam of
King Herod), by Blaze (a son of Flying Childers),
aged, beat Lord Grosvenor's ch, h. Pangloss, by
Cade, dam by Bartlett's Childers.

On April 7th, 1768, Lord Rockingham's b. h.
Malton, by Sampson, dam by Cade, beat Lord
Grosvenor's gr. h. Cardinal Puff, by Babraham, dam
by Snip.

April 19th, 1770. — Lord Grosvenor's Gimcrack, by
Cripple, beat Lord Rockingham's Pilgrim, by Sampson.

April 20th, 1775. — Lord Grosvenor's Sweet Wil-
liam, by Syphon, beat Lord Abingdon's Transit, by
Marsk.

October 2nd, 1777. — Mr. Pigott's Shark, by
Marsk, received 100 guineas compromise from Lord
Grosvenor's Mambrino, by Engineer, and Lord
Grosvenor retained the Whip.

May 14th, 1778. — Mr. Pigott's br. h. Shark beat
Lord Ossory's Dorimant.

1 781, Second Spring Meeting. — Lord Grosvenor
challenged for the Whip, and named his ch. h.
Potoooooooo, by Eclipse. Nobody accepting the
challenge, the Whip was delivered to his Lordship.

VOL. I. 9

I30 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

1 783, Second Spring Meeting. — Lord Grosvenor's
ch. h. Potoooooooo, by Eclipse, beat Sir John
Lade's br. h. Nottingham.

Oct. 1 6th, 1783. — Mr. Parker's Anvil, by Herod,
beat Lord Foley's Guildford, by Herod.

Oct. 19th, 1786. — Mr. O'Kelly's Dungannon, by
Eclipse, beat Mr. Wyndham's Drone, the Prince of
Wales's Anvil paying forfeit.

Oct. 17th, 1792. — The Duke of Bedford's Dragon
beat Mr. Wilson's Creeper and Lord Clermont's
Pipeator.

May 22nd, 1794. — Mr. Wharton's Coriander, by
Potoooooooo, aged, beat Mr. Wilson's Creeper.

1795, Second Spring Meeting. ^ — ^The Whip was
challenged for at this meeting by Lord Darlington,
who named his b. h. St. George, by Highflyer, out
of a sister to Soldier ; but the challenge was not
accepted, and the Whip was handed over to the
custody of his Lordship.

1795, Second October Meeting. — Lord Sackville
challenged, with Kitt Carr, by Tandem. Challenge
declined, and the Whip handed over.

1808, Second Spring Meeting. — Lord Grosvenor
challenged, and named his mare Violante, by John
Bull. Not accepted.

181 5, Second Spring Meeting. — The Hon. George
Watson's challenge, with his horse Pericles, by Evan-
der, was not accepted, and he became the possessor
of the Whip.

1822, Second October Meeting. — In the same way

BUCKLES WHIP. 131

Mr. Lechmere Charlton, who named his horse Master
Henry, by Orville, became possessor of the trophy.

1823, Second Spring Meeting. — Lord Foley, with
Sultan, by Selim, received the Whip and ^600 for-
feit, without a race, from Master Henry.

1827, Second Spring Meeting. — ^The Whip was
handed to Lord Anson without a race.

1828. — Colonel Wilson and Lamplighter received
it.

1829, Second October Meeting. — Mr. Gully's b. h.
Mameluke, by Partisan, five years old, beat Colonel
Wilson's Lamplighter, and Mr. Gully became pos-
sessed of the Whip.

The Germans, who by this time had done much,
not only for the improvement of their hunter and
cavalry stock, but had also endeavoured to foster
and encourage the sport of horse-racing in Prussia
and other parts of Germany, became desirous of
having among the prizes of their Turf a Challenge
Whip, in imitation of our own. Mr. Tattersall, who
visited Germany on his business, accordingly under-
took to provide for the want, and took one with him
as a most acceptable present to the German sports-
men. It is thus described in Nimrod's " German
Tour": — " It was the whip of the very, very cele-
brated English jockey, Mr. Buckle, and had the
honour of being instrumental — at least it might have
been so if wanting — in winning very large sums of
money. The Governors letter (Buckle was fami-
liarly called by the title of Governor by his friends at

9—2

132 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Newmarket), which accompanied this trophy, was
well worthy of perusal. After recapitulating the
under-mentioned races, he concludes with these
words, ' and most of the good things at Newmarket.'
Of course the Whip is to be challenged for at the
different meetings, and is at present in the possession
of Count Hahn."

On the handle of Buckle's whip, which was covered
with silver for the purpose, was the following list of
races he had won with it in his hand: —

Derby.
1792. Earl Grosvenor's John Bull.
1794. Earl Grosvenor's Daedalus.

1796. Sir Frank Standish's Didelot.
1802. Duke of Grafton's Tyrant.
181 1. Sir John Shelley's Phantom.

Oaks.

1797. Earl Grosvenor's Nike.

1798. Mr. Durand's Bellissima.

1799. Earl Grosvenor's Bellina.
1802. Mr. Westall's Scrotina.
1805. Earl Grosvenor's Meteora.
1 818. Colonel Udny's Corinne.
1823. Duke of Grafton's Zinc.

St, Leger.

1800. Mr. Christopher Wilson's Champion.
1804. Colonel Mellish's Sancho.

A very pretty share of the great races to have
fallen to the lot even of a Francis Buckle.

THE CURRAGH WHIP. 133

George the Fourth, when he visited Ireland in
1 82 1, presented the Turf Club with a costly gold
whip, to be run for at the Curragh at each October
Meeting; and to this gift he added annually 100
guineas from his privy purse during his life, and his
successor continued the stake, the Duke of Leeds
writing to Mr. Robert Browne, Ranger of the Cur-
ragh, " that his Majesty has been graciously pleased
to signify his intention of continuing the annual gift
of a Whip, to which will be added the sum of 100
guineas, to be run for at the Curragh in the same
manner as during his late Majesty's reign."

134 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHAPTER VII.

TURF IN 1825 HON. CHARLES WYNDHAM JOCKEY

CLUB CUP — JAMES HIRST GEORGE THE FOURTH

BLACKLOCK WILLIAM FLINT EXTRAORDINARY

MATCHES MR, OSBALDESTON.

ALTHOUGH the period from 1820 to 1825 was
one of more than average Turf prosperity,
and in 1824 it had been proposed to add a fourth
day's racing to the Epsom programme, there were
not wanting those who complained loudly of the
declension of the Turf The north, it was admitted,
was still true to its love, but in the southern and
western parts of England, it was asserted, the taste
for racing was on the decline, and Newmarket, " the
very heart and headquarters of racing, woefully
fallen off from what it once was." Pavilion and
Sancho had galloped their last on the Heath, and
what horses should fill their place? The introduction
of Produce Stakes at Newmarket, short races, and
the trial practices of trainers and jockeys were given
as the reasons for the decline in the popularity of
the Turf Trainers were arraigned for having horses
of their own in training, keeping the best for them-
selves to carry off the winnings from their em-
ployers. While the practice of training, it was

THE TURF IN 1823. 13S

alleged, remained pretty much the same, the prac-
tice of racing had changed, and was still rapidly-
changing for the worse. A trainer of the olden
time showed his horses to his employer, cap in
hand, listened to his orders, and obeyed them.
The new race of trainers showed their masters
their horses, with hat on head, and in reply to
an order to send a horse here or there, pointed
out the futility of doing so, as they had a horse
of their own going there, which was sure to win.

Long arguments were entered upon both tor and
against, but chiefly against, the modern practice of
two-year-old racing; and this was stated to be a
fertile cause of the decline of the English thorough-
bred. Horses overstrained in their earlier years,
by having to carry heavy weights and run dis-
tances neither of which were adapted to their tender
frames, became useless at five, six, and aged. But
it was impossible to keep a colt back till after he
was four years old, as all the principal stakes at
Newmarket were confined to horses under that
age. There were plenty of tirades against the
fashionable short races; and comparisons were freely
made between the horses then on the Turf with
their ancestors, much to the advantage of the latter.
Mr. Frampton's Dragon, and the story attached
to his last performance, pointed a moral and
adorned a tale. The exploits of Childers, the
general challenge to the kingdom of the Duke of
Rutland's Bonny Black at six years old, Partner,

136 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Lath the first son of the Godolphin Arabian, Cade
his brother, Regulus, Sampson, and Match'em — to
say nothing of Edipse, Pyrrhus, Highflyer, and
Hambletonian — were pressed into the service; and
the Cambridgeshire and Suffolk squires and yeomen
were almost brought to believe they had seen the
best days ot the Turf, that the Heath would soon
be stripped of its strings of sheeted thoroughbreds,
and the town "sell sausag^es for a living,"

This, however, was not the case: matters were
not really so bad as they were represented to be,
and the parable was speedily taken out of the
mouths of the croakers. Though the cry at New-
market for several seasons past had been that there
was "so little money stirring," and the town was
said to be ruined by "the desertion of the gentle-
men," the spring of 1825 saw the Duke of Portland,
one of the best friends of the Turf, judiciously ex-
pending a large sum of money upon the improve-
ment of the permanent pasture, both on the racing
ancl exercise grounds. A still greater improvement
made to the Heath on the part of his Grace was
the paring, turning, and breaking-up a part of the
Heath intersected by roads many hundreds of years
old, and, in consequence of the unevenness of its
surface, of no use whatever for the purposes of an
exercise ground. The renewal of a flourishing era
of the Turf at headquarters was further fore-
shadowed by the repair and improvement of the
poor, old mutilated palace in the town, which now

THE TURF IN 1823. 137

underwent considerable alteration. Among other
things, a wall in the front of the Palace, part built
of brick by Charles, and another part by Anne
of brick and stones, was finished by George the
Fourth with flints; and the wretched screen or di-
vision in the front court, formed of hurdles stuffed
with straw, and secured with haybands, was re-
moved, and a handsome palisade set up in its place.
Still, there was cause for regret that losses, though
not at horse-racing, had caused Lord Stamford, who,
in the zenith of his career, alone seemed able to
stem the torrent of Sir Thomas Stanley's success
at Chester, to quit the Turf; and that similar causes
had led to the retirement of Lord Stradbroke, and
the sale of his stud. The retirement of these noble-
men from the active pursuit of the Turf, however,
almost entirely affected Newmarket and the South-
ern Meetings. In the North all was well, and there
at least there was no lamentation over the deca-
dence of the Turf. At Doncaster the racing was
all that the most ardent lover of the sport could
wish. The Knavesmire, at York, played a most
respectable second to the lead of the Town Moor
at Doncaster; Chester and Manchester annually
drew vast crowds of spectators to the races, and
showed excellent sport; while Newton and Wolver-
hampton were making good progress. Leeds made
a capital start, the promise of which it was unable
in after-years to maintain. In Shropshire and the
Principality the only complaint was that there were

138 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

too few horses to run for the prizes offered, and the
Welshmen were described as "racing mad."

It will therefore be seen that, while Newmarket,
perhaps, had some cause for outcry at the state of
affairs, any falling-off in the popularity of the Turf,
and in the number of its aristocratic supporters,
was felt only at headquarters of the sport. Hazard
and Macao, in St. James's-street, often did more in
a single night to impoverish the exchequer and
cripple the resources of the patrons of the Turf
than a whole year of betting on the Heath; and
if the younger men could only be trusted to "keep
their elbows quiet at night" they might safely be
left to take care of themselves by day.

On July 7th, 1828, the Hon. Charles Wyndham,
brother of the Earl of Egremont (whose munificence
and public spirit were the common topic of admira-
tion), died at his house at Newmarket, in his sixty-
eighth year. In Mr. Wyndham the Turf lost a good
supporter; he was successful both as breeder and
owner, and was celebrated as a gentleman jockey,
and his ardent devotion to Turf pursuits only ended
with his life. It was mainly through the assistance
of Mr. Wyndham, a year or two before his death,
that the Duke of Portland was induced to try his
right at law to warn persons off the Heath as tres-
passers. A Mr. Hawkins had a grievance against
the Jockey Club for what he considered an unjust
decision in the case of a disputed bet between
himself and a Mr. Ellis. In consequence of this

HAWKINS'S CASE. I39

feeling there was considerable ill-temper displayed
on the part of Mr. Hawkins, and he thought proper
to use some very rude language to Lord Wharncliffe
on the subject of the Jockey Club decision of his
case. Upon this, Lord Wharncliffe complained to
the Duke of Portland that such expressions as Mr.
Hawkins had made use of should be allowed to go
unpunished. Mr. Wyndham was consulted, and it
was determined to warn Mr. Hawkins off the Heath.
This was done; but Mr. Hawkins persisted in at-
tending the meetings, whereupon an action for tres-
pass was brought at the Cambridge Assizes. It was
proved by a large number of witnesses that the
course had belonged to the Jockey Club since 1753,
and the jury, being satisfied of the trespass com-
mitted, gave a verdict for the Duke of Portland, with
damages against the defendant of one shilling. This
is the precedent which establishes the right of the
Jockey Club to warn trespassers or objectionable
persons off the Heath at Newmarket.

In October, 1828, the autumn races at Epsom
were revived with great dclat, and under the happiest
auspices — Mr. Maberly being successful in bringing
a number of good horses to the post, and attracting
a very large company from town. " Epsom," as the
report says, "from its contiguity to the metropolis,
invariably draws thousands in every grade of life to
gaze at the living picture exhibited on the healthful
Downs."

At the Second Spring Meeting at Newmarket, in

140 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

1830, Mr. Delme Radcliffe challenged for the Jockey
Club Gold Cup, with his b. h. Zingaree, by Tramp,
out of Folly^ by Young Drone, five years old, 8st. Bibs.;
and Sir Mark Wood likewise sent in a challenge for
this ancient Turf trophy, naming as his champion
his b.f. Lucetta, by Hedley, four years, yst. gibs., to be
run for at Newmarket, in October, agreeably to the
conditions. There had been no challenge for this prize
since 1774, a period of fifty-six years. The Jockey
Club Cup had its origin in this way: At the first
October Meeting at Newmarket, in 1768, the then
Duke of Grafton entertained a large party of noble-
men and gentlemen — most [of whom were members
of the Jockey Club — at Euston Hall. After dinner,
the conversation turned upon the advisability of
establishing some standard Challenge Cup, which it
would be an honour for the successive winners to
hold until the better horse of some luckier man
could take it from them. Whereupon the whole
party — which consisted of the Dukes of Ancaster,
Bridgewater, Grafton, Kingston, and Northumber-
land, Lords Barrymore, Bolingbroke, Grosvenor,
Molyneux, Ossory, and Rockingham; Sir Charles
Bunbury, Sir L. Dundas, and Sir John Moore;
Colonel Parker, and Messrs. Blake, Fenwick, March,
Meynell, Ogilvy, Panton, Pigot, Pratt, Shafto, Staple-
ton, Vernon, and Wentworth, consented to sub-
scribe, appointing Sir Charles Bunbury treasurer.
A very handsome cup was purchased, and the con-
ditions of the race were as follows : — The Cup might

JOCKEY CLUB CUP. 141

be challenged for on the Monday or Tuesday in the
First Spring- Meeting, to be run for over the Beacon
Course on Tuesday in the First October Meeting
following, by horses, &c., the property of members
of the Jockey Club; four-year-olds carrying 7st. i ilbs.;
five, 8st. 81bs. ; six, 8st. i3lbs. ; and aged, Qst. Each
gentleman, at the time of challenging, was to sub-
scribe his name to a paper, to be hung up in the
Coffee-room at Newmarket, and deliver to the keeper
of the Match-book the name or description of his horse,
&c., sealed up, which was to be kept till six o'clock on
the Saturday evening; and if not then accepted, and
only one challenger, to be returned unopened; but if
accepted, or if more than one challenger, to be then
opened, and declared a match or sweepstakes of 200
sovs. each, p.p. If the challenge was not accepted,
the Cup was to be delivered to the keeper of the
Match-book in the meeting ensuing the challenge,
for the person who had become entitled to the same.

1768. — Mr. Vernon's b. h. Marquis, by Lord Rock-
ingham's Godolphin colt, out of Flora, beat Sir C.
Bunbury's Bellario, by Brilliant; Lord Grosvenor's
Pacolet, by Blank; and Lord Rockingham's Pilgrim,
by Sampson; thus Mr. Vernon became the first
holder of the Cup.

1769. — Mr. Shafto's b. h. Goldfinder, by Snap,
beat the Duke of Ancaster's Jethro, by Blank; Sir
C. Bunbury's Bellario, Mr. Vernon's Marquis, Sir L.
Dundas's A-la-Greque, Lord Rockingham's Cosmo,
and four others.

142 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

1770, October 2. — Mr. Shafto's Goldfinder walked
over. On the day following, he broke down, or he
would have been started for the King's Plate against
Eclipse. Goldfinder possessed extraordinary speed
and power, and was never beaten, and never paid a
forfeit. At Mr. Shafto's sale at Newmarket, in 1771,
Sir Charles Sedley bought him for stud purposes for
i»35o guineas.

1771, October i. — The Duke of Cumberland's bay
horse Jumper, by Snap, dam by Blank, beat Mr.
Vernon's Pantaloon, by Matchem, and six others.

1772, September 29. — Lord Ossory's gr. f. Circe,
by Matchem, beat Lord Grosvenor's Alberac.

1773. — Mr. Foley's ch. c. Pumpkin, by Matchem,
out of the Old Squirt mare, beat Mr. Strode's Ranger,
and three others. Pumpkin once ran a match over
the Rowley Mile in one minute four and a half
seconds.

1774. — Lord Grosvenor's b. c. Mexico, by Snap,
beat Mr. Vernon's Alfred, by Matchem, and the
Duke of Grafton's Labyrinth.

This was a well-contested race over the whole of
the Beacon Course between the Turn of the Lands
and the winning post. All three runners were suc-
cessively favourites.

1775. — Lord Grosvenor's Sweetbriar walked over.
Sweetbriar was never beaten.

1776. — Lord Grosvenor's ch. h. Sweet William, by
Syphon, walked over.

1777. — Lord Ossory's ch. h. Dorimant walked over.

JAMES HIRST. 143

1779- — Lord Grosvenor's ch. h. Potoooooooo, by-
Eclipse out of Sportsmistress, walked over, as he did
also in the following year.

In 1827, the Cup was next challenged for by the
Hon. Charles Wyndham, having been held by Lord
Grosvenor for forty-seven years. As his Lordship
did not accept the challenge, Mr. Wyndham received
the Cup.

In 1828, Mr. Scott Stonehewer received the trophy
under similar circumstances, as did Lord Sefton in
1829.

On the 1 8th of October in the latter year, an ec-
centric character, who had long been known on the
Turf, died, in the ninety-second year of his age. James
Hirst, of Rawcliffe, near Snaith, was for many years
the " observed of all observers " at Doncaster Races.
He was present in the St. Leger week of the year in
which he died, distributing apples, as usual, to those
whose attention he excited. He had attended Don-
caster Races in his remarkable equipage for a period
extending beyond the recollection of any living man.
His remains were interred at Rawcliffe, when his
funeral attracted a considerable gathering of the
country folk to his grave-side. It was his express
wish to be carried to the grave by eight old maids,
each of whom was to be paid los. 6d. for her trouble;
but if this proved impracticable, eight widows were
to be engaged, at 2s. 6d. each, to perform the same
service. As the old maids could not be procured in

144 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

sufficient number, or of sufficient strength, the corpse
was borne to the chapel by eight widows, to the
solemn music of a bagpipe and fiddle, the former
being played by a Scotch shepherd, the latter by an
inhabitant of the village in which Hirst died. He
had been by trade a tanner; but, having some small
means, he retired, as he found business incompatible
with his eccentricities. One of the first things he
did, on leaving business for the pursuit of pleasure,
was to buy a coffin (in which he was at last buried).
In it he kept his food, and for many years exhibited
his uncommon larder for any small remuneration.
His habitation was one of the most curious places to
be found in the county of York. A further account
of him appears in the historical sketch of Doncaster
Meeting, in the second volume of this history.

In 1830 the Turf lost, in George the Fourth, one
of the most ardent lovers and most faithful supporters
it had ever known. A " horse-delighting Prince," it
was his lot as Regent and King to wield the Impe-
rial sceptre of Great Britain during one of the most
eventful periods of her fortunes; yet he never for a
moment forgot his early love. He was passionately
fond of a race-horse, and of all things appertaining
to the sport; and it is in this regard that it is our
province to consider his career. The amorous de-
votion of Florizel to Perdita or to Saccharissa, the
doings of the fascinating Mrs. Robinson or of the
respected Mrs. Fitz-Herbert, have no place in these
pages. Our province is to consider his connection

GEORGE THE FOURTH. 145

with the sport he loved so well. His first appear-
ance on the Turf, as has been stated in a previous
chapter, took place in 1784, when he was two-and-
twenty. His stud then was very limited, consisting
chiefly of Merry Traveller, with one or two young
ones ; and one of his first tastes of the pleasure of
victory was when Merry Traveller beat Sir John
Lade's Medlycut, over Sir Harry Featherstone's
course at Up Park, in Sussex. In the following
year very large additions were made by the Prince
to his stud, and by the spring of 1 786 he had no
fewer than twenty-five animals in training at New-
market. At the end of this year his pecuniary em-
barrassments led him to adopt measures of retrench-
ment, which circumstances rendered unavoidable.
It was a hard blow to him; but, as an earnest of
future economy, he determined on the sale of his
stud. In him love of racing and race-horses was
the ruling passion; and two years afterwards, his
debts being paid, and his income increased by the
generosity or justice of the House of Commons, he
returned to the enjoyment of his favourite pursuit
on a scale of Royal magnificence. From the re-
appearance of the purple jacket in 1788, the Prince's
success on the Turf was considerable, his stable car-
rying off a fair share of the prizes, and continuing to
do so until his second retirement, in 1791, after the
unfortunate Escape affair at Newmarket. In those
years his horses carried off 190 races, some of them
events of the first importance. In 1799 he began
VOL. I. 10

146 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

to race again, though not at Newmarket ; and be-
tween 1800 and 1807 his horses won 129 stakes and
Plates. Then for twenty years his name was absent
from the lists of the Calendar ; but he undoubtedly
had some valuable animals during that period, which
ran for their engagements in the names of Mr.
Warwick Lake and Mr. Charles Greville. After the
death of his brother, the Duke of York, George the
Fourth appeared again publicly as the owner of race-
horses, which ran in his own name, and continued to
do so until his death, when his most successful horses
were Maria, Fleur-de-lis, and the Colonel.

He was almost as fond of tollowing the stag, or
the " red rascal," with hound and horn, as of seeing
his horses run at Brighton or Ascot ; but there is no
record that at any time in his life he was fond of
shooting. As a sportsman he deserved what was
said of him at the time of his death, that " whatever
he entered upon he did gracefully, scientifically, and
well;" and in reference to almost every British sport
it may be truly said of him, " Nihil non tetigit,
nihil tetigit quod non ornavity

In 1 83 1, Blacklock died at Bishop Burton, in con-
sequence of having ruptured a blood-vessel. So
much has been written against the stock descended
from this sire in our own day, that it may not be mal-
apropos to give a short account of his pedigree and
performances in this place. Blacklock, a bay colt,
foaled in 18 14, was bred by Mr. Moss, of York, who

BLACKLOCK. 147

sold him to Mr. Watt, ot Bishop Burton. He was
got by Whitelock, dam (Theodore's dam) by Cori-
ander (son of PotSo's); granddam Wildgoose, by
Highflyer; great-granddam Coheiress, by PotSo's;
great-great-granddam Manilla, by Goldfinder; great-
great-great-granddam Mr. Goodricke's Old England
mare ; great - great - great - great - granddam by the
Cullen Arabian — Cade — Miss Makeless.

Whitelock, the sire of Blacklock, was got by
Hambletonian (winner of the St. Leger in 1795),
out of Rosalind, by Phenomenon, son of King
Herod (winner of the St. Leger in 1783), granddam
Atalanta, by Matchem; great-granddam Lass of the
Mill, by Oronooko — Old Traveller (sister to Clark's
Lass of the Mill), Miss Makeless, by Young Grey-
hound— Old Partner — Woodcock — Croft's Bay Barb
— Makeless (Desdemona's dam) — Brimmer — Dicky
Pierson (son of Dodsworth) — Burton Barb mare.

On the Turf, Blacklock was a very successful
runner. In 1818 he had eleven engagements, in
nine of which he was successful; and in the next
year he won the Gold Cup at York, and other races.
He started, in all, twenty-three times, and was
beaten six times; his net winnings were 2,515
guineas, three pieces ot silver plate, and the York
Gold Cup. On being taken out of training, in 1820,
he was advertised to cover forty mares by subscrip-
tion at fifteen guineas. His popularity at the stud
fluctuated, rising and falling with the success of his
foals on the Turf; sometimes his fee was as low

10 — 2

148

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

as seven guineas, at others — and this includes the
last three years of his life — as high as twenty-five
guineas. It was calculated that, in eight years,
seventy-eight of his sons and daughters won for
their owners ^37,310, exclusive of fourteen King's
Plates, forty-one gold cups, and one silver cup —
something more than a fair share of the spoils of the
Turf.

The following table, giving the descent of Black-
lock in the paternal line, shows that he had some of
the best blood on the Turf in his veins.
The Darley Arabian Godolphin Arabian The Byerley Turk

irtlett's Childers
1

Cade
1

Jigg
1

1

Squirt

1

1
Matchera.

1

Partner

1

Marske
1

1
Tartar

1

Eclipse

1

King Herod

1

1

King Fergus

1

1
Highflyer.

1

Hambletonian

1

1

Whitelock

1

1
Blacklock.

Frank Buckle, the most celebrated jockey of his
day, died at Peterborough, on the 7th of January,
1832, in his sixty-ninth year. He had only a short
time retired from the Turf, after a career extending
over half a century. His son, Mr. S. Buckle, of
Peterborough, had published a portrait of the famous
jockey, from a painting by Mr, Richard Jones, a few

FRANK BUCKLE. 149

months previously, which had a great sale at Acker-
mann's Eclipse Sporting Gallery, in Regent-street.
The features of the veteran, the pose of the head,
his figure, and the details of the costume, combined
to make the portrait a faithful presentment of the
man ; and it is no wonder that, after his death
copies were eagerly sought for by his admirers, for
Frank Buckle had been a popular character on the
Turf for fifty years.

" No better rider ever crossed a horse ;
Honour his guide, he died without remorse.
Jockeys, attend — from his example learn
The meed that honest worth is sure to earn."

A personage of minor importance, whose name
will go down to history — Mr. William Flint — died
by his own hand in January of the same year. His
celebrated match at York, in August, 1804, against
Mrs. Thornton, had caused his name to be well-
known in Turf circles all over the world, having
occupied a large share of the attention of the pens
and pencils of the humourists and caricaturists. Mr.
Flint does not appear to have kept race-horses
before his great match, but shortly afterwards he
had several animals running in his name at York,
Pontefract, Lincoln, and other meetings. His sole
victory, however, was that he gained over Mrs.
Thornton, not one of his other horses winning him a
stake. He soon left the Turf, to distinguish himself
" in flood and field," as an enthusiastic disciple of
Izaac Walton and a constant rider to hounds. He

ISO HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

wrote a book on the management of horses ; but the
volume was no more successful than his horses had
been under his management. Extravagant expen-
diture brought him at last to comparative penury,
and it was as manager of a horse bazaar about to
be established in York that he ended his career by
an accident. He had been in the habit of taking
prussic acid in small doses as a corrective: he was
found dead in his bed, with a small phial that had
contained prussic acid in his pocket. Circumstances,
however, proved that the unfortunate man had not
intended to put an end to himself, and the verdict of
the coroner's jury was, " Died from having taken
too large a dose of prussic acid as a medicine."

Mr. Osbaldeston's great match against time — one
of the most extraordinary efforts of endurance of the
kind ever made — took place at Newmarket, during
the Houghton Spring Meeting, 1832, and aroused a
great degree of interest throughout the country.

Before the Squire's day, matches on horseback

against time had been no uncommon events, in

, which the pluck and endurance of the man, and the

stoutness and speed of our native breed of horses,

had been well shown.

In the reign of King James, one John Lepton, of
Kepwick, in the county of York, Esquire, a gentle-
man of an ancient family and of good reputation,
"His Majestie's servant, and one of the grooms of
His Most Honorable Privy Chamber, performed so

MR. LEP TON'S RIDE. 151

memorable a journey as deserves to be recorded to
future ages ; because many Gentlemen who were
good horsemen, and divers Physicians, did affirm
it was impossible for him to do without apparent
danger to his life."

Mr. Lepton's undertaking was to ride five several
times between London and York in six days, to be
taken in one week, between Monday morning and
Saturday night. Accordingly, this gentleman of
ancient family, good reputation, and stout heart,
began his match on Monday, the 20th of May, 1604,
between two and three o'clock in the morning, start-
ing from St. Martin's, Aldersgate, and arriving at
York the same day, between five and six o'clock in
the afternoon. Having slept soundly, Mr. Lepton
started from York at three the next morning, and
arrived at his lodgings in the City of London between
six and seven in the evening. Wednesday evening
saw him back again in York ; Thursday night he
slept in London ; and Friday evening, between seven
and eight, he was again in York. " So he finished
his appointed journey to the admiration of all men
in five days according to his promise. And upon
Monday, the seven and twentieth of the same
month, he went from York, and came to the Court
at Greenwich upon Tuesday the twenty-eighth to
His Majestie, in as fresh and cheerful a manner as
when he first began."

Mr. Bernard Calvert, of Andover, started at three
o'clock in the morning of July 17th, 1720, from St.

H.

M.

s.

3

52

59

3

50

57

3

49

56

152 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

George's Church, Southwark, and rode to Dover ;
crossed the Channel to Calais, returned to Dover by
the packet, and rode back to St. George's Church,
where he arrived at eight o'clock the same evening.
Mr. Calvert, it may be presumed, was a good sailor,
and had a fair wind.

Mr. Cooper Thornhill, in the month of April, 1745,
rode three times between Stilton and London in
iih. 33m. 52sec. The distance is 213 miles.

From Stilton to London (71 miles)

From London to Stilton

From Stilton to London ... ...

Mr, Thornhill's match was made for a considerable
sum of money, and the Count de Buffon, writing an
account of it to the Earl of Morton, states that Mr.
Thornhill used eight different horses in the first heat,
six in the second, and in the third heat he rode seven
out of the fourteen horses that had already served
him. " I question," writes the Count, "whether any
race at the Olympic games ever equalled the rapidity
of Mr. Thornhill's performance."

In April, 1754, a brown mare, thirteen hands three
inches high, the property of Mr. Daniel Corker, was
backed to go three hundred miles in seventy-two suc-
cessive hours on Newmarket Heath. She completed
the distance with seven hours forty-two minutes to
spare. The match was for 100 guineas P.P., and
the mare was ridden by one boy all the time, whose
weight was 4st. ilb., exclusive of the saddle and
bridle. The course chosen was backwards and for-

MR. SHAFTaS MATCH. 153

wards from the Six-mile House to the ending post of
the Beacon Course.

MILES.

Monday, April 2 2-*-Twenty-four miles and baited;

24 and baited ; 48 without baiting 96

Tuesday — Twenty-four miles and baited ; 24 and

baited; 24 and baited; 36 without baiting ... 108
Wednesday — Twenty -four miles and baited; 24 and

baited ; 48 without baiting 96

Total 300

Not more than six miles of this match was done
at a galloping pace.

Miss Pond's celebrated match at Newmarket took
place in April and May, 1758. Her undertaking
was to ride the same horse 1,000 miles in 1,000
successive hours. Miss Pond won her wager of
200 guineas easily, and a few weeks afterwards her
father rode the same horse 1,000 miles in two-thirds
of the time.

Mr. Jenison Shafto was the hero of two remark-
able matches, the scene of both of which was New-
market Heath. In the first, on the 27th of June,
1759, Mr. Shafto backed himself to ride fifty miles
in two hours ; the conditions of the wager were that
he should have as many horses as he pleased. He
had ten horses, mostly thoroughbreds, and accom-
plished the distance in i hour 49 minutes 1 7 seconds.

His second match came off on the 14th of May,
1 761. Mr. Shafto made this match with Mr. Hugo
Meynell for 2,000 guineas, undertaking to find a
person to ride one hundred miles a day for twenty-

154 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURh.

nine successive days, and to have any number of
horses not exceeding- twenty-nine. Mr. Shafto se-
lected as his champion Mr. John Woodcock, who
started on his arduous journey on the Heath at one
o'clock in the morning of May 4th, and completed
his task on the ist of June, in the evening, having
used only fourteen horses. This undertaking was
more difficult for the rider than the horses. The
course was from Hare Park to the Ditch, making
three miles, and three miles round the Flat on the
Newmarket side. There were posts with oil lamps
fixed to them, as Mr. Woodcock started very early in
the morning of each day, in order to avoid the noon-
tide heat. He was very nearly losing Mr. Shafto 's
money; for after riding a horse called Quidnunc
sixty miles, it broke down, and Mr. Woodcock had
to start afresh on another horse, to do his hundred
miles, which he finished at eleven o'clock at night.

Giles Hoyle, a century ago, was the hero of an
exploit that gained him a considerable reputation,
riding 540 miles in sixty-nine hours, in very wet
and stormy weather. On the 4th of September,
1780, he rode from Ipswich to Tiptree and back
again, for the purpose of obtaining leave of absence
from General Parker for Major Clayton to attend
the election at Clitheroe. Hoyle accomplished this
distance, sixty-six miles, in six hours. The next
day he started to ride from Ipswich to Gisburne
Park. The distance is 230 miles, accomplished
in thirty-two hours. On the 7th, he followed his

FAMO US MA TCHES. 1 5 5

master on horseback twelve miles, from Gisburne
to Browsholme, the seat of the Parkers; and on
the 8th, he took horse to Lulworth Castle, in
Dorsetshire, where he transacted his business
and returned at once to Clitheroe, having shown
remarkable powers of endurance during his long
journey.

The Curragh has been the scene of some exciting
encounters ; but rarely has that famous race-ground
witnessed a match of greater interest than when,
in 1 791, at the Curragh Meeting, Mr. Wilde rode
against time — 127 miles (English) in nine hours.
The wager was 2,000 guineas a side, and Mr. Wilde
rode over a circular course of two miles. He ac-
complished the distance in 6h. 21m., employing ten
thoroughbred horses for the purpose, and was so
little fatigued that he appeared at the Turf Club-
house the same evening.

In April, 1802, Mr. Shaw left Barton-on-the-Hum-
ber to ride to London, a distance of 172 miles, being
engaged to accomplish it in ten hours. Mr. Shaw
started at five a.m., and arrived at the Vine Inn,
Bishopsgate-street, at thirty-three minutes past three
o'clock the same afternoon "in good health and
spirits," and having ih. 27m. to spare. He em-
ployed fourteen horses for the match, and rode the
first eighty-four miles in four hours, and 112 miles in
six hours.

In December, 18 10, Mat Milton, who weighed
fifteen stones, rode from London to Stamford, a dis-

156 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

tance of over ninety miles, in 4h. 25m., employing
eighteen horses.

In May, 18 19, Mr. W. Hutchinson, for a wager of
600 guineas, undertook to ride from Canterbury to
London in three hours. He won his wager, having
done the 55I miles in 2h. 25m. 5isec.

For a wager of ^500, Mr. Lipscomb undertook to
ride ninety miles in five hours, employing not more
than eight horses. The betting was very heavy on
time; but, starting from Hyde Park Corner early in
the morning of November 6th, 1824, Mr. Lipscomb
won his wager. He rode to the sixty-fourth mile-
stone on the Bath road, and twenty-six miles back, a
mile on the London side of Reading. The match
was done in 4h. 53m. 3isec. ; the last horse — the
fastest and best of the lot of eight — had 38m. 29sec.
to perform the last ten miles, which were done
cleverly in thirty-two minutes.

Captain Polhill, of the First King's Dragoon
Guards, then stationed at Leeds, appeared before
a large concourse of people on the Haigh Park race-
course, April 17, 1826, for the purpose of trying
to win a somewhat extraordinary wager. He had
undertaken to walk fifty miles, ride fifty miles, and
drive fifty miles, in twenty-four hours. Captain Pol-
hill won easily, with four hours and fifty-five minutes
to spare. The horses were taken from his coach by
the enthusiastic multitude, and he was drawn in
triumph to the Barracks, when the whole company
chose to sinor the National Anthem in his honour.

MR. OSBALDESTON'S MATCH. 157

Captain Polhill's plan was to vary his task — first
walking so many miles, then riding, then driving.
His track was three-quarters of a mile and 104 yards
round so that he had to make 186 circuits of it. He
walked his fifty miles in loh. 21m., drove the same
distance in 4h. 24m., and rode it in 2h. 42m.

In November of the same year, the gallant captain
undertook, for a considerable wager, to ride ninety-
five miles in five successive hours, on the same race-
ground that had been the scene of his former sport-
ing wager. The event excited much interest, and
the betting was very heavy. Starting at nine o'clock
in the morning, the captain accomplished his task in
4h. 7m., being fifty-three minutes less than the time
allowed. He had nineteen relays of horses in readi-
ness for his use, but he only found it necessary to ride
thirteen of them.

Not any of these matches, however, had created
the amount of interest and excitement in the sporting
world that attended Mr. Osbaldeston's undertaking
to ride two hundred miles in ten hours on Newmarket
Heath, for a wager of ^1,000, which he did on Satur-
day in the Houghton Meeting of 1831. The Mon-
day following having been the day originally publicly
advertised for the match, the change of day caused
many hundreds to be absent who would have been
present had they known of the change to Saturday.
However, that "first of coaches," the Cambridge
Star, driven by Joe Walton, brought down some

158 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Sportsmen from town who had not been spending the
last week of the season at headquarters — most of
whom, finding it impossible to procure a hack or a
pair of posters at Cambridge under three guineas for
the great Saturday, were content to be transported
from the University town to the scene of action on
the old Bury Unicorn on the Friday evening. The
generally expressed feeling was that Mr. Osbaldes-
ton would win his wager. He was a great favourite,
and on Friday night took a bet that he would win
his match in nine hours. There were, on the other
hand, always plenty of backers of time ; it being said
that those who could not ride thought he would lose,
while those who could knew he would win. The
morning broke raw and wet, and Time became a
much better favourite; seven o'clock saw Mr. Osbal-
deston, accompanied by Mr. Thellusson, his umpire,
and Colonel Charitte, the backer of Time, with Mr.
Bowater on his behalf, make their appearance at the
Ditch Stand, where a thin sprinkling of company
only had yet assembled. The Stand was cleared of
all but those persons most interested in the match,
the watches of the umpires set and locked up, and
at thirteen minutes past seven " the Squire " started
on his journey. He wore a black velvet cap, purple
silk jacket, and doeskins — the only time he ever rode
out of his own colours, Lincoln green. Notwith-
standing the wetness of the day, he wore no flannel.
Round his waist he wore a broad riding belt, with
whalebone, which towards the end of the day proved

MR. OSBALDESTON'S MATCH. 159

a great support to his back. His saddles were
covered with lambskin, and he rode all the time with
remarkably short stirrup leathers. His course was
four miles, not exactly the Round Course — which
falls somewhat short of that distance — but by going
outside it, getting into the Beacon Course at Choke
Jade, touching on the Bunbury Mile, and coming
home close to the Ditch, he made it a four-mile
course ; and at the end of each round he changed his
horse. After the fourteenth round Mr. Osbaldeston
took his first refreshment, in the shape of a mouthful
of weak brandy and water ; at the end of the twenty-
fifth round he took a mouthful of bread and a little
brandy and water, after which he rode his quickest
four miles — eight minutes: remarkable galloping,
when his weight, list. 2lbs., is taken into considera-
tion; Hambletonian and Diamond, at racing weights,
having run their great match over the Beacon Course
in eight minutes twenty-five seconds. The Squire
completed his thirtieth round — 120 miles — in five
hours and eight minutes. Though wet to the skin,
he refused the change of clothes that was waiting
for him at a good fire, and proceeded at once
to lunch off a cold partridge, washed down with
a modicum of weak brandy and water. For fear
of stiffness setting in, through his getting cold in
his wet clothes, he was off again on his journey in
about six minutes. Notwithstanding a squall of rain
and wind in the forty-eighth round, so great that
Streamlet — the horse he was, appropriately enough.

i6o HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

mounted on at the time — refused to face it, Mr.
Osbaldeston completed his task at nine minutes be-
fore four in the afternoon, having ridden the two
hundred miles, including stoppages, in eight hours
thirty-nine minutes. As the day advanced, the com-
pany present had swelled to large proportions, and
the success of the popular foxhunter and all-round
sportsman was hailed by the uproarious salutations
and hearty cheers of his friends and the crowd. An
eye-witness relates that he "came in as gay as a
lark, waving his whip over his head. Some shook
hands with him, some patted him on the back, all
shouted; and one old, green-coated farmer, an im-
portation, I guess, from Northamptonshire, gave
him a view halloo which still rings in my ears."

At the Stand, it required great exertions on the
part of his supporters — Gully, Tom Oliver, and Harry
England — to procure room for him to dismount.
This done, however, the celebrated sportsman was
received with enthusiasm by his assembled friends,
amonof whom were two of the most beautiful women
in England — Lady Chesterfield and her sister, Mrs.
Anson.

" There was no wrapping in blankets," says the
authority before quoted; "no carrying to a post-
chaise; no salts, smelling bottles, or lancets. The
Squire jumped on his favourite hack. Cannon Ball,
and, followed by every horseman on the ground, led
them at a slapping pace to his lodgings, at Perrin's,
in Newmarket, where he got into a warm bath, took

MR. OSBALDESTON'S MATCH. i6i

a nap, and in a couple of hours was wide awake and
enjoying himself at a good dinner."

To Harry England, who had suggested a less
palatable course, the hero of the Shires had replied,
"Hang your salts and senna! I am so hungry — I
could eat an old woman."

Thus happily ended a great effort of endurance,
and one of the most famous matches against time
ever undertaken. At the date of its accomplish-
ment Mr. Osbaldeston's age was forty-four. He
had trained most carefully at Newmarket for his
match, during which neither his eye nor his voice
assumed any unusual character, and at the end his
hand did not tremble.

He had occasion, shortly after his match, to write
a letter contradicting rumours that he won sums of
from ;^ 20,000 to ^40,000 by his powers. The fact
was that, owing to the supineness and bad advice of
his friends, he had not netted more than ^1,800
after all expenses were paid. They would not pro-
perly exert themselves for him, and they refused to
let him back himself in the Ring, because they saw
he would spoil the betting. He complains, with
reason, that although he wanted to bet 3, 4, or 5 to i
on his performing his task, his friends insisted on his
keeping quiet, v/hile they filled their own pockets
handsomely at 6 to 4 at his expense. During
the actual match, the betting was, after the first
few rounds, strongly in his favour — " a diamond
to a dumpling, or the Lord Mayor's thumb to

VOL. I. I I

i62 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

a toothpick," that the match was done in ten
hours.

A great amount of comment followed the Squire's
successful performance of a feat which has ever since
been occasionally a topic of conversation or the sub-
ject of allusion in sporting coteries; and he found it
expedient to put an end to discussions on what he
would and could do, or could not do, by issuing a
general challenge. He says: — "Having been pes-
tered to death by so many inquiries about the match,
and having been chaffed so much about a jockey
doing it in eight hours, I thought it best to put
a complete statement in the paper, and also to add
the following challenges to the whole world; but
of which one, at least, I should imagine, may be
selected for their adoption " : —

THE CHALLENGE.

"I challenge any man in the world, of any age, weighing or
carrying my weight, to ride any distance he prefers, from 200 to
500 miles, for;^2o,ooo; but if he will only ride for 200 or 250
miles, I ^vill ride for ;;^ 10,000, Or I will ride against the jockey
of seven stone whom they talk of backing to ride 200 miles in
eight hours, reserving thirty minutes for the difference between
seven stone and eleven stone. Or I will take ^ 1 0,000 to ^ 3,000,
or ;^20,ooo to ;^ 6,000, that I ride 200 miles in eight hours, which
it must be allowed would be a wonderful performance for eleven
stone odd, and I think almost impossible — at least a single acci-
dent would lose the match, and I should scarcely have time to
mount and dismount. I am always to be heard of at Pitsford,
near Northampton.

"George Osbaldeston.

"Pitsford, Wednesday, Nov. 16 (1831)."

Mr. Osbaldeston named large sums, because in

ANONYMOUS CHALLENGES. 163

attempting to accomplish such tasks as he pro-
posed, he would necessarily incur a large expense,
and he risked his health and stamina besides. If
nobody thought it worth while to accept his chal-
lenge, he expressed a hope that he should not again
"be bothered with, ' It is nothing to do — an old woman
could do it, and a jockey could do it in eight hours,'
and so on." He truly says that the spectacle of a
man of his age challenging all the world to back a
man of any age against him is unparalleled in the
history of any Sporting, and hardly to be believed.

The Squire was, however, too good game to be
let alone; and for a long time after his match he
was constantly being challenged by somebody to do
something, generally something out of the scope of
his attainments, though nobody thought proper to
accept either of the challenges he had put forth in
their precise terms.

The following may serve as a specimen of the sort
of challenges he received from various quarters : —

An anonymous gentleman is anxious to go through
all the items of the following unambitious programme
with the Squire : — " To run him a mile across the
course ; to run him four miles across the country ;
to run him a hundred miles along the road ; to walk,
trot, and gallop him three miles each ; to ride him
over the highest leap ; to walk him a mile ; to walk
him ten miles ; to run him a hundred yards ; to run
him a mile ; to hop him a hundred yards ; to jump
him one standing jump ; to jump him one running

n — 2

i64 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

jump ; to jump him in height ; to jump him — hop,
step, and jump ; to play him a game at quoits ; to
play him a game at billiards ; to play him a game at
fives ; to play him a game at cricket." And after
this list is exhausted, the Squire is again put on his
mettle as an owner of horses by the following : —
"And to wind up, I will produce a cart-horse, not
more than fourteen hands high, that shall walk, trot,
and gallop any cart-horse he can produce, of what-
ever age and size he may be."

As no prize is mentioned, if Mr. Osbaldeston is
successful in all these contests, beyond its being a
" feather in the cap " of the victor, it is fair to con-
clude the wholesale challenger did not intend to
make any wager. The Squire might well complain
of being " pestered " by the Corinthians of his day.

MR. DELME RADCLIFFE. 165

CHAPTER VIII.

MR. RADCLIFFE WILLIAM THE FOURTH ARABIAN

PLATES MR. BOWLES PLENIPOTENTIARY'S YEAR

RIDSDALE V. GULLY EPSOM DOWNS LORD DERBY

MR. MYTTON.

MR. DELME RADCLIFFE, who had been
an excellent amateur jockey in his time, and
at Bibury, in rivalry with Lord George Germaine,
had often steered a son of Eclipse to victory, died
this year {1831). He was a firm supporter of the
Turf, and au fait with all its doings; his judgment
and knowledge of horses commending him to George
the Fourth, who appointed him his Gendeman of the
Horse — a post he filled also in the establishment of
the Sailor King, whose horses lost their engagements
at his death, which was unexpected, and was thus
announced : — " Who suddenly was taken off this
fretful scene of ours at his domicile in Conduit-
street, when surrounded by his friends. Lord Albe-
marle and Sloane Stanley" — a style of notice that
fulfils the conditions deemed suitable to such an
occasion by the New England Elder, being at onc(!
reliofious and neat.

William the Fourth — whose sincere desire to further
the interests of sport had led him to command that

1 66 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the " whole fleet " should be started, *' and may the
best horse win," when his late brother's horses became
his property — had never cared for horse-racing. He
felt, however, the necessity of maintaining the national
supremacy in the breeding of horses, and was at all
times anxious to do all in his power to promote the
prosperity of the Turf. Accordingly, he formed the
idea of establishing a new Challenge Prize, consisting
of a hoof of Eclipse, mounted in a costly manner; and
he, very sensibly, left the regulations of the race to
the Jockey Club, who at once framed the following
conditions, the race to be run for the first time on
Thursday in the Ascot week, 1832: — "The Eclipse
Foot, with ^200 given by his Majesty, added to a
sweepstakes of ;^ 100 each, for horses the property of
members of the Jockey Club: three-year-olds to carry
7st. ; four, 8st. lolbs. ; five, Qst. slbs. ; six and aged,
9st. 9lbs. ; mares and geldings allowed 3lbs. To start
at the Cup Post in the New Mile, and to go once
round; about two miles and a half" The ;^2oo of
added money was not to be given if the race ended
in a walk-over. The Eclipse Foot would remain in
the possession of the winner until somebody else be-
came entitled to it under the conditions, which were,
that after the year 1832 the Eclipse Foot might be
challenged for in the Newmarket Craven Meeting, to
be run for, on Thursday in the next Ascot Race week,
by horses the property of members of the Jockey
Club. If the challenge was not accepted, the Foot
was to be delivered to Mr. Weatherby, in Oxenden-

THE CHALLENGE PRIZE. 167

Street, in the week preceding Ascot Races, for the
person who might be entitled to it. The King
undertook to add ^200 every year if ten or more
horses started for the Foot. Lord Chesterfield's
Priam, five years; Mr. Scott Stonehewer's Zany, four
years ; and General Grosvenor's Sarpedon, were the
animals entered to run on the first occasion for ** this
truly national prize."

At the present day challenge prizes on the Turf
are by no means attractive, and for very obvious
reasons. The days when such prizes would confer any
greater distinction upon their winners than other
leading prizes of the Turf have long since passed,
and owners of horses naturally endeavour to run
them for stakes that have both money and glory to
recommend them.

The King gave his annual dinner to the Jockey
Club at St. James's Palace on the i6thof May, 1832;
a sumptuous repast was served on three tables in the
Banqueting-room, covers being laid for seventy.
The company included the leading patrons of the
Turf; and after dinner the Hoof of Eclipse, ele-
gantly mounted in the middle of a gold salver, was
brought into the room, and presented by the King
to the Club. In front were the Royal Arms in
gold, in high relief. The hoof was supported by a
golden pedestal, on one side of which was engraved
the following inscription: — ''This piece of plate, with
the Hoof of Eclipse, was presented by his Most
Gracious Majesty William the Fourth to the Jockey

1 68 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Club — May, 1832." Nor did the King's kindly in-
terest in the Turf end here : he made liberal allow-
ances to his trainer and jockey, settling ^300 a-year
for life on Mr. Edwards, the use of the Royal stables,
and apartments in the Palace at Newmarket. At the
same time he settled on George Nelson, his jockey,
£\oo a-year for life.

About this time certain theorists who still believed
in the overwhelming excellence of the pure -bred
Arab, Barbary, and other Eastern horses, set on foot
a proposition for establishing a Plate at Ascot for
the produce of Arabs. It was necessary that they
should have a race to themselves to eive them a
chance, as it had often been proved that, cceteris
paribiis, they stood no chance against the English
thoroughbred. The proposed Plate for the produce
of pure Arabian sires was by annual subscription
among the owners. The distance of the course was
settled at two miles, and the weights were — three-
year-olds to carry 7st. ; four, 8st. slbs. ; five, gst. ilb. ;
six and aged, Qst. 7lbs. Mares and geldings to be
allowed 3lbs.

As a matter of course, the produce only of such
horses or mares whose owners subscribed were to be
allowed to start. At that time there were at least a
dozen pure-bred Arab sires covering in England;
the best known amoncr them beine the Cole Ara-
bian, Champion, Harlequin, Honesty, Humdanieh,
Muscat, Orelio, Signal, and Soliman.

The idea of establishing a Plate to be contested

PLATE FOR ARABIANS. 169

exclusively by the produce of Arabs was not by any
means a novel one. A sweepstakes of 100 guineas
each for the produce of Arabs was run for in the
First October Meeting, 1775, D.I., and was w^on by
Mr. Strode's Pudenda, by the Sedley Arabian, beat-
ing six others. At the Second Spring Meeting, i ']^(i,
Lord Clermont's gr. c, by the Damascus Arabian,
won a sweepstakes of 100 guineas over the. Beacon
Course, beating two others ; and in the First Spring
Meeting, 1777, Mr. Vernon's Glory, by his chestnut
Arabian, received forfeit from Lord Bolingbroke's
colt by his Arabian, and two others, 200 guineas
each, D.L

Other instances of races of this description might
be adduced from the pages of the Calendar; but the
only lesson they teach is that such Plates must end
in failure : they neither attract company to witness
them, furnish amusement, or the basis of speculation
for such as do come, or do anything to further im-
provement in our breed of horses. As a writer on
horseflesh and racing in the early years of the present
century, when speaking of an Arab Plate, puts it: —
"The horses ran in so mediocre a style, having little
speed and less game, that the plan was in a few
years abandoned."

It must not be thought, however, from these re-
marks about the uselessness of attempting to revive
the employment of Arabian sires at the stud in this
country, by subscribing small sums in the way of
Plates for their produce to race for, that it is argued

I/O HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

that the giving of special Plates of small value can
under no circumstances promote the interests of
English breeders. On the contrary, such plates
have often been productive of much good, and
notably in the instance of an annual Plate for horses
of all ages, lost. each, run for at Kipling Coates for
a great many years, which, though of very small
amount, attracted some very good horses. Among
these, in old times, may be mentioned the celebrated
Miss Neesham, by Hardey's BHnd Horse, dam by
Croft's Commoner, who won the Kipling Coates
euineas no less than five times between 1728 and
1734. The nature and intention of this and similar
free prizes may be drawn from John Cheny's de-
scription:— "This prize," he says, **was founded by
a body of foxhunters, appointing it to be annually
run for on the third Thursday in March, who, taking
an affection to the wolds of Yorkshire, in some re-
spects resembling the Downs of the Southern coun-
ties, were pleased to deposit the sums whence the
prize annually rises ; and although but sixteen
guineas, yet, as the time of running for it is in the
infancy of the season, it is looked upon as a proper
taste-trial, or proof how horses have come through
the winter."

Mr. Bowles, a veterinary surgeon who established
himself at Cambridge, was one of the first members
of his profession to treat the diseases of horses in a
scientific manner, as opposed to the rule-of-thumb

MR. BOWLES. 171

methods of the old-fashioned practitioners. Having
speedily acquired a reputation in the University and
town, his fame spread through Cambridgeshire and
the adjoining counties; and Newmarket was among
the first places to avail itself of his skill. During
a very long period of practice, he treated nearly
every horse of note trained at head-quarters, carefully
adapting his treatment to the circumstances of the
case. When called in to find out the ailment of a
race-horse, he gave unusual time and care to the
performance of his duty. Having settled the ques-
tion of what was the matter, he would invariably ask
what enofaeements the animal had. "If he has
three engagements in April, where is the use," Mr.
Bowles would say, "of giving them up, that by rest
and regular treatment a cure may be performed in
May — during which time something inferior may have
run away with the stakes? No, keep him going as
well as you can till these are over, and then, as the
common people say, let * Dr. Green' (spring grass)
cure what the farrier cannot." Mr. Bowles pos-
sessed not only extraordinary skill in his profession,
but a large fund of common sense, which recom-
mended him to the Newmarket trainers, and many
quaint sayings acceptable in all quarters. His frame
of mind was religious, and, "improving the occasion,"
as it is called, he was often heard to say, " Let a
man make himself thoroughly to understand the
structure of a horse's foot, its economy, its bearings,
its beauties, its provisions, and elasticity, and should

172 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

he then turn and say 'There is no God,' that man is
a fool and a liar."

To Mr. Bowles's open-handed generosity and
native kindliness of heart must be attributed the
fact that he left but a modest fortune behind him
at his death, his life-long maxim having been that
"money honestly got and well-spent is the only real
riches-." During his life, no one was better known
on the Turf; and when he quitted it, he left no one
behind more esteemed than he had been.

Plenipotentiary's year (1834) was a time of trouble
and litigation for the followers of the national sport.
Mr. Ridsdale and his quondam partner, Mr. Gully,
having quarrelled and come to blows, the trial came
on in the early part of the year. No sooner was the
course cleared for the first race at Epsom than a
notice, issued by the bailiff of the manor of Epsom,
was served on the Stewards, informing them that
they were " hereby forbid from entering or coming
upon any of the waste lands of the manor," or, in
other words, upon the racecourse on the Downs ;
and, lastly, the St. Leger ended in a cloud of obloquy
thrown over the doings of those persons who had
the management of the favourite.

Curiously enough, the caiise celebre of " Ridsdale v.
Gully" was tried at York, in the same Court that, a
quarter of a century previously, had witnessed the
trial of Colonel Thornton against Flint, also a horse-
whipping case. The able counsel for the plaintiff

RI DSD ALE V. GULLY. ' 173

(Mr., afterwards Baron, Pollock) opened the case in
a temperate speech, and the facts, as set out, showed
that Gully, who was an ex-prlzefighter and Member
of Parliament for Pontefract, had been on many
occasions partner with Ridsdale in making a book ;
that both were professional bettors ; and that they
had quarrelled and separated some time before.
Ridsdale, who, probably, had excellent means of
ascertaining the truth, had put it about that Gully
had won ^12,000 over a race. They met in the
hunting-field. Gully said, very angrily, to Ridsdale,
" You knew I had not won so much ; I told you so
myself," and then, without further provocation, struck
Ridsdale on the back, " not lightly, but with as much
force as the arm of a Gully could bestow." Old John
Singleton, of Great Givendale, son of the celebrated
jockey, who was present, was one of the witnesses
called. The defence set up was provocation ; but the
jury found for Ridsdale, with ^^500 damages, exactly
the sum awarded by a York jury to Colonel Thornton
when he sued Mr. Flint.

The Epsom case was as follows: — Mr. John
Ivatt Briscoe, who was lord of the manor of Epsom,
was also Member of Parliament for the Eastern
Division of the county of Surrey. He refused
to subscribe to the races at Epsom, on the ground
that his religious views and opinions were opposed
to the sport ; but as he had previously executed
a lease for the erection of the Grand Stand — a
step calculated more firmly to establish the races on

174 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the Downs — and as he had likewise offered to accept
a yearly rent of a hundred pounds in lieu of the tolls
or collections annually gathered from the booths, it
is clear that religious scruples had not much to do
with the action he took to assert his rights as lord of
the manor.

He had let about an acre of ground — the fee-
simple value of which might be ^20 — for the pur-
pose of erecting a Grand Stand, which cost ;i^20,ooo,
reserving to himself a ground rent of ^30 per annum,
and, of course, the ultimate reversion to the building.
Mr. Briscoe's proceedings made him certainly the
most unpopular man in England among the followers
of the sport, as it was plain from the first that if, on
his action of trespass against Mr. Roberts being tried,
he recovered only a farthing damages, he might, if
he chose, stop the races altogether; and this, it was
reported, he intended to do. It is not very easy to
discover what motive Mr. Briscoe had in the matter,
except that which he asserted — namely, the main-
tenance of his manorial rights. He certainly gained
little else by his action against Mr. Roberts ; for, a
general election intervening between the entering of
his action and the trial, he lost his seat, as he himself
was candid enough to admit, " from being misunder-
stood in his intentions towards the races annually
holden upon his manorial Downs."

When the result of the action was known, a jere-
miad for the future of the Turf rent the skies. Ep-
som was doomed: what might not be expected to

THE EPSOM DOWNS CASE. 175

follow ^ No ill resulted, however. Mr. Briscoe did
not, as was prophesied, turn the Grand Stand into
a Synagogue or a Bethesda, but accepted a payment
of ^5 from the Race Committee as an acknowledg-
ment of his right as lord of the manor, and ^100
towards the costs of his action. It was not until
July, 1836, that the matter was finally adjusted.
The Jockey Club and the Stewards of the Races
at Epsom entrusted to Mr. Rush their interests in
the matter, and with him Mr. Briscoe arranged
to guarantee, in the most extensive manner, the
appropriation of the Downs for racing purposes. It
was settled at this time that the entire management
of the Downs should for the future be vested in the
Stewards for the time being, to whom every au-
thority the lord of the manor could give was to be
delegated, with power to act in all matters connected
with the sport in the fullest manner possible for the
benefit and encouragement of the races. Mr. Briscoe,
however, stipulated for the right to protect the in-
terests of the proprietors of the Grand Stand, this
being, as their landlord, at once his duty and his in-
terest.

The Epsom difficulty of the early summer was fol-
lowed by the sensational defeat of Mr. Batson's chest-
nut. Plenipotentiary, for the St. Leger. Odds of 1 1
to 10 and 5 to 4 were laid on the favourite on the
morning of the race ; but Plenipotentiary made a very
sorry figure, being altogether a different animal from
the horse that cut down his field at Epsom. Lord

1/6 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Westminster's Touchstone won, Lord Sligo's Bran
being second, out of a large field ; and at that time
Bran was believed to be a much better horse than
the winner. Plenipotentiary, whose victory had been
looked upon as a certainty, was ridden by Patrick
Connolly, upon whom and Mr. Batson a great amount
of obloquy was thrown. The horse, there can be no
doubt, was not properly trained, though it may be
too much to say that he was not run to win. A
contemporary account speaks of him as "a racehorse,
within forty-eight hours of his starting for a race
with hundreds of thousands of public money on him,
carrying as much blubber as would have swamped a
South Sea whaler."

Plenipotentiary's year, too, saw the last of as great
a sportsman as ever lived, and one of the steadiest
and most liberal patrons the Turf ever knew. Ed-
ward Smith Stanley, twelfth Earl of Derby, whose
career on the Turf lasted for nearly sixty years, was
the founder of the Oaks, named after his seat in
.Surrey; of the Derby, named in his honour; and of
the Meeting at Aintree, near Liverpool, famous as
the arena over which the Grand National is decided.
Having succeeded to the title soon after the attain-
ment of his majority, on the death of his grandfather
in his eighty-seventh year, his name immediately
appears in the records of Weatherby as an owner of
race-horses. He made his ddbiU on the Turf in 1776,
and gave his support to the sport at Manchester,

THE EARL OF DERBY. 177

Lancaster, Chester, Liverpool, and all the other
Meetings held in what may be considered his own
neighbourhood. During his long connection with
the Turf, he appears as the breeder and owner of
a very long list of winners: his horses often carried
off the Dee Stakes, the Palatine, Produce, and other
North country prizes. At Epsom he was successful
in winning the Oaks at "the first time of asking,"
having the satisfaction of seeing his filly, Bridget, by
King Herod, defeat a field of eleven, and effect the
enrolment of her name at the head of what has since
become the long list of Oaks winners.

His lordship won the Oaks a second time, with
Heroine, in 1794. He was only once victorious in
the Derby, winning the Blue Riband with Sir Peter
Teazle, by Highflyer. At the time of his death, and
for some years before that event, Lord Derby was
the Father of the Jockey Club, at whose councils he
had been a regular attendant for something like fifty-
eight years. Among the supporters of racing whom
he had known intimately, either as members of the
Club or habitties of the Turf, and who had quitted
it before him, were George the Fourth, the Dukes
of Portland, Devonshire, Bolton and Grafton; Lords
Abingdon, Rockingham, Lincoln, Edward Bentinck,
Scarborough, Thanet, Clermont, Grosvenor, Mil-
sington, Ossory, March, and Stawell ; Sirs C. Sedley,
H. Harper, F. Molyneux, J. Moore, C. Brand,
C. Danvers, J. Shelley, and W. Vernon; Messrs.
Vernon, Wentworth, O' Kelly, Pratt, Shafto, Panton,

VOL. I. 12

178 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Clifton, and Scarisbrick. What other period can
boast an ampler list of warm supporters among the
followers of the Turf ?

Lord Derby's colours, before the year 1787, were
green and white stripes ; but two other noblemen
using jackets of the same colours, the Knowsley
colours were changed to black and white cap, in
which colours Lord Derby's horses always after-
wards ran.

Besides his horses in training, Lord Derby had
a very extensive stud at Knowsley, where he bred-
some first-rate animals. His trainers were, succes-
sively, Old Saunders, Young Saunders, and Bloss ;
and his jockeys, Old Peirse, R. Spencer, Dunn, Ben
Smith, Johnson, and Lye.

Fond as the Earl was of seeing his home-bred
horses carry the black and white to victory, if it was
possible for him to love anything better than a
thoroughbred horse, it was a thoroughbred game-
cock. Under his care and superintendence, the
Knowsley breed of black-breasted reds was brought
to perfection, and at Chester and Lancaster the
North-country Earl was well-nigh invincible. It
may be truly said of him that he was the greatest
cocker that ever lived; and in saying this, it must be
recollected that since his time opinion has changed
very much as to the humane treatment of animals ;
but in his day cocking was as respectable a sport-
ing taste as a gentleman could have. Nobody had
thought of writing it down, far less of legislating

MR. JOHN MYTTOIV. 179

against it ; and it was as reputable to fight a main
of cocks as to hunt the fox. Lord Derby was mar-
ried twice— first to Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, and
secondly to the celebrated actress and beauty, Miss
Farren: by both wives he had three children. No
man lived more esteemed, or died more universally
regretted. He was born on a great day in the
sportsman's calendar — the festival of St. Partridge,
1752 — and died at Knowsley, October 21st, 1834.
Sails changer— \ki^ motto of his illustrious race — may
well be applied to his untiring devotion to all manly
sports. " He was English, sir, from top to toe."

In sad contrast to the career of Lord Derby, is
that of another brilliant all-round sportsman, who at
the same time ran horses at the principal North-
country meetings, and whose colours were likewise
green with white stripes. Mr. John Mytton, of
Halston, in the county of Salop, was the posthumous
son of a gentleman of high standing in the county.
During his long minority, his estates were well
managed; and on his attaining his majority he came
into possession of a very large fortune. He was the
hero of a thousand escapades. As a boy at West-
minster School, he wrote to the Lord Chancellor
(Eldon), and told him, at fourteen, he was going to be
married, and could not live in his altered state on his
allowance of ;^400 a year. " Sir," wrote the Chan-
cellor, "if you can't live on your allowance, you may
starve; and if you marry, I'll commit you to prison."

12 — 2

i8o HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Two or three years later, he left school, and ob-
tained a commission in the Seventh Hussars. A
residence in Paris with the Army of Occupation did
not contribute to his stock of prudence; and when he
acquired, in due course, the sole control of his large
property, he soon "played ducks and drakes" with it.

He was a man of great physical strength, and ex-
celled in all outdoor sports; he was liberal and open-
handed with his money to the extreme of generosity.
On the Turf he cut a great figure for a few years,
owning some first-rate horses, which he did his best
to race off their legs ; and when the racing season
was over, he would ride his best animals hunting and
coursing. He owned Banker, who won for him six-
teen races ; Euphrates, who placed thirty-eight stakes
to his credit; Longwaist, Halston, and other horses
of note. No fortune, however, would stand the re-
peated attacks of a man who would gamble away ten
thousand pounds at a single match at billiards- — this
Mr. Mytton did with Mr. Ester, at Calais — and in
1 83 1 all was gone from him, and the furniture, pic-
tures, and plate of his stately home at Halston came
to the hammer of the auctioneer. He died in the
rules of the King's Bench, three years later, a prisoner
for debt. A paper published in the chief town of his
native county thus noticed his demise: — "On Satur-
day, the 29th March, in the King's Bench, London,
aged thirty-eight, John Mytton, Esq., of Halston, in
this county. This gentleman inherited large estates
in Shropshire and Merionethshire, had been High

THE EARL OF EGREMOA'T.

Sheriff for both counties, and M.P. for this town.
His great munificence and eccentric gaieties obtained
him notoriety in the gay and sporting circles, both in
England and on the Continent. While a few faith-
ful friends, esteemed to the last remembered kind-
nesses, we fear there are many partakers of his bounty
who have treated him with ingratitude." Such was
the end of one for whom fortune had done so much,
the eccentric Jack Mytton, of Halston.

George Wyndham O'Brien, Earl of Egremont, the
pattern of an English country gentleman, lived to the
good old age of eighty-five; and for sixty years was
an ardent supporter of the Turf, carrying on his stud
on a scale of magnificence never before attempted,
and, perhaps, never since equalled by the enterprise
of an individual owner. His stud at Petworth con-
tained sixty brood mares, whose produce Lord Egre-
mont trained. He won the Derby of 1782 with
Assassin, by Sweetbriar; in 1804, with Hannibal, by
Driver; 1805, with Cardinal Beaufort, by Gohanna ;
in 1807 with Election, by the same sire; and in 1826
with Lapdog by Whalebone. This great sportsman
was equally fortunate in the Oaks, carrying off that
prize also five times — namely, in 1788 with Night-
shade, by Pot8o's; 1789, with Tag, by Trentham;
in 1795, Platina, by Mercury; in 1800, with Ephe-
mera, by Woodpecker; and in 1820, with Caroline,
by Whalebone. In his earlier years as an owner of
race-horses, Lord Egremont had them trained at
home, on a capital course in his park at Petworth ;

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

but It was not found to answer, and they were after-
wards all trained at Newmarket. The Marquis of
Westminster's and Sir Thomas Stanley's experience
was the same — that young stock trained in the pri-
vacy of home hedgerows invariably discovered a ten-
dency to leap over all bounds when tried in public ;
no gallop being comparable to that afforded by
a common training-ground, where from their first
sweats they are always in the company of other
horses on an open track.

In 1838, the Turf Benevolent Fund was first pro-
posed by Mr. John Whyte, the proprietor of the Hip-
podrome at Notting-hill. " I shall be enabled at
the Hippodrome," he says, " if I am supported, to
give the plan a fair trial, by imposing as a condition
upon the winners of Plates and Stakes given by me,
and upon the jockeys winning races, the payment of
sums to the Fund."

Mr. Whyte's circular advocating the establishment
of the Turf Benevolent Fund set out that it was in-
stituted for the benefit of decrepit or maimed jockeys,
and their widows and infant families, and for those
reduced to poverty whose characters are unble-
mished. He remarks that the lives of jockeys are ex-
tremely arduous, and much bodily suffering has to be
sustained, which occasionally leads to incurable dis-
ease, or premature old age and death. TJiey are like-
wise a class peculiarly liable to meet with accidents,
more or less severe. He therefore proposes an in-
stitution for their relief, under circumstances recom-

MR, WHYTES FUND. 183

mending them as objects of chanty. The objects of
the Fund were to be : —

The relief of jockeys, of unimpeachable character
for integrity, reduced to destitution ; the relief of the
widows, orphans, and parents of such jockeys left
destitute.

The reward of skill and meritorious conduct.
Every jockey, to have any benefit from the Fund,
was to subscribe ten shillings a year while able to
do so. Owners of horses winning a stake of ^50 to
pay ten shillings, ^100 one pound to the Fund; and
so on in proportion. Every jockey winning a race
to pay one shilling to the Fund.

" Better nerve also," says Mr. Whyte, "will be pos-
sessed by the jockey from the consciousness that, if
temporarily injured by an accident, he will be taken
care of by the Fund, if he be without means, until he
has recovered. The provision, likewise, that assist-
ance can only be afforded to the jockey of unble-
mished character would surely have the best tendency
in keeping jockeys strictly honest, and worthy of the
high confidence which is necessarily placed in them."

What form this excellent proposal of the pro-
prietor of the Hippodrome assumed in the course
of years is well known.

1 84 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHAPTER IX.

ASCOT GRAND STAND THE QUEEN AT ASCOT RAIL-
WAYS V. COACHES SUe's HISTORY OF SCHAM

SIR JOHN LADE PARIS THE CANADIAN AFFAIR

LORD GEORGE BENTINCK V. CONNOP THE DUKE

OF CLEVELAND MR. \VILSOX MR. THORNHILL

NIMROD THE DERBY OF I 844 RUNNING REIN.

THE foundation stone of the Grand Stand at
Ascot was laid on the i6th of January, 1839,
by the Earl of Errol, Master of the Buckhounds,
in the presence of a numerous assemblage of county
gentry and other persons interested in witnessing
the ceremonial. Lord Errol wielded the silver
trowel in true Masonic style, after which he made
a short speech, in which he expressed the great
pleasure it had given him to take a part in founding
a structure which would be the source of so much
convenience to the public frequenting Ascot Races.
" I can assure you," said his lordship, " that on all
future occasions I shall feel gratified in giving my
influence to further the public interests of this
national sport, for the view of which this build-
ing is particularly erected" — a sentiment from the
noble Master of the Buckhounds which was re-
ceived with three-times-three cheers and " one cheer

ASCOT GRAND STAND. 185

more."' The building thus begun was completed in
time for the reception of the company attending the
races of the same year. This Stand, which has since
been considerably extended, was designed by Mr.
Higgins, the necessary capital being raised in one
hundred shares of ;^ 100 each, ^5 of which was to
be paid off annually, so that at the end of twenty
years it might become entirely free, when the receipts
per annum were to be totally appropriated for the
benefit of the races. The shareholders were pro-
mised five per cent, for their money, a bonus out of
the receipts, and a perpetual transferable admission
to the Stand. The original trustees were the Earl
of Errol, Captain Seymour, and Messrs. T. R. Ward
and M. Gilbertson.

Her Majesty was present on the occasion of the
opening of the Grand Stand to the public, having
journeyed to the Royal Heath from Windsor in
Ascot state. Immediately after the race for the
Stakes had been decided, her Majesty was graciously
pleased to command that the rider of the winner, a
very young jockey, named Forth, should be brought
in her presence. This was accordingly done, and
the highly delighted boy was presented to his Sove-
reign by the Earl of Lichfield. The Queen compli-
mented him on his riding the winner with so much
judgment and skill, and at the same time gave him
the substantial reward of a ten-pound note.

Railways were rapidly making their way, and it is
easily to be understood that the "abomination" met

1 86 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

with more hearty and complete opposition, wherever
it appeared, from sporting men and lovers of horses
than from any other class of the population. The
Times began to express strong fears that the turn-
pikes and stages were doomed, and its gloomy note
of apprehension struck terror into the hearts of
squires and yeomen. The country must be ruined,
the landed gentry were deeply implicated in the
turnpike trusts, the farmers would not be able to sell
their horses, coach-making as an industry would be
blotted out, innkeepers would be bankrupt, inns
deserted, and the country, deprived of its veins,
would pour out its life-blood through its arteries.
The leading journal recommended a timely reduc-
tion of the duty on horse-coaches and posting, before
all such interests were swamped. It was hardly
credible that in free Britain a set of speculators
should be allowed to rob the public and set them at
defiance ; and one thing at least was certain, that no
decent woman, however protected, would ever be
prevailed upon to place herself in a railway carriage.
When the novelty of the thing had subsided, no
English gentleman would be found condescending to
assume this hasty mode of transit, compatible only
with the lot of men of business and bagmen. Des-
perate as the case of the partizans of the coaches
was, there was a gloomy satisfaction in the know-
ledge that the railways could not carry heavy goods,
as the wear and tear was so great, the charges would
not cover it; that the expenses of superintendents,

THE LAST COACHES. 187

clerks,' policemen, porters, and other attendants, with
hosts of labourers and engineers, were enormous;
that the engines were very costly, and were not very
fast.

There remained, also, the consolation that at least
one great coaching establishment — the Bull and
Mouth — had coaches on the Birmingham, Liverpool,
Manchester, and other roads, in spite of, and in op-
position to, the iron monstrosities; and this led to
the conclusion that "the question whether railway
conveyances will supersede the use of coaches on
their respective lines must take time to solve."
Time has solved the question.

The coaches, at the time of their being superseded
by a more expeditious if not a more pleasant mode
of travelling, had arrived at a high degree of per-
fection, running on all the main roads of the king-
dom with great punctuality, safety, and speed. The
" Shrewsbury Wonder," which began running in
1825, was the first coach to do so long a journey as
a hundred and fifty-four miles in one day; hence its
name. It started from Shrewsbury at a quarter
before five, and in its last years at a quarter before
six, in the morning, and arrived in London at a
quarter before ten at night, having stopped twice on
the road for the refreshment of its passengers. The
coaches running to York, to the North, to Bristol, to
Exeter, and the Brighton stages, were among the
most famous vehicles of the palmiest days of profes-
sional coaching — the days that immediately preceded

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

its extinction. Happily, the Coaching Clubs and
amateur coachmen of to-day keep up in perfection
the art and sport of driving a four-in-hand in work-
manlike style; and from the White Horse Cellar, in
Piccadilly, any man may realize the sensations of his
grandfather as he surveyed the road from London
to Briorhthelmstone, and decide for himself between
the rival claims of the London, Brighton, and South
Coast Railway and four good horses with a good
road and a level staofe.

The best description to be found of the opposition
made to the "railroad invasion" in a country town,
and of the ruinous effect of the success of the "steel
abortion" upon a country innkeeper, is not to be
found, as might be expected, in the pages of a pro-
fessedly sporting writer, but in an admirably realistic
sketch from the pen of Mr. John Hollingshead ("Mis-
cellaneous Works," vol. H.).

It was about this time that M. Euofene Sue did
for the Godolphin Arabian what Mr. Harrison Ains-
worth soon afterwards did for Turpin's mare, Black
Bess. The imaginative French novelist made that
famous horse more famous by lending to slender fact
the charm and spell of fiction. His " History of the
Godolphin Arabian" ran through a dozen numbers
of La Prcsse, in which he depicted the life, character,
and behaviour of this father of the English Turf in
a novelette, which he said he founded upon the
English and French Racing Calendars, the " Sport-
ing Magazine," and the portrait of the animal in the

SUE'S HISTORY OF SCHAM. 189

library at Gogniagog. Agba, the Arab groom, to
whom the horse is profoundly attached, and the
celebrated Godolphin cat, figure prominently in the
narrative. A Quaker staying in Paris hears that he
is a grandfather, and, according to the custom of his
sect, M. Sue says, at once resolves to perform some
charitable action. He sees a horse in a cart, fear-
fully overtasked, and brutally belaboured with a stick,
at the foot of the Pont Neuf He buys the horse, to
save him from the torture of havino- a lighted torch
applied, vice the stick discarded; and becomes the
owner of Scham, the Godolphin Arabian. His his-
tory, from the time he left the stables of the Bey of
Tunis, in 1 731, to his death, is then told in the glow-
ing language of the novelist, who concludes his nar-
rative thus : — " They returned to Gogmagog in tri-
umph ; and to prove his admiration of the wondrous
powers of the Barb, Hobgoblin's splendid stable was
appropriated to Scham, and the words ' Godolphin
Arabian,' which name the Noble Lord had given
to Scham, engraved in letters of gold on its marble
pediment. This celebrated horse died at Goemaeoe,
in 1753, aged twenty-nine. Grimalkin had preceded
him to the tomb, and Agba did not long survive
him."

Sir John Lade, who had been for many years the
friend and associate of George the Fourth, when
Prince of Wales, died at Egham on the loth of
February, 1838, in his eightieth year. The vener-
able baronet had retired from taking any active part

I90 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

in Turf pursuits for some years before his death;
but his had been, in the Hfetime of his illustrious
friend, a well-known and conspicuous figure at all
the fashionable meetings. Sir John had the reputa-
tion of being the best charioteer of his age as a Jehu
sans peur and sa7is reprochc. He was the hero of
many stories of startling feats of skill on the box,
one of the most remarkable of which was driving
the off-wheels of his phaeton over a sixpence placed
on a certain spot in the road, for a considerable
wager. All his contemporaries of the whip, even
the celebrated bucks of the Four-in-hand Club, ac-
knowledged Sir John in his prime to be " first-and-
first" with the ribands.

One of the numerous duties liable to be imposed
upon a country gentleman in his own county is that
of Steward at a Race Meeting — a post of consider-
able responsibility, and likewise one the nomination
to which carries with it a high compliment. Up to a
comparatively recent date, many races at the country
meetings were run in heats. The distance chair
was an important adjunct to the furniture of the
racecourse. For such races as were run in heats, it
was of course necessary to have a man in the dis-
tance chair, who dropped a flag the instant the judge
lowered his, and whose special duty it was to observe
what horses, if any, did not pass the post. He was
provided with a list of the horses and the colours of
the riders, accurately made at the time the jockeys
were weighed, in order, of course, that he might not

ARTHUR PA VIS. 191

mistake one horse for another. Though two hun-
dred and forty yards had always been recognized as
the proper space between the winning post and the
distance post, there were many country racecourses
on which the distance post was placed much nearer
to the judge's chair; by which means the jockeys
were often deceived in their calculations, and made
mistakes in finishing their races.

Arthur Pavis, the celebrated jockey, died at New-
market on the 15th of October, 1839, at the early
age of thirty-one. His first public appearance in
the saddle was at Exeter, in 1821, when he rode
Nightshade in a handicap, his own weight being
3st. I libs. He was light-weight rider to George
the Fourth, and also rode regularly in his later
years for the Duke of Richmond and Colonel Peel.
Whilst few of his most able contemporaries could
scale at anything less than 8st. 4lbs., Pavis was
always able to ride at seven stone without wasting.
This, of course, gave him great advantage in light
weight handicaps, and was one cause that led to his
immense practice in his profession, which was larger
than that of any other jockey of his day. Pavis was
a good man, respected by his employers for his
straightforwardness and honesty, and liked by all
who knew him. After his death it was said of him
that he was one who " had done his duty in that
state of life to which it pleased God to call him."

The case of Smith v. Bo?id was tried before Lord

192 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Abinger and a special jury, at the Middlesex Sittings
after Michaelmas Term, 1842. It was a common
gaming-house case, brought under the statute of
Anne (9th, chap. 14), which was enacted to repress
excessive gaming. The parish of St. George's, Ha-
nover-square, swarmed with " hells," and hitherto
the efforts of the parochial officers had been unable
to put them down. The play at such houses was
notoriously unfair, and the keepers had thrived in
proportion to the number and wealth of the victims
they had been able to fleece. It was resolved, there-
fore, to bring an action under the statute above-men-
tioned, which not only prohibits "excessive" gaming,
but enables the loser of above ^10 at a sitting to re-
cover treble the amount of his losses ; or, if he does
not choose to take this course himself, any informer is
enabled to sue for and obtain the penalty, one-half of
which is to benefit the poor of the parish in which
the offence was committed, and the other half is to
go into the pocket of the person bringing the action.
In the case tried before Lord Abinger, the "hell"
went by the high-sounding name of the Junior St.
James's Club-house ; but there was not the least pre-
tence for calling it a club : anybody went in to play,
with hardly the formality of a first introduction. The
keeper did a thriving trade, at French hazard chiefly;
and it w^as proved by the plaintiff, who had been one
of the coterie who kept the table, that Mr. Bredell
had lost ^200, Mr. Fitzroy Stanhope ^50, the Mar-
quis of Conyngham ^^500 on each of two separate

SMITH V. BOND. 193

occasions, Lord Cantaliipe ^400, and other noble-
men and gentlemen various sums.

An Ingenious plea was put in by counsel on behalf
of Bond, the keeper of the "hell" — viz., that as the
sums in question were paid by cheques, and inas-
much as a cheque is not held to be a payment in law
till cashed, and as the banks at which the cheques
were payable were not in the parish of St. George's,
Hanover-square, the offence was not completed in
that parish, and defendant could not recover. The
learned Chief Baron, however, overruled the objec-
tion, and, under his direction, the jury returned a
verdict for the plaintiff for ^3,508, being treble the
amount actually proved to have been lost; thus
teaching a very useful lesson to the keepers of
gaming-houses generally. Had Lords Conyngham
and Cantalupe and Mr. Stanhope come forward as
witnesses, and certified to their losses on the two oc-
casions mentioned, additional penalties would have
accrued to the amount of ^5,820.

This obsolescent Act of Queen Anne did great
service towards the suppression of badly-conducted
gaming-houses, as, after the ruling of Lord Abinger
and the finding of the jury, many of them closed their
doors rather than run the risk of entertaining an
informer unawares.

Not only in the parishes of St. George and St.
James were there causes of complaint. What unfair
play and loaded dice did at night, defaulting bettors
— "welshers," as they are now called — practised by

VOL. I. 13

194 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

day. The best legitimate Meetings, as well as the
minor country-side ventures, were infested with the
rogues. They dressed well, wore frilled shirts and
"flash" rings, and were, perhaps, better able to pay
their way about than honest men. The Chichester
" extortioners," with their guinea a bed for a single
night's lodging, were unable to keep these gentry
away from the ducal Meeting; and the unmerciful
dealings of mine hosts of Doncaster, Windsor, War-
wick, and Newmarket, who enjoyed in those days
an unenviable notoriety for the extravagance of
their charges, were likewise powerless to clear their
coffee-rooms of the welshing fraternity.

Measures were taken to reduce the evil. To
be2"in with, the Messrs. Tattersall issued a code of
new rules and regulations, to be observed in future
by all subscribers to the betting-room at the Corner.
A subscription of two guineas per annum was fixed.
Gentlemen desirous of subscribing were to give a
week's notice in writing to Messrs. Tattersall and
Son, submitting references for their approval. Non-
subscribers might be admitted on payment of a
guinea, and, the room being under the sanction of
the Jockey Club, all the members were to be
obedient to any suggestions made by the Senate
of the Turf from time to time. Lastly, special
attention was called to the forty-first rule of the
Jockey Club, which enacted that any bettor ad-
judged to be a defaulter by the Stewards should not
be permitted to go on the Heath at Newmarket,

DEALINGS WITH DEFAULTERS. 195

and they should also be excluded from the betting-
rooms there, and at Tattersall's.

This step in a right direction was followed, a few
months later, by the action of the Trustees of the
Grand Stand at Ascot, who gave notice that all
defaulters in respect to stakes, forfeits, or bets on
horse-racing, would be peremptorily excluded during
any Meeting on the Heath at Ascot; and if any one
in default did gain admittance, on being pointed out
to the Noble Master of Her Majesty's Buckhounds,
or to the Clerk of the Course, he would, if necessary,
be expelled by force, unless he were able to show
that he had discharged all his obligations.

At Goodwood a similarly active policy was pur-
sued; no person being notoriously a defaulter upon
bets on horse-racing would be permitted to "assist"
at the Meeting. A contumelious defaulter having
obtained admission to the Enclosure, he received
peremptory orders to quit; and the example set by
the Stewards of Ascot and Goodwood was promptly
taken up by the better class of country Meetings;
and notices were posted that if any person noto-
riously in default as to either forfeits or bets gained
admittance he should be peremptorily expelled. At
Doncaster it was requested that all parties who had
claims for bets would not fail to notify the same to
Mr. Butterfield, Land Steward to the Corporation,
prior to the races, at his office, or at the Grand Stand.
Lord Eglinton, who had taken a prominent part in
the endeavour to stamp out this evil, wrote to the

13—2

196 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Town Clerk: — "It gives me much pleasure to find
that the Corporation of Doncaster have passed the
resolutions. Defaulters have become so numerous,
and so audacious in their proceedings, that it is ab-
solutely necessary that the strongest measures should
be adopted against them." The Corporation of Don-
caster, at their meeting, when his lordship's letter
was read, resolved unanimously that the Town Clerk
be requested immediately to confer with the pro-
prietors of the betting-rooms, and that Lord Eglinton
be permitted to purify those rooms, as well as the
Stand and Enclosure.

But to the influence and exertions of Lord George
Bentinck, the "legitimates" owed the clearance of
the Turf from the hordes of welshers and other
non-payers that infested it. This " pleasing reform
of the Turf" was brought about by his active mea-
sures; and it was admitted that, had he not per-
severed to the utmost, even his powerful influence
would have been blighted, and the host of rotten
sheep left to infect the sound constitution of the
remaining flock. But such was the effect of the
sharp remedies employed, that for some time after
it was safe to make a bet with almost any man whom
you might meet in the Betting Ring at respectable
Race Meetings, so effectually was the Turf ridded of
the pests that had infested it.

The Riddlesworths, at Newmarket, which had been
two of the greatest races of the )'ear, were falling

MR. THORNHILLS STUD. 197

into the sere and yellow leaf of their existence; but
at his seat in Norfolk, from which the old-fashioned
stake took its name, Mr. Thornhill maintained one
of the best breeding studs in England. His white
body, scarlet sleeves, and white cap had been pre-
eminently popular colours for a quarter of a century,
figuring in every race of note. He had won his first
Derby in 18 18, with Sam; and his second, two years
later, with Sailor. He had won the Oaks in 18 19
with Shoveller, and run a dead heat with Euclid
for the St. Leger twenty years later. Connolly and
Chifney were his favourite jockeys; and Pettitt, of
Newmarket, took care of his horses in training.
His stud Mr. Thornhill directed himself; and no
breeder of thorouQ^hbred stock ever brouo^ht greater
skill and judgment to bear upon that difficult expe-
riment than the Norfolk squire. The strains of
Orville, Merlin, and Whisker were among the most
successful employed at Riddlesworth; and Emilius,
Albemarle, and the Commodore did justice to their
hereditary reputation. At the Norfolk stud farm
everything was done in the best and most systematic
manner. Expense was never spared ; and the result
was that the lots, when they came to the hammer
as yearlings, invariably brought remunerative prices.
Foreigners especially, desirous of securing our best
blood, resorted to Riddlesworth as affording them the
safest market; for there every lot had its fixed price.
As will shortly be noticed, the Turf had by this
time regained whatever it might have lost of its

198 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

ancient prestige. The Duke of Portland, whose
resig-nation had been announced and the sale of his
stud advertised, decided to remain, as he had ever
been, the steady friend and patron of the national
sport, entering into a confederacy with the Duke of
Rutland — a union which proved eminently successful.
Her Majesty was likewise pleased to show some
interest in the welfare of the Turf, and to reflect,
in so far as became her sex, the regard shown for
horse-racing by her immediate predecessors, George
the Fourth and William the Fourth. Accordingly,
at the time of Epsom Races, her Majesty, with
Prince Albert, drove over from Claremont to Scott's
Stables, near Leatherhead — John Scott then holding
an unrivalled position as a trainer at the head of his
profession. The Royal party witnessed the gallops
of Cotherstone, the Derby favourite, and other horses
engaged in the great race. The whole string of
Scott's horses entered for the Derby were galloped
on the Downs, and it was said that the Queen
selected Cotherstone from the lot as the best,
and made some very flattering remarks to his trainer
upon his condition. Afterwards, her Majesty and the
Prince inspected the extensive establishment at
which Scott's horses were located ; and on their de-
parture left a handsome present to be distributed
among the grooms and others connected with the
stable.

The question of what should constitute a gentle-
man rider had long been the subject of discussion.

GENTLEMEN RIDERS. 199

Something like a definition arose out of an objection
at the Warwick Meeting in 1843. In the days of
heavy betting on the great three-year-old races long
before the events were decided, Warwick held a very
important position, occurring, as it did, the week
before the St. Leger was run for, just as Bath, pre-
ceding the Derby, was the scene of heavy betting.
At the Warwick Meeting in 1843 a sweepstakes was
run — three-year-olds, Qst. ylbs. ; four, lost. lolbs. ;
five, list. 51b.; six and aged, i2st. : heats, once
round. The incidents of the race, at this distance
of time, are immaterial ; suffice it to say there was a
squabble, and the report says, "as may be imagined
from the highness of the weights, this was a ' gentle-
men race,' and most gentlemanlike was it carried
out."

An objection was taken to one of the riders, on the
score that he had been brought up in a racing stable,
and in consequence, at the eleventh hour, another
jockey had to be found and substituted, who, as it
happened, was able to ride very well, so that the
result was not altered by the change. The descrip-
tion of a gentleman rider was very indefinite, and on
all hands it was felt desirable that it should be under-
stood distinctly who was and who was not qualified
to assume the title. " We are no advocates," says a
writer at the time, " for gentlemen riders; but as long
as the absurdity is perpetrated, we should wish, for
the sake of the character of the English gentleman,
that something more in accordance with the generally

20O HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

received opinion of what a gentleman is like should
appear than the half buck, half hawbuck, pothouse-
looking snobs we sometimes see attempting the cha-
racter, and throwing silk jackets and leather breeches
into convulsions." It was accordingly settled that it
should not be a sufficient qualification for riding in a
race for gentlemen riders only that a man was " on
shaking hands intimacy with lords" — this being one
of the pleas once put in against the validity of an
objection — but that he should not be a professional
rider, should never have ridden for hire, and should
be at least known with some good pack of hounds.
By this means it became pretty nearly impossible for
any jockey less respectable than the son of a well-
to-do tenant farmer to mount in a race one of the
conditions of which was that the riders should be
gentlemen.

No name was ever better known in connection with
the literature of English sport, but more especially in
connection with fox-hunting, than the nom de plwnc
" Nimrod," borne by Mr. Apperley. He was the
Dickens of his day in the sporting world. He wrote
with a full knowledge and with a faithful perception
of the most minute objects in the scenes he de-
scribed, and his " Hunting Tours" remain to this
day the best works of their kind in the language.
To him all doors were thrown open, and all men
made him welcome, as it was well known his im-
pressions of the visit would probably appear at an
early day in the pages of the *' Sporting Magazine."

MR. APPERLEY.

There, may, therefore, be some truth in the remark,
that " the certainty of being ' shown up' in print,
and the laudable anxiety of all men of cutting a
respectable appearance, especially in the perma-
nent record of a book, induced many to 'launch
out' who could ill afford it, and so placed a stum-
bling-block to the future prosperity, if not the
lengthened existence, of some hunts." It was, in-
deed, no trifling matter for a master of hounds to
receive Nimrod on one of his tours of inspection.
" Men ripped off their bridle-fronts, steeped their
coat-laps in horse-pails to purple them, discarded
their country boots and breeches, and the hunting-
field became more like a field-day review than a
great assembly of friends, each anxious to lend a
hand in furtherance of the all-important object of
killing a fox."

The writer who created all this commotion in the
shires, Charles James Apperley, died on the 19th of
May, 1843, in his sixty-seventh year, at his house,
Upper Belgrave-street, Pimlico.

The Oaks day, 1844, saw the last of another well-
known character both at Newmarket and in St.
James's-street. There was not much to be said for
him in his lifetime, except that it was generally be-
lieved that he always played fairly; and his decease
was thus made public at the time : —

" It is with sincere regret that we have to an-
nounce the death of that well-known sporting cha-
racter, William Crockford, Esq., of Carlton-terrace,

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

and late proprietor of that costly establishment,
Crockford's Club-house, St. James's-street, which
took place on the Oaks day. He was in his sixty-
ninth year, and his loss will be much felt in the
betting circles."

Four and thirty years have passed, and the face
of St. James's-street has changed; but it may not
seldom happen that some who pass the stone-fronted
house by Piccadilly, and recollect what it once was
and what they were then, as they are hustled at. the
corner by a member of the Devonshire, heave a sigh
of regret for the old times gone for ever.

The abortive attempt which had been made in
1817 to establish races on Wormwood Scrubs was
followed, twenty years later, by a somewhat similar
effort to introduce a racecourse into the metropolitan
area. The Hippodrome, at Bayswater, was projected
by Mr. John Whyte, who had acquired for this pur-
pose a large piece of ground at Notting-hill. From
first to last a few persons living in the vicinity made
themselves conspicuous by their opposition to Mr.
Whyte's project, their reasons being rather that a
great racecourse at Bayswater would be detrimental
to the interests of owners of property in the neigh-
bourhood than any objections to horse-racing per se.
After Mr. Whyte had expended several thousand
pounds in preparing the ground for a racecourse^
at the eleventh hour, just before the Hippodrome
was to be opened to the public, a question of
right of way across the ground was raised. Mr.

THE HIPPODROME.

Whyte was summoned before the petty sessions at
Kensington, to answer an information preferred
against him that he had " obstructed the passage of
a certain footway situate in the parish of St. Mary
Abbot's, Kensington."

The Hippodrome comprised a course well suited
to the purposes of racing, two miles in extent, and
a steeplechase course of like dimensions. In the
centre of the course was a hill, from which the spec-
tators could see well all round the course, and the
view from this hill was at that time very beautiful.
Notwithstanding the opposition of the inhabitants of
the parish of St. Mary Abbot's, and the asserted
right of way across his land, Mr. Whyte, who was a
man of enterprise and spirit, determined to hold a
meeting at his Hippodrome as soon as the prepa-
rations in progress were completed. Of the first
meeting the Sunday Times of June 4th, 1837, gives
the followinof account: —

" Despite opposition of all sorts — despite of
claimants of right of way, and every other obstruc-
tion— the Hippodrome was opened; its huge cir-
cumference being duly encircled by very high
wooden palings, at least seven feet in altitude, and
guarded internally by iron hoopings. But all this
availed not against the gigantic efforts of the Ken-
sington right-of-wayers. Down went bolt and bar-
rier; prostrated were hoops and hoarding; the
claimants fairly made their way over the course.
The proprietor, finding it impossible to oppose such

204 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

a demonstration of public feeling, consented to the
' way ' remaining open, and some thousands thus
obtained gratuitous admission.

" There certainly was a call upon the inhabitants
of the metropolis to show what they were made
of, to which they unanimously responded. Every
vehicle that coach, cab, or cart builder ever con-
structed or imagined was en rouie soon after mid-
day. Oxford-road looked like Sutton on the Derby
Day. Every order of man, woman, and child, ve-
hicle and quadruped, showed. We must, on such an
occasion, be allowed to break away from the common
course of description, and dash into the invocation
we can imagine the projectors having vociferated.

*' Success to the public-spirited individual who first
proposed bringing Epsom nearer town, transferring
Doncaster to Bayswater, and carrying the heretofore
afar off scenes home to our very hearths. Come,
ye dwellers of the West — come from the squares of
Belgrave and Berkeley! Come from Mayfair and
Marylebone, from Pall Mall and Piccadilly! Come
ye also of a far different grade — come from Petticoat-
lane and the purlieus of Houndsditch! Come, ye
thousands, from the hundreds of Drury! Come from
the counting-house in Cornhill, from the chamber
in Fig-tree-court! Come all, of every sort, either
* on the ten-toed machine that haymakers use in
Ireland,' or across anything that by the utmost
stretch of invention may possibly pass for an eques-
trian quadruped!"

THE CANADIAN CASE. 205

The Hippodrome venture was abandoned in May,
1842, when the following announcement was made:
— "We are extremely sorry to say this spirited
undertaking has been abandoned, as we learn from
an announcement in the Racing Calendar, of the 5th
of April, from the proprietor of the racecourse, ' that
the ground having been taken possession of by the
mortgagees for the purposes of building, it would be
out of his power to run the races advertised.' "

A great deal of unpleasant criticism had been
provoked by the withdrawal of Canadian from the
Derby at the eleventh hour. It was called " a rob-
bery," an " infernal swindle," and other equally
strong names; and the Sunday Times supported
this view of the case, publishing an article in which
the owner was accused of scratchinof his horse be-
cause he had laid very heavily against it, following
up this article, when an apology was demanded, by
a justification and a still more severe article. Cana-
dian was the property of an honourable and upright
sportsman — Mr. Fulke Greville — who had a joint
betting-book with Colonel Peel. Mr. Greville
brought an action for libel, which was heard before
Lord Abinger, to whose lot it generally fell to try
horse cases, as he was supposed to understand more
about the noble animal than most of his brethren on
the Bench. The action came on for trial at Croydon,
on the 14th of August, 1842, when Mr. Thesiger
appeared for the plaintiff, and the Solicitor- General

2o6 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH 7URF.

for the defendants. A large number of witnesses —
among them Mr. Field, the veterinary surgeon; and
Isaac Day, the trainer; Mr. Weatherby, and Lord
John Fitzroy — were called. Colonel Peel proved
that, although he and Mr, Greville had laid ;^6,ooo
to ^345 against Canadian, and of course won that
sum by his being withdrawn, yet if he had won they
would have netted ;^8,ooo on their book, as there
were only two better horses in the race for them
than Canadian. Lord Abinger, in his summing up,
told the jury that the allegations on which the
articles in the Sunday Twies were grounded were
proved to be false; and then Mr. Solicitor-General
turned round and said, " Oh, it may be all very true
that the horse was lame ; but the plaintiff ought
to have made the public acquainted with the fact
sooner." This was very ingenious, but it formed no
answer to the present action. The jury awarded Mr.
Greville damages to the amount of ^250.

The Marquis of Westminster, the Duke of Rich-
mond, Lord George Bentinck, Colonel Anson, the
Hon. G. S. Byng, Colonel Udney, Mr. Payne, and
a large number of sporting men of all ranks were
subpoenaed by the defendants, but were not called.
The case excited the greatest interest in sporting
circles, and the inconvenient court at Croydon was
crowded to suffocation at the hearing.

Colonel Peel and Mr. Greville were sportsmen of
the most unblemished character, and the verdict gave
the most general satisfaction.

CONNOP'S CASE. 207

The attempt to upset the verdict on appeal was
unsuccessful ; and on the same day that the rule for
a new trial was discharo^ed in the Queen's Bench,
Lord Chief Justice Denman delivered judgment in
another case of great interest to the sporting world
— that of Lord George Bentinck v. Connop. The
defendant had entered three horses for the Grand
Duke Michael Stakes of fifty sovs. each, and thus
became liable to pay Lord George, who had won
the race, 150 sovs. This Connop refused to do;
sheltering himself under the statute 16 Charles IL,
which enacts that no action in horse-racing can be
maintained to recover a stake exceeding ^100. The
Court decided that the case was one that came
within the meaning of the words as well as the spirit
of the Act, which was enacted for the purpose of
restraining the practice of gambling, and was clearly
of opinion that judgment be entered for the de-
fendant. Lord George Bentinck had no expecta-
tion of gaining his case, but brought the action
purely for the purpose of showing in his true colours
a man who refused to fulfil his eneasfements.

'£>"■£>

The Duke of Cleveland, who was perhaps better
known as a sportsman under his younger title of
Lord Darlington, was a loving follower of all manly
English sports. He was great with the gun, and
one of the best supporters of the Turf of his time;
yet, perhaps, his greatest pride was to be found in
such an entry as this in the book kept at Raby

2o8 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Castle: — " Killed eighty-eight foxes, earthed twenty-
one; blank days none' — for the heart of this princely
fox-hunter was with his hounds. He began his racing
career in 1791, when Lord Barnard, with a horse to
which the calendars give no pedigree. In the next
year he succeeded to the title of Earl of Darlington,
and soon after he formed a large stud, both of brood
mares and horses in training, which he maintained
regardless of expense from that date till the time of
his death. He was for fifty years a leading patron
of the Turf, and during that long period no man
owned more good horses. St. George, Haphazard,
Pavilion, Whisker, Memnon, Liverpool, Voltaire, and
Muley Moloch were some of his Grace's best animals.
William Chifney trained for him at Newmarket,
and his brother Sam was first rider. In the North,
William Peirse trained his Grace's horses at Belle
Isle, near Richmond, Yorkshire, and was at his death
succeeded by his son Thomas. Heseltine and Smith
also trained for the Duke; and John Day succeeded
Chifney as leading jockey, upon the retirement of
the latter. The Duke of Cleveland must have ex-
pended an enormous sum upon his horses from first
to last, and probably the debit account was very
great. It curiously happened that on one Derby
Day early in his Grace's career on the Turf he had
mentioned that the account current of his stud stood
.on the debit side to the extent of some ;^30,ooo.
In the course of the afternoon he received, by an
express sent to the course, news of the death of

MR. CHRISTOPHER WILSON. 209

a relative, which at once added ;!^4o,ooo a year to
his income. The Duke died at his house in St.
James's-square, on the 29th of January, 1842, at the
age of seventy-five. He was born Lord Barnard,
succeeded to the Earldom of Darlington in 1792,
was created Marquis in 1827, and Baron Raby and
Duke of Cleveland in 1833.

A few weeks later, the Duke's old friend, Mr.
Christopher Wilson, passed away, at the good old
age of seventy-nine. For a great number of years
Mr. Wilson was the Nestor of the Turf, and, indeed,
during the latter portion of his life bore the honour-
able title of the Father of the Turf. He was con-
stantly appealed to in matters of dispute connected
with racing, and always endeavoured to settle them
with justice to all parties. His judgment was naturally
sound, and the respect felt for his character caused
his dicta to be followed without a murmur by those
against whom he might at the time be compelled to
decide. Mr. Wilson was an English gentleman of
the old school, keeping up all good old customs, and
liberally dispensing his hospitality at Oxton House,
near Tadcaster, his residence. For sixty years he
attended nearly every meeting at Epsom, Ascot,
Newmarket, York, and Doncaster, at the same time
rarely missing any other meeting of interest. He
was well-known from North to South, and his memory
was kept green by the many friends who held his
character in the highest esteem. At the time of his
death, Mr. Wilson was the only man who had won

VOL. I. 14

2IO HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the Derby and the St. Leger in the same year.
This was in 1 800, with his celebrated horse Cham-
pion, which was bred by his friend the Duke of
Cleveland. The Father of the Turf breathed his
last on Derby Day, May 25th, 1842.

At this time a notorious informer began proceed-
ings against a great number of licensed victuallers to
recover penalties for permitting drawing of Derby,
St. Leger, and other " sweeps." The publicans, in
consequence, applied to the Home Office to know if
such "sweeps" were against the law. To their me-
morial Sir James Graham replied that he must refer
them to the Act prohibiting lotteries, adding that
"any person offending against the statute is liable
to be proceeded against as therein directed;" thus
stamping the practice of holding "sweeps" as illegal,
to the great consternation of the licensed victuallers
generally, who for many years past had promoted
" sweeps " on every great race.

Another veteran, who was all his life devotedly
attached to Turf pursuits, did not long survive his old
associates and friends, Mr. Kit Wilson and the Duke
of Cleveland. George, Duke of Grafton, died in his
eighty-fifth year, at Euston Hall, Suffolk, on the
28th of September, 1844. Like his father, the Duke
had a passion for sport, especially racing; and by
their efforts a great improvement was made in the
natural breed of race-horses. The Duke's most
celebrated brood mares were Prunella and Penelope,
her daughter. Prunella was dam of Parasol, Pledge

THE YEAR 1844. 211

(dam of " Tiresias), Pawn, Waxy Pope, Piquet, and
other good animals ; while from her daughter Pene-
lope were descended Whalebone (winner of the
Derby in 18 10), Whisker (Derby, 18 15), Web (dam
of Middleton, who won the Derby in 1825), Woful,
Waterloo, Whizgig, and Wire. Buckle was his
Grace's first choice to steer his horses to victory;
and after that great jockey's death, John Day ap-
peared most frequently in the popular scarlet jacket
and black cap of the Duke of Grafton.

The year 1844 was not remarkable only for the
twin chickens hatched from the same egg at the
Royal Aviary at Windsor, though they attracted no
little attention — one being a cock bird of the Cochin
China breed, and the other a hen chick of the Dork-
ing kind. The Derby was won by Orlando, the pro-
perty of Colonel Peel. A horse, entered on the card
as Mr. A. Wood's Running Rein, by the Saddler, out
of Queen Mab, by Duncan Grey, ridden by Mann,
came in first, but was afterwards disqualified. Ratan,
who started second favourite for the same race, was
also the subject of an ugly scandal, and the numerous
qici tarn actions afforded something more than
amusement to the large number of noblemen and
gentlemen who were served with writs. Altogether
it was a stormy time.

The story of the Running Rein case is as fol-
lows:— In the autumn of 1843 the horse falsely
called by this name won a race at Newmarket in
the October Meeting. He was then — as was fully

14 — 2

212 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

proved after his coming in first for the Derby of the
year following — three years old, and his appearance
was such that the Duke of Rutland entered an ob-
jection to him immediately after the race. The
matter was thus reported at the time : — " There were
some grounds for supposing that Mr. Goodman's
Running Rein was a year older than he ought to be
to qualify him for a two-year-old race ; and, to speak
plainly, the colt is as well-furnished as many of our
dond fide three-year-olds." The Duke having ob-
jected, the onus probandi was thrown upon him.
There was a dispute about the payment of bets,
and, at Captain Rous's suggestion, they were paid
under protest. On this occasion the colt was ridden
by Buckle; and Goodman, having backed him from
ten down to three to one, won a large stake. The
report says: — "Mr. Goodman made a good specu-
lation of this, but, as we have before observed,
the paying was done under protest. Running Rein,
if he be only two years old, is one of the forwardest
that ever caught our eye." The stakes were duly
paid to Goodman after the Duke of Rutland's objec-
tion had been sifted, and the bets of course followed
the stakes.

Although he had successfully got over the two-
year-old difficulty, Goodman could hardly have been
surprised when Colonel Peel objected to his horse,
after coming in first for the Derby. The Colonel's
objections were — first, that the colt was not identical
with one purchased of Dr. Cobb ; and secondly, that

THE RUNNING REIN CASE. 213

he was four years old. The Derby of 1 844 was the
sixty-sixth anniversary of the great race, and it may
safely be said that none of its predecessors had ever
given rise to so much and such general confusion —
the death of Mr. Crockford and Colonel Peel's objec-
tion making settlement very difficult for all the Ring
men.

The following pedigree was given of Running
Rein by his party. He was foaled in 1841 ; bred by,
Charles Cobb, Esq., Surgeon, Low-street, New Mal-
ton; was got by the Saddler out of Mab (bred by
E. Ewbank, Esq., who sold her to W. Allen, Esq.,
of The Lodge, Malton, from whom she was trans-
ferred by purchase to Mr. Cobb), by Duncan Grey,
&c., going back to Flying Chllders.

In connection with Mr. Goodman, the trainer,
were Wood, the reputed owner, a notorious scoun-
drel named "Pickle" HIggins, and several other
swindlers.

Mr. Weatherby paid the stakes into the Court
of Exchequer, and Baron Alderson and a special jury
tried the case of Wood v. Peel, for the possession of
the stakes, on the ist of July. The issue to be tried
was " whether a certain horse called Running Rein
was a colt foaled in 1841, whose sire was the Saddler
and dam Mab." The case of the plaintiff was that
his horse was three years old and no more, and that
the pedigree he gave was the true one. The defend-
ant's case was that the colt Running Rein, which
came in first for the Derby, was a bay colt by

214 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Gladiator, dam by Capsicum, bred by Sir C. Ibbot-
son in 1 840, bought by Goodman at Doncaster Races
in 1 84 1, and sent thence to Northampton, where he
was handed over to one Worley, a resident at
Sywell, a small village near that town. From this
point the history of the colt was traced up to the
night on which it was delivered at Hayne's stables
in Langham-place, September 24th, 1842. For it
.,was admitted by the plaintiff that the colt that went
from Hayne's stables and the horse that came in first
for the Derby were the same.

The case was heard by Baron Alderson and a
special jury, at Westminster, on the ist of July,
when the proceedings lasted over a couple of days.
Before the case came on for trial, however, Baron
Alderson gave an order for the horse to be shown
to veterinary surgeons and other experts, who might
satisfy the Court at the trial as to the horse's age.
This order of the Court the plaintiff refused, or
evaded compliance with. As soon as the trial
began, therefore, the judge intimated to counsel
that he should require the horse to be produced.
Counsel struggled hard, but his lordship said : —
" Produce your horse — that's the best answer to the
whole question. Is it sufficient to hear the surgeon's
deposition as to the appearance of a dead body ?
And shall the jury be told they are not to see that
body?"

The first day passed over, nevertheless, without
the production of the noble animal ; and on the

THE RUNNING REIN CASE. 215

morning of the second, counsel stated that it was
the plaintiff's most anxious desire to produce the
horse, after the observations his lordship had been
pleased to make, but that it was quite out of his
power to do so, as the horse had been removed by
some parties without his knowledge or consent, and
he did not know where it was to be found.

The late Baron Alderson, however, was one of the
least likely of his brethren on the Bench to allow
dust to be thrown in his eyes by a tale of this sort.

** If," said he, " Mr. Goodman or any of that sort
of people have taken away that horse for the pur-
pose of concealing it, against Mr. Wood's will (which
I suppose), I have no doubt it is a case of horse-
stealing, and a case for the Central Criminal Court ;
and I can only say, if I try them I will transport
them for life to a dead certainty."

The impression produced on the minds of the
jury was conclusive, and the subsequent perjuries of
Worley and Odell as to the identity of the colt were
thrown away. Wood, stating through his counsel
that he was satisfied that some fraud had been prac-
tised on him with reference to the horse, intimated
his desire to withdraw from the case.

As Wood had bought the horse with his engage-
ments, there was no imputation against him, and
nothine in the evidence to show that he had had
any part in the fraud. It then only remained for the
judge to direct the jury to find a verdict for the de-
fendant, as the plaintiff declined further to contest

2i6 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the case. So ended the trial of this cause cHebre, the
most remarkable case of substitution of one horse for
another, for the purpose of winning great stakes and
bets, ever known on the Turf. It may be well to
reproduce the closing observations of Baron Alder-
son to the jury : — " Before we part, I must be allowed
to say that this case has produced great regret and
disgust in my mind. It has disclosed a wretched
fraud, and has shown noblemen and gentlemen as-
sociating and betting with men of low rank, and in-
finitely beneath them in society. In so doing they
have found themselves cheated and made the dupes
of the grossest frauds. They may depend upon it
that it will always be so when gentlemen associate
and bet with blackguards."

The jury, of course, immediately returned a ver-
dict for the defendant ; the effect of which was to
give the stakes to Orlando, and to make his backers
entitled to receive, while those who had backed
Running Rein had to pay. The large funds locked
up in Derby ^ " sweeps " were also promptly distri-
buted; a settling day at Tattersall's was immediately
fixed; end the Jockey Club, at its general meeting,
passed the following resolution : — " That, it being
now proved that Running Rein was three years old
when he ran for the Two-year-old Plate at New-
market, Crenoline must be considered the winner of
that race, and that the Duke of Rutland is entitled
to the Plate. That the thanks of the Jockey Club
are eminently due, and are hereby offered, to Lord

THE RUNNING REIN CASE. 217

George Bentinck, for the energy, perseverance, and
skill which he has displayed in detecting, exposing,
and defeatinof the atrocious frauds which have been
brought to light during the recent trial respecting
the Derby Stakes."

With regard to the former part of the resolution,
the Jockey Club having further decided that bets
were to be paid to the backers of Crenoline, the re-
port says : — " The question respecting Running Rein
(Maccabeus) and Crenoline, so long in abeyance, was
decided in the morning by the Jockey Club in favour
of Crenoline ; so that those who betted the odds
against the filly have to get their vwnish back — if
they can. We can only add, we wish they may get
it." No doubt, the layers of odds, who had already
paid over the winner to persons many of whom they
would never see again, took the most effective mea-
sures in their power to avoid compliance with the
order of the Turf Senate.

With regard to the recognition of Lord George
Bentinck's services, the action of the Jockey Club
had already been anticipated ; for on the evening
after the trial was concluded, at a meeting of gentle-
men connected with the Turf, a resolution was passed
to present to Lord George a piece of plate, in token
of the hieh sense entertained of his indefatigable and
successful exertions, not only in the Running Rein
affair, but for the services which he had rendered in
promoting the stability and prosperity of racing in
general. The result was that a considerable sum

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

was subscribed in the room; and that the Messrs.
Weatherby, who acted as treasurers, soon had in
their hands a handsome fund to be appUed to the
purposes of the Bentinck Presentation.

Lord WiUiam George Frederick Cavendish Ben-
tinck, always known as " Lord George " on the Turf,
who held a position in the sporting world seldom
equalled, and rarely, if ever, surpassed, was born on
the 27th of February, 1802, at Welbeck, the second
son of the Duke of Portland, himself an excellent
sportsman. His mother was Henrietta, daughter of
Major-General Scott, and sister of the Dowager
Lady Canning. Lord George Bentinck early chose
the profession of arms, and about the year 1819
entered the army as a cornet in the Tenth Hussars.
Upon the appointment of Mr. Canning as Governor-
General of India, he received the nomination of Mili-
tary Secretary. Castlereagh died suddenly. Canning
became Foreign Secretary and leader of the House
of Commons ; and Lord Georee Bentinck became
private secretary to his relative, instead of under-
taking the duties of Military Secretary, as he had
expected.

After discharging the duties of this honorary
appointment for three years, with great zeal and
ability, his attention was directed once more to his
first choice among professions. The change came
about in this way: Lord George was riding off New-
market Heath on his cob, in company with the Duke
of York, then Commander-in-Chief, who loved horse-

LORD GEORGE BENTINCK. 219

racing as much as the young officer by his side; when,
after a Httle pleasant chat, he made his companion a
presentation to an unattached majority then vacant.
But Lord George Bentinck's connection with the
army was not destined to last ; for two years later he
was elected to Parliament by the borough of Lynn,
and shortly afterwards his name ceased to appear in
the Army List.

It was only natural that the son of his father
should take kindly to racing; and we find him
riding a winner at Goodwood — always his favourite
course — in 1824, when he appeared in silk for the
first time, on Mr. Poyntz's Olive. And for this race
there were two dead heats between Olive and Swin-
don, and a hard struggle for victory in the deciding
heat. Beorinninof with a small stud of well-selected
animals, among which may be reckoned the stout
Venison and the Drummer, Lord George's string
gradually increased, till, in 1844, we find him with
forty horses running in public, and nearly a hun-
dred to which he "belonged" in all. Elis (St.
Leger), Grey Momus, and Crucifix (Oaks), did good
service, and Gaper ought to have won the Derby, on
which his owner's heart was set. Unfortunately,
although he could not win a Derby for himself, Lord
George sold in his stud, when they came to the
hammer, the Derby winner of the year following.

At all manly sports Lord George was an adept.
He rode well to hounds; shot well in the old-
fashioned style, with spaniel, pointer, and setter; was

220 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

a good oarsman, and a good cricketer; and on the
racecourse he was facile princeps. In the House of
Commons he rapidly and surely made his mark.
His is the greatest name among Turf reformers, and
in his measures he always had chiefly an eye to the
comfort and happiness of the sightseers who flocked
to the racecourse for an afternoon's amusement.
Of what was thought of his achievements in his life-
time let contemporary criticism speak. Lord George,
says a writer in 1847, made it his great care to pro-
vide for the masses — a portion of the company that
previously had little thought or attention bestowed
to their wants. He forced stewards, trainers, and
jockeys to come out punctual to that time they had
never hitherto professed to keep. He heralded, for
the benefit of every spectator within sight, the names
by numbers of the fields preparing to start. And, to
perfect this part of his design, suggested that fine treat
— the saddling, walking, and cantering the horses
before the Stands. Previous to these admirable ar-
rangements, many a man, wearied with waiting, left
the course ere the race he came down to see was run ;
or, thanks to an indifferent card and one transient
view, without a glance at the horse he had pinned
his faith to. But, useful as were the improvements
introduced by Lord George Bentinck for the benefit
of the public, they are put into the shade by his
reforms of Turf abuses. He cleared the race-
courses of England of defaulters by his stringent
code of laws ; he suppressed the prevalent system of

LORD GEORGE BENTINCK. 221

false "starts, and he was constantly ready and active
to put down swindling in whatever form it reared its
hydra head. " The memory," says our author, " of
the orreat Reformer of Turf abuses and racecourse
monopoly will live as long as an Englishman has
a taste for the amusement, or a sympathy and ad-
miration for one who alone effected what a whole
body allowed themselves unequal to attempt."

Lord George once fought a duel against no less
redoubtable a foeman than Squire Osbaldeston, who
behaved with characteristic generosity in the affair.
It is said that the quarrel originated in regard to a
betting transaction between the parties at Heaton
Park. At the Newmarket Craven Meeting, Mr.
Osbaldeston, riding up to Lord George Bentinck,
said, " Lord George, I want four hundred, won ot
you at Heaton Park." To this the reply was, ** You
want four hundred pounds that you swindled me of
at Heaton Park." Such a rejoinder hardly admitted
of apology, and, after the usual preliminary arrange-
ments, a duel was fought. It fell to Lord George
Bentinck's lot to fire first. His pistol missed, where-
upon, without any appearance of excitement, he said
to his adversary, " Now, Squire, it's two to one in
your favour." *' Is it?" said his opponent. "Why,
then, the bet's off," and discharged the contents of
the pistol in the air.

Though spared by the generosity of Mr. Osbaldes-
ton, Lord George Bentinck did not live long to lead
the Protectionist party in the House of Commons.

222 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

He left a scene in which he was described as a giant
among pigmies, to throw himself into the troubled
waters of politics. He was a man who, from his
natural temperament, was unable to do anything by
halves ; and it was the opinion of many of his friends
that had he stuck to his sporting pursuits, and never
been tempted by the glitter of a parliamentary fame,
his naturally fine constitution might have enabled
him to emulate many of the old Fathers of the Turf
in length of days, while he had already exceeded
anything they had ever attained in influence. For
eleven years he was the steady and unflinching sup-
porter of Sir Robert Peel, having openly joined the
ranks of the Conservative party after Whig intrigues
which led to the treaty of Lichfield House, and the
resiofnation of Sir Robert.

Lord George's death was of a most painful charac-
ter. His body was found dead in a meadow of his
fathers, at Welbeck, in Nottinghamshire, on the 21st
of September, 1848. The verdict of the coroner's
jury at the inquest was, " Died by the visitation of
God — to wit, a spasrn of the heart." His premature
death created the most painful sensation throughout
the country, and his friends thought that his end
had been brought about by late hours, insufficient
sleep, and overwork. The following anecdote may
serve to show that he had just notions of the obliga-
tions imposed by a debt of honour: —

A man who owed him ^4,000 for bets called
upon him, and, having explained his utter inability

LORD GEORGE BENTINCK. 223

to pay In full, tendered ten shilling's in the pound
down, and promised to pay the remaining moiety
of the debt by instalments. " Sir," replied Lord
George, " no man has a right to bet if he cannot pay
should he lose. The sum I want of you is ^4,000,
and until that is paid you are in the list of defaulters
in the Ring and on the course."

In Lord Beaconsfield's account of the life of Lord
George Bentinck, he says that on the 25th May, the
day after the Derby Day, he met Lord George
Bentinck in the library of the House of Commons.
He was standing before the book-shelves, with a
volume in his hand, and his countenance was greatly
disturbed. His resolutions in favour of the colonial
interest, after all his labours, had been negatived by
the Committee on the 22nd, and on the 24th his
horse Surplice, whom he had parted with among the
rest of his stud, solely that he might pursue without
distraction his labours on behalf of the great interests
of the country, had won that paramount and Olym-
pian stake to gain which had been the object of his
life. He had nothing to console him, and nothing to
sustain him except his pride. Even that deserted him
before a heart which he knew at least could yield
him sympathy. He gave a sort of superb groan —

" All my life I have been trying for this, and for
what have I sacrificed it ? " he murmured.

It was in vain to offer solace.

"You do not know what the Derby is," he moaned
out.

224 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

"Yes, I do. It is the blue ribbon of the Turf."

"It is the bliie ribbon of the Turf," he slowly
repeated to himself; and sitting down at the table,
he buried himself in a folio of statistics.

The excellent charity so well known as the Ben-
tinck Benevolent and Provident F"und was started
with a sum of ^^2,100, subscribed for the testimonial
to Lord George Bentinck, of which previous men-
tion has been made.

The qui tarn actions were causes brought under
certain statutes enacted in the reigns of Queen Anne
and King Charles the Second, by which it was
made illegal to bet or wager beyond a small amount
on any game at cards or dice. The persons who
brought these actions, belonging to the lowest dregs
of society to be found in the purlieus of the Hay-
market, sought to recover three times the amount of
sums won at various race meetings throughout the
kingdom; their contention, of course, being that
the words "and all other games," following the
games defined in the statute of Anne, included
horse-races, coursing with greyhounds, and other
sporting contests.

In the spring of 1844, a large number of noble-
men and gentlemen, the principal patrons of the
Turf, were served with writs in these qui tarn
actions. Until the actions should come on for
hearing at Westminster, there was plainly only one
advisable course open to them, and that was to
petition Parliament for a repeal of the statutes. A

VEXATIOUS SUITS. 225

numerously and influentially signed memorial accord-
ingly went the round of sporting circles, and in due
course was presented to Parliament, praying the
relief of the petitioners' grievance. A return of the
number of writs of summons issued out of the plea
side of the Court of Exchequer between July i and
December 31, 1843, ^^^ furnished to the House of
Commons, when it appeared that no less than thirty-
four such writs had been issued against Lord George
Bentinck, Lord Eglinton, and some of the best-
known names on the Turf, including those of
Messrs. Anson, Bowes, Greville, Gully, Hill, and
Jonathan Peel. All these writs were issued by an
attorney named Russell — thirty at the suit of one
Russell, a relative; three at the suit of John Lewis,
and one at that of the attorney. The return was
headed vexatious suits. Meanwhile Parliament was
not idle. Committees of inquiry to examine into
the laws of gaming were appointed, both in the
Lords and Commons ; and in the former Lord
Campbell, and in the latter the Attorney-General,
Sir F. Pollock, expressed their readiness to co-
operate in revising the obsolete statutes on which
the actions were founded.

In a few days a Bill was drafted which was
designed to put a stop to qui tarn actions. This
measure was rapidly passed through both Houses,
and became law on July 29th, on which day the
Royal assent was given. It was styled the Gaming
Acts Suspension Continuation Bill, and one of its

VOL. I. 15

226 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

provisions was that in future, to recover penalties,
the sanction of the Attorney-General must be first
obtained before an action shall be brought with
reference to any of the following games: — Horse-
races, foot-races, regattas, rowing matches, sailing
matches, coursing matches, fencing matches, golf,
wrestling matches, cricket, tennis, fives, racquets,
bowls, quoits, curling, putting the stone, and any
bond fide variety of any of the above sports, pastimes,
or games, and any sport, pastime, or game of a like or
similar description to the above-mentioned, to which a
different name may by general or local usage be given.
This provision covered the whole ground as far
as the future was concerned, in so far as all manly
English sports \vere involved under the enactments
of obsolete statutes. But as the new law could
not, it was thought, be made retrospective in its
action, the cause of Russell and Others v. Lord
George Bentinck was set down for trial at the
assizes at Guildford, and in due course came on for
hearing before Mr. Baron Parke and a jury. There
was an array of counsel on both sides; and counsel
for plaintiff stated that this was an action brought
to recover ^3,000, which, it was alleged, the noble
defendant had won of John Day; and three times
the amount of that sum, amounting in all to ^i 2,000.
There was a second count, alleging substantially the
same matter, but applied to the betting by the
defendant with one Henry Hill, and claiming a
similar penalty.

ACTION AGAINST LORD GEORGE BENTINCK. 227

Baron Parke asked how the case could be pro-
ceeded with, in the face of the Act just passed to
stay proceedings in qui ta7ii actions. Upon this it
was intimated that Lord George Bentinck did not
wish to avail himself of this new statute, but wished
to have the case settled on its merits as the law had
stood before the passing of the Act, Baron Parke
reserved this question of law for the consideration of
the judges, but said he was willing to try the case.

It was like the thoroughly plucky spirit of such
a sportsman as Lord George, who had at different
times more than his share of vexatious actions, to
wish to see the question settled on its merits, once
and for ever, if possible; as he had been advised no
jury would ever find a verdict for the plaintiffs in
actions of this description. It was also characteristic
of the learned Baron Parke, who had a strong regard
for all good English sports, to second the desire
of the defendant to take the verdict of his country
rather than move the Court above on the point of
law.

The case, therefore, proceeded, counsel for the
plaintiff stating that at the last Epsom Races John
Day had betted Lord George Bentinck ^20,000 to
^250 against his lordship's horse Gaper, but the
horse having risen very much in the betting on the
day of running, he applied to Henry Hill, com-
mission agent, to induce the defendant to hedge,
and the bet was then permitted to stand over at
;^2o,ooo to ^3,000. Mr. Hill also laid Day;^20,ooo

IS— 2

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

to ^3,000 against the horse, and both these bets
were paid at Tattersall's on the settling day.

John Day was put into the witness-box, and Mr.
Bovill, who, somewhat curiously, was retained for
the witnesses, objected to his being sworn. Baron
Parke ruled that he must be sworn. This done,
Day appealed to his lordship whether he was obliged
to answer questions which might criminate himself,
as he was himself proceeded against with regard to
the same bet. The judge ruled that he need not
answer questions which might implicate him, but he
must answer all other questions. For instance, if he
lost in a certain transaction, he must answer; but he
need not if he won, as the Act inflicted penalties on
the winners only. John Day then gave his evidence.
Mr. Hill, on whose behalf a similar objection was
made to that in the former case, but nothing could
be got out of him tending to prove the plaintift's
statement that Lord George Bentinck had won
^3,000. " I have not brought my betting-book,
my lord," said Mr. Hill, in reply to a question
from the Bench; "the moment I heard of the ^id
tarn actions I burnt it." At the end of Mr. Hill's
evidence. Baron Parke said: "Then the second
count is done for — 'that the defendant had won a
bet of ^3,000.'"

To prove the first count, Mr. Gully was called,
and he also claimed protection from having to answer
questions which might implicate himself. Mr. Gully
explained that he made a bet of ^20,000 to ^3,000,

ACTION AGAINST LORD GEORGE BENTINCK. 229

not for Day, but took it himself of the defendant.
Baron Parke then said: "Mr. Gully, with respect
to this bet, could you, without any violation of any
arrano^ement with Day, have transferred it to any
one else.-^" To which the witness replied: "Oh,
yes, my lord; no doubt of it."

In his summing up to the jury, the learned Baron
said that what Mr. Gully did must have been eo
animo, that he was acting at the time as the agent of
Day. He says that he made the bet for the purpose
of benefiting Day ; but that he himself was respon-
sible for it, and that he should have had a right to
transfer it to a third person. Now, to make the
defendant liable to this count of the action, Mr.
Gully must, at the moment he made the bet, have
made it as the agent of Day. If you think he
was not the agent of Day, the verdict must be for
the defendant; if you think, on the other hand, that
Mr. Gully was the agent of Day, then the verdict
will be for the plaintiff As to the payment of the
money, there is no reasonable evidence for the jury
to conclude that it was paid.

The jury at once returned a verdict for the de-
fendant; and so an effectual stop was put to the
subtle hangers-on of the Turf, who thought to fill
their pockets with ill-gotten, if lawful, coin, by bring-
ing qtci tarn actions against the chief patrons of the
national sport.

The Select Committee appointed by the House
of Commons to inquire into the laws respecting

230 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

gaming had very properly thought it undesirable
to inquire into the matters connected with the qui
tarn actions, feeling that to inquire into the matters
to which those actions related would be in some
respects to prejudge the cases. The Committee
thought proper to divide the old laws in force against
gaming into four classes. First, they made a class
of those laws of yery early periods, which prohibited
certain games and amusements on political grounds,
and in order that the people might not be led by
such diversions to disuse the practice of archery — ■
a general skilfulness in which was deemed essential
for the defence of the realm. (17 Ed. IV., c. 3;

33 Hen. VIII., c. 9.)

A second class was formed of such statutes as were
of the nature of sumptuary laws, being intended to
prevent what the framers of those laws considered
excessive gaming; and being thus destined to restrain
individuals from wasting their substance by losing
too much money on gaming and pastimes.

The third class consisted of those enactments which
belong to the class of laws against fraud, and which
have for their purpose the prevention of cheating and
other unfair practices in games upon which money is
to be lost and won.

The fourth and last class comprised laws relating
to public morals, which prohibit common gaming-
houses and public gambling as public nuisances, by
which the peace of society may be disturbed, and by
which simple and unwary men are liable to be led

SELECT COMMITTEE ON GAMING. 231

into dissolute and vicious habits, whereby the morals
and interests of the community would be injured.

The sanctions imposed by these statutes are chiefly
of three kinds — the imposition of pecuniary penalties
upon offenders, by rendering winnings null and void ;
in certain cases by giving losers the power to recover
what they have lost ; and in some cases by making
offenders liable to imprisonment.

The results of the Committee's deliberations went
to show that, with the exception of the laws against
common gaming-houses, these various statutes had
very rarely been called into operation. The report
of the Committee recommended that the old statutes
restraining persons from playing at certain games,
many of which are conducive alike to health and
innocent amusement, should be repealed ; that the
sumptuary laws, prescribing the amount of money
which individuals should win or lose at a sittinof,
should be repealed, as the Committee saw no differ-
ence between the offence (if offence it be) of winning
;^io or a greater sum. But, while they took this
view of wagers, the members of the Committee put
in the cautious proviso that, although they recom-
mended that wagering should be free, and subject to
no penalty, it was also concurrently their opinion that
wagers are not matters which ought to be brought
for adjudication before courts of law.

The law of England considered wagers in general
as legal contracts, and there are many occasions on
which the winner of a wager or stake may enforce

232 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

his contract In a court of law. On the other hand,
the law of Scotland is the reverse, and the Com-
mittee recommended that in the matter of wagers,
and disputes arising out of wagers, the law of
England should be assimilated to the practice of the
courts in Scotland.

Active steps had recently been taken to clear the
better racing-courses of gambling booths, much as
strong efforts had been made, as we have seen, to
put down gambling-houses, or "hells," in the metro-
polis. On this subject the Committee very properly
expressed a strong opinion, holding that booths for
gambling on race-courses can never be of use
towards keeping up races and maintaining the sport
in a flourishing condition; and since it had been
ofiven in evidence that certain races could not be
held except for the rents received for the booths,
the Committee held that it was desirable that such
races should be done away with. Again, in their
report the members of the Committee strongly urge
the necessity of abolishing the gambling-tables kept
by proprietors of clubs; but as to the frauds stated
to take place in horse-racing and betting, they
remark that they have " some evidence to show that
frauds are occasionally committed in horse-racing
and in betting on the Turf ; but they feel difficulty
in suggesting any remedies for this evil more strin-
gent or more likely to be effectual than those already
In existence."

Admiral — then Captain — Rous, Captain Berkeley,

DUKE OF RICHMOND'S BILL. zy-,

R.N., and John Day and John Scott, the trainers,
were among the numerous witnesses examined by
the Committee on Gaming; and the questions asked
covered very wide ground in relation to betting in
connection with Turf matters; and the conckision
arrived at by most of those who waded through the
voluminous evidence given in the committee- rooms
of both Houses was that the expenses of keeping
race-horses were too great for any but the deepest
pockets, were it not for the system of wagering
which obtains, by which the owner of a good animal
may easily recoup himself for the losses on many
bad ones.

By the Act 3 and 4 Vict., cap. 5, sec. i, is repealed
so much of an Act passed in the thirteenth year of
the reign of his Majesty King George the Second,
intituled an Act to restrain and prevent the exces-
sive increase of horse-races; and this statute also
amends an Act passed in the previous session, in-
tituled an Act for the more effectual preventing of
excessive and deceitful gaming.

It was on the 3rd of March, 1840, that the Duke
of Richmond moved, in the House of Lords, the first
reading of the Bill which repealed the thirteenth
of George the Second. This Act prohibited any
person from running more than one horse in a race,
or from running any horse otherwise than in his own
name. The reason of the latter provision of the
Act is plain; but it is not so easy to explain the
reasons upon which a law restricting a man to run-

234 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

ning only one horse in a race is based, except in so
far as it applies to Plates which shall not be given
unless a certain number of horses, the property of
different owners — usually three — start for them.

The Americans were large buyers of thoroughbred
stock in our markets, as they had been for years
before; and Mr. Tattersall, in his evidence to the
Lords' Committee on gaming, after instancing the
large sums given by firms and individuals in America
for first-rate horses, gave this characteristic opinion:
— " They (the Americans) were most noble buyers.
My orders were almost unlimited. They trusted to
me. And all the best horses now in America are
by English horses. Whenever racing is done away
with there is an end to the noble animal, and the
manly sport, and to your humble servant."

MR. JOHN ORTON. 235

CHAPTER X.

MR. JOHN ORTON MR. WEATHERBY CROMMELIn's

CASE WILLIAM SCOTT THE FLYING DUTCHMAN

AND VOLTIGEUR STATE OF THE TURF IN 1 80O-

1825-185O TIPSTERS THE BETTING-HOUSES

THE ACT OF I 853.

THE great service rendered to all students of
racing matters by his " Turf Annals of York
and Doncaster," as well as his short but accurate bio-
graphical notices of famous jockeys, should commend
the name of John Orton to all lovers of the sport.
With much laborious research, and equally good
judgment, he collected the records of the sport of
horse-racing from 1 709 — the earliest year as to which
he could discover any trustworthy records — down to
the date of the last edition of his historical work.
He was Clerk of the Course and Judge at York;
Judge at Richmond, Carlisle, Newcastle-on-Tyne,
Burton Constable, and Catterick Bridge; and at
one time, also, Mr. John Orton was Judge at nearly
all the Scotch Meetings. He died at York, on the
19th of May, 1845.

A few weeks previously (22nd of April), in the
same year, Mr. William Weatherby, who had been
stakeholder at Newmarket for sixty years, died at

236 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

that town, In the eighty-second year of his age.
The veteran official, who frequently had upwards
of ^20,000 of stakes in his hands at a time, never
in his life gave or took a receipt for money received
or paid for stakes, no error was ever found in his ac-
counts, and in all his extensive money transactions in
connection with the Turf no item was ever disputed.

Crommelin's case, which occupied the attention
of the Stewards of the Jockey Club for some time,
denounced as a swindle of the first rank, and called
in the press a " diabolical disclosure," deserves notice,
perhaps chiefly for its romantic feature of a meeting
at an inn at Winchester between the John Day
junior of that time (1840), and a mysterious figure
disguised in a cloak, spectacles, and a huge mous-
tache, with something to his advantage to tell the
jockey in private. The matters connected with this
scandal did not come before the notice of the Jockey
Club until June, 1845. The evidence was this: — In
Litde Wonder's year — 1840 — Mr. Etwall, M.P. for
Andover, owned the Melody Colt, afterwards named
Discord. Young John Day was engaged to ride
it in the Derby. Mr. Etwall stated (four years or
more after the event) to the Stewards of the Jockey
Club, that young John Day told him that he received
an anonymous letter a week before the Derby, which
Intimated that a friend of his would meet him at the
George Inn, Winchester, on an evening named, and
tell him something for his future welfare. He was to

CROMMELIN'S CASE. 237

ask at the bar for Mr. Webb. He kept the appoint-
ment; and at the inn he met a person enveloped in
a domino, wearing coloured spectacles, and a heavy
moustache. The cloak being thrown off, Mr. Webb
proved to be Mr. Crommelin, a well-known Ring
man. Day said Mr. Crommelin told him he was
very bad against the Melody Colt, produced a £^^^0
note, and promised him ^500 or ^1,000 more if the
colt lost the Derby. This scheme Day declined, he
said, to fall in with; and he further stated that it
was agreed between him and his father and Mr.
Etwall that he should take the bribe, and " put the
tempter in the hole," by winning the race if possible.
And his riding in the race, to which no exception
could be taken, proves that he did his best to win.
The matter was gone into at very great length
before Lords Stradbroke and Exeter, and three
other members of the Jockey Club. They con-
sidered the case — supported only by the evidence
of Day junior — utterly unworthy of credence; and
animadverted very strongly on the fact that, although
Crommelin had thus tried to draw away the alle-
giance of the younger Day from his employer, and
make him rob that employer and the public, yet the
intimate connection between the Days, father and
son, and Crommelin had continued. The nature of
this connection they held to be discreditable to all
parties concerned; but as a long time had elapsed
since the transactions complained of had taken place,
they thought it unnecessary to do more than express

238 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the strongest opinion that such a connection as had
been estabHshed was calculated to destroy that con-
fidence in the faithful attention of public trainers to
the legitimate interests of their several masters, on
the security of which the continued prosperity of the
Turf alone could rest,

'But in the case of the jockey they passed a sen-
tence which at the time was considered of much too
harsh a nature, having regard to all the circum-
stances of the case. "John Day, jun.," reads their
written award, " having before us endeavoured to
support a criminal charge by wilful falsehood, we
direct that he be turned off the course at Newmarket,
and out of the coffee-room there, and be not per-
mitted to ride in any race at Newmarket." And, in
addition to this, the Stewards of the Jockey Club
recommended all other proprietors and stewards " to
prevent him from appearing on their courses" — a
decision in all respects intended to be just, but one
which created confusion in the minds of owners; for
young John at that time was certainly one of the
best jockeys in England over any course ; while, as
far as he was concerned, if irrevocable, it practically
ended his career in the saddle.

The year 1846 was one of great prosperity for
the Turf, and afforded the lovers of racing a large
amount of first-rate sport. The season of '46 was
thought to have been " infinitely the most brilliant
in the annals of the British Turf ; " and it was set
down at the time as the " millennium of the sport of

THE SEASON OF '46. 239

horse-racing-, so far as it has yet been enjoyed." The
racing year began properly with the Coventry Meet-
ing, though there was the Liverpool Meeting as
early as the 4th of March, followed by Warwick
and Northampton. The licensed victuallers of
London had behaved with much liberality, having
added ^300 as a bonus to the Metropolitan Stakes
on the Downs, the net value of the Stakes being thus
raised to ;^825. New vigour was imported into the
arrangements of the Epsom Meeting, under a new
lessee, Mr. Henry Dorling. Chester, once threat-
ened with the loss of its holiday character, prospered
abundantly, the May Meeting on the Roodee being
attended by vast numbers of pleasure-seekers from
the adjacent counties. Newmarket boasted new and
distinguished names on its list of owners of horses
in training; while all the old patrons of the sport
continued its steady friends. Ascot was graced with
the presence of the young Queen and her Royal
spouse, and princely Goodwood, attended by the
rank and fashion of England, reached its climax in
that season, and "attained," says a contemporary
writer, "a point of excellence never before known
in the annals of the Turf." Doncaster held " its ain
an' mair," and the country Meetings were every-
where popular and well supported, showing fine
sport to crowds, many of whom saw a racecourse
but once a year. In this way were the gloomy pro-
phesyings of those who had a few years before
predicted the coming decline in the popularity of

240 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

horse-racing as a sport fulfilled. The same may be
recorded of the years immediately following; and
when the sun of the first half of the nineteenth cen-
tury set upon the Turf, it left it richer in all the
elements of material prosperity and lasting stability
than it had been at any other period in its annals.

William Scott, the famous Northern jockey, died
at Highfield House, his residence, abutting on Lang-
ton Wolds, and within half a mile of his brother
John's house, in 1848, in his fifty- first year. He
had ridden the winners of nine St. Legers, four
Derbys, and three Oaks races, and was, in his best
days, hardly second to anybody in his profession;
but his universal sobriquet of " Glorious Bill " was
due rather to his style of telling stories over a bottle
of old Port than to his achievements in the saddle,
great as they were. He was not, as was generally
supposed, a Yorkshireman by birth, but first saw
light at Chippenham, 1793. His father, who had
been a jockey, and was a trainer of repute, brought
his son up to the pigskin from the first day his little
legs could cross a horse; and both he and his brother
John graduated at Newmarket under James Edwards;
but William was afterwards sent to James Croft at
Hambleton. One of his earliest mounts was on Bel-
ville, when he ran second to Cannon Ball, in 18 14;
and his last was on his own horse Christopher, for
the Derby in 1847 — so that his career in the saddle
extended over three-and-thirty years at least. He

WILLIAM SCOTT. 241

could get the last ounce out of a sluggish horse, and
with such animals he was without a rival. He rode
two dead heats which have lived in racecourse story.
For the Derby, on the Colonel, he was "nose and
nose" with James Robinson on Cadland; but in the
deciding heat Jem was too quick for him, slipping his
horse at Tattenham Corner, and so eettine an advan-
tage which his friend Bill could never overtake. But
his second historic dead heat more than made amends
for his loss of the first. For the St. Leeer, when he
was, on Charles the Twelfth, matched against Connolly
on Euclid, his success was received with a degree of
enthusiasm never surpassed, if it was ever equalled,
even on the Town Moor at Doncaster. The "Bravo,
Bill!" of the Yorkshire crowd rang in his ears till his
dying day.

A lesser light of the saddle, but yet an old-
fashioned rider of great merit, John Shepherd, of
Norton, near Malton, died in the same year, at a
patriarchal age. He was born in 1765, and brought
up to and instructed in his profession at John Tes-
seyman s stables, at Moor Monkton. Shepherd rode
for the Rev. Mr. Goodriche, Lords Scarborough and
Foley, Sir M. M. Sykes, Bart., Sir F. Standish, Mr.
Peirse, and other prominent owners of horses. His
first appearance in silk took place in the memorable
race between Pacolet and Parlington, in 1784, when
he had a mount on Dusty Miller. Shepherd was
the first pensioner upon the Bentinck Benevolent
Fund, to the benefits of which charity he had a

VOL. I. 16

242 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

double claim, having been for some years trainer to
Lord Scarborough.

Voltigeur's year — 1850 — witnessed one of the
grandest struggles between two good horses which
took place during the first half of the present cen-
tury— the contest for the Doncaster Cup between
the winner of the Derby and Lord Eglinton's Flying
Dutchman. There were twenty-four runners for
the Derby, which Voltigeur won by a length; Mr.
H. Hill's Pitsford being second, and Lord Airlie's
Clincher, ridden by F. Butler, third. The favourites
were Clincher and Mildew, about equally dividing
public opinion; while Bolingbroke and The Nigger
pressed them close in the quotations. The second
horse, Pitsford, started at 12 to i, and the winner at
16 to I. The issue gave rise to some very angry
comments. Bolingbroke had been a great favourite,
was a sort of ward in Chancery — for, having fallen
under the direction of the Lord Chancellor, his lord-
ship had intimated that several thousand pounds
would not buy him — and was described as a " pro-
digious pot." As a matter of fact, he was one of the
first horses beaten in the race, being left behind
directly the pace became moderately fast.

The outcry occasioned by this disgraceful exhi-
bition of a horse from which so much had been
expected, led to charges of gross dishonesty, gross
ignorance, or gross neglect on the part of the
persons who had prepared Bolingbroke for his race,
his form on the Derby Day being adjudged "not

THE DONCASTER CUP OF 1830. 243

fit to Win a saddle." The report says : — " That the
Derby came off upon * the square' seemed to be by
no means a common conclusion. The versions of
the plot are legion. That it was put on the scene
under the auspices of a most able management
was generally agreed ; all the arrangements, it was
asserted, had been made by parties eminent in their
profession."

Voltigeur, the winner, whatever may have been the
real merits of the disgraced Bolingbroke, was destined,
a few months later, to become the hero of one of the
most excitino- contests ever witnessed on Doncas-
ter Town Moor, or, indeed, upon any racecourse in
Great Britain.

The Doncaster Cup, value 300 sovs. — a prize often
productive of exciting races between animals of merit
■ — brought out only two champions to contest it over
the stiff two and a half miles of the Cup Course: Lord
Zetland's br. c, Voltigeur, three years old, yst. ylbs.,
and Lord Eglinton's br. c. The Flying Dutchman,
8st. i2lbs. Flatman, the great "old Nat," rode Vol-
tigeur, and Marlow had the mount on the Dutchman.
Such was the confidence of the " talent" on the older
horse that they laid 4 to i on his success. The event
proved to be what, in the parlance of the ring, is
called a " floorer" for the layers of odds ; and after
the race it was asserted that, although Voltigeur had
proved himself by his race for the Cup to be a horse
that could both go fast and stay, it was not to be
taken as a contest conclusive of the merits of the

16 — 2

244 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

two horses — that it was a dodging race and not a
very quick race. Marlow's orders were to make the
pace as slow as Voltigeur hked till they were a mile
from home, when he was to come away and endea-
vour to cut the young horse down. These orders
were not strictly adhered to by Marlow, and when
he did come to receive the final challenge of Flat-
man on Voltigeur, he was afraid to move on the
Dutchman, he was so much distressed with his race.
Up to that time the winnings of the two horses
were as follows : —

Won. Walked over. Lost. Net amount.

Flying Dutchman, 10 ... 4 ... i ... ;^i7,775
Voltigeur ... 4 ... i ... o ... 7)6o5

And in addition to these amounts. Flying Dutch-
man had won the Ascot Cup, value 500 gs., and Vol-
tigeur the Doncaster Cup, value ^300. Shortly after
the latter trophy had taken its place among the racing
cups on his sideboard. Lord Zetland made the match
with Lord Eglinton, the Flying Dutchman against
Voltigeur, which was run for over Knavesmire,
at the York Spring Meeting, May 13, 1851. During
the winter this event attracted much attention among
sporting men, and the wagering on it was very heavy,
the older horse having the call in the betting. It
was confidently anticipated that as much interest
would be manifested in this great match as had been
shown by the public in the historic match between
Hambletonian and Diamond, often quoted in race-
course story, and a worthy pen thus describes the

THE DONCASTER CUP OF 1830. 245

scene on the eventful day : — " And now we have
arrived at the race of the meeting — if not, indeed, of
the century. As we have no means of measuring the
properties of race-horses, at least none that are put
into effect worthy of acceptance as authority on point
of speed, we must take it for granted that the Flying
Dutchman and Voltigeur are about the best horses
that the modern Turf has seen. Upon this conven-
tional estimate, the contest whose issue is about to be
disposed of created more interest than any match
between horses within my memory. The weighing
had been adjusted to a grain ; and thus the winner
was set down: — Match for ^1,000, half forfeit, two
miles, over the Old Course : Lord Eglinton's The
Flying Dutchman, by Bay Middleton, out of Bar-
belle, 5 yrs., 8st. 8^1bs. ; Lord Zetland's Voltigeur,
by Voltaire, out of Martha Lynn. The pair were at
even betting almost from the period when the race
was publicly announced up to the day on which it
was run, and as they went to the post there was not
a shade of odds on one side or the other. When
the flag fell, Voltigeur went off with the running at
the top of his pace, taking a lead of at least three
lengths, and making very severe play, the heavy
state of the ground being had in account. In this
way they rounded the last turn, when Marlow called
upon the Dutchman with a request very pointedly
urged. As they passed the Stand, it was stride for
stride, and a struggle of desperate effort. It was too
much for the young one — he tired the sooner ; and

246 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the Flying Dutchman passed the winning-chair first
by a short length. Both horses showed marks of the
keenness of the contest."

The day following, Lord Eglinton declared that
his horse was withdrawn from the Turf for ever.

The Flying Dutchman, winner of the Derby in
1849, was bred by Mr. Vansittart, in 1846; got by
Bay Middleton, out of Barbelle, by Sandbeck; her
dam Davidetta, by Amadis, out of Selima by Selim
Pot-80's — Edetha by Herod.

Bay Middleton was bred by Lord Jersey in 1833;
got by Sultan out of Cobweb, by Phantom. He
won the Derby, was never beaten, and was accounted
the best race-horse of his day. At the stud he did
not fulfil the bright hopes that had been grounded
upon his Turf career; and the Flying Dutchman
was the first really great horse of his get. Lord
Jersey sold Bay Middleton to Lord George Ben-
tinck for 4,000 guineas.

Barbelle, the dam of the Flying Dutchman, was
bred by Mr. Vansittart, in 1836, and was also the
dam of the "crack" Van Tromp, the property of
Lord Eglinton. She was a fair performer on the
Turf in her time ; but, being put to the stud at the
close of her three-year-old performances, did not
have a long racing career. After the victory of her
famous son, Barbelle took rank as the best brood
mare in the kingdom. The greatest of her progeny
is thus described: —

The Flying Dutchman is a dark brown horse,

VOLTIGEUR. 247

with no white about him, beyond the saddle marks ;
he stands about fifteen hands three inches high;
has a lean head, with rather a Roman nose, full fiery
eye, prominent forehead, and ears carried a little
back. He has a strong neck, a little bowed; fine
deep shoulders; good girth, measuring five feet six
inches; round-shaped barrel; powerful back, rising
a little on the rump; very strong quarters, well let
down, with a light, thin, meanish-looking tail. He
has good thighs, immense arms, and very large
bone. He stands a little over at the knee; but is,
altogether, a magnificent specimen of power as
a race-horse.

Voltigeur, his younger rival, a racer of almost
equal fame and merit, was bred by Mr. R. Stephen-
son, of Hart, in 1847. Got by Voltaire, out of
Martha Lynn, by Mulatto; her dam Leda, by Filho
da Puta — Treasure, by Camillus. Voltaire, the sire
of Voltigeur, was also bred by Mr. Stephenson; by
Blacklock, out of a Phantom mare. Voltaire was
a very good performer, winning five times out of his
six appearances on the Turf — one of these races
being the Doncaster Cup. His distinguished son
is thus described: —

Voltigeur, a brown horse, with no white about
him, beyond a little on the off-hand foot, stands
fifteen hands three inches high. He has a somewhat
coarse head, small ears, strong muscular neck, and
fine oblique shoulders, with very good depth of girth;
he has rather a light middle, but good back, powerful

248 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

quarters, drooping towards the tail, muscular thighs,
and good hocks and knees, with plenty of bone;
docile, quiet temper, and excellent action.

As is the case with most English racers of note,
every one of the thirty-two sires and dams that
appear in the pedigree of Voltigeur can be deduced
from the Godolphin Arabian. The direct line of
sires can be traced to the Darley Arabian, and the
line of dams to a Barb mare. In the case of the
sires — King Fergus being the point in the pedi-
gree— we have Eclipse, Marske, Squirt, Bartlett's
Childers, Darley Arabian. In the case of the dams,
we have — beginning with Flora — several successive
mares tracing their descent from Old Thornton,
the Dicky Pierson mare, and the Burton Barb mare.

A comparison instituted between the state of the
Turf in 1800, and its condition a quarter, half, and
three-quarters of a century later, would show some
remarkable changes. Prolific as the second quarter
of the present century was in all sorts of inventions
and improvements, it could hardly be expected that
the art of training race-horses would be allowed
to lag behind; and accordingly we find that the
thoroughbred horse was ripened at a much earlier
period of its growth as the century increased in
years. When the century began, the Oueensberrys,
Fitzwilliams, and Darlingtons of the Turf posted
from London to Newmarket, or attended the race
meetings near their seats, in ponderous coaches.

TURF IN 1800. 249

drawn by richly caparisoned horses, with gay-
liveried outriders. The progeny of Eclipse were
in great request, owing to the staying qualities
and fine speed of their sire, who, in the belief of
the country breeders, divided with Flying Childers
the honour of having galloped a mile in a minute.
King Fergus, Gunpowder, Javelin, Aurelius, Soldier,
Apollo, Pegasus, Satellite, and Traveller, the last
son of Eclipse, were the fashionable sires in request
amono- the coonoscenti. No such thingf as a regfular
betting-ring existed; a few "round bettors," since
called bookmakers — Jerry Cloves, Joe and Jem
Bland, Myers, Crutch Robinson, and Mat Milton —
having the business of laying the odds all to them-
selves. Newmarket occupied an altogether different
position in the racing world. Its designation of
head-quarters was a reality: it was the metropolis
of the sport. Goodwood, Chester, Liverpool, and
Epsom Spring and Summer Meetings were able
to show no rivalry with the paramount attractions
of the Heath; and then all the three Spring Meet-
ings had their full complement of six days' racing,
and two-year-olds were easily distinguishable ^in the
strings on the exercise grounds by their rough coats.
The growth of horse-racing in public favour and
importance during the first quarter of the present
century was remarkable; but it was small as com-
pared with the extension which the national sport
saw in the succeeding twenty-five years.

In 1825 there were sixty-six places, where races

250 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

were run in Great Britain, but in 1850 there were
a hundred and four. In the former year, five hundred
and ninety-five races were run in Great Britain,
while in the latter the number rose to one thousand
and twenty-five. The Derby of the year 1825 was
won by Lord Jersey, with his chestnut horse. Middle-
ton; and the Doncaster St. Leger by Mr. R. Watt,
with Memnon. To the Derby of 1825 there were
fifty-eight subscribers, and to the Derby of 1850
there were two hundred and five. The Chester
Tradesmen's Cup, in the former year, had fourteen
subscribers, and in the latter its nominations amounted
to one hundred and ninety-three. The advance in
the facilities for wagering were even more remark-
able. In the earlier part of the century it was often
matter of difficulty to find a respectable person who
would lay the odds, even to so small a sum as five
or ten pounds, against anything fancied by the backer.
In 1850, such a business had laying the odds become
that it was possible to back a horse for a large race
for thousands of pounds. The racing statistics of
the last five years of the first half of the present
century are as follows: —

Year. Horses Started. Events. Two-year-olds. Matches.

1846 1,655 1,510 255 156

1847 1,590 1,435 220 129

1848 1,675 1,375 285 130

1849 1,725 1,415 275 117

1850 1,610 1,335 295 59

These figures at once show the flourishing state
of the Turf, the increase in two-year-old races,

JUNIOR TATTERS ALLS COMPANY. 251

and the decline in that old-fashioned sport, match-
making, which, at the present day, has almost died
out. By this time the racing season began at Lin-
coln as early as the 5th or 6th of February, with
that mixed kind of sport which has since become
so common at the Spring and Autumn Meetings,
namely — steeplechasing, hurdle-racing, and racing
over the flat.

At this period a scheme was put before the public
which the promoter stated in his prospectus would
confer a great boon on honourable men. This was
the Junior Tattersall's Association and Company,
which was provisionally registered pursuant to Act
7 and 8 Vict, cap. no. The proposed capital was
;^6oo,ooo, in 30,000 shares of ;!^20 each. The
profits were to be derived from commission on
sales of stock, letting stables and coach-houses, and
a veterinary establishment. It was proposed to have
both a metropolitan and a suburban establishment —
the former on a scale far exceeding that of any exist-
ing West-end Club ; the latter to embrace two or
three hundred acres of freehold ground, upon which
the Metropolitan Junior Tattersall's racecourse was
to be laid out. The proposal, however, to establish
an opposition to the "Corner" did not meet with
support. The scheme had its partizans, however,
who said that the establishment of a large betting
resort, to which all classes could easily obtain access,
would tend to the extirpation of the racing clubs and
betting offices that "polluted the streets and lanes

252 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

and alleys of our great towns ;" but a much more
certain mode of getting rid of these social nuisances
was found a few years later, in the suppression of
these houses by the police, acting under a statute
passed for the purpose.

The appetite of the public for the prophecies of the
advertising tip-giving fraternity and their patronage
of the betting lists stepped hand-in-hand together.
The journals read by the sporting world were filled
with advertisements promising any number of certain
winners for an incredibly small number of postage
stamps. Stamford, Vatican, Besborough, and Abd-
el-Kader, baited their traps with alluring records of
past successes and darkly suggestive hints at secret
channels of information to which they alone have
access, and golden promises for their subscribers.
The modesty of the tipster equalled his benevolence.

" J. B., although hating self-praise and idle puff, so
prevalent in the present day, boldly defies the world
to find his equal." This "J. B." was a Mr. James
Desboroucrh.

Another of the fraternity thus denounces a rival : —

" N.B. — A person having advertised my tips lately
in the papers, I not only disclaim all knowledge of
him as a subscriber, but emphatically pronounce the
tips sent by him not to be mine. I merely state this
to put gentlemen on their guard against being duped
by such humbugs."

A firm boasting the aristocratic names of Howard
and Clinton informs the world that —

TIPSTERS. 253

" All the betting circles in town ring with nothing
but Howard and Clinton's extraordinary successes."

One Alfred Milo "defies all England, and all
the wonderful would-be prophets to boot, to equal
him in the extent and value of his information ;" but
Joe of Kensington seems to have been the greatest
advertising genius of his time in that walk of life to
which his steps had turned, as witness the following
advertisement : —

" Joe begs to acknowledge the receipt of numerous
congratulatory letters from his grateful friends, one
of which, being a fair sample of the rest, his pride
induces him to publish. Copy : — ' Dear Joe — Having
backed your two horses freely, from the straightfor-
ward nature of all your communications, in which
you have never deceived me, I am proud to say I
am now a winner to a considerable amount. You
are certainly a first-rate fellow, and I would give the
world to know you personally. I shall be staying a

fortnight, before my return to Ireland, at Hall,

and if you will come and spend a few days with me,
either this week or next, I will put down £2^^ to
head a subscription for a piece of plate for you. —

Yours faithfully, .' Joe's terms : — Single events,

3s. 6d. ; Derby or Oaks, 5s. each ; yearly subscrip-
tion, 2 IS. ; half-yearly, los. 6d."

There can be no doubt, from the number of adver-
tisements of this class that appeared in the sporting
papers up to the time of their prohibition by law, that
the persons, Joes and others, who put them into the

254 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

papers found the operation a profitable one, although
their tips were worthless, and money entrusted to
them to invest found its way at once into a private
bank, whence it was impossible to withdraw it. At
the same time, it is only fair to admit that among the
tipsters were some men who supplied their sub-
scribers with really trustworthy information, which
they collected with much painstaking and intelligent
labour on their behalf, who could be trusted with
money sent for investment, and who did the best they
could to put their patrons on a winner or a "good
thing." It is, however, extremely doubtful if such
persons were more likely to be successful in what is
termed "spotting the winners" than the sporting
writers of the daily papers, who, writing from day to
day, with the best sources of information at their
command, are frequently able to direct the readers
of their articles to the winning-post.

The public betting-houses were largely fed by the
wages of persons ignorant of the sport, many of
whom had never even seen a horse-race, but who
were subscribers to the circulars of the Kensington
Joes and Abd-el-Kaders.

The profits of the tipsters were great, and the
advertisements of their successes proportionate to
the length of their purses. The sporting prints,
then comparatively very few in number, were filled
with the advertisements of the fraternity, which, in
some cases, were as long as an ordinary newspaper
leading article. Promises were made of a sure for-

THE BETTING-HOUSES. 255

tune and no risk by backing the outsiders they were
able to select — victory, nine times out of ten, of course
following their selection. To the more sensible
classes of Englishmen such puffs carried the opposite
conviction to that they were intended to produce;
but the inexperience of boyhood and youth — children
of ten were known to make bets of pence on their
own account — and the ignorance of servants and
others of the least intelligent class fell an easy prey
to the wiles put forth to entrap them. Servants,
porters, shopmen, and clerks, who should have
known better and acted very differently, not seldom
came before the City magistrates, charged with the
offence of embezzlement, traceable to their having
unfortunately become customers of the betting-
houses with which the City of London abounded,
with moneys taken from the tills of their employers.
The existence of the betting-houses became a public
nuisance and a public scandal in the metropolis and
other great towns; and, not any too soon in the
interests of those exposed to tempations they found
it hard to resist, the Corporation took up the matter,
with a view to the suppression of the list-houses. In
1852, at a meeting of the Aldermen at the Guildhall,
the foreman of the inquest of Farringdon Ward
Without handed in a presentment which he said
related to a subject of great importance in the City
of London, the gambling and betting-houses in the
ward, by which great mischief was done. Facilities
were given at these houses, of which there were a

256 'HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

great number in the ward, for betting, from sums
of threepence or fourpence upwards; and by these
means many servants and boys, who certainly had
no money of their own to bet with, were induced to
lay wagers that too often led them into a career of
crime.

There were, of course, among the betting-houses
others of a different and entirely respectable kind
where a large business was transacted, and where the
frequenters were mainly persons who could be trusted
to make bets, from their being men of some means,
who presumably were betting with their own money
in all cases. Of these houses the chief was a tavern,
The Dolphin, in Milk-street, off Cheapside, kept by
Mr. Beeton ; and this Eastern Tattersall's, as it was
called, was a thoroughly well-managed and reputably
conducted house. The newspapers quoted the state
of the odds at " Beeton's" as regularly as they pub-
lished the condition of the Turf market at Hyde
Park Corner.

The Act for the Suppression of Betting-houses
was introduced into the House of Commons by the
Attorney-General, on the 12th of July, 1853. In
moving for leave to bring in the Bill, Sir Alexander
Cockburn said that in doing so he considered it
unnecessary for him to make any long speech on
the subject, as the evils which had arisen from the
introduction of these establishments were perfectly
notorious, and acknowledged upon all hands. The
difficulty, however, which existed in legislating

SUPPRESSION OF BETTING-HOUSES. 257

upon this subject was to be found in the disin-
clination which was felt in interfering with that
description of betting which had so long existed
at Tattersall's and elsewhere in connection with the
great national sport of horse-racing. But in these
modern establishments — the betting-houses — a
totally different aspect was assumed, and a new
form of betting was introduced, which had been
productive of the greatest evils. The course now
was to open a house, and for the owner to hold him-
self forth as ready to bet with all comers, contrary
to the usage which had prevailed at such places
as Tattersall's, where individuals betted with each
other; but no one there kept a gaming-table, or, in
other words, kept a bag against all comers. The
object, then, of this Bill was to suppress those
houses, without interfering with that legitim^ate
species of betting to which he had referred. It
would prohibit the opening of houses, or shops, or
booths for the purpose of betting; and inasmuch as
it appeared that the mischief of the existing vicious
system seemed to arise from the advancing of
money in the first instance, with the expectation
of receiving a larger sum on the completion of
a certain event, it was proposed to prohibit the
practice by distinct legislative enactment. The
mischief arisinof from the existence of these betting-
shops was commonly notorious. Servants, appren-
tices, and workmen, induced by the temptation of
receiving a large sum for a small one, took their few
VOL. I. 17

258 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

shillings to those places. The first effect of their
losing was to tempt them to go on spending their
money, in the hope of retrieving their losses; and
for this purpose it not unfrequently happened that
they were driven into robbing their masters and
employers. There was not a prison or a house of
correction in London which did not every day
furnish abundant and conclusive testimony of the
vast number of youths who were led into crime by
the temptation of these establishments, of which
there were from lOO to 150 in the metropolis alone;
while there was a considerable number in the large
towns of the provinces. He believed this Bill
would have the effect of suppressing most of them,
or, at all events, of preventing the spread of an evil
which was admitted on all hands. It had been sug-
gested that the more effectual course would be the
licensing of these houses; but for his own part he
believed that would be discreditable to the Govern-
ment, and would only tend to increase the mischief
instead of preventing it.

On the 20th of August, 1853, the Act became law,
and such was the feeling for its urgent necessity that
it passed both Houses with barely the shadow of
a debate, and received the Royal assent on the day
above-mentioned. The preamble was of the shortest,
reciting merely that whereas a kind of gaming has of
late sprung up, tending to the injury and demorali-
zation of improvident persons, by the opening of
places called betting-houses or offices, and the

THE ACT OF 1833. 259

receiving of money in advance by the owners or
occupiers of such houses or offices, or by persons
acting on their behalf, on their promises to pay
money on events of horse-races, and the like con-
tingencies. The Act itself made it illegal to keep
such houses or offices, and imposed a penalty of
;!^ioo, or six months in the House of Correction, on
such persons as, after the coming into force of the
Act, should keep such houses. The Act came into
operation on the ist of December following, and did
not apply to Scotland. Its effect was at once to put
an end to the nuisance created by the public betting-
houses.

17-

26o HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHAPTER XL

FAMOUS JOCKEYS.

JAMES CHAPPLE, the jockey, was born at
Exeter, in or about the year 1802. He first
mounted a thoroughbred horse in the stables of
Frank Neale at Newmarket: his first pubHc appear-
ance in the pigskin took place at Beccles, in Suffolk,
and his second at Newmarket. He won a great
many of the good things at country meetings, and
the Derby in 1833 on Dangerous, and again in 1838
on Sir Gilbert Heathcote's Amato. He also rode
the winner of the Oaks in 1833, Sir Mark Wood's
Vespa, the filly starting at 50 to i. For some years
after this he was rarely seen, except in the colours
of Sir Gilbert Heathcote — not for want of mounts in
plenty, but because he had saved a moderate com-
petence, sufficient for all his wants. In 1850, how-
ever, he came out again, apparently as young and
fresh as in his best days, and carried off the Cesare-
witch, on Glauca, for Mr. Payne, and the Cam-
bridgeshire, on Landgrave, for Mr. Gratwicke. His
ability, honesty, and excellent judgment recom-
mended him to the gentlemen who employed him
to ride for them, the integrity of " Old Jemmy
Chappie" being proverbial.

CHAPPLE AND ROBINSON. 261

James Robinson, a contemporary of Chappie, en-
joyed a still greater fame as a master of the art of
riding. He was born at Newmarket on the 22nd
of June, 1794, the son of John Robson, the trainer
to Mr. Panton. At the beginning of the present
century Robson enjoyed a unique reputation as a
trainer, and it was esteemed a privilege to get a boy
apprenticed in his stables. To young Robinson this
favour was accorded, and in Robson's stables accord-
ingly he began his Turf education. He rapidlyshowed
to the eye of his astute master that he was made of
stuff out of the common, and he was soon taken
from the common routine of stable work and exer-
cise to the more responsible but better practice of
riding in private trials. He deported himself so
well in his earliest essays in the racing saddle, that
the delighted Robson exclaimed, over and over
again, "Why, he can't be a boy, he must be a little
man."

Having attracted the notice of Frank Buckle, and
others of the Newmarket cognoscenti, the young
jockey got plenty of riding, and was but little over
the age of twenty years when he carried off the
Blue Riband of the Turf, winning his first Derby
on Mr. Payne's Azor, in 1817. His success in the
following years was most remarkable; no jockey of
his time rode so many winners, or so often displayed
to the lovers of the sport the finest qualities of
horsemanship. The story is told that when he was
still in his teens he had succeeded in " gammoning"

262 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the great Frank Buckle in a finish on the Heath,
when his master in the art of riding paid him the
compliment of telling him to " try that on somebody
else next time." Seven years after he had steered
Mr. Payne's Azor to victory, he was again first past
the famous post at Epsom, on Sir John Shelley's
Cedric. But the year 1824 saw him snatch a still
greater victory from the hands of chance. He
won the Oaks on Lord Jersey's celebrated mare
Cobweb; and in riding this race, the gag which had
been put on the mare having got entangled in the
bit, Robinson contrived to lean forward and take it
off in running the race. He had previously won
the Oaks on Lord Exeter's Augusta. Nor must
the great jockey's famous treble event bet be for-
gotten, in connection with his Derby and Oaks suc-
cesses of 1824. He took long odds that he would
win the two great races at Epsom and be married
in the same week, and had the satisfaction of win-
ning his wager, by marrying, on the Saturday of
the Epsom week, Miss Powell, whom he had been
courtinof for sorne time before. But more Turf
trophies were in store for the lucky jockey. In 1825
he won the Derby on Middleton, and in 1827 on
Mameluke, and in 1828 on the Duke of Rutland's
Cadland. He also won the St. Leger in Mame-
luke's year, on Mr. Petre's Matilda, after a brilliant
and exciting finish with Sam Chifney, who rode the
Derby winner in the September race. Robinson's
last Derby was on Lord Jersey's Bay Middleton.

JAMES ROBINSON. 263

He was particularly well calculated to handle this
horse, as his own temper was as good as the famous
bay's was bad. His style of finishing in a race was
very fine, and Robinson's rushes passed into a pro
verb. His character in the social relations of private
life was as high as his repute in his profession was
widespread, and it was with regret that frequenters
of the Turf of all classes heard of his accident when
riding Lord Clifden's Feramorz in a match at New-
market. The horse — a two-year-old — was an ill-
tempered brute; and almost immediately after the
signal to start was given, it swerved round, and
Robinson's stirrup - leather breaking, he fell and
broke his thigh. This accident was most serious to
a man of his years, but it was rendered the more
disastrous in its consequences by the injured limb
being set four inches shorter than the other.

Other distinguished contemporaries of Chappie
and Robinson were to be found in Nat Flatman,
Frank Butler, and Job Marson. Elnathan Flatman,
called Nat from the first day he entered a racing
stable, was born at Holton, in Suffolk, in 18 10.
Most of his earlier years, however, were passed at
Billesdon, in the same county. At this place lived
Mr. Wilson, the breeder of many famous race-horses,
and through this gentleman little Nat was introduced
into Cooper's stables at Newmarket. Having learned
the rudiments of his interesting business in the
usual way — namely, from riding horses at exercise
and riding them in private trials, at last having a

264- HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

mount in a race — Flatman's first appearance on a
racecourse was some three years after his appren-
ticeship to Mr. Cooper began. He rode Gold Pin,
a two-year-old filly of Lord Exeter's, at the Craven
Meeting in 1829, in which race he met Sam Chifney.
His weight then was under six stones, and up to 1840
he could ride under seven; so that he enjoyed a very
large practice in his profession when his name was
once well known. His first great stroke of luck was
in getting the chance to display his abilities in the
saddle on Lord Jersey's Glencoe, when he won the
Goodwood Cup, in 1834. The next year he rode
the winner of the One Thousand Guineas, in the
purple and black of Mr. Greville; and from thistimis
his success was assured. But he did not become one
of the heads of his profession until about the year
1 840, when Arthur Pavis's death, followed by that of
Patrick Connolly, left open to Flatman many of the
best mounts the Turf afforded. His style of riding
was by no means brilliant ; his seat and form were
more suggestive of strength than neatness of finish;
and he owed his practice, which was very large,
rather to a steady course of good riding and good
conduct, extending over many years, than to any
characteristic qualities in his jockeyship clearly dis-
tino-uishino^ his ridinsf in a race from that of other
men.

Celebrated for his quickness at getting off, his
great forte lay in the riding of T.Y.C. races; but
although he just managed to keep within the edge

ELNA THAN FLA THAN. 265

of the law, and avoid being fined, he sadly tried
the tempers of the starters. Though he had no
great dash, and made some downright failures in
attempting to finish with a horse all the way from
the distance post, his judgment as regards pace and
measure in the last few strides was rarely, if ever,
at fault. 1848 was his great year, as it saw him
first past the post 104 times; but Orlando's year
was financially his best, as he succeeded in earning
upwards of ^5,000 in fees and presents, having
taken, besides; some lucky bets. It has often been
remarked that many of our most famous jockeys
have died at the time of s^reat meetinofs — for in-
stance, Connolly's death took place at Newmarket
First Spring Meeting; Job Marson's death was
made known at Doncaster; and Nat Flatman's at
York August, i860. It was his misfortune to have
outlived his reputation, this decline dating from his
being taken off Toxophilite for the St. Leger, and
proving a blow from which it never recovered. He
came to be called all of a sudden "Old" Nat; people
began to say he had grown nervous, and could not
be trusted for a big race. Many of his friends, how-
ever, thought that the public, who had perhaps too
readily given his riding extravagant praise, now
proclaimed the decay of his powers upon very slight
ground, and that he was up to the hour of his last
illness as efficient a rider as he was a respectful
servant and an honest man.

Frank Butler, who enjoyed perhaps as great a

266 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

reputation as Nat Flatman, was born in 1817, the
issue of a marriage that promised to give the world
a jockey. His father was trainer to the Duke of
Richmond, and afterwards for many years to the
Duke of York, in whose employment he died in 1827;
while Frank's mother was the sister of Samuel and
William Chifney. Under the care of this excellent
mother — who lived to rejoice at the successes in the
saddle of her boy, who bade fair to rival the prowess
of his famous uncles — Frank Butler received a eood
education at Dr. Nichol's, at Ealing. The wish of
his heart was to be a jockey. Under the eye of
William Chifney he learnt the rudiments of the art
which was to be the business of his life. From
** Uncle William's" careful training the boy went
into Lord Orford's stables. The fall in the fortunes
of his two relatives influenced to a considerable extent
the success of his early years as a jockey. He found
few patrons, and it was not until 1842 that he escaped
from the cloud that had enveloped his family, to show
first-rate qualities in the saddle. From this period his
lucky star was in the ascendant, and he rode many
winners of great races. Butler was a good judge of
pace and a most brilliant finisher; and it was said of
his Derby on Daniel O'Rourke that he could have
won on either of the three placed, and that " in the
list of Derby winners to be handed down to future
generations, the name of Francis Butler should
stand in place of Daniel O'Rourke."

Quite as famous, if not quite so fortunate, was

STOCKWELL. 267

the Yorkshire jockey, Job Marson, who was a
thorough Tyke, born at Belle Vue training stables,
near Malton, occupied by John Scott after Job Mar.-
son senior removed his establishment to Beverley.
His earliest experiences were gained in riding gallops
on his father's horses on Langton Wolds. His first
public appearance was at Beverley, in 183 1, when he
won a race on Mr. Bell's Cinderella. For several
years his progress in his profession was slow, but
sure ; and he obtained considerable employment and
a fair share of mounts. His masterly riding of Nut-
with in the St. Leger at last made his name famous
throughout the racing world. He had shown that
he possessed the secret of the " Chifney rush," and
that there was somethinof in "knowinsf how to
finish."

Lord Eglinton secured his services as first master.
Lord George Bentinck and Sir Joseph Hawley having
the next claims upon his services; but it was in the
popular Zetland spots that he made himself dearest
to the hearts of the Yorkshiremen. There was no
"show off" in Job Marson's style of riding: he
rode in a plain, straightforward way; his seat was
admirable for its ease and power, and his hands
were perfect.

The year 1852 would, doubtless, have been
Stockwell's year, if he had not gone amiss, and
been altogether out of sorts on the Derby Day,
when odds of 16 to i were laid against his running.
The great merits of a large family of children and

268 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

grandchildren have made the name of Stockwell a
household word, and probably no horse of modern
times has ever been more widely known, especially
among a class of persons who, as a rule, take but
little interest in thoroughbreds or in the sport. As
a rule, people who know nothing of sires and dams,
and of the pedigrees of racers, can tell that Stock-
well was got by the Baron, out of Pocahontas. This
most famous among modern sires was a bright
chestnut, sixteen hands high, and of great power,
with remarkably sound legs and feet. But he was
anything but a handsome horse, having been de-
scribed at three years old by a sporting writer of
celebrity as "the very incarnation of ugliness." He
was bred in 1849, by Mr. Theobald, and was named
after his breeding establishment at Stockwell. The
Baron, Stockwell's sire, was bred in Ireland, by Mr.
Watt, in 1842, got by Birdcatcher out of Echidna, by
Economist. The Baron's racing career was very
successful, and he carried off the St. Leger and
Cesarewitch of 1845. He was speedily put to the
stud, and — perhaps unfortunately — after Mr. Theo-
bald's death was sold to go to France — his price at
the hammer being the very moderate sum of 1,010
ofuineas.

Pocahontas, the dam of Stockwell, was bought of
Mr. Theobald from Mr. Greatrex; bred in 1837.
She was put to the stud in 1842, but up to the time
of the Baron cross was distinguished for nothinof
but having cut up very badly in the Oaks of her

JOHN WELLS. 269

year, for which she had been a favourite, and for
her very bad temper. At Mr. Theobald's sale, Poca-
hontas was knocked down to Captain Thellusson;
but after Stockwell's successes she was purchased
by Lord Exeter, whose Turf career had then ex-
tended over more than thirty years. The blue and
white narrow stripes of Burleigh had begun well in
1 82 1, with the Oaks, won by Augusta; and two
other Oaks Stakes had fallen to the Marquess's lot,
with Green Mantle and Galata; but for a number
of years luck seemed to have forsaken the stud, and
it was not until rumours of retirement were rife that
Lord Exeter's patience was at last rewarded with
Stockwell's St. Leger and other victories. Stock-
well was ridden in the St. Leger by Norman, a
homebred jockey, whose riding was confined entirely
to that stable, and who succeeded Connolly and
Mann in the service of the Marquess. The follow-
ing year saw Mr. Bowes win his fourth Derby, with
West Australian, than whom a finer specimen of the
English race-horse has seldom been seen ; sent to the
post with the true Whitewall polish on him from the
able hands of John Scott, who had "schooled" all
Mr. Bowes's previous winners.

West Australian was bred by Mr. Bowes, in 1850
— got by Melbourne, out of Mowerina, by Touch-
stone.

John Wells, the jockey, whose name was a house-
hold word before he was out of his teens, was born
at Sutton Coldfield, in Warwickshire, on Christmas

270 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Day, 1833. He left the care of his parents at a
very early age, for Flintoff's stables at Hednesford,
where many a good jockey had received his school-
ing for success in after-life. Master Wells soon dis-
played his ability on the backs of one or another
of Flintoft's long string of horses ; and in due time
he got a mount in a race. Mr. Fowler, one of those
now old-fashioned sportsmen who hated the sight of
a racecourse between the Glasgow Stakes day, in
the Houghton Meeting, and the '' Oyez, oyez" of
the scarlet-coated, brass-buttoned Northampton bell-
man, in front of the little gilt horse, brought out
Wells at the race meeting of the bootmaking town.
His first essay was on a mare called Ribaldry, for
the Trial Stakes, in 1848, and he finished second.
Ribaldry proved to be the foundation of Wells's
success ; for after winning a race or two on her, the
country filly and country lad started first favourites
for the Cambridgeshire in the following season, and
finished a very good third in the big race. The
boy's great strength for his light weight, and good
judgment for his age, soon gained for him the con-
fidence of owners and trainers, and he got plenty of
mounts in handicaps after his Cambridgeshire place.
His diminutive size earned for him the sobriquet of
"Tiny;" and the little man — for he was never a
boy, always a mannikin — soon became one of the
greatest of public favourites, and numbers of people
made it a practice to back Tiny Wells's mounts in
the big handicaps. His successes in the black and

ALFRED DAY. 271

orange "cap of the gentleman who ran horses under
the assumed name of Mr. Howard; his triumphs on
Virago, in whose great year he rode the third in the
Derby, as well as the winners of eighty-two races in
all, warranted the confidence of the public. That
year he led off at the head of the list of winning
jockeys, and won the Doncaster St. Leger with
Saucebox the next year — perhaps the most moderate
horse that ever won that great race. Mr. Parr's
horses were very lucky in his hands, and Wells and
Fisherman are a pair that will not easily drop out of
racecourse story. In later years Wells was identified
with the colours of Sir Joseph Hawley, for whom he
rode many winners in the cherry jacket. Fourth on
Rataplan, third on Hermit, and second on Yellow
Jacket, and ''almost first" in 1857 on Adamas.
Beadsman was his Derby mount in '58, when he had
a very unpleasant time of it after the race was over,
sitting in the scale waiting for his bridle before the
" All right " was said.

Great as were his after-triumphs, however, he
never had a year like Virago's, when he ran away
with all kinds of good things — the Metropolitan and
City and Suburban, the two Spring Handicaps at
York, the One Thousand Guineas Stakes, and the
Goodwood and Doncaster Cups.

The name of Day has been for many years one
of the best known on the Turf, old Grandfather
Day's numerous descendants having kept the family
name well before the public. The plentiful Ed-

272 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

wardses of the Prince Regent's Days on the Heath
have since been outnumbered by the jockeys and
trainers answering to the name of Day. The subject
under consideration, Alfred Day, was the son of John
Day (the first " honest John " of Danebury), who
trained for the Dukes of Grafton and Portland ; his
uncle was that excellent horseman, Sam Day ; and
two other uncles, Charles and William, were well-
known riders. Their mother, old Mrs. Day, had
actually on one occasion seen four of her sons
riding in the same race. The next generation con-
tained a Sam Day of great promise, who met with
an accident; John Day, "who sat a savage as if
he were screwed on ; " and " Our William," whose
fame as a trainer eclipses his reputation in the
saddle. Of the twelve children of old John Day by
his first wife, Alfred was one of the youngest, having
been born in 1830. His father gave him a good
education at Winchester ; but in holiday time, at
home, he naturally took to riding his father's horses
in their gallops on Stockbridge Downs, and before
he was thirteen years of age he had ridden a
race at Newmarket, when, at 4st. ylbs., he rode
the Squire's Shocking Mamma in the Cesare-
witch of 1843. His progress in his profession
was steady, and quite fast enough to please his
father. His first great coup was when he beat
Flatman, in a race for the Thousand Guineas at
Newmarket ; Chappie, Frank Butler, Jem Robin-
son, Job Marson, Sam Rogers, Sam Templeman,

ALFRED DA V. 273

and Bartholomew, all having mounts in the same
race.

The name of Alfred Day soon after became widely
known, and his brothers John and William willingly
resigned all the riding to him. After carrying off
the Two Thousand Guineas, and riding second for
the Derby, he won the great race on Andover, land-
ing a large stake for the Danebury party. Lords
Clifden, Derby, and Palmerston, the Duke of Beau-
fort, Sir Robert Peel, and Mr, Harry Hill, were some
of the principal masters for whom Alfred Day rode;
and with all his employers he was popular, and de-
servedly enjoyed their confidence and esteem.

One of the great difficulties with which owners of
horses have to contend is the risk of fraudulent
conduct on the part of the trainers. Misconduct of
this kind is really and truly very rare, and there can
be no question that trainers and jockeys are far
more honest in the present day than in the past,
and that they are certainly quite as honest as em-
ployers. Very many devices have been invented by
employers who thought themselves clever. One of
the most singular that has been suggested, and yet
one that has certainly at times been tried, is that of
lending money to the trainer. Thus, a very know-
ing personage gave advice to a novice in racing.
"When you begin to keep horses," said this mentor,
" start with lending your trainer a thousand pounds,
and then you can say to him, ' Look here, my friend,
if you sell me it will be no Victoria by the grace of

VOL. I. iS

274 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

God, but the bum-bailiff in your house, and your
wife's bed sold from under her.' That," said he, "is
the way to keep them in order."

Another difficulty which has always beset owners
of horses is how to keep secret the results of private
trials. Old Sir Mark Wood, who, many years ago,
kept race-horses at the Upper Hare Park, near
Newmarket, hit upon a very extraordinary plan to
accomplish this object. One day, having tried a
fine colt for the Two Thousand Guineas, he
called the lad who rode the horse into his private
room, and said to him, " Now, then, sir, do you know
the horse you rode this morning?" "Yes, sir,"
replied the lad. " Do you know the weight you
rode?" "No, sir," answered the boy. "Well,"
said Sir Mark, producing a five-pound note and
a pistol, "here are five pounds for you. Now, mind
you hold your tongue. If this trial gets about I will
blow out your brains with this pistol."

John Day, of famous memory, trained for many
years for Lord George Bentinck, but he once com-
mitted a sad mistake, unworthy of his general skill
and shrewdness. Lord George had a horse which
was much fancied both by his lordship and John
Day for a big event. One fine morning, after the
horse had done a most satisfactory gallop, John Day
sat down to his desk to write two letters — one to his
lordship, and the other to a celebrated bookmaker at
Tattersall's. The letter to his lordship ran thus : —
" My Lord — The colt is quite fit, and has done a

JOHN DA V. 275

rattling gallop. I fancy he is bound to win. Pray-
back him for all you can on Monday next, if you
can only get a fair price." The other letter was as
follows: — "Dear Joe — The long-legged lord will be
at Tattersalls on Monday. Lay him all you can,
the horse is a dead one." Unfortunately, Mr. Day
put the letters in the wrong envelopes. The result
is obvious.

John Day, in his time, trained many celebrated
and successful horses for Mr. Padwick and Mr.
Gully. Among them were Hermit, winner of the
Two Thousand, Andover, winner of the Derby, and
Virago, who won twelve races out of thirteen as a
three-year old. He also trained a horse named Scy-
thian, who won the Chester Cup. For reasons best
known to himself. Day did not intend that Scythian
should win the Chester Cup ; and for other reasons, best
known to themselves, his two sons, J. and W. Day,
were determined that Scythian should, if he could,
win the race. About four days before the contest
Mr. Padwick received a letter from J. Day, junior,
imploring him to come to Stockbridge, and accord-
ingly Mr. Padwick went. On his arrival the state
of affairs was fully explained to him by the sons, and
the resolution was formed to exclude the old John
from the stables, and to entrust the horse to the care
of the two brothers. John Day does not appear to
have been at all hurt by this slight upon his honesty)
but to have been very much hurt at the prospect of
losing all the money he had laid against Scythian ;

18—2

276 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

and the story goes that he was even heard to declare
outside the stable door that he was a ruined man,
and to implore that he might be let in to the stable,
if it was only for ten minutes.

The celebrated old John died early in i860;
but his oreat career in the saddle had termi-
nated fifteen years before, when he rode Worthless
for his excellent master, Mr. Wreford, and won a
race for him at Ascot. He had not ridden in the
Derby since Attila's year, when he had the mount
on Coldrenick — " the great mistake of his training
life." Old John's dress was more like that of a
dignitary of the church than a member of the famous
family of trainers and jockeys at Danebury. His
manner was remarkable for its solemnity, which well
became the cravat and black surtout which the
'* Lyndhurst of the Turf" always wore in his later
years. This honourable sobriquet he had earned by
his habit of talking sound sense, and no man ever
did more to maintain the respectability of his order
than old John.

Nature had given him a frame capable in an
unusual deoree of resistino- the wear and tear of
a jockey's life, and his natural strength was never
impaired by excesses of any kind. His father was
one of the best trainers in England, and certainly
the best in the county of Hants. His mother was,
as a judge of a yearling's chances of training on,
only second to her husband; whilst her medical skill
enabled her to perform the duties of veterinary-in-

JOHN DAY. 277

ordinary to the establishment. In his father's train-
ing stables he learned his business. The school was a
severe one, but it developed and confirmed habits of
temperance and self-denial that served him well in
after-life. His preliminary period of dressings and
exercise canters over, son John made his first ap-
pearance in public at a pony race in Wales, and fell
off — an ill omen, it might seem, for a successful
jockey's career. He married young, and much
against his father's wishes, whose opposition appears
to have been based solely on the knowledge that if
his son cfot married his services would be lost to the
stable. The son, however, was resolute. In his stable
suit, and with ten pounds and a wife, he began the
world for himself. His weight v/as seven stone, and
he was, early in his career, lucky enough to " get
over" Buckle in a finish at Newmarket. Fresh
masters were added to his list, and, knowing his
steadiness and skill, he could feel that his bread was
buttered for life. The Duke of Portland, some of
whose horses he had ridden, sent for him. " John
Day," said his Grace, " I am about to make you a
handsome present for the way you have ridden my
horses this week." The young jockey began to
thank his Grace in fitting terms. " I am about,"
interrupted the Duke, " to give you two ten-pound
notes."

John lived to see the presents given by ducal
owners to successful jockeys something very differ-
ent from the serviceable and timely reward received

278 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

at the hands of the Duke of Portland. On another
occasion, on Newmarket Heath, the Duke, who had
his full share of old-fashioned pleasantry, called out
to his jockey that he was a thief " A thief, my
Lord Duke!" cried John. "I do not understand
your Grace. I never did anything wrong in my
life." " Yes, John Day, you have, you stole that
race for me this afternoon." A reply that brought
young John's cap to the ground.

Other masters were the Duke of Grafton, Lord
Berners, Mr. Batson, and Lord George Bentinck,
for whom he rode Crucifix. Generally admired and
respected, old John had the confidence of a host of
the patrons of the Turf, and among them of two such
excellent sportsmen and statesmen as Lords Derby
and Palmerston. Perhaps his distinguishing charac-
teristic was his ability to read character, and to this
he owed it that he was never dismissed by a master.
If luck was against him, and a change was coming,
John always resigned, but not a day too soon.

Racing in Australia had by this time assumed
considerable proportions, and the enthusiasm of the
colonists for the sport of Kings was remarkable.
Their feelings with regard to racing may be gauged
by the following quotation from an after-dinner
speech, reported in BelTs Life in Victoria, in i860,
after an animal called Flying Buck, a son of War-
hawk, selected by Mr. Yuille in England, had won
an important race at Geelong. Mr. Simpson, pro-

AUSTRALIAN LOVE OF SPORT. 279

prletor of the Bonnefield stud, said he was proud of
the position he found himself in as breeder of the
champion. He admitted, however, that he had
scarcely ever seen a race-horse until he came out to
Australia. He was born in an island on the West
Coast of Scotland, and the only race meeting he had
ever attended in the old country was at Paisley,
where they ran for silver bells and ^10 and ^15
prizes. But he had some innate and intuitive feeling
about what a race-horse should be; and when he had
a few pounds in his pocket he went to Maitland, and
ran a filly there. He said to himself that at any rate
she was better than anything he had seen at Paisley,
and he bought her for ^80 in 1837. For years he
had studied breeding; he had consulted every work
upon the subject; and what Coke upon Littleton was
to a lawyer the literature of the Turf was to him.
And speaking of the breed of horses in the colony,
Mr. Simpson said that when his friend, Mr. Yuille,
went to England and shipped Warhawk to him, he
thought he had got what he wanted, for in War-
hawk were combined the speedy blood of Epirus
ahd the staying qualities of Voltaire.

The taste for sport is born with our Australian
brothers, as it is with Englishmen, and there is no
danger of the breed of horses degenerating, or horse-
racing becoming obsolete in the colonies, while they
contain so many gentlemen like Mr. Simpson, the
breeder of Flying Buck, who possess an innate and
Intuitive feeling of about what a race-horse should

28o HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

be, and who take such great interest in breeding,
and in the welfare of the thorouorhbred horse.

In 1859, Mr. Tattersall, grandson of "Old Tat,"
the founder of the house, passed away. It was
several years since he had wielded the hammer at
the Corner, and his memory had begun to fail him ;
at the early age of eighteen he became the head of
the firm, through the untimely death of his father,
and with his brother, Mr. Edmund Tattersall, set to
work in earnest to maintain the prestige that the
firm had acquired under the first and second of the
family name. Mr. Tattersall's character was of the
right sort for the work he had in hand, and all his
life he enjoyed the entire confidence of the public.
He was very fond of seeing a good race; but he had
a great dislike to betting, and never did more than
take the odds to five or ten pounds on the Derby
or the St. Leger. Mr. Tattersall had received many
marks of favour from George the Fourth, who held
him in high esteem, and he was always one of the
guests at Goodwood House during the race week.

At the beginning of 1861 Touchstone retired from
his honoured position at the stud; and a few weeks
afterwards his death was recorded, after a short
illness. He died at Eaton Hall, Cheshire, in the
paddocks of his owner, the Marquis of Westminster.
He had left the Turf at six years old, after defeating
Slane for the Ascot Cup. At Goodwood, Touch-
stone never ran, but he was never beaten for the
Ascot or Doncaster Cups. He left behind him a be-

LORD EGLINTON. 281

quest to "Weatherby" — some thirty sons at the stud
in Great Britain, and about a hundred and twenty
mares, with the dams of West Australian and
Hobbie Noble heading the list. Surplice was the
finest-looking and biggest of his stock, and Orlando
the most beautiful and blood-like. In naming the
Touchstones, the vocabulary of words ending in
"stone," and the names of the characters in Shak-
speare's play, "As you Like it," had been exhausted
before the old horse's death.

Lords Eglinton and Chesterfield have written
their names indelibly on the page of Turf history.
The former of these noblemen beo^an to race in
1 83 1, when he rode his Paul Pry and Lucifer in
welter races. Confined at first to the provincial
meetings in Scotland, as the stud became larger
Lord Eglinton's horses were entered for the meet-
ings on the Northern Circuit; and Potentate — the
Fisherman of his day — won eleven races out of
nineteen he started for in 1838, and fifteen out of
twenty-three in 1839. At this time his horses were
trained by Dawson; but shortly after he had won
the St. Leger, Lord Eglinton conceived a dislike
to having his horses trained in a public stable, and
he accordingly engaged Fobert, who trained for him
until he gave up racing.

Under Fobert's rdgime his horses ran well, and won
three Northumberland Plates in five years; the Great
Metropolitan Stakes with Glensaddle, the Great
Yorkshire Handicap with Pompey, and the Ascot

282 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Stakes with Lucia, were among- the substantial suc-
cesses of the stable. Van Tromp and the Flying
Dutchman, however, were the two immortals of
Lord Eglinton's stud, and the defeat of the first-
named for the Derby was a great disappointment to
his owner and to Lord George Bentinck, who on
the Derby Day stood to win ^20,000 on him. So
anxious was Lord George, indeed, for the success of
Van Tromp in the great race, that he sent his own
confidential servant to Epsom to see that the box was
in proper order for the winter favourite to pass the
night in; but, arriving early at Epsom on the morn-
ing of the Derby Day, he went straight to the box
in which Van Tromp was placed, performed his own
toilet with a cake of yellow soap, a jack towel, and
a basin of water set on the corn-bin, and never left
the stable until Fobert led the horse on to the
Downs, and he had seen him handed over to the
care of Job Marson. A careful investigation of all
the facts will lead to the acquittal of Marson upon
the charofe of not doino^ his best to win. Lord
Eglinton and his friends, however, at the time did
not think so, and the tartan jacket was taken away
from the old jockey and given to Mario w — a blow
from which Job Marson never recovered.

The St. Leger gave Van Tromp an ample revenge
over Cossack ; and the Flying Dutchman, two years
later, placed the Derby to the credit of the Eglinton
party, and followed that success with another St.
Leger triumph. With the exception of West A us-

LORD EGLINTON. 283

tralian, the Flying Dutchman was the worst horse
Davis ever had on his books ; and in these times of
cooler and more Hmited speculation on the Turf, the
sums Lord Eglinton's famous horse was backed for
seem almost incredible. The fame of the perform-
ances of Van Tromp and the Flying Dutchman will
never be allowed to die out while horse-racing flou-
rishes in England ; nor is the other undertaking with
which Lord Eglinton's name is associated likely to
be sooner forgotten. The rehearsals of the Knights
armed cap-a-pie at St. John's Wood, and the grand
tournament at Ayr, when the lists of Ashby-de-la-
Zouch were transferred for the nonce to the Scotch
county, to be literally washed away by the storms
of rain which fell on spectators and combatants, had
something more in them than is common to a mere
fete. Lord Eglinton desired to show his love of all
manly sports, in many of which he was an adept.

In about a dozen seasons his horses — of which
Knight of Avenel, Hippolytus, and Claverhouse
were among the luckiest — won about ^80,000 in
stakes ; but politics called Lord Eglinton from Turf
pursuits, though he always had a kind word for
Fobert, and a chat about times gone by, whenever he
met his old trainer. It was said of the late Duke
of Beaufort that he was the most popular man in
England; of Lord Eglinton it might be said, with
truth, that he was the most popular man in the three
kingdoms. As Viceroy he had won the hearts of
the Irish, in England he was esteemed as the soul

284 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

of honour, while his own countrymen reverenced
him for his devotion to their national sports.

Lord Chesterfield's connection with the Turf was
hardly so fortunate as that of the Scotch earl, but
many of the prizes of racino^ fell to his share, among
them being several of the chief three-year-old stakes.
Coming of age in 1826, after a long minority, and
finding a fortune of a hundred thousand pounds in
cash and an income of fifty thousand a year at his
disposal, Lord Chesterfield had every reason for
gratifying his love of a thoroughbred horse by
keeping a stud of his own. Accordingly, in the
same year in which he attained his majority, his
name appears among the list of winning owners.
A year or two later he entered into a confederacy
with Mr. Greville, and trained with Prince. Money
was no object, and in 1829 he bought Zinganee for
3,000 guineas, and won the Ascot Cup of that year
with him.

Sam Chifney rode, of course, and his reply just
before the flag fell to the question, " How do you
feel?" was that he should be very much better in
five minutes' time.

The field for the Cup on that anniversary was a
fine one, comprising as it did Mameluke and Cad-
land, Derby winners; Colonel and Green Mantle,
winners of St. Leger and Oaks respectively ; together
with two other animals of great repute, Lamplighter
and Oppidan.

Priam Lord Chesterfield gave the same sum for,

LORD CHESTERFIELD. 285

and -won the Goodwood Cup twice In succession
with him, and afterwards sold him to go to America
for 4,000 guineas.

This purchase was made of WilHam Chifney, as
Zinganee's was, and both horses proved cheap at
the prices paid for them, which were then considered
fabulously high. For with Priam, in addition to the
Goodwood Cups, Lord Chesterfield won the Eclipse
Foot at Ascot, and a very heavy match against
Augustus at Newmarket. Two Oaks winners like-
wise were left in his lordship's stud before this sire was
sold at a profit of 1,000 guineas on Chifney's price.

Shortly afterwards Lord Chesterfield sent his
horses to John Scott to be trained at Whitewall; and
the St. Leger with Don John, and the Oaks with
Industry, justified the change to the North.

Lord Chesterfield's horses, when trained by John
Scott, were ridden by W. Scott and Connolly.
Afterwards Taylor trained his horses at Bretby, and
Frank Butler, Flatman, and Wells rode for the stable.
Lord Chesterfield's interest in his horses was very
great, and he was enthusiastic about their winning.
When he ran out from the enclosure to meet Don
John coming In to weigh, after he had won the St.
Leger, Lord Chesterfield, In his hurry, ran against and
knocked down the time-keeper, who remonstrated.
"Oh, hang the time, Lve won the Leger!" was the
reply of the excited and jubilant owner of Don John.

During his lordship's tenure of the office of
Master of the Buckh'ounds, a " Golden Age " ob-

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

tained, in which the prominent figures were the
Duke of Beaufort, Colonel Anson, Count D'Orsay,
Sir George Wombwell, and Sir David Baird.

When a change of Ministry caused his retirement,
his friends decided to give him a dinner at the
Clarendon. An unequalled banquet was the result.
D'Orsay composed the m^nu, and in doing it laid all
quarters of the globe linder contribution. The price
was six guineas a head.

Menu of dinner given in May, 1834, to Lord Chesterfield, on
his quitting the office of Master of the Euckhounds, at the Cla-
rendon. The party consisted of thirty.

Premier Service.

Fotages. — Printannier, a la reine, turtle {two tureens).

Foissons. — Turbot {lobster and Dutch sauces), saumon a la Tar-
tare, rougets k la Cardinal, friture de morne, whitebait.

R'elevcs. — Filet de boeuf a la Napolitaine, dindon a la chipolate,
timballe de macaroni, haunch of venison.

Entrees. — Croquettes de volaille, petits pates aux huitres, cote-
lettes d'agneau pure'e de champignons, cotelettes d'agneau au
pois d'asperges, fricandeau de veau a I'oseille, ris de veau pique aux
tomates, cotelettes de pigeons a la Dusselle, chartreuse de legumes
aux faisans, filets de cannetons \ la Biggarrade, boudins a la
Richelieu, saute de volaille aux truffes, pate' de mouton mcnte'.

Cdte. — Boeuf roti, jambon, salade.

Second Service.

Rots. — Chapons, quails, turkey poults, green goose.

Entremets. — Asperges, haricots a la Frangaise, mayonnaise
d'homard, gele'e Macedoine, a^ pices d'oeufs de pluvier, Charlotte
Russe, gelee au Marasquin, creme marbre, corbeille de patisserie,
vol-au-vent de rhubarb, tourte d'abricots, corbeille des Meringues,
dressed crab, salade au gelantine, champignons aux fines herbes.

Rclei'cs. — Souffle'e a la vanille, Nesselrode pudding, Adelaide
sandwiches, fondus, pieces mont^es, &c.

Dessert.

MR. DAWSON'S BANK NOTES. 287

CHAPTER XII.

ELLINGTONS DERBY JOHN GULLY SIR TATTON SYKES

ASCOT CUP THE MARQUIS AND BUCKSTONE

GEORGE OSBALDESTON LUKE SNOWDEN.

ELLINGTON won the Derby in 1856. His
victory was marked by a singular incident in
connection with his trainer. The horse had
been heavily backed for the race, but suffered defeat
some few days before the great event. The conse-
quence was, neither his owner nor his trainer was
able to hedge any of his money. His trainer was
Mr. T. Dawson, of MIddleham, the eldest brother
of the well-known family of which Mr. Jos. Dawson,
Mr. Matt. Dawson, and Mr. John Dawson, are
equally distinguished members. The result was
that Mr. T. Dawson, against his will, won ^25,000
by the victory of Ellington. On the Monday after
the race, he went to Tattersall's to receive his money.
The whole of it was paid to him in bank notes.
After the settling he dined, and took the train for
home, first having packed his bank notes In an old
leathern hat-case, without any lock, but simply tied
with a piece of string. Mr. Dawson fell asleep in
the train, and when the guard, who knew him well,

288 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

awoke him at Northallerton, and told him he must
change carriages, Mr. Dawson got out of the train,
leaving the old hat-case behind. In those days tele-
graphy was not quite so simple a matter as now, and
Mr. Dawson did not recover his hat-case for a whole
week, during which time it had travelled to Edin-
burgh, Aberdeen, and various other places. Ulti-
mately it came back to the rightful owner, with the
string neither cut nor untied, and w^th all the
bank notes safe inside. We need hardly say that
Mr. Dav/son, with that astuteness which never
forsakes the professional Turfite, took particular care
not to display the slightest anxiety about his hat-
case, but merely informed the station-master that he
had possessed the article for a good many years, and
as there were some papers in it which could not
possibly be of any use to any one but himself, he
should like to recover it.

Two men of great celebrity — one a Yorkshireman
and the other a native of Somersetshire — both of
whom lived to a good old age, died in the spring of
1863 — Mr. John Gully and Sir Tatton Sykes. Mr.
Gully's career was remarkable and interesting. He
was born in 1783, at Wick-and-Abson, a village
between Bath and Bristol, the son of a small yeo-
man. Early in life young Gully showed a precocious
ability to use his fists for the purpose of damaging
other people's faces. He had many youthful "sets-
to," and finally fought his way to London, when he
was about one-and-twenty, and speedily got locked

FIGHT WITH THE « CHICKEN:' 289

Up for debt In prison, one Pearce, well known
in pugilistic circles as the " Chicken," found him.
Pearce was a countryman, an old acquaintance and
one of the Fancy. They put on the gloves together,
merely to pass away the time, when Gully showed
such aptitude for the manly art that a match was
made by willing backers for him to fight his friend
the "Chicken;" and his debts were paid in order
that he might win their money, prizefighting being
one of the few amusements not permitted to the
occupants of our old debtors' prisons, " Chicken"
Pearce's backers staked six hundred pounds to
four hundred on their champion. The encounter
of pluck and muscle came off in October, 1805.
Gully, fearfully punished, was removed by his party
after the fifty-ninth round, defeated but not dis-
graced. His prowess had won for him many ad-
mirers; and on Pearce's retirement he was offered
the proud title of Champion of England. However,
before the honour was proffered him, he had fought
a great battle with Gregson, the Lancashire Giant,
at Six-mile Bottom, near Newmarket, for two hun-
dred guineas ; and, after a battle of thirty-six rounds,
had convinced the Giant that he had come from the
North on a fool's errand. Not so, however, Greg-
son's backers. They would not believe that their
man could be beaten on his merits by an opponent
of inferior height and size ; and accordingly another
contest between the men took place in Sir John
Sebright's Park in Hertfordshire, when Gully gave a
VOL. I. 19

290 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

most decisive beating to the Giant. So large were the
crowds which were brought together to witness this
prize fight, that the country people fancied the French
must have landed to cause such an influx of stran-
gers, and called out the yeomanry and volunteers.
"Boxiana,"agreat authority on pugilistic matters, thus
sums up Mr. Gully's merits as an exponent of the
noble art of self-defence : — " Gully as a pugilist will
long be remembered by the amateurs of pugilism as
peculiarly entitled to their respect and consideration ;
and if his battles were not so numerous as those of
many other professors have been, they were con-
tested with decision, science, and bottom rarely
equalled, and perhaps never excelled, and justly
entitle him to the most honourable mention in the
records of boxing. His practice in the art, it was
well known, had been very confined, and his theo-
retical knowledge of the science could not have been
very extensive, from the short period during which
he had appeared in the lists as a boxer. But his
genius soared above these difficulties ; and, with a
fortitude equal to any man's, he entered the ring a
consummate pugilist. In point of appearance, if his
frame does not boast of that elegance of shape from
which an artist might model to attain perfect sym-
metry, yet nevertheless it is athletic and prepossess-
ing."

Honour and upright conduct in the field had
placed Mr. Gully in possession of a moderate com-
petence. Following the almost invariable rule with

MAMELUKE. 291

\

his predecessors among the champions of the prize
ring, on leaving it he took a pubhc-house — the
Plough, in Carey-street, Lincoln's-inn Fields. From
the publican to the sporting publican was an easy-
step ; and after a profitless period of two years as a
backer (18 10 — 181 2), Mr. Gully appears in the cha-
racter of an owner of racehorses, and a bettor of the
odds — or, as he was then called, a leg, or bettor
round — surely establishing his position, until some
years later (1827) he became the purchaser of
Mameluke from Lord Jersey, at the price of 4,000
guineas, after that ungenerous horse had won the
Derby. In the St. Leger, backed by his owner to
win an immense stake, he had to be flogged from
the post by the stout arm of the ex-prizefighter, and
was beaten by Matilda.

This was the first really good horse Mr. Gully
had possessed; the price at which he had secured
him was a great one, and for that day enormous.
Among his bets were two with Crockford of ten
thousand pounds each level — one that Mameluke
beat ten different horses, the other that he beat nine,
and Matilda was in both the lots. Immediately
after Mameluke became Mr. Gully's property he
was sent to Sykes to be trained, and as the Derby
winner he was first favourite for the St. Leeer, for
which event his price was five to two. This price,
to the astonishment of his backers, was always forth-
coming, from parties better known on the Turf for
their rashness than their solvency. On the St.

19 — 2

292 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH lURF.

Leger day it was believed these persons had " got
at " the starter, and he was subsequently discharged.
Half a dozen half-broken horses were started, in
order, by delays at the post, to further irritate
Mameluke's temper, never the sweetest; and these
tactics were so successful that after a number of false
starts the Derby winner became so fractious that it
was almost impossible to make him face the flag.
When Forth and Matilda were seventy yards ahead,
the word was given ; yet so great was Mameluke's
turn of speed, that if Nicholson would have con-
sented to pull aside in the race at the Red House,
as Chifney asked him to do, it is probable, nay,
almost certain, he would have won. To foul play
Mr. Gully ascribed the defeat of his horse; and so
satisfied was he that Mameluke was a better animal
than Matilda, that he challenged Mr. Petre for a
match on the Friday, offering him a seven pound
pull in the weights. But John Scott would not hear
of it, telling Mr. Petre he had won the St. Leger by
a fluke, and advising him in strong terms to let well
alone.

Mr. Gully was the first at the Rooms on settling
day, and the last to leave them, paying freely the
large sums he had lost by his unlucky venture.

At four years old Mameluke retrieved his posi-
tion, and recouped his owner by winning the Whip
and the Oatlands, then a very heavy betting race;
and as a five-year-old he ran second to Zinganee.
After this, Mr. Gully sold him to Mr. Theobald, of

SIR TATTON SYKES. 293

Stockwell, somewhat hurriedly, and, repenting his
action, offered old " Leather-breeches " any sum in
reason to get the horse back; but Mr. Theobald
would not sell until, years after, the Americans
bought the horse from him.

The Ugly Buck, Pyrrhus the First, and Mendi-
cant have made Mr. Gully's name famous in con-
nection with the Two Thousand Guineas, the
Derby, and the Oaks, when old Sam Day was his
jockey. He was elected member of Parliament for
Pontefract — an honour for which he did not very
much care, as his heart was with his horses. His
partner in making immense books on the great races
was Mr. Ridsdale, whom he finally quarrelled with
and assaulted in the hunting field, as is recorded in
a previous chapter. Mr. Gully lived to the good
old age of eighty.

Sir Tatton Sykes, for years an object of venera-
tion with Yorkshiremen, passed away in the spring
of the same year. As the meetings on Knavesmire
and the Town Moor came round in the autumns of
succeeding years, one of the first questions asked by
old habititSs, one of another, was, *' Well, and how
is Sir Tatton looking } " His last visit to Doncaster
was to witness his seventy-seventh St. Leger ; but
his friends, with justice as the event showed, feared
this would be his last. He was the centre of interest
and attraction on the Grand Stand, and strangers
were always told they would never see such a man
again — a doctrine which Yorkshire had good reason

294 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

to believe. Sir Tatton might almost have remem-
bered the effect produced in his native county by
the Declaration of Independence by the States, and,
as a matter of fact, had never seen the Derby run for
after the year 1792, which was the second and last
occasion of his presence on Epsom Downs. Born
at Wheldrake, his father's seat, on the 22nd of
August, 1772, he enjoyed a long life, spent in works
of benevolence. His father. Sir Christopher, sent
his sons first to a tutor at Bishopthorpe, and after-
wards to Westminster. School-days over, Sir Tat-
ton Sykes went to Oxford, spending some time at
Brasenose. He was then placed for a short time
in London with a firm of attorneys, Messrs. Atkin-
son and Farrer, and finally set to learn the business
of a country banker at Hull, walking thence to his
father's seat at Sledmere, thirty-two miles, after the
day's business was done, on his first Saturday there,
and repeating the feat on Monday morning, arriving
early, and perfectly fresh for the duties of his desk.

It was his habit all his life to be up with the lark
in the summer, and before the songster in winter; a
favourite breakfast was an apple tart and a hearty
draught of new milk, a great deal of healthy exercise,
on horseback or on foot, always intervening between
Sir Tatton's early breakfast and his luncheon. The
latter meal was very often a crust of brown bread,
Yorkshire cream cheese — of which he was very fond
— and a pint of the Sledmere home-brewed. His
ales were famous, not only over the county of York,

THE SLEDMERE STUD. 295

but throughout the North of England, and in his
cellar the tap was always turned. With perfect truth,
and to his great honour, it has been said that from
Sir Tatton's hospitable door none ever went away
hungry or thirsty.

There were three things that Yorkshiremen
always expressed a wish to show to strangers and
visitors — the first was York Minster; the second
varied according to circumstances and tastes; but
the last was always " Old Sir Tatton."

But the doings of this admirable example of the
country landed proprietor really belong more to
the records of agriculture, stock-breeding, and
fox-hunting, than to the History of the Turf.
True, Sir Tatton was one of the largest breeders of
blood-stock in England at the time of his death,
his stud numbering upwards of two hundred horses
and mares ; but the story of his actual connection
with the Turf, except as a skilful breeder, is soon told.
His name first appears in the annals of Weatherby in
1803 as an owner of race-horses, when his Tele-
machus ran at Middleham. In 1805 he rode his
own horse, Hudibras, at Malton, in a sweepstakes
of five guineas each — gentlemen riders, twenty-five
subscribers — and won the race. A few years later,
1808, he matched his mare Theresa over a four-
mile course at Doncaster, owners to ride. For
twenty years after this date, Sir Tatton, from time
to time, kept a few horses in training at Malton,
chiefly for the purpose of mounting them himself in

296 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

races for gentlemen riders. His colours were orange
and purple; and the last time he wore them on a
winning horse of his was in 1829, when he won the
Welham Cup at Malton. The name of the horse
suggested the quality of his owner — it was All
Heart and No Peel.

Some years before he succeeded to the baronetcy
he became M.F.H., and continued master of a pack
of foxhounds for forty years. He loved a good horse,
a good hound, a good shorthorn, a good sheep ; and
at Sledmere he gratified his taste for all of them
on the grand scale. He had a very large stud of
thoroughbred horses, and among his hundred and
twenty brood mares all the best blood of the Eng-
lish Stud-book was represented. Grey Momus,
The Lawyer, St. Giles, Gaspard, and Elcho, were
among the best horses bred by Sir Tatton Sykes.
He was seventy- four when he led back his name-
sake to scale a St. Leger winner, and from that hour
till the day of his death every jockey that rode a
St. Leger winner claimed, as one of the rewards of
winning, a shake of the hand and a kind word from
the Yorkshire patriarch. Keen and shrewd, yet in
many aspects of his character a Sir Roger de
Coverley, Sir Tatton Sykes lived to an age far
beyond the Biblical threescore years and ten,
honoured and beloved by a whole county as few
men have been before. He had lived an ideal
patriarchal life: he was everybody's adviser that
wanted advice, everybody's friend that wanted help ;

BUCKSTONE AND TIM WHIFFLER. 297

he was his great county's pride; his name was a
proverb and a household word over all the broad
acres of Yorkshire ; and at his funeral three thousand
persons were present to pay the last tribute of respect
to as fine an English gentleman as any age has seen.

There has never been a more mao^nificent contest
than that witnessed in 1863 for the Ascot Cup,
when Tim Whiffler, belonmnof to the Duke of
Cleveland, and Buckstone, belonging to Mr. Merry,
ran a dead heat. Buckstone had run third for the
Derby in the previous year, with Caractacus and the
Marquis in front of him, and he had been defeated
by the Marquis for the St. Leger by a head. Tim
Whiffler had also been an extraordinary performer as
a three-year-old, and was made the favourite for the
Ascot Cup, and there really can be little doubt but
that he was the better horse of the two. When the
race was run a second time, Buckstone won rather
easily by about a length and a half. The result of
this contest was, and always has been, a mystery to
most sportsmen ; but, if rumour can be trusted, there
was a very easy explanation of the mystery. It is
commonly believed in Newmarket that Tim Whiffler
carried nearly a stone more than his proper weight.
Both horses were four-year-olds, and the weights
were 8st. ylbs. But the jockey who rode Tim
Whiffler always had great difficulty in later years
in getting himself down to that weight, and Qst. ylbs.
was about his normal weight. It is not imputed to

298 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

him that he purposely carried extra weight with any
fraudulent intention, but that he was too lazy to
waste, and that he really thought Tim Whiffler was
so ofood a horse that he could win with the additional
weight on his back. It may be asked how could the
skilful clerk of the scales be deceived; but it is said
that immediately the dial reached 8st. 7lbs. the
jockey dug his spurred heel on the ground, and lifted
himself out of the chair. Certain it is that in the
present day Mr. Manning always insists on jockeys
keeping their feet in the air while they are in the
scales.

In connection with this story, it may be mentioned
that the rider of Musjid, in the Derby, is said to
have weighed in and weighed out with a whip
weighing 7 or 9 lbs., and to have exchanged it for
a lighter whip before and after the race.

Another famous veteran of the sporting world,
Mr. George Osbaldeston, universally known, how-
ever, as "the Squire," survived for some three 3^ears
the death of Sir Tatton. His celebrity, however,
was not nearly so much in connection with the
pursuits of the Turf, though he occasionally rode
a horse of his own over the flat at Newmarket.
The Saddler was one of the best racers the Squire
ever owned, his other animals being able to win a
race for him only now and then. He generally had
a race-horse or two in training, and for some time
before his death they were entered for engagements
in his wife's name. The hero of a thousand sport-

MR. GEORGE OSBALDESTON. 299

ing exploits, the subject of a thousand sporting
stories, it was said of Squire Osbaldeston that cours-
ing and fishing were the only two manly sports for
which he did not care, and in which he did not
excel. Fox-hunting was his devotion, and at the
cover-side or across country he was hardly ever
equalled as a sportsman. He rode a race in a
manner equal to the best professional style; he
was in the first rank in his day at driving, pigeon-
shooting, cricket, and billiards; whilst his powers
of endurance were almost beyond belief.

George Osbaldeston was born on the 26th of
December, 1787, in Wimpole-street, Cavendish-
square, and was the son of Mr. Osbaldeston, of
Hutton Bushell, near Scarborough. The fashion of
the day, which took country ladies of station to
London, caused the squire to be born a Londoner,
and not a Yorkshireman. When only six years old
his father died, and his mother went to live at Bath,
where Dash, a fashionable teacher, gave the boy his
first lessons in the saddle. Eton followed in due
course, after which Dr. Carr, subsequently Bishop
of Chichester, prepared him for Oxford. He was
entered a gentleman commoner of Brasenose on
the 3rd of May, 1805. So early as this, the young
Squire was master of a pack of foxhounds or hariers,
which he bought from Lord Jersey, and hunted
in the neighbourhood of his mother's property at
Hutton Bushell. This was an earnest of sport in
the future, when he became master of the Ather-

300 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Stone, the Ouorn, and Pytchley packs. His extra-
ordinary match and his no less notorious duel with
Lord George Bentinck have already been sketched
in the pages of this work. The great match called
forth pages of doggrel, and also some fair verses
and epigrams. Perhaps the following lines are the
best: —

Time akd the Squire — a Match.

"Time 'gainst the field," the pirsons cry;
And add by way of commentary,

To warn each racing sinner — ■
"Whatever length life's course may be,
A.T.M.M. or T.Y.C.,

Time's sure to be the winner.'

" Out upon their authority!"

Tlie Squire exclaims; "What's Time to me,

That I his steps should follow?
To challenge him I'm not afraid."
" Done," replies Time. A match was made;

And Time was beaten hollow.

Rarely has a jockey established a reputation in
so short a time as was the case with Luke Snow-
den, whose short career in the saddle was identified
with many successes in the green and gold of Mr.
Saxon, and the red and yellow jacket of Lord Ailes-
bury. He was born near Scarborough, in 1840, and
in due time articled to Mr. Lister, at Beverley, and
afterwards served out his apprenticeship with Mr.
Saxon, who was always his firm friend. Snowden
began to ride in public in 1854, when he won five
times; and his last season was 1861, when he rode
a winner sixty-four times. His doings in connection

LUKE SNOW DEN. ' 301

with the St.' Leger are remarkable, for he only had
four St. Leger mounts. In 1858 he won on Sun-
beam, for Mr. Merry; the next year he was second
for Mr. Saxon, on Defender. In i860, he rode the
winner, Lord Ailesbury's St. Alban's; and in 1861
he was second on Kettledrum. Luke Snowden died
at the early age of twenty-two, of typhus fever,
having as high a place for honesty and skill as any
man in his profession.

There is, it is asserted, no other instance on record
of a lad who was for only eight seasons on the Turf,
and yet was the victor in two St. Legers, second in
two more, and a winner of the Oaks. During the
last five seasons his average was fifty-eight winning
mounts per year.

302 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHAPTER XIII.

THE NEW TATTERSALL's TESTIMONIAL DINNER BAD

SPORTSMEN MILITARY RACES.

ON the loth of April, 1865, Messrs. Tattersall
removed from the old premises at Hyde Park
Corner to their new yard at Knightsbridge,
their ninety-nine years' lease of the "Old Place"
having run out, the business having begun in 1 766.
The occasion was very properly marked by a tes-
timonial dinner to the proprietors of the " Corner,"
which took place at Willis's Rooms on April nth,
when about three hundred of Messrs. Tattersall's
friends sat down to dinner. The sideboards and
table were decorated with a very large number
of racing cups and trophies, lent for the occasion
by the noblemen and gentlemen who owned them,
and collected and arranged by Mr, Hancock. The
chair was taken by Admiral Rous, and all the
principal patrons and habitiids of the Turf sup-
ported him. The gallant Admiral proposed the
toast of the evening, " Prosperity to the house of
Tattersall," in a happy speech. In speaking of their
esteemed guests, Mr. Tattersall and Mr. Edmund

THE TATTERSALL DINNER. 303

Tattersall, he said it was not the duration of time
a great trade had been carried on which commanded
our respect, but it was the probity and straightfor-
ward conduct which had characterized that firm from
father to son. " My Lords and Gentlemen," said
Admiral Rous, " we shall long regret the old Cor-
ner, the gravel walk, the green lawn, the very cow —
so emblematical of milk — and the plane tree under
whose shade mysterious books have been scrutinized
and judgment recorded. But we are not here to
express our regret for what we have lost, but to
compliment our guests on having completed a mag-
nificent building, which maybe regarded as a national
institution, with a world-wide fame, which gives its
patronymic to similar establishments in our colonies
and in many cities in Europe. Every gentleman in
this room, and thousands outside, must cordially
hope that the house of Tattersall may flourish until
Macaulay's New Zealand chief moralizes over the
ruins of St. Paul's."

Mr. Richard Tattersall said : " My Lords and
Gentlemen — I cannot find words to express the
feelings of pride and gratification which fill my
heart at seeing so many noble and distinguished
euests assembled here this eveninof to do honour
to SO humble an individual as myself. I cannot
but be aware that this compliment arises from no
merit of my own or of my partner, but rather
from a feeling inherent in the breast of every
Enoflishman — to wish success to a business carried

304 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

on by the same family and in the same locality for
so long a time. It is now a hundred years, bar one
(much laughter), since our great grandfather leased
from the Earl Grosvenor the piece of ground on
which he established our place of business. He was
best known to his contemporaries by the name of
* Old Tat,' and by his honesty and uprightness he
acquired the goodwill and respect of all who knew
him. The Prince of Wales, afterwards George the
Fourth, then a young man, was a constant patron of
the establishment, and it was at his own desire that
his bust was placed in the middle of the yard, where
it remained until we were turned out, and which has
now been transferred to the yard of the new premises.
The Prince was also a frequent visitor at my great-
grandfather's seat. Highflyer Hall, near Bury St.
Edmunds ; and many strange stories have been told
of the Prince of Wales and his companions there.
Among other things, I have heard of a postchaise
galloping into the town of Newmarket at night, with
his Royal Highness riding the leaders, and Charles
Fox the wheelers. Towards the end of the last
century, my great-grandfather was succeeded by his
son, my grandfather, who, like his father, had the
reputation of being an honourable and an honest
man. He was joint proprietor, with the Prince, of
the Morning Post newspaper. In 1810 my father
and uncle succeeded to the business, which they
carried on successfully for fifty years. No man, per-
haps, was more popular with all classes than my

MR. TATTERS ALLS SPEECH. 305

lamented father ; and no man, perhaps, ever made
more sincere friends, and among others I may men-
tion the name of an Enghsh nobleman who was a
model in every relation of life — I mean the late
Duke of Richmond. Time and the Marquess of
Westminster have driven us out of our time-
honoured locality, and we have taken a piece of
ground as near as we could get it to the Corner.
But although we have changed our premises we
have not changed our principles, and we hope and
trust we may still be honoured with the same con-
fidence and patronage which we have enjoyed for
so many years. There is one important point in
our establishment upon which I should like to say
a few words. Although large sums of money depend
upon horse-racing, yet the occupation of the book-
maker was a few years since a very small business.
It was confined to but few persons. Like the
electric telegraph and the railways, it has sprung
into importance only of late years, and has now
passed from noblemen and gentlemen of high stand-
ing and means to persons of lower rank, who, years
since, would as soon have thought of keeping a tame
elephant as a ' book.' The art of book-making has,
however, increased with the number of trainers and
horses. In 18 18, my father opened a small room,
then used as a laundry, in his house for a subscrip-
tion-room. The number of members gradually in-
creased, until, in 1842, the room not being large
enough, a more spacious one for this class of patrons
VOL. I. .20

3o6 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

of the establishment was opened on the lawn. That
was the room in which we have seen so many ups and
downs in horses and races, and where such large
sums of money have changed hands during the last
few years. That room, however, had also become
too small; and in our new premises we have spared
no money to make the new room worthy of the
objects for which it has been erected; for this
portion of the business has now become one of the
institutions of the time. In conclusion, I thank you
for the handsome manner in which you have spoken
of our firm, and for your kind attendance this even-
insf; and as lonof as I live I shall ever look back to
this day as one of the proudest of my existence."

Mr. Edmund Tattersall said: "I beg to thank you
each and all for the great honour you have conferred
upon us this day — an honour, I believe, such as was
never paid before to a private firm by so distinguished
a company ; for, when I look to the right and left ot
me, I see the highest and the noblest of the land;
and I look upon the owners of the magnificent cups
which adorn the table as present in feeling, if not in
person, to do us honour. I take this great compli-
ment as paid in some measure to the high character
of those who have gone before us — my father, fol-
lowing his father, who was so well known to all of
you; while I succeeded my uncle, who was equally
esteemed by all who knew him. I think, when I
see around me all the great elements of the sporting
world, that you will agree with me that those gentle-

MR. E. TATTERS ALL'S SPEECH. 307

men who, like our chairman and the gentlemen
who support him, take the trouble to regulate the
affairs of the sporting world, do as much good as
those who make our laws, by inculcating a manly
sf)irit of fair play. What but a love of racing could
take 300,000 persons annually to Epsom on the
Derby Day? And the spirit which animates that
multitude is the love of sport, and the knowledge
that the best horse will win. We have present,
also, many gentlemen distinguished as masters of
hounds, who do more good by bringing all classes
together in the pursuit of sport than could be done
in any other way. And here, too, are those gentle-
men whose names are so well known to the world as
the great spirits of the Sporting Stock Exchange, who
will lay you the odds to any amount, and are safe as
the Bank to pay. There are, besides them, gentle-
men of all classes, each one of whom comes here to
do honour to us; to each of whom I tender our
warmest thanks, because that honour is paid simply
because we have done our duty — as our ancestors
did before us, and as we intend doing as long as we
represent the 'Old Firm' at the 'New Tattersall's.'"

Betting men are considered, and not without
reason, to be very bad sportsmen. They know
nothing about pedigrees, and they care nothing for
the noble animal. To them he is nothing more
than a dice box or pack of cards — a medium for
gambling and money making. A singular illustra-

20 — 2

3o8 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

tlon of their ideas as to pedigree was afforded a few
years ago on Newmarket racecourse. A horse gal-
loped up the course before the race, and Lord West-
moreland, on his hack, called out to Mr. W. Nicoll,
asking how the horse was bred. Mr. Nicoll had a
secretary, who, although bearing the aristocratic name
of Percy, was not supposed to have any close con-
nection with the great Northumberland family. In
answer to Lord Westmoreland's question, Mr. Nicoll
exclaimed, having evidently laid long odds against
the horse, '* So help me, he is like Percy and me
here — he has got no pedigree at all."

In the present day, when military races are all the
rage — at Aldershot, Sandown, and the Curragh —
the Plungers and the Light Brigade have a good
day's racing for cups and stakes, on the flat, over
hurdles, and in steeplechases. The unsophisticated
observer would naturally suppose that these, of all
races, were worthy of encouragement; that they con-
stitute sport in the best sense of the word ; that they
were got up for the amusement of the regiments, to
test the horsemanship of the officers and the courage
and endurance of their hacks. We do not pretend
to say that the observer in the present day would be
wrong in his conclusions, but many singular stories
have been told of " arrangements " for military races.
One of the most celebrated trainers of the day had
an astounding experience, many years ago, of what
military men can do on the Turf. At that time, this
trainer — who now has forty or fifty horses in his

A MILITARY ARRANGEMENT. 309

Stables, and who certainly has the most magnificent
house, grounds, arid stables of any trainer in England
— was asked by an officer to find a horse to run in a
military flat race. The regiment had borrowed Ascot
Course for the day; and the trainer, being clearly of
opinion that his horse would beat anything of the
military class at a mile, readily assented to the pro-
posal. The officer assured him that the stakes were
of no object at all, and that he merely wished to
borrow the horse for the honour of coming in first.
It was arranged that, if successful, the horse should
put the stakes to his master's credit, the officer being
satisfied with acting as jockey on the occasion.
About half an hour before the race, the trainer,
having looked over his adversaries, came to the
conclusion that his horse could not possibly lose,
and sent a friend into the Ring to back the horse
for a "pony." He then took up his station near
the well-known turn for home on the course. As
soon as the flag fell the horse jumped to the front,
and had all his opponents settled in the first quarter
of a mile. To the horror and astonishment of the
trainer, however, the officer turned in his saddle, and
shouted to the twelve other riders, "Come on, you
beesfars — I shall never be able to hold him!" And
finding he could not hold him, the officer, instead
of coming round the turn, rode straight across the
course into the furze bushes. When the race was
over, insult was added to injury, for the officer rode
up to the trainer, and severely censured him for

3IO HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

lending him a horse which he could neither guide
nor hold. The trainer, smarting under his defeat
and the loss of his money, immediately challenged
any horse of the twelve for ^500, over the same
course, the trainer's horse to run with a boy on his
back, and in a snaffle bit; the fact being that the
animal was one of the o^entlest and most tractable
in his stables. As may be supposed, the challenge
was declined.

About a year afterwards, the trainer was passing
Long's Hotel, when the officer suddenly came out,
and, after mutual recognition, the officer asked the
trainer to come in and take a glass of wine, and then
said he desired to offer a thousand apologies for the
wrong he had done him. " The fact is," said the
officer, "we had arranged the night before which
horse was to win, and I had no idea yours was such
a good one." " Why, bless me," said the trainer,
"thirteen runners, and arrange which was to win!
Well, I have heard of arranging the winner out of
three or four at Kingsbury and Bromley, but I
never heard of settlinor it with thirteen runners. I
thought officers were gentlemen ; but I find that you
are a bigger set of thieves than can be found on any
racecourse in England." " Oh," said the officer,
" that is nothing, I don't mind telling you that we
had arranged the winner of every race the night
before." " Well," replied the trainer, " I never had
anything to do with military races before, and I will
take care I never do again."

THE MARQUESS OF EXETER. 311

It is by no means intended that an inference
should be drawn from this anecdote, to the discredit
of military races generally, or of the officers who get
them up, and take part in them. On the contrary,
such races afford much harmless amusement in rural
districts where out-door sports are held in due
regard; and commonly, doubtless, military races are
managed with as much honesty and straightforward-
ness as the best meetings in the country. The fore-
going anecdote, however, is a matter-of-fact relation
of what took place on such an occasion, those par-
ticular officers probably acting in the belief that to
settle the winner beforehand was a natural and
entirely proper course to pursue in connection with
their Garrison Cup or Stakes. It is only charitable
to hope that no regimental mess has acted upon
such a conviction since.

A conspicuous example of unswerving honour and
uprightness during a long career on the Turf is
afforded in the person of the late Marquess of Exeter,
who, born in 1795, succeeded to the marquisate on
the death of his father in 1804. The late Lord
Exeter was an old-fashioned sportsman of the best
school, educated at Eton and St. John's, Cambridge,
the ancestral college of the Burghleys ever since the
time of William Cecil, Elizabeth's minister. We
find him early showing an inclination for the sport,
and happy in the possession of a tlioroughbred horse.
His trustees had for some years previous to 18 16
given a fifty-pound Plate to be run for at the Stam-

312 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

ford Meeting, and here in that year Lord Exeter
inauo^urated the lone existence on our racecourses of
his blue and white stripes by winning a Plate with
Woodpecker.

The rent-roll of large estates of the Cecils, which
he inherited, in the counties of Northampton, Rut-
land, and Lincoln, enabled him to gratify his tastes
for sport on the grand scale. His first purchase,
after he attained his majority, was Captain Candid, a
horse which he bought to run at Stamford Meeting,
and for which he gave eight hundred guineas to Mr.
Watt. These were the days of the Cadland blue
and the Grafton scarlet, and, as well as the noble
owner of the latter colours, there were the Dukes of
York, Portland, and Rutland, with large studs and
great enthusiasm for the sport. Matches and weight-
for-age races afforded opportunities of equine dis-
tinction to such stout animals as Whalebone, Waxy,
Whisker, and Selim, piloted to victories by Clift,
Jackson, Chifney, Arnull, and Buckle.

Lord Exeter early saw the necessity of a large
establishment, if he was to cope successfully with
such opponents as he had to meet on the Turf at
that time. Marson first, and after him Harlock,
was chosen for the post of trainer, and a range
of stabling, which included a covered riding-
school and tan gallop, soon rose, adjoining Foley
House, his residence at Newmarket; while the
breeding establishment at Wothorpe, near his seat of
Burghley, was the finest of its time. Sultan was the

wo THORPE VICTORIES. 313

sire chiefly employed, and in one year (1832) the
winnings of his stock amounted to twenty thousand
pounds. The engagements of Lord Exeter's horses in
training were second only to those of Lord George
Bentinck's string, while his considerate care provided
for the numerous regiment of lads in attendance upon
them a schoolmaster, who, in their more leisure hours,
should give them an education suitable to their
position in life. It was in the fifth year of his
career on the Turf that Lord Exeter, to his great
delight, carried off the Oaks with Augusta, ridden
by Jem Robinson. Seven years afterwards, his
beautiful filly. Green Mantle, with Dockeray on her
back, repeated the triumph on Epsom Downs ; the
same race falling once again to his lot — in 1832 —
when Conolly bore the blue and white stripes first
past the post on Galata. The Derby he never won,
so that Lord Exeter always, and jusdy, thought
Epsom an unlucky course for him; while Ascot and
Goodwood had proved just as fortunate for the
Foley House colours. Newmarket, however, was
his favourite racing-ground ; for, rivalled by few of
the veterans of his day in the art of match-making,
and excelled by none, it was on the Heath that he
had oftenest seen his own judgment proved to be
correct by the issue of a well-contested race over
the T.M.M. or Across the Flat.

Among Lord Exeter's principal successes on the
Turf miofht be mentioned — in addition to his three
victories in the Oaks — three Two Thousands: 1829

314 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

and 1830 with Patron and Augustus, and in 1852 with
Stockwell, with whom, it is well remembered, the St.
Leger was afterwards won, to the great joy of
Wothorpe; the Goodwood Stakes, the Ascot Cup —
his Galata beating Lucetta, described as "the wonder
of the age," in 1833, in the presence of William
the Fourth and his Court. It was on the Royal
Heath, too, that Stockwell ran such a tremendous
race with Teddington for the Emperor's Vase, a
prize which might have gone to the sideboard at
Burghley, had not the afterwards famous sire pulled
Norman quite out of the saddle and overpowered
him when half the distance had been covered, which
was probably the cause of Job Marson's being able
to land Teddington the winner by a head on the
post. Lord Exeter's sideboard might, indeed, well
spare the Vase, as it was already laden with
Cups and other trophies, placed there through the
fleetness and stoutness of its owner's coursers. But
in later years the successes of the Wothorpe pad-
docks were few and very far between ; and the
immensely popular narrow blue and white stripes
were much oftener seen carried hopelessly in the
rear rather than in the van, where all, and especially
the bookmakers, would have preferred to see them.
The cause of this was probably to be found in an
attachment of Lord Exeter's — like that of Lord
Glasgow — to certain strains of blood, and persever-
ance in breeding from them long after their worth-
lessness for the purposes of competition had been

STOCKWELL. 31 5

demonstrated to everybody else acquainted with
the subject of breeding and racing. Lord Exeter
always bred for stoutness, and his haras near his
seat at Burghley produced many good horses ; and
the stable contained Stockwell — though it had not
the good luck to breed him — who proved at the
stud one of the most successful horses of modern
times. Stockwell, bred by Mr. Thellusson in 1849,
was by The Baron out of Pocahontas by Glencoe.
He won the St. Leger in Lord Exeter's colours,
and by Marquis's year was already the sire of three
St. Leger winners in succession — St. Albans, i860 ;
Caller Ou, 1861 ; and The Marquis, 1862 — a feat
that had only been rivalled by Sir Peter; and in the
next five years was the sire of three more St. Leger
winners, Blair Athol, Lord Lyon, and Achievement.
On the decease of Lord Londesborough, to whom
the horse had passed from Lord Exeter, Stockwell
was sold to Mr. Naylor for 4,500 guineas. His stock
first appeared on the Turf in 1858.

In 1855, Lord Exeter had to provide a sum of
seventy thousand pounds for the construction of a
branch railway to Essendine, and he thought proper
to offer his stud for sale in one lot for ten thousand
pounds, as Lord George Bentinck and Colonel Peel
had done in previous years. The purchase would
have contained Stockwell — as the Bentinck lot in-
cluded Surplice — and so would have been a very
advantageous bargain for whomsoever had bought
it. Lord George sold incontinently a Derby win-

3i6 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

ner, and missed the prize he had so long striven for
when it was within his grasp. Lord Exeter's horse
was good enough to have " spread-eagled " his field
for the Derby of his year. " Stockwell, but for an
attack of lampas, which came on between the Two
Thousand Guineas and the Derby, and an accident
in running the race, would have won for the Mar-
quis of Exeter that prize which he so much de-
served ; but his disappointment was atoned for by
the St. Leger, which Stockwell carried away in a
canter, the little Daniel looking like a pigmy beside
him." One of Stockwell's grandest performances
was his victory over Kingston in the struggle for
the Whip at Newmarket. In that race, over the
Beacon Course, each horse carried ten stones, and the
race was run at a splitting pace, both jockeys having
orders to make the running. Those in charge of
Stockwell were convinced that he could beat
Kingston for stoutness; and those in charge of
Kingston thought, and not unreasonably, that
Stockwell was not thoroughly trained. Indeed, it
is a tradition to this day at Newmarket that Stock-
well never was really " fit " during his whole racing
career, and that his immense superiority to other
horses of his time was never shown. In the race
for the Whip, Kingston collapsed at the Turn of the
Lands, and Stockwell rolled in, much distressed after
his terrific gallop.

No private offer for Lord Exeter's horses being
forthcoming, it was decided, in October of the

LORD DERBY. 317

same "year, to call In the assistance of Mr. Richard
Tattersall, who disposed of them under the hammer.
Except the sale of the Hampton Court stud on the
death of William the Fourth, and of the Londes-
borough stud, no sales had previously created so
much interest In the sporting world; but so high
were the reserves that only sixteen animals were
disposed of — namely, four brood mares, two year-
lings, and ten foals. Stockwell was the subject of
a great contest; but at last Scott, the manager of
Lord Londesborough's stables, venturing to exceed
his commission, secured the great sire of the next
generation of horseflesh for Yorkshire, in opposition
to the spirited biddings of the French buyers.

A Tory In politics. Lord Exeter, like his Illus-
trious ancestor of the Elizabethan period, was In
high favour at Court, and, under successive adminis-
trations, he became Lord. Chamberlain and Groom of
the Stole to the late Prince Consort. Lord Exeter
died in 1867, and his successor — a respectable officer
of militia, and county magistrate — has shown no
sign of reviving the glories of Wothorpe and Foley
House.

Contemporaries of the Marquess, Lords Derby
and Palmerston, though both lovers of the sport,
raced from different motives. The nobleman whose
career on the Turf has been sketched in the pre-
ceding pages, kept a large stud, bred horses exten-
sively, and entered them liberally for engagements,
because, probably, among the less serious pursuits of

HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

life, he loved seeing a horse-race best, though a herd
of shorthorns was almost as dear to his eyes.

The two statesmen, who for so many years took
a leading part in the politics of their country, were
undoubtedly both of them keen lovers of the sport;
but, honest as they were, they had a regard to popu-
larity as well; for it has long been held as gospel
that the leader of either of the two great parties but
considers his own interests in the country if his
colours are occasionally seen to the front at Epsom,
Goodwood, Newmarket, Ascot, and Doncaster.
Lord Derby, who was equally a good sportsman
in the stubble and on the moor, may well be supposed
to have inherited the great partiality of his father
and grandfather for the sport of which he was for so
many years one of the strongest supporters. While
his father's horses were under his management,
Pearce and Saunders trained them; but after his
father's death, when the stud became his own, hp
transferred the horses in training to the care of John
Scott, with whom he remained, leaving to the great
Northern trainer the entire control of his racers. Un-
fortunately, De Clare and Boiardo, horses of whom
much was expected, broke down during their training
for their three-year-old engagements, while Dervish
and Toxophilite proved non-stayers. In spite, how-
ever, of Derby disappointments, the scholarly Tory
statesman had his share of the orood thino^s of the
Turf, winning the Oaks, the Two Thousand Guineas,
the One Thousand Guineas, the Cesarewitch, the

LORD PALMERSTON. 319

Goodwood and Doncaster Cups, the Great Yorkshire
Stakes, innumerable produce Stakes at Newmarket,
Ascot, and York, besides a whole host of minor races
all over the country, which fell to his lot. In 1858
Lord Derby decided to sell the greater portion of his
stud — an announcement that created much surprise
at the time. Mr. Tattersall sold the lots at Don-
caster Meeting, when the amount realized by those
sold was upwards of ;^5,ooo. Lord Derby w^as
a large breeder at Knowsley, and his crosses were
very judicious, resulting in some good animals.
His favourite jockey was Frank Butler, whose
riding he admired, and whose services he held in
high esteem.

Lord Palmerston, though perhaps rather more
than Lord Derby's equal in statesmanship and
popularity with his countrymen, cut a decidedly
inferior figure on the Turf. But the reason may well
have been that he had not a Knowsley rent-roll at
his back. He was a good judge of horses, a clever
breeder, though on a small scale, and a good patron
and supporter of the national sport ; and had his
fortune been larger, there can be no doubt his name
would have appeared in the pages of " Weatherby "
as the owner of a very long string of horses in train-
ing, for nobody knew better the value to a popular
statesman of being seen pretty often on a race-
course, and winning a fair share of straight run
races between March and November every season.

A Hampshire proprietor, Lord Palmerston natu-

320 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

rally gave his first support to his own county ; and
so far back as 1816 his name appears as an owner
of a race-horse running at Winchester. This was
a filly named Mignonette, by Sorcerer, trained for
him by Grandfather Day, sire of Honest John, and
grandsire of the present old John Day. To Ough-
ton Downs Lord Palmerston was true in his alle-
giance for many a year, and would have remained
so to the end had it not been for his stud groom,
Ward, quarrelling with the Days, and insisting on
his lordship's sending his horses to Goater. Lizbo-
rough, Greyleg, and Conquest did good service to
Lord Palmerston at all the South-country Meet-
ings. His best animal, however, was Iliona, knocked
down to him for sixty-five guineas at Lord George
Bentinck's sale at Tattersall's. With this capital
mare he won the Cesarewitch and several other
races. Her breeding, by Priam out of Galopade's
dam, suggested the name Iliona —

" Prteterea sceptrum, Ilione quod gesserit olim
Maxima natarum Priami."

though it was usually Lord Palmerston's custom
to name his horses after his farms ; and a pretty
squabble followed as to the quantity of the "i" — Lord
Maidstone, who had taken a first-class at Oxford,
maintaining at a white heat that the "i" was long;
while Mr. W. H. Gregory, then member for Dublin,
a scholar of repute, at an equal temperature took
the short side. Mr. Greville, Mr. Payne, and other
followers of the sport who knew the classics, were

LORD PALMERSTON. 321

consulted; but their opinion was not considered of
sufficient authority to settle the bets, which were
heavy — " long or short " at the time being suffi-
cient to provoke an almost interminable argument
and many wagers in any company of gentlemen. It
was at length decided to refer the matter to the
Master of Trinity, and abide by his decision. The
Master said the " i " was short, and " an immense
amount of money changed hands."

In Iliona the racing fortunes of the great states-
man culminated. After this his stud rarely if
ever contained an animal of first-rate merit; but
he always kept a few " second-raters " in training, in
which he took a great personal interest whenever
political business and the cares of State permitted
him to visit them. His jockeys were confined to
the Day family, who were proud of their connection
with Broadlands, five of its members having had
Lord Palmerston's jacket. At last, however, when
Alfred Day was no longer able to ride the weight,
Sam Rogers and George Fordham had the mounts.

If Lord Palmerston won few orreat races durino-
his long connection with the Turf, and was unable
to add to the plate at Broadlands or Cambridge
House any of its most splendid trophies, his influ-
ence upon the national sport was none the less
marked.

To his assistance in a large measure must be
ascribed the passing of the Act to restrain those
nefarious qid tavi actions which form the subject of

VOL. I. 21

322 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

a previous chapter. For these services Lord Pal-
merston received the unanimous thanks of the Jockey
Chib, and was elected a member of the Club without
ballot.

To him the Epsom week owes the title of " our
Isthmian games," and by him the Derby was called
'^the Blue Riband of the Turf," it is said, before
Lord Beaconsfield used the phrase in his conversa-
tion with Lord George Bentinck.

MR. CREVILLE. 323

CHAPTER XIV.

MR. GREVILLE CARACTACUS CALLER OU GLADLA-

TEUR BLAIR ATHOL JOHN OSBORNE J. F. HER-
RING.

THE name of Greville, well known in political
circles as that of a Whig of the old school,
always in the list of guests at the dinners at
Lansdowne House, powerful at Brooks's and White's,
was omnipotent with the Jockey Club. At the two
former institutions, Mr. Charles Greville often filled
the position of arbitrator upon various affairs of honour
and matters in dispute, while at Tattersall's his dicta
were rarely or never appealed from. True, as we
have seen, he was unable to calm the troubled waters
raised over the "i" in Iliona; but upon most social
political and racing matters referred to him his word
was law, while his extensive and accurate knowledge
of classical literature pointed to him as a proper
referee in such a controversy. As he was a Whig
of the Whigs, so he was a sportsman of the old-
fashioned school, adhering as rigidly to the single-
breasted green coat of the Regency as the Duke of
Wellington did to the blue frock coat and white
trousers. Liberal almost to a fault with his ser-

21 — 2

324 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

vants, he always avoided the error of rushing into
an excess of lavishness after a great race, and giving
the jockey and trainer the stakes between them, as
some owners have done. Mr. Greville was, after
the manner of the generation to which he belonged,
what would now be considered a heavy bettor, as he
often stood to win many thousands over a race; for
example, when Teddington won the Derby, Davis,
the "Leviathan," handed him a crossed cheque for
^15,000 on the Thursday morning. Mr. Greville's
greatest success on the Turf was with Mango for
the St. Leger in 1837, when he won a great stake,
having backed his horse very heavily after Honest
John's trial of him with The Drummer on the
Winchester racecourse. Lord George Bentinck was
a sharer in the spoil, and at his suggestion ^500
each were given to John Day for his artistic trial of
Mango; to Sam Day for his admirable jockeyship,
and his courage in "splitting" Abraham Newland
and The Doctor in the race, and so securinof
the first place for his own mount; and to Dilly for
his skilful training. Dilly continued to train for
Mr. Greville until Muscovite's victory in the Cesare-
witch, when he retired into private life, with a
competent fortune, with the kindest wishes of his
employer, the reputation of having passed a long
life on the Turf in incorruptible integrity, and
with the knowledge — probably rare in those days
— that he had never once been under an obliga-
tion to a betting man, and never had backed

CONFEDERACIES. 325

a horse for a greater sum than ten pounds in his
life.

After Dilly's retirement, Mr. Greville's horses
were sent to be trained, some to Alec Taylor at
Fyfield, and some to Tom Taylor, his brother. As
the number of horses in training was reduced, the
breeding stud was increased; Orlando, purchased
of General Peel, being the lord of the harem and the
most fashionable sire of his day. The mares were
selected with rare judgment from the reputed best
blood to be obtained; and Mr. Greville's stud at
Hampton Court was for years one of the finest in
England.

Mr. Greville was partial all his life to racing in
confederacy with one or another of his friends. First,
on Lord Chesterfield taking to the Turf he was
associated with him; when at length a separation
between them occurred, he joined the " Napoleon
of the Turf," Lord George Bentinck. They parted,
some years after, because Mr. Greville insisted upon
their horse Preserve being started for the Good-
wood Stakes, a course strongly objected to by
Lord George Bentinck. The third and last con-
federacy was with that splendid sportsman and most
honourable of men, Mr. George Payne, in whom
Damon found a Pythias, and their close friendship
continued to the end.

But, considerable as were Mr. Greville's successes
on the Turf, large as was the number of good horses
he always kept in training, and numerous as were

326 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

the prizes which fell to his share, his career but
illustrated the line —

" Man never is but always to be blest; "
for his Derby favourites, Canadian and Alarm, did
but disappoint the hopes they had raised. Alarm,
who had been tried and found good enough to carry
off any Derby, was knocked down in the race —
Merry Monarch's year — by The Libel, and so had
his chance extinguished. Mr. Greville was not
then on good terms with Lord George Bentinck.
They were standing near each other in the Ring at
Epsom when the accident occurred, and the first
intimation Mr. Greville had of the wreck of his
hopes was hearing the cold tones of his old con-
federate's voice, as he remarked to a bystander, with
his telescope to his eye, " There is a horse down
on the ground; he is kicking violently; his jockey
lies insensible. I don't think he will be able to ride
again this season. He has a dark blue jacket, and
I believe it is Mr. Greville's Alarm."

At the time, Mr. Greville stood to win forty
thousand pounds by the victory of his horse, of
which but a moment before he felt assured, and he
had also the first call on the services of the disabled
jockey, then at the zenith of his popularity, Elnathan
Flatman.

The Canadian affair, with all its attending un-
pleasant circumstances, has been recorded. Here
there was no after-satisfaction; but Alarm did make
up for his owner's misfortune by winning for him the

MR. GREVILLE'S STUD. 327

Cambridgeshire and a good stake in bets; the Ascot
Cup, defeating the otherwise unconquered Orlando,
ridden by Flatman; the Orange Cup at Goodwood,
the Claret Stakes at Newmarket, and three out of
four very heavy matches made for him.

Adine was another valuable animal to Mr. Greville,
as with her he won the Ebor Handicap in 1852,
landing a large sum in bets, and in the next year the
Goodwood Stakes; and an idea of the state of the
market in the Ring at that time may be formed from
the fact that upon John Osborne's remarking to
Captain Scott, a great bettor of that time, that
Adine "went better than anything else," the Captain
was able in ten minutes to back the mare to win him
;^i 5,000 without materially altering the betting.

Frantic was another good horse, as he beat Daniel
O'Rourke at York, and won the Manchester Union
Cup in a large field. Concerning this victory there
is a curious contemporary anecdote preserved. Mr.
Greville, taking his ticket at Euston Station, over-
heard a person in the crowd instruct a friend at once
to "wire" an agent to back Frantic for all he could
get on at certain odds, as "the old gentleman would
never have gone down to such a place as Manchester
unless he had at least a stone in hand."

Muscovite, although he carried off the Cesare-
witch, was an unfortunate horse for Mr. Greville's
friends, as they had backed him heavily in the
Metropolitan Stakes at Epsom, when he was beaten
by Mr. Padwick's Virago. He was the "sensation "

328 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

horse of the year. In spite of his going to New-
market thoroughly trained, he was the subject of the
constant opposition of the Ring, or rather of a few in-
dividuals connected with it. Dilly, the trainer, was
afraid of his horse being "nobbled," so furious was the
opposition of the " pencillers;" and only Mr. Payne,
Mr. Greville, Nat Flatman, and the head lad, who
had been in the service of the stable for twenty
years, were allowed access to the horse. "He came
to Newmarket as fine as a star, went like a bullet,
and was located in Nat's own stables ; but the same
fearful hostility was displayed against him in the
Ring as had been exhibited on previous occasions ;
and so friofhtened were both Mr. Greville and Mr.
Payne that they hardly dared back him." The
trainer's opinion, publicly stated, was that, if his
horse was not shot on the Heath, he would go in
alone. This he did ; and one of his opponents
had to pay ^27,000 over the victory of Muscovite.

Mr. Greville was very unfortunate in what his
friends termed "falling foul of the press." In the
days of his managing the Duke of York's stud at
Newmarket, the Daily Nezvs attacked him in his
capacity of Clerk to the Privy Council — a post he
held through several Administrations ; but to these
violent party diatribes he never replied. The S2tn-
day Times charged him with " milking " Canadian
for the Derby. This drew forth an answer, in the
shape of an action for libel, and damages for the
plaintiff, ;^25o, followed in due course. 'Wi^ Racing

CARACTACUS. 329

Times' m^-do. a hubbub about his lendino- Cariboo to
Lord Derby to make the running for Canezou in the
Goodwood Cup, instead of trying to win that race
for himself with his horse. The article was un-
doubtedly libellous. Mr. Greville rode down to the
Strand, to the office of the paper, on his roan hack,
when he found the leading line of the contents bill
to be "Old Greville and his Cariboo! — boo! — boo!"
His features were well known at the publishing
office, and he caused some alarm by purchasing a
copy — it was supposed for the purpose of proving
publication — and riding off with it. This time, how-
ever, Mr. Greville only laughed, as he showed the
paper to his friends, and told them that he was
called in it the orreatest villain under the sun. Mr.

o

Greville died in January, 1865.

The Derby of 1862 brought with it a surprise to
most backers and followers of public form, in the
victory of Caractacus over an immense field, which
included Mr. Hawke's The Marquis and Mr. Merry's
Buckstone. A large number of persons, however,
were " on;" and as the horse started at 40 to 50 to r,
a large stake could be won against a small sum.
Caractacus was bred by Mr. Blenkiron, at Eltham, in
1859, by Kingston out of Defenceless by Defence,
her dam by Cain out of Ridotto by Reveller — Wal-
ton. Kingston was bred by General Peel, in 1849,
by Venison out of Queen Anne by Slane. It was
rather through Caractacus being started three times

330 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

as a two-year-old, and five times as a three-year-old,
without winning, than to any want of appreciation
of his good qualities as a yearling, that he was
allowed to start at such a forlorn price ; for on his
appearance in the sale ring at the Middle Park sum-
mer auction in i860 he created much interest by his
fine appearance. " Great stir," we read, " was occa-
sioned by the appearance of the next lot, a rich bay
colt by Kingston out of Defenceless, having, oddly
enough, the near hind leg grey, his quarters being
also ticked. Combined with the finest symmetry,
he could boast of rare strength, his hocks, knees, and
legs being as good as ever stood under a thorough-
bred. From 100 guineas, the first bid, he quickly
reached 250 guineas, up to which, by 'tenners' at
a time, he was pertinaciously bid by Mr. Snewing,
who seemed little to relish the hesitation Mr. Tatter-
sall displayed when obliged to give the final knock
at a figure so little commensurate with the colt's
really fine appearance, and for which, had he be-
longed to the Royal Stud, at least double the price
would to a certainty have been obtained."

Mr. Snewing got a great bargain, and Mr. Blenk-
iron lived to turn the tables on the Royal Stud sales.
But Caractacus did not at first fulfil his yearling
promise. He was sent to William Day to be
trained, and his first appearance was made at Har-
penden ; but this and his subsequent attempts at two
years old proved failures. At three years old, after
five losses — though one was a head second for the

SUCCESSFUL PROPHECY.

Metropolitan Stakes at Epsom — Caractacus won the
Somersetshire Stakes at Bath, ridden by J. Grim-
shaw, and with lo to i betted against him. On that
day week, with J. Parsons on his back, he carried off
the Derby. Goater was selected to ride him for the
great race, but he preferred a mount on Spite; and
in the emergency it was decided that Parsons, the
lad who had always " looked after " the Somerset-
shire Stakes winner, should have the mount. To
prevent his having a nervous week before the event,
he was simply told that in a few days he would have
to ride a trial. He was told also to live as well as
he could, eat whatever he liked, and get as heavy as
he could. Parsons obeyed instructions with a will,
heard the news of his luck and advancement with-
out trepidation, and " finished in front" past Epsom
Stands with a coolness that showed him a jockey.
But he had hardly eaten enough ; for the "all right "
at the scales v/as almost as near a thing as it had
been with Wells and Beadsman. The bridle was
brought in to him, and he pulled the scale. On this
occasion, " Orange Blossom," the poet and prophet
of BelVs Life, specially distinguished himself by
these lines, which were published on the Saturday
preceding the Derby: —

" Caractacus, whose wonderous shape
Sets every country mouth agape —
And if, of the outsiders there,
One horse should pass the winning chair,
Enrolled in the successful three,
Be sure Caractacus is he."

332 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Caractacus did not start for the St. Leger, which was
won by the Marquis, beating Mr. Merry's Buckstone
second, and Lord Glasgow's Clarissa filly third, for
the great North-country race. The Marquis, bred by
Mr. Stanhope Hawke, in 1859, by Stockwell out of
Cinizelli by Touchstone, her dam Brocade, by Pan-
taloon— Bombasine by Thunderbolt.

Soon after the Marquis's St. Leger, there passed
away Bill Chifney, brother of the great Sam, at the
ripe old age of seventy-eight. For years he had
been in very poor circumstances, living in the Model
Lodging-houses at Pentonville, and getting down to
his "dear Heath" when the state of the exchequer
allowed of a third-class return ticket to Newmarket.
Even there he was sometimes too feeble to eet
farther than the top of the town, where, with his
back to the cemetery wall, he would watch the
horses returning to stables after their races. When
it was one of his good days, he braved the blasts of
the Heath in an ancient blue cloak, and a hat made
secure with a parti-coloured bandanna. He was in
appearance "like a tall, thin, elderly clergyman,
rather lame; but he retained all that hieh-bred
manner which marked him as a relic of the Prince
Regent's Turf prime." He was garrulous, but a
Imidator teniporis adi. In his London lodging, or
at a Newmarket tavern, he would gather round him
a knot of such as were willins^ to listen to the tradi-
tions of the giants — the history of the palmy times.
Of his father, of Buckle and Robinson, of Connolly,

CALLER OU'S ST. LEGER. 333

and hi-s nephew, Frank Butler, he would talk by the
hour; but his brother Sam he rather affected to
pooh-pooh. Then, with his pipe in his mouth and
a cup of ale before him, he was Sir Oracle. " There
he sat, as I thought, expounding the law and the
prophets, until, on drawing a little nearer, I found
he was only expatiating on the merits of a brown
horse" — though poor Bill Chifney talked rather of
men than of horses, Zinganee being the only animal
he ever seemed to have a pride in mentioning.

1 86 1 saw the victory of Caller Ou by Stockwell,
in the St. Leger, to the intense surprise of every-
body who witnessed it. The breeder and trainer
was Mr. T Anson, already well known on the Turf as
the owner of Blink Bonny, and the breeder and
owner of her famous son Blair Athol by Stockwell ;
and his principle of going to work was identical
with that of his old friend, the author of the maxim
that if horses want sweating, " let 'em sweat for the
brass." Caller Ou, as much as any animal that ever
trod the Turf, did "sweat for the brass" as a two-
year-old. She was started no less than twelve
times with very indifferent success. Her first ap-
pearance was at Beverley Races, in June, i860,
where, ridden by Charlton, and carrying 8st. 3lbs.,
she was unable to get a place even for the
Bishop Burton Stakes, for which, however, she
started favourite, at 2 to i against her, in a field of
twelve runners. Altogether, she won three times
out of her twelve attempts as a two-year-old, on

334 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

these occasions beating nothing of particular merit;
but she ran three highly respectable seconds in her
first year, and was regarded by her party at home
in a very different light from that in which she
was viewed by the public at large. Her winnings
amounted at this time to ^230, but the next year
was to tell a very different tale. She started seven-
teen times, and won eight events, ranging in value
from a ^50 Plate at Malton to the St. Leger at
Doncaster, ^4,300 — her total winnings for the
season being ^5,784. Challoner was chiefly asso-
ciated with her in her performances, riding her in
her head victory in the St. Leger with great skill
and judgment ; and with him in the saddle she
walked over for her first Queen's Plate, at Rich-
mond, Yorkshire — a race in which she afterwards
became as famous as Fisherman had been in his day.
In this year, Mr. Percy Wyndham began a crusade
against Queen's Plates, by a motion in the House
of Commons, which, after a speech and some dis-
cussion, he withdrew. This motion came with singu-
larly bad effect from the mouth of a descendant of
Lord Egremont, living at Petworth, rich in memories
of Whalebone and Gohanna, and close to the town
of Lewes, pre-eminent for the annual struggle for
its Royal Plate over a period of three-quarters of
a century. The grounds on which Mr. Wyndham
thought proper to urge the withdrawal of the Royal
grant were those of economy. i^5,ooo a year might
be saved if Parliament would aoi^ree to his motion.

QUEENS' PLATES. 335

and refuse the vote this year, being as nearly as
possible ^2,000 a year less than Mr. Gladstone was
at that time obtaining for the national exchequer
from the duty on race-horses. It was urged on the
other side that Royal Plates had conserved their
original object of improving the breed of horses;
that this small boon was still as important almost
to the welfare of racing as when it was granted for
the " Royal Diversion," and furnished forth only the
race at Black Hambleton. It was admitted that to
the ofreat Meetings it made no difference whether
they had a Queen's Plate or not; but to small Meet-
ings, at which it is a matter of difficulty to get sub-
scriptions, where the attendance of the Ring and the
public in the Stand enclosure is small, the matter is of
the first importance; whilst the saving to be obtained
by the withdrawal of the annual grant would be hardly
an appreciable benefit to the public *purse. This
subject has very often been debated, and various
proposals for the modification of the existing grant
have been made, sometimes by persons versed in
Turf affairs and cognisant of its requirements, at
others by dilettanti improvers, themselves alike
ignorant and unimprovable. The great increase in
the value of other Stakes at all the great Race
Meetings which the last twenty years has seen,
arising from the greater liberality of the various
executives in the matter of added money, very likely
called for some alteration in the stereotyped hun-
dred guineas doled out from the national purse, and

336 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

appearing as one of the charges in the Civil List.
Accordingly, at length a change was made — some
fifteen years after Mr. Wyndham's motion for the
abolition— that involved no increase of expenditure
of public funds, nor any diminution of the small
sum annually given in the way of State support to
the national sport. In effect, it was this: to roll two
or three Queen's Plates into one stake, and so endea-
vour at the better class of Meetings to attract more
competitors, and those competitors of higher quality.
The chanofe came into force for the first time in the
racing season of 1876, the Master of the Horse
having decreed the alteration, in conformity with
generally expressed opinions, and with the sanction
of a majority of the members of the Jockey Club.
The sum annually given for Queen's Plates in Eng-
land amounted to 3,200 guineas, divided into sums
of 100 guineas each, and distributed among thirty-
two different Meetings. For years past the number
of starters for Queen's Plates had been generally
very small, owing to the large sums of money added
to races at all good Meetings, and the Royal guineas
had constantly been either walked over for or won
by horses of the most moderate calibre. A reform
suggested in many quarters had been previously
carried out. The three Queen's Plates allotted to
Newmarket had been consolidated into one Plate of
300 guineas, to be run for in October; and this had
been found to answer so well that Lord Bradford
followed the precedent in dealing with the twenty-

NEW REGULATIONS. 337

nine Queen's Plates which were run for in what in
sporting language are termed the " provinces." The
Ascot Queen's Plate was suppressed; the York and
Richmond prizes were arranged in such a way that
there should be one of 200 guineas, to be run for at
the former place every year, and at Richmond every
two years; and the twenty-six others were grouped
into thirteen, to be run for in alternate years, at
Northampton and Huntingdon, Chester and Shrews-
bury, Ipswich and Chelmsford, Manchester and
Liverpool, Winchester and Salisbury, Hampton and
Egham, Newcastle and Carlisle, Nottingham and
Leicester, Goodwood and Epsom, Lewes and Can-
terbury, Weymouth and Plymouth, Lichfield and
Warwick, and Lincoln and Doncaster. They were
run for in that year at thirteen of the places in the
list, and also at Newmarket and York, and there
were altogether fifty-nine competitors for the fifteen
prizes. Lilian, who secured seventeen Queen's
Plates in 1874 and six in 1875, was first in the list,
for she was successful in four of the new prizes.

The effect has been good from the first, as Mr.
" Launde's " celebrated mare, Apology, won the two
races at Manchester and Newcastle before her with-
drawal from the Turf; and upon the whole the
quality of the winners has been better since the
alteration than it was for years before it. There
can be no doubt that the experiment, successful as
it has been, would have been much more so had the
Master of the Horse followed the Newmarket prece-

voL. I. 22

338 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

dent, and reduced the number of races still further,
so as to make the value of each Plate 300 instead of
200 guineas. That such would have been the case
may be inferred from the fact that the largest and
best field of the year 1876 assembled at the post
for the Newmarket prize, there being eight runners
for it; while at Winchester, Hampton, and Notting-
ham there were six; at Lichfield and Lincoln, five;
at Ipswich, four ; at Northampton, York, and Wey-
mouth, three; and only two at Chester, Manchester,
Newcastle, Goodwood, and Lewes.

To return to Caller Ou. The great mare was bred
by Mr. I'Anson, in 1858, by Stockwell out of Haricot
by Mango or Lanercost, her dam Queen Mary by
Gladiator, her dam by Plenipotentiary out of Myrrha
by Whalebone.

Haricot was also bred by Mr. I'Anson, in 1847,
and was the first foal of Queen Mary, dam of the
famous Blink Bonny. Haricot was herself a good
performer on the Turf. She threw Canty Boy and
Cramond before Caller Ou, after whose birth she was
sold by her owner to Colonel Towneley. Caller Ou's
appearance was anything but prepossessing, though
she was known in the stable as one of the " cut and
come again" sort. She was described at three years
old as an odd, old-fashioned filly, standing fifteen
hands three inches high; of a bad mealy or rusty-
brown colour, with wonderful depth of girth and
fine shoulders as her chief points. Her thighs were
voted orood, but otherwise she was a "short, common-

CALLER OU. 339

looking mare," of "hacky" appearance. She had a
swish tail, mean quarters, a plain head, and a quick,
vulgar walk, altogether resembling very much her
distinguished aunt, Blink Bonny, in appearance,
action, and, it may very well be added, in perform-
ances. Her price for the St. Leger, when she beat
Colonel Towneley's Kettledrum and a good field,
was nominally i,ooo to 15, but 100 to i could have
been obtained as often as wanted.

Challoner's riding in Caller Ou's St. Leger gained
him great praise, and he has maintained, by ability
and good conduct, the opinions formed of him.
Trained for his profession by John Osborne, at Ash-
gill, in ten years from his first mount he was at the
head of contemporary jockeys. His first appearance
in public was in 1854. In the seven years that passed
between his race on The Spinner at Warwick and
his riding Caller Ou for the St. Leger, he had had
a large share of business. That race, and his dead-
heat on Gaspard against Artless for the Cesarewitch
of 1859, stamped him a jockey. " At Doncaster, on
Caller Ou, he electrified the whole world of Tykes
and strangers by beating Luke Snowden and Kettle-
drum by a head for the St. Leger," with any odds
you pleased from 100 to i against the mare. Chal-
loner had also ridden her for the Oaks, but her pecu-
liar temper had not then been quite interpreted. In
days gone by nobody but a Sam Chifney would ever
have dared to be seen so far out of his ground, as the
layers of the odds on the green and gold have now

22 — 2

340 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

pretty generally to watch and wait for the old mare
"a-coming."

With Caller Ou it was always necessary to ride a
waiting race, and in Queen's Plates she was often so
distanced that to all but those who knew her rare
staying powers it seemed impossible that she could
ever again rejoin her field.

Twenty to one was once laid on her in a Queen's
Plate at Liverpool, won by Stanton: a well-known
Ring man, who took 2,000 to 100, remarking at the
time that he had only one chance, " There's t' canal
at bottom of t' coorse — her may roon into that." In
this instance she was beaten by an inferior horse,
through having got hopelessly behind her field in
the first half of the race.

Good judges have held that the three best horses
of modern times have been Blair Athol, Favonius,
and Cremorne; and they have asserted, with much
show of confidence, that either of the three could
have galloped Eclipse or the Flying Childers to a
standstill. If this is the case — and it is a matter
which it is impossible to settle in this world — there
has been not only no deterioration in our thorough-
bred stock, but a certain and steady improvement
from equine generation to generation, culminating in
perfection — the English Derby winner in the third
quarter of the nineteenth century. Like Caller Ou,
Blair Athol was bred — in 1861 — and trained by
Mr. William I'Anson at Malton: by Stockwell out
of Blink Bonny by Melbourne, her dam Queen

BLAIR ATHOL. 341

Mary by Gladiator, grand-dam by Plenipotentiary
out of Myrrha by Whalebone. The celebrated
Blink Bonny, like Eleanor, winner of both Derby
and Oaks, was also bred by Mr. I'Anson, in 1854.
She did not train on, and was in consequence put to
the stud. She was put to Newminster, and her first
foal was Borealis, a filly of more than average merit,
foaled in i860. The next year she threw Blair
Athol, and in 1862 his own brother, Breadalbane.
To the great loss of her owner, the Malton trainer,
this splendid mare died soon after dropping Breadal-
bane— Mr. Chaplin's sensational Derby candidate
three years later — and her orphan foal was brought
up on the milk of another mare. Blink Bonny's
dam. Queen Mary, the mother of Mr. I'Anson's
stud, had also a somewhat peculiar history ; for she
was originally made a present to Mr. I'Anson by
Mr. Ramsay, of Barnton, and some time afterwards,
not being valued at much more by the trainer than
she had been by her former owner, she was sold for
a small sum. Subsequently Mr. I'Anson altered his
mind, and bought her back again, with her produce,
Braxey and Balrownie, in addition to " the flower of
the flock," Blink Bonny. Queen Mary also threw,
in successive years, Haricot, Blooming Heather,
Bonnie Scotland, Balnamoon, Bab-at-the-Bowster,
Bonnyfield, Bonny Breastknot, and Bonny Bell.

At the time of his running for the Derby in 1864,
Blair Athol was stated to be the joint property of Cap-
tain Cornish and Mr. I'Anson. This grand colt was

342 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

ridden by James, brother of Luke Snowden, with
great judgment. But it is matter of history that the
colt was so raw in running his first race, that at Tat-
tenham Corner his jockey was obhged to raise his
whip and give him a smart side-binder; at the dis-
tance, however, he had all his horses beaten, and
he won very easily by two lengths. The public
were on the horse to a very large extent; but the
winnings of his immediate party were comparatively
small, considering the good prices obtainable about
him all through the winter, and that he started at
14 to I. The race over the historic mile and a
half was run in two minutes forty-eight seconds.
The field was very large and very good in quality,
including Lord Glasgow's General Peel, second,
and Mr. Merry's Scottish Chief, third. To the
astonishment of the sporting world, he suffered
defeat, on the Sunday week following the Derby,
by M. H. Delamarre's Vermont, for the Grand
Prix de Paris, of 100,000 francs and the piece
of plate given by the late Emperor. Blair Athol
had continually disappointed the public by not
appearing for any of his engagements as a two
and three-year-old, never having left his owner's
and trainer's stables at Malton until he faced
the vast crowd on Epsom Downs. The general
backer, however, was not to be "stalled off," and
in the event was the greatest winner. At the time
of his first appearance in public, Blair Athol was a
beautiful bright chestnut horse, standing within half

FILLE DE HAIR. 343

an inch of sixteen hands, but hardly looking his
height. A handsome head, a blaze of white in his
face, a strong, muscular neck and shoulders well
laid back to gracefully rising withers; a very short
back, splendid loins, and a great depth of girth;
one white heel and sound feet, rather inclined to be
small. He was further described as " a light, wiry,
short horse, as full of go as an India-rubber ball,
and, indeed, better in his stride than to stand along-
side of, when his appearance is not so telling; while
his action, though rather high, ie very free and dash-
mg.

Count Lagrange's Fille de L'Air, winner of the
Oaks, was the heroine of the same year, and one of
the finest movers ever seen on the Turf. She was
bred by the Count at Dangu Stud Farm, in Nor-
mandy, in 1 86 1, by Faugh-a-Ballagh out of Pauline,
by Volcano (son of Vulcan), her dam Bathilde, bred
in France. Faugh-a-Ballagh, winner of the St.
Leger and Cesarewitch, carrying eight stone, was
bred in 1841 by Mr. George Knox, of Brownstown,
County Kildare ; and, after covering, the same season
was sold to the French in 1855. Faugh-a-Ballagh,
by Sir Hercules out ot Guiccioli by Bob Booty, and
was own brother to Birdcatcher. Among the best of
his progeny may be reckoned Leamington, Polestar,
The Hadji, Master Bagot, and The Brewer.

At the Danoru haras likewise was bred, in the
following year, the best horse owned by Count
Lagrange, Gladlateur, winner of the three-year-old

344 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

treble event — Derby, Oaks, and St. Leger — In 1865.
Gladiateur, bred in 1862, by Monarque out of Miss
Gladiator by Gladiator, her dam Taffrail, by Sheet
Anchor — the Warwick mare, by Merman — Ardros-
san.

The sire of Gladiateur, Monarque, had been bred
in France ten years before the birth of his great son ;
but it was not very certain whether he was got
by The Baron, Sting, or The Emperor — the first,
being esteemed the best of the three horses, is ge-
nerally credited with ihe authorship by the Jennings'
connection. Monarque's dam was Poetess, by Royal
Oak, her dam Ada, by Whisker — Anna Bella, by
Shuttle — by Drone. Monarque was a good per-
former on both sides of the Channel, and was familiar
to Englishmen, having won the Goodwood Cup in
Count Lagrange's colours in 1857, ^""^ the New-
market Handicap in 1858 ; while he had previously
supplied our Turf with a number of sons and daugh-
ters not strangers to the winning-posts at New-
market, if they fell far short of the excellence dis-
played by the French champion of 1865.

Miss Gladiator was bred by M. Aumont, and
bought at his sale by the Count. She was out of
Taffrail, a mare bred by Lord Wenlock, claimed by
General Peel out of a selling race at Newmarket,
bought from the General by Count Waldstein, who
shipped her to Germany in 1853, and subsequently
sent her to France as one of a lot bought by M.
Aumont.

GLADIATEUR. 345

As Gladiateur appeared at the time of his three-
year-old engagements, he was a bay, with black legs,
standing sixteen hands one inch high, with a large,
plain, but eminently sensible head, a beautifully
arched neck, well set on powerful sloping shoulders.
His arms and thighs were very muscular, and his
girth deep. As a two-year-old he only won one
out of three attempts, his victorious essay being for
the Clearwell Stakes at Newmarket. But his three-
year-old doings were splendid, as he took not only
our three great prizes, but the Grand Prize of Paris,
which Blair Athol had missed the year before. The
subscriptions also were very good, the value of the
Derby being ^6,825, of the Two Thousand Guineas
^5,100, of the Grand Prize of Paris (with an object
of art) /5,744> and of the St. Leger ;^5,95o.

Although Breadalbane was very heavily backed,
yet the public won largely by the success of the
French horse, which altogether was very well re-
ceived. It unfortunately happened, however, that,
as Gladiateur was a remarkably well-grown horse
of his age, some doubts existed in the minds of
many persons as to his being really only three years
old. His owner having run his horses in honour-
able fashion, it was putting an affront upon him to in-
sist upon a veterinary examination. This, however,
Mr. Graham, the owner of Regalia, did, principally
because he had heard people say they would accept
him as a five-year-old without wanting to look into
his mouth ; for when Mr. Graham was informed that

346 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

affidavits of Gladiateur's age had been put in after
the Derby, he had no further cause to show, and no
evidence to produce, simply saying, " People thought
he was older than three." The proposal was the
more annoying to the Count Lagrange and his
friends, because, the year before, Fille de I'Air's
mouth had been opened to satisfy John Osborne.
At that time there was a good deal of suspicion
about "forward" French colts and fillies, and ob-
stinate people persisted, as long as Gladiateur was in
training, in saying that he was a year older than he
was represented to be. The veterinary surgeons
and the stewards, however, were satisfied that he
was two years old, and no more, when he came to
be trained by Jennings for his engagements, and that
the French certificates of date of foaling were cor-
rect.

Indeed Gladiateur had an exceptionally "young
mouth," so that there really was no foundation even
for the theory that he was born very late in the
summer of 1861, instead of in the spring of 1862.
Gossips, however, persisted in the fable that his age
was not correctly stated; and when, upon his death
being announced to T. Jennings on Newmarket
Heath, the trainer inquired what the horse died of,
his informant coolly replied — " Why, of old age, to
be sure."

Gladiateur was ridden In his great races by Harry
Grimshaw, a promising jockey, who had all the riding
for the French stable, but who, unfortunately, met

FISHERMAN. 347

his death by being thrown from a dogcart, on a dark
night, near the toll-gate on the Cambridge and New-
market road, about a mile and a half out of the Uni-
versity town.

Regalia, the heroine of that year, winner of the
Oaks and second in the St. Leger, was bred by Mr.
James Cookson, in 1862, by Stockwell out of the
Gem by Touchstone, her dam Biddy by Bran —
Idalia by Peruvian.

Retralia exhibited a most strikinof likeness to her
half-brother, Blair Athol ; for, besides being a bright
chestnut and a " Stockwell all over," her white face
and legs, and general conformation, reminded all who
knew him very strongly of the Derby winner of the
year before.

Fisherman, "the ugly brown, with the big hips,
long, crooked thighs, high legs, knife-like back, and
jumping bump, all in keeping," quitted this earthly
scene in August of Gladiateur's year. His name
will ever be remembered in connection with the
number of Queen's Plates he won, and the "cracks"
he broke down. The Stakes he ran for were gene-
rally small. In sixty-nine races he won ;^i 0,707, and
in his one hundred and thirteenth struggle he was
beaten only a head — game as ever. A sporting
paper gave him the sobriquet of Pride's Purge, and
he well deserved the title. He "had a cut," as
George Hall called it, at most of the "cracks" of
his day over long courses, and was always in train-
Uig and always at work — a couple of days' rest and

348 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

a gallop at home always sufficing to send him to the
post in fit condition to win. Ellington, Lord Zet-
land's good mare Zeta, Winkfield, Gemma di Vergy,
Warlock, Skirmisher, and a host of other horses, had
every reason to recollect him, whether he quite
"landed" or not. For the power of doing the work
of any ten ordinary horses, for ugliness of appear-
ance and hardiness of constitution. Fisherman must
be regarded as one of the most remarkable horses
the Turf ever saw. Though a "glutton" at long dis-
tances, his best course was considered to be one mile
and a quarter. Fisherman, like Monarque, was a
"bastard," for his pedigree was given as "by Heron,
Stork, or Gobler."

John Osborne, sen., the well-known trainer, began
life as a hunting groom to Mr. Taylor, of Kirton,
and his appearance in connection with the Turf dates
back to Charles the Twelfth's year. He gradually
got into the way of having a long string of indif-
ferent horses in his hands year after year, until 1842,
when the Marquess of Westminster entrusted his
string to his care — Sleight of Hand, Maria Day,
Auckland, and a number of other animals. Of the
last-named horse the Marquess was always very fond,
and he placed a very high figure upon him. What
were styled the London and North-Western Boiling
Stakes, however, were the best he ever won. He
was reared at the Moor Park Paddocks, and was
travelling North, in the early days' of the railways,

JOHN OSBORNE. 349

with another filly of the Marquess's in the same box
with him. The boiler of the engine, which was next
the box, burst, and nearly killed the filly on the spot,
her scalds being so terrible that she died soon after;
but Auckland was lucky enough to escape with some
rather bad scalds on his back, taking some of the
skin off. The compensation given for the two —
and chiefly for the injuries to Auckland's back — was
^5,000. John Osborne was unable to make a show
with the colt in the Derby — which the Marquess was
anxious to win; and after nearly winning with Maria
Day and Job Marson at Doncaster, he resigned the
charge of the Eaton yellow jacket, which "had
nearly given him the jaundice."

There is no doubt that when Osborne left the
service of Lord Westminster he had little more of
this world's wealth than when he entered it; but
a turn in the tide of his fortunes came, and he
afterwards acquired a considerable fortune, became
patron of a living, now held by one of his sons,
and lord of a manor, now held by another son,
owned what had been a deer park, and left per-
sonalty sworn under ^40,000. With Black Doctor,
1850, the fortunes of Ashgill began steadily to rise,
and as an artist in the treatment and ripening of
two-year-olds old Johnny had no superior. Exact,
Lambton, Little Stag, Prince Arthur, King Arthur,
Wild Agnes, and the others of the lucky Agnes
family, completed what the Doctor had begun, and
made the eccentric Ashgill trainer a rich man.

3SO HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Lords Zetland and Londesborough, Sir Charles
Monk, and other Yorkshire owners, were among the
best patrons of Plain John, who, by the way, would
have been an immortal if it were for nothing else than
his grand maxim with two-year-olds, " If they are to
be sweated, let 'em sweat for the brass. Do not
keep them at home to run one against another for
love on Middleham Moor, but let them stretch their
young legs on any racecourse in England where
good guineas are going, and they have the same
chance as the rest — of pouching them for me." It
was a policy that in Johnny's clever hands paid well
for many a year. Among the best jockeys turned
out at the Ashgill academy were John Osborne
junior, Challoner, Harry Grimshaw, and Carroll.
The old trainer was buried in Coverham Church-
yard, in the Coverdale Valley, sacred to the memory
of so many Yorkshire jocks.

Of all the men who have painted the English
race-horse, John Frederic Herring, without doubt,
is entitled to stand first. The efforts of Marshall,
Gilpin, Stubbs, and Sartorius are far behind those
of the last and greatest master of the art. Herring
was born in 1795, the son of a fringe maker, in
Newgate-street, and was originally bred to his
father's trade; but having, to his father's disgust,
shown some artistic tastes, and expressed a desire
for instruction, he was placed under a Mr. Phelps,
who, being an honest man, returned him after one

y. F. HERRING. 351

lesson, declining to teach him any longer, on the
ground that his pupil knew more than he did. The
stories that are told in the New Sporting Magazine
of Herring's early life, by a friend who knew him,
have all the air of a romance about them. The lad
falls in love, and at an opportune moment his father
takes ship for Holland, In the father's absence he
is able to win the young lady's affections, and before
his father's return, knowing the old man's objection
to early marriages, young Herring elopes with his
mistress when the ship from Holland is nearly due.
They have no money; and, except that they intend
to get out of the way of a wrathful parent, they do
not know where they shall go. An expedient sug-
gests itself: they possess a gazetteer; the husband
tells his wife to hold it while he at random sticks his
penknife among the leaves. "Wherever this knife
points, my girl, there we go." The blade indicated
Doncaster as their future home, and to Doncaster
they went. In the quaint old Yorkshire town, as
luck would have it. Herring found a bungling painter
botching a white horse on the boot and two panels
of a yellow coach, to indicate that it ran to the inn of
that sign in Fetter-lane. The man lends him his
paints and brushes while he goes to dinner. Her-
ring wipes out the anomalous quadruped freshly
daubed on the boot of the coach, and when the man
returns he finds a well-painted horse in its place.
The proprietor of the coach appears on the scene in
the nick of time. He discharges the incompetent

352 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

workman, and Herring earns his first three guineas
by his art for the three white horses he painted on
the yellow coach. The fame of the young painter
grew. Innkeepers ordered new signboards from him;
farmers saw the lion, the bull, or the boar, for the
first time looking natural, "in his habit as he lived,"
and bespoke the artist's attention for their hunters
and shorthorns. The young painter also, for the
purpose of attaining proficiency in the delineation of
horses and coaching scenes, drove a coach running
out of Doncaster for several years. He was a good
whip, and handled "the ribands" in professional style;
while the acquaintances he made on the road became
in many instances customers for the production of his
easel. He was likewise a skilful musician, playing
the clarionet well, and singing the old-fashioned
songs with such effect that he was once induced to
sing for a period of three weeks at the theatre at
Doncaster. His disguise was complete, only his
Avife knew the handsome painter in the fat, old, snub-
nosed fellow on the stage, and her he told, after twice
deceiving her as to his identity.

From Doncaster, with his reputation made, Mr.
Herring removed to Fulbourne, between Cambridge
and Newmarket, rightly considering the headquarters
of the Turf the best place for the exercise of his pro-
fession. He had for his patrons all the wealthy lovers
of the horse, from her most gracious Majesty down-
wards; and the subjects he painted were numberless.
His masterpieces were Arabian horses, and one of

SALE AT CHRISTIE'S. 353

his best pictures is the Queen's Arab, with the camp
background, in the collection at Windsor. Mr. Her-
ring died in 1865, at Meopham Park, a short distance
from Tonbridge, where he had resided for about ten
years, and was buried in the churchyard at Hilden-
borough, with his son Charles, whose untimely death
he felt very keenly.

At the sale at Christie's, in February, 1866, the
pictures sold well ; but the host of unfinished
sketches and studies, as might be expected, fetched
but small prices. The "Horse Fair" brought 180
guineas, and the " Cattle Market " being held in
Tonbridge High-street, with Market House and
Butter Cross complete, sold for ten guineas more;
ten somewhat similar lots making an average price
of £"]! a piece. There was a spirited competition,
also, for the finished portraits of horses — sketches
made for the larger pictures painted for owners.
Among these were likenesses of Bay Middleton, the
Flying Dutchman, Glencoe, Irish Birdcatcher, Stock-
well, The Baron, Touchstone, Whalebone, Emilius,
Orville, and a large gallery of the equine notabilities
of the Turf. The result was considered satisfactory
by the family, as 190 lots brought ;^ 1,806 5s. The
sale was well attended by friends and acquaintances
who had known the painter in life, out of respect to
his memory after he had joined the majority. " It
was a good finish to a great career," wrote a friendly
pen, when the day was over.

VOL. I. 2X

354 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

CHAPTER XV.

LORD Hastings's horses — the duke — kangaroo —

LADY ELIZABETH RACING DEBTS EXTRAVAGANCE

THE SCRATCHING OF THE EARL CORRESPOND-
ENCE DEATH OF THE MARQUESS COMMENTS OF

THE PRESS ON HIS CAREER.

THE Marquess of Hastings was one of the most
prominent figures on the EngHsh Turf during
his connection with it. A plater called Con-
sternation was the first animal he owned to carry the
Donnington scarlet and white, and this was in 1862,
when his age was barely twenty. Seven seasons on
the Turf saw the end of a career that provoked much
comment and many severe remarks; but in dealing
with such a man as the late Marquess of Hastings, it
is well to bear in mind the injunction contained in
a couplet applied to a man of somewhat similar cha-
racter, and

" Be to his foibles somewhat blind,
And to his virtues ever kind."

The son of the Lord Hastings whose connection
with foxhounds in the Donnington country — a district
formed out of the Ouorn — made him famous among
M.F.H.s, the late Marquess was born on the 22nd
of July, 1842. He succeeded his brother in the

THE STRING AT DANEBURY. 355

Marquessate, in January, 1851, and his mother in
the Barony of Grey de Ruthyn, in November, 1858.
Eton and Oxford had the care of his education in
the various branches of polite learning; but his stay
at the latter seat of sound learninor and relieious
doctrine was brought to a premature close, through
a visit he paid to John Day's stables at Danebury,
at the invitation of a nobleman of his acquaintance.
A hking for the Turf and its pursuits, long half-
dormant in his heart, was awakened by a realization
of all the charms of a racino; stable and trainine-
ground. Consternation became his property, and
John Day soon added a string which included
Garotter, Tippler, Redcap, Old Fuller, and Attrac-
tion. Thus the season of 1863, his second on the
Turf, was brought to a close; his platers having
rendered a good account of themselves, and paid
their way from Northampton right through to
Shrewsbur)'. Lord Hastings was now of age, and
something more; and the season of 1864 saw him
with a number of animals added to the list of his
horses in training. Of these were Trumps, Grinder,
Lady Egidia, Lady Florence, Ondine, Olive, Panta-
loon, Catalogue, and Ackworth. This year, also,
The Duke, with which all the Danebury party hoped
to secure Derby honours, was brought out in a Bien-
nial at Stockbridge, and won very cleverly in the
hands of Judd, so that after his race he was within
an ace of being first favourite for the Derby of the
following year ; and notwithstanding his double

23—2

356 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

defeat at Newmarket July Meeting, in the July
Stakes and the Chesterfield Stakes, he was until
a fortnight of the great race always second or third
favourite for the Blue Riband. Influenza having
struck him down, he was scratched about fourteen
days before the Derby. This was a great blow to
the Danebury party, as John Day had stoutly main-
tained the opinion that he would beat Gladiateur
when they met on Epsom Downs.

Up to this tim.e, as far as the backing of his own
horses was concerned. Lord Hastings had been very
fortunate, for his string had among them carried off
a host of the smaller events. The first great race,
however, that fell to his lot was the Cambridgeshire
Stakes, won by his horse Ackworth, whom he pur-
chased from Mr. Hill, after running third for the
Cesarewitch Stakes to Lord Coventry's Thalestris
and Mr. W. Robinson's Gratitude. Ackworth's
victory brought a very large stake in bets to the
exchequer; and Cannon, who rode the winner, re-
ceived a very liberal sum as a mark of his master's
appreciation of his riding in the race. This year
also saw him married, after a romantic elopement, to
Lady Florence Paget, daughter of the Marquess of
Anglesey.

By the year '65, the string of horses carrying the
scarlet and white hoops, in the hands of John Day at
Danebury, was rarely, if ever, less than fifty, among
the lot being many good animals. A "sensational"
purchase was made in the spring, by the advice

KANGAROO. 357

of his friends, who doubtless thought their counsel
sound. Kangaroo had won a three-year-old Bien-
nial at Newmarket, very easily beating a Danebury
favourite, and was engaged in the great races. It
was urged that the owner of such a wonderful per-
former would have the historic prizes of our Turf in
his grasp. In an evil hour for his purse, Lord Hast-
ings adopted this conclusion as his own, and paid
Mr. Padwick for Kangaroo the highest price that
had ever been paid for a race-horse. The colt
turned out to be the rankest of impostors, his win in
the Biennial on the Heath had been a fluke, and his
trial on the Stockbridge racecoufse a mistake. But
the Marquess bore his great disappointment with
that stoicism which always distinguished him until
his nerves became shattered.

He had reason, indeed, to regret an error in con-
nection with his estimation of the merits of a horse
even more than the mistake he made when he con-
sented to become the purchaser of Kangaroo. Her-
mit he believed to be unable to win the Derby, and
this opinion cost him probably ten times as much as
he lost over Mr. Padwick's Biennial winner.

Lady Elizabeth and Lecturer got him back some
of the money he had lost, but he was never to know
ease of mind again: an intolerable burthen of money
troubles he had to support for the remainder of his
short life. All was paid at that time. After the
"rose" of Mr. Chaplin had shot to the front in the
Derby, the Marquess dashed into Epsom in a

358 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

barouche and four, apparently as gay as any of his
friends. " Let the galled jade wince" was written on
his face, but his heart had received a blow it never
recovered. When he admitted to a friend, a few
days before his death, that the Hermit hit had fairly
broken his heart, he added, " I didn't show it —
did I?" His debts to the Ring led to a great
scandal, kept up for months; and it was at New-
market, on his last visit to the Heath, that the
bookmaker who had laid him a small bet on one
of the races of the day reminded him of his fallen
state, in the proviso, " Mind, I'm to have this paid."
To this sketch of the Turf career of the unfortunate
Marquess of Hastings may, perhaps with advantage,
be added two contemporary articles, one written in his
lifetime, and showing the state of feeling about his
gambling debts; the other after his death, by a not
unfriendly hand. The newspaper articles are from
a leading sporting journal and a Liberal daily paper : —
"It is a thankless task to rake up the muddy-
waters of Turf scandal; but when they threaten
the stability of the institution itself, every one who
would see it preserved should gird up his loins for
the work. It is, we are assured by the adage of
popular wisdom, impossible to touch pitch without
being defiled ; but the cleanest of hands should not
at times shrink from the risk of contamination.
These observations, introductory of some few com-
ments on a flagrant scandal which at present forms
the chief topic of conversation in Turf circles, and

THE RACING DEBTS. 359

which more deserves the strictures it arouses than
anything- of the kind in the modern history of our
national sport, are in no degree intended as an
apology, for I consider it a duty to assume for the
moment a Curtian part, and speak out boldly in the
interest of justice, decency, and fair dealing. After
these remarks, it is almost unnecessary to add that
the csclandre referred to is that in reference to the
position, in regard to the Turf, of the Marquess of
Hastings, whose non-settlement or non-arrangement
of his last year's racing accounts has excited an un-
precedented amount of consternation and ill-feeling,
not only among his creditors, but throughout the
sporting world. When the' argument of the whole
story is, that his lordship owes large sums of money
to men from whom it is possible he may, through his
agents, in a few days demand a fortune; that they
will have to pay him, while he distinctly refuses to
pay them ; that, in a word, the greatest defaulter on
the Turf is at the same time the owner of the first
favourite for the coming Derby, your readers will be
somewhat prepared for the miserable details I must
lay before them. In the Sporting Gazette of last
Wednesday, I find the following sweet paragraph —
a work of art, executed with all the skill that bene-
ficent nature and long practice furnish to the aristo-
cratic toady: —

The Marquess of Hastings's Accounts. — The gentleman
who has hitherto exerted himself towards effecting a settlement of
the Marquess of Hastings's accounts ' retired from the contest '
yesterday, on finding so many impediments thrown in his way.

36o HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

«

In the ordinary affairs of life, as conducted by-
straightforward, honourable, and business men, the
only recognized mode of settling an account is to
pay it.

Strange as it may seem to th.^' soi-disant pious,
who regard sport as the broad road with the un-
desirable terminus, there are on the Turf straight-
forward, honourable, and business men, who take
precisely the same view of their own and other
people's liabilities. There are, undoubtedly, others
who delude the unwary into entrusting them with
money, with which they subsequently run off; but,
as a rule, they are not marquesses — they are looked
upon by sporting men as scoundrels, and they are
known under the generic title of * welshers.' It is
all very well for our friend Jeames to give 'the gen-
tleman' credit for 'exertion,' and to attribute the
non-payment of his lordship's debts to ' impediments
thrown in his way.' The writer evidently knows
on which side his own bread is buttered, and un-
doubtedly deserves all credit for an ingenious mode
of stating the case, which serves his own interests,
by at once ' smoothing down' the Marquess of Hast-
ings, in leading the world to suppose he has been
hardly dealt with, and, by implication, throwing the
onus of the unfortunate ' situation ' on the shoulders
of the very men on whom it entails the greatest
hardship.

In the face of a representation so plausible
and yet so misleading, I feel it my duty, knowing

STATE OF AFFAIRS. 361

the whole facts of the case, to lay a 'plain, unvar-
nished tale' before the sporting world. During the
early part of the present year, after much diplomacy
on both sides, and a vast amount of smooth words
and broken vows on that of his lordship's advisers,
a definite proposal was at length made during the
Newmarket First Spring Meeting to the more pro-
minent creditors. It was to the effect that a sum of
;^ 1 0,000 should be immediately forthcoming, and that
at the same time a guarantee should be given that
a similar sum should be furnished in six months. It
was estimated that the total amount, ^20,000, would
be sufficient, after clearing off some of the smaller
claimants, to allow of the payment to those of larger
interests, of a dividend of something like seven shil-
lings in the pound. That these are the true facts of
the case I am in a position to assert fearlessly, as
some of the principal creditors — representing among
them more than half of the whole liabilities of the
Marquess — did me the honour to consult me as to
what was best to be done in the matter. I sug-
gested that they should demand a guarantee for the
settlement in full of their claims, in the event of
Lady Elizabeth winning the Derby ; but at the same
time strongly advised that in any case they should
accept the terms ofiered as described above. My
proposals meeting with favour, they were adopted
as a line of action ; and it was confidently hoped
that at length a most annoying and harassing dis-
pute would be brought to a happy termination.

362 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF,

What was the result ? That the programme chalked
out by his lordship's advisers during- the First Spring
Meeting was wholly abandoned, and that on Monday
last the creditors were offered a new arrangement,
to the effect that they should be paid ^10,000, but
without any guarantee that a like sum would be
forthcoming in six months. The creditors were, in
fact, offered what would positively amount to a pre-
sent payment of three shillings or three and sixpence
in the pound, and were left to imply that they might
at once ' abandon hope' of the balance. Is it a
matter of wonder that some of the principal claim-
ants, feeling that they have been dallied with and
humbugged beyond endurance, have now indig-
nantly determined to reject all such proposals, and
leave their noble debtor to be dealt with by public
opinion and by his own conscience — if he has not
long ago got rid of such a troublesome article ?
From first to last the affair has been most discredit-
able and disgraceful, and connected as it is with a
member of the Jockey Club, must be excessively
annoying to members of that august body. It is idle
for the legislators of the Turf to urge that they take
no cognizance of betting, and therefore must occupy
the position of mere spectators in any dispute of
which it may be the foundation. They can never
get over the fact that a notorious defaulter takes
part in their deliberations, on a footing of equality
with themselves; they can never forget that they
are men of high social standing, of unimpeached

LADY ELIZABE TH. 363

honour and of unbounded influence over not only
the business but the moraHty of the Turf; and in
view of such dignity, character, and power — in view
of the slur that is cast on them by the association
with a man in the position of the Marquess of
Hastings, it behoves them — and I for one earnestly
implore them — to save from further disgrace the
sport whose destinies are in their hands, by the
immediate adoption of such steps as will prevent
the repetition of so flagrant a scandal and cause of
reproach. It is well known that, from the peculiar
framino- of the laws in resfard to defaulters at Good-
wood, York, and Ascot, such a state of things as I
have described is utterly impossible, as any creditor
can prevent his debtor's horses running so long as
he fails to absolve himself from his default. Is it
not a grievance that at Newmarket, Epsom, Don-
caster, and all other meetings but those I have
named, this very stringent but necessary law does
not obtain ; and that any man, even though steeped
to the lips in debt, may run his horses, and make
money on them if he can — all the while snapping
his fingers at the creditors whose just claims he
refuses to recognize ? As the case now stands, a
member of the Jockey Club, a body whose power
in such matters is unlimited, is at once the greatest
defaulter of the Turf and the owner of the first
favourite for the Derby. It is known — in fact, it is
not denied — that he has backed his mare to win him
an enormous sum at long odds ; and it is certain

364 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

that, by merely guaranteeing the liabiHties of the
commissioners who in this case have acted in his
behalf, he actually stands to win a fortune from the
very men to whom he is at the same time so deeply
indebted. In fact, should Lady Elizabeth win the
Derby — and the present market odds are only 3 to
1 against such a contingency — the bookmakers will
have to pay to his lordship's agents the money they
have betted against the mare; while, though they
know that every farthing of the money so obtained
from them will pass direct into their debtor's pocket,
they have, under the present laws affecting racing
and betting, absolutely no power to deduct either
what is due to them on past accounts, or even reim-
burse themselves for the bets made by the Marquess
on this very race — some of them so long ago that
they are now possibly so much lost money. Is it
not high time that the laws which sanction so
monstrous an injustice should be swept into the
dusthole of all effete, oppressive, and absurd legisla-
tion ? Is it not high time that the Jockey Club,
who alone can institute a reform — sweeping, indeed,
but indispensable to the welfare of the Turf — should
bestir themselves to prevent a repetition of the gross
scandal which has drawn attention once more to the
subject ? And is it not high time that all honour-
able men should join in a respectful but earnest
appeal that they who hold the reins of the sport
should no longer be indifferent to the ruinous course
which it is pursuing?

THE DERBY BETS. 365

If I might venture to make a suggestion to Lord
Hastings, or his advisers — on the supposition, of
course, that they entertain a real intention to at least
attempt the clearing off his liabilities — I think there
would be no difficulty in devising a plan which would
at once accomplish their object, without entailing
much real cost. It is well known, as I have before
said, that his lordship stands to win an enormous
stake on Lady Elizabeth at long odds. If he desires
a relief by honourable means from his embarrass-
ment, he has only to send into the market a com-
mission to hedge his money, which could now be
done on such highly favourable terms as to realize a
sum which, added to the ^10,000 he and his friends
pretend they are willing to produce, would at once
very nearly clear off the whole of his liabilities. By
this means he would be able to pay the bookmakers
from the profits he could even now realize upon the
transactions he has at present outstanding with them.
I am quite aware that, should a large sum of hedging-
money be suddenly thrown into the market, it might
possibly affect the favourite's position in the quota-
tions; but even this difficulty might readily be got
over, for I fully believe not one of his lordship's
creditors, if good names were given, would refuse to
take the present market odds about the mare to
sums proportionate to the amounts owing to them.
Providing these bets were to be taken in part pay-
ment of their demands, they would, I am quite sure,
take their chance of finding an opportunity of retail-

366 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

ing them. In this view of the case, supposing that
the Marquess owes a little over ^40,000, in set-ofF
against this he is the present holder of bets upon
which, were he so disposed, he could easily realize a
ready profit of upwards of ^20,000 of the amount.
I throw out this suggestion, confident that it would
prove an easy means of rescuing the Marquess of
Hastings from a position disgraceful to himself and
his ancient name, embarrassing to his friends, and
discreditable to the order to which he belongs, and
of, at the same time, doing justice to a class of men
by whom he has never suffered any pecuniary loss,
who have never dealt unfairly by him, and who suffer
in mind and pocket from his ungentlemanly and un-
just treatment of them. Let it be noted that it is
capable of proof that his lordship has not lost money
on the Turf; that, as a matter of fact, he has abso-
lutely won from most of the bookmakers; that three
of his heaviest creditors have assured me they have
on the balance paid him large sums of money; and
that one gentleman who paid him last year ^24,000
is now out of pocket by his transactions with him to
the extent of no less than ^4,000, and cannot even
get an offer of settlement. Let it be remembered,
also, that this defaulter has from the commencement
trifled with, laughed at, and now defies his creditors;
that he owes them thousands of pounds which they
have little hope of ever recovering; and that he has
every prospect of winning an immense fortune from
them, which he will put into his pocket, and pro-

THE RACING DEBTS. 367

bablykeep there; and the racing world and the
general public have some means of arriving at a true
conclusion as to the honour of a nobleman, and the
prospects, under present laws, of the national sport
of England."

It was understood at the time that the writer of
the foregoing article on the financial position of the
Marquess of Hastings with regard to his betting
debts was a bookmaker of the highest standing, him-
self a creditor for a large amount, and one of the
proprietors of the paper in which it appeared. The
facts that the Marquess was very heavily indebted
to the Ring, that he had no present means of paying
such debts of honour, and that had Lady Elizabeth
won he would have been a great winner, are suffi-
cient excuse for the publication of such an article.
The pique shown at the appearance of an apologetic
paragraph in another paper arose from its being
matter of notoriety that the Marquess was himself
one of the founders and proprietors of that paper.

It was the constant assertion of the members of
the Ring that they had not won any money of Lord
Hastings, as the balance of their accounts showed.
To his own outrageously extravagant style of living,
wholly disproportioned to his means, they attributed
— and it is stated, on the best authority, with truth
— his financial distresses. Of course, upon the first
default of his agents to pay at Tattersall's, a demand
was made by his creditors for payment in full of
their demands. This was continued for some

368 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

weeks ; but when the real state of his affairs was
confidentially disclosed to a few of the principal bet-
tors in the Rino-, and amongf others to the writer of
the article above quoted, it was agreed that seven
shillings in the pound should be accepted by the
large creditors, while the small ones should be paid
in full. It must be admitted that this was a very
liberal offer, as Lord Hastings was to be treated in
the Ring after this settlement as if he had never
defaulted; and it must be remembered that, had his
mare won the Derby, he would again have been in
possession of an immense sum in ready cash, and
there appeared at that time every probability of her
carrying off the Blue Riband for him. Such was
the basis of settlement agreed to by the Ring cre-
ditors on one side and Lord Hastings's advisers and
agents on the other. But the seven shillings in the
pound was not forthcoming, for the very good reason
that Lord Hastings, having parted with his interest
in nearly everything he possessed in the world, could
not find reasonable security for more than half the
amount required to carry out the arrangement that
had been entered into on his behalf. In this state
of affairs, the proposition that the debtor should sur-
render to his creditors his bets on Lady Elizabeth,
— then, as the article sets out, a 3 to i favourite for
the Derby — was a most proper one, offering as it did
an easy mode of releasing a prominent member of
the Jockey Club, popular with the public, and not
unpopular even with the great majority of his ere-

THE EARL. ' 369

ditors," from a position most unhappy for a man
of honour. So large were the investments Lord
Hastings had made on Lady EHzabeth through his
commissioners, that the Ring men would have been
willing to give him ^20,000 down for his chances
of winning, provided he would apply the sum to the
part payment of his debts to them.

The suggestion, however, came to nothing, and
Lady Elizabeth's misfortune prevented her owner
from winning the bets he had taken about her. The
article was published at the time, it was thought, in
the interests of the Ring, and certainly with the
knowledge and concurrence of several of the largest
creditors of Lord Hastings, but it was really as much
in his own interest that he should settle with his
creditors as in that of the creditors themselves. It
has all the bitterness of contemporary criticism on
his doings, but since his death a different feeling has
generally prevailed.

The unfortunate Marquess was very frequently in
what is termed "hot water" about his horses; much,
if not all, of the unpleasantness arising from his
constant state of pecuniary embarrassment. The
scratching of The Earl for the Derby, and the
report that Admiral Rous had put down Lady
Elizabeth's shameful defeat in that race to the ad-
ministration of an overdose of laudanum, created a
great sensation.

The Earl, one of the best horses ever possessed
by Lord Hastings, was bred at the Royal Paddocks

VOL. I. 24

ll

370 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

at Hampton Court, in 1865, by Young Melbourne
out of Bay Cella by Orlando, her dam Hersey, by
Glaucus out of Hester by Camel — Monimia by
Muley — Sister to Petworth by Precipitate.

Young Melbourne, bred by Lord Glasgow in 1855,
is by Melbourne out of Clarissa by Pantaloon, her
dam by Glencoe out of Frolicsome by Frolic —
Stamford — Alexina. Young Melbourne never
started but once, in 1857, as a two-year-old, when
he was beaten in a match at even weights by Lord
Derby's Whitewall ; but Lord Glasgow's colt fell
in the race. Young Melbourne's stock came out in
1 86 1, and he is the sire of the following winners: —
Maid of Masham filly, Beauvale, Coalition filly,
Passion, Rapid Rhone filly out of an Orlando mare,
filly out of a Birdcatcher mare, filly out of a Game-
boy mare. Brother to Rapid Rhone, General Peel,
Emigration, Chessman, Melbourne, Mary, Arcade,
Strafford, Barmaid, Satanella colt, Bab -at -the -
Bowster filly, colt out of a Teddington mare, Lizzie
Hesham, The Earl, Epigram, Geelong, Kingsland,
Owain Glyndwr, Python, Scotchman's Pride, Actress,
Agrippa, Anne Boleyn, Baroness, Miss Sarah colt,
another Maid of Masham filly, Clovis, Di Vernon,
Liberal, Poinsettia, and Prince Imperial.

Bay Celia, bred by General Peel, in 185 1, passed
into the late Mr. Henry Elwes's hands, when as a
two-year-old she showed great promise, winning the
Lavant at Goodwood and the Hopeful at New-
market ; her only other appearance during the year

ADMIRAL ROUS' S LETTER. 371

being at BIbury, where she ran second to a large
field for the Champagne. Bay Celia never ran
afterwards.

The correspondence on the subject of The Earl's
being scratched was begun by Admiral Rous, who
never minced his words when he was engaged in
what he considered the discharge of his public duty.
He wrote as follows, under date June 15th, 1868: —

To THE Editor of the "Times."

Sir — Observing in your paper of to-day the following paragraph
quoted from the Pall Mall Gazette: — "The Sporting Zz/^, with
more audacity, mentions what Admiral Rous said on the course —
that if he had taken as much laudanum as had been given to the
mare, he would have been a dead man." Permit me to state that
it is perfectly untrue. My belief is that Lady Elizabeth had a
rough spin with Athena in March, when the Days discovered she
had lost her form — a very common occurrence with fillies which
have been severely trained at two years old; that when the dis-
covery was made they reversed a commission to back her for the
One Thousand Guineas Stakes at Newmarket; and they declared
that Lord Hastings would not bring her out before the Derby, on
which he stood to win a great stake. I am informed that when
Lord Hastings went to Danebury to see her gallop, they made
excuses for her not to appear. If he had seen her move, the
bubble would have burst. But the touters reported " she was
going like a bird." Ten pounds will make any horse fly if the
trainer wishes it to rise in the market. She has neve?' b^en able to
gallop the whole year. Lord Hastings has been shamefully de-
ceived; and with respect to the scratching of The Earl, Lord
Westmoreland came up to town early on Tuesday from Epsom to
beseech Lord Hastings not to commit such an act. On his arrival
in Grosvenor-square, he met Mr. Hill going to Weatherby's, with
the order in his pocket to scratch The Earl, and Mr. Padwick
closeted with Lord Hastings. In justice to the Marquess of
Hastings, I state that he stood to win thirty-five thousand pounds
by The Earl, and did not hedge his stake money. Then you will

24 — 2

372 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

ask, " Why did he scratch him?" What can the poor fly demand
from the spider in whose web he is enveloped?

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

H. J. Rous.
13, Berkeley-square.

To this outspoken statement Lord Hastings re-
plied in the following terms: — ■

Sir — I have read with the greatest astonishment a letter in The
Times of to-day bearing the signature of Admiral Rous, I can
only characterize this letter as a tissue of misrepresentation from
first to last. There is no one single circumstance mentioned as
regards my two horses — Lady Elizabeth and The Earl — correctly
stated. I wish also to add that, so far from being "shamefully
deceived," as stated in Admiral Rous's letter. The Earl was
scratched by my express desire and authority, and that I myself
wrote to Messrs. Weatherby to scratch him, and that no one either
prompted me or suggested to me to adopt that course. I trust
that this distinct contradiction will induce Admiral Rous to ab-
stain in future from publishing statements which he could find to
be unfounded if he had previously taken the trouble or sought the
opportunity of verifying them.

Your obedient servant,
. 34, Grosvenor-square. Hastings.

Mr. Padwick, who was mentioned by the Admi-
ral as "closeted with Lord Hastings," was much
blamed by public opinion as an interested party to
the scratching, and was perhaps wrongly believed to
be the Spider of the Admiral's letter, also published
his reply: —

Sir — Admiral Rous having thought himself justified in using
my name in a letter which he has addressed to The Times^ I beg
you will be good enough to permit me to make in reply the follow

MR. PADWICK'S EXPLANATION. 373

ing statement: — I was desired by the Marquess of Hastings (who
did not intend to be at Epsom on Tuesday before the Derby) to
scratch The Earl for his Derby engagement. Lord Hastings in-
formed me that he had determined upon that course, as Lady
Elizabeth had arrived safely at Epsom, and was to run in the
Derby. In consequence, however, of a conversation which I had
with the Duke of Beaufort, I did not comply with Lord Hastings
request, but returned to town for the purpose of representing to
him the conversation which I had had with the Duke of Beaufort.
The conversation was to the effect that his Grace wished Lord
Hastings to reconsider his intention of scratching The Earl, as his
doing so would be unsatisfactory to the public. I faithfully repre-
sented this to Lord Hastings, who, notwithstanding, decided upon
scratching the horse. This he himself did, by writing a letter to
Messrs. Weatherby, which was conveyed to them by Mr. Hill.
Shortly after the letter had been sent. Lord Westmoreland came
into Lord Hastings' room, where there were already Mr, Coventry,
Captain Barlow, and some other gentleman, whose name I do not
remember. Before leaving the room, I mentioned to Lord West-
moreland that I had reported to Lord Hastings, the representation
made by the Duke of Beaufort, but without effect; and I added
that Lord Hastings had sent a letter to Messrs. Weatherby desiring
them to scratch The Earl. I had no control over or interest in the
horse, and I was no party to his being scratched; and Lord Hast-
ings, in the presence of the gentlemen whose names I have men-
tioned, accepted the exclusive responsibility of the act.

In conclusion, I beg most unhesitatingly to state that I had not
betted one single shilling either on or against The Earl for his
Derby engagement.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Henry Padwick.

4, Hill-street, Berkeley-square, June 16.

The Days, however, who were accused of having-
shamefully deceived their employer, and, as a conse-
quence, helped to bring about his ruin, had most
cause for complaint at the Admiral's strong Saxon.

374 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

Their injury they evidently thought to be too great
for mere explanations to the public. They instituted
proceedings.

Sir — We have been consulted by Mr. John Day, of Dane-
bury, in reference to a letter which appeared in The Times of the
1 6th instant, signed by the Hon. Admiral Rous.

We have been instructed by Mr. Day to institute legal proceed-
ings against Admiral Rous, with a view of vindicating Mr. Day and
his family against the imputations which have been cast upon
them, and we have, by to-day's post, written to Admiral Rous,
requesting to be furnished with the name of his solicitor. In the
meantime, we rely on your sense of justice to permit us to give, on
behalf of Mr. Day, in your columns, the most unqualified and un-
conditional contradiction to the aspersions which Admiral Rous
has thought proper to cast upon Mr. Day.

We are, Sir,

Your obedient servants,

Vallance and Vallance.
20, Essex-street, Strand, June 17.

The feeling, not only of the followers of the sport,
but of the general public, was now thoroughly
aroused. The conspicuous position on the Turf of
the parties to the correspondence, and the prospect
of an action which should clear up all the mystery
surrounding the wretched performance of Lady
Elizabeth in the Derby, and the non-appearance of
her stable companion for that event, which all
England believed he could have won, excited
unusual interest in this " most notorious Turf scan-
dal," as it was termed.

There was a necessary lull until, in the autumn.

THE CORRESPONDENCE RESUMED. 375

the correspondence was further resumed after this
fashion : —

4, Hill-street, Berkeley-square, W., Sept. 28, 1868.

Sir — I applied, as you are aware, to the stewards of the Jockey
Club, to institute an inquiry into the circumstances connected
with the scratching of The Earl for the Derby and St. Leger, and
felt confident, had they complied with my request, I should have
been able to refute the imputations cast on me by your letter to
The Times. The Jockey Club declined to entertain the subject,
stating no charge had been made affecting my character. Having
no other tribunal to appeal to, I now ask you to reduce to some
distinct form the imputations cast on me by your letter, that I
may meet and deal with them in a manner which I have every
confidence will induce you to acknowledge the injustice of those
imputations, and withdraw the charges you have made against me.

I remain,

Your most obedient servant,

Henry Padwick.
To the Hon. Admiral Rous.

Mr. Padwick having been refused the favour ot

a full hearing by the Jockey Club, had called upon

Admiral Rous to put his charges into distinct terms,

to which the Admiral replied post haste next day by

asking a most awkward question, and expressing a

charitable wish after it that it might turn out that

the Marquess and his financial agent had been the

victims of a conspiracy.

Newmarket, Sept, 29.

Sir — In answer to your letter, requesting me to reduce to some
distinct form the imputation cast upon you respecting your con-
nivance at scratching The Earl for the Derby after he was paraded
at Epsom, and requiring me to withdraw the charges I have made
against you, I shall be happy to do so if you will explain why The
Earl (by your orders to Messrs. Weatherby) ran at Newmarket in

376 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

your name and colours in the Biennial, and received forfeit in the
match as Mr. Padwick's The Earl against See Saw. If you had
no interest in the horse, which you stated to me in your June
letter, why were all the winnings, including the three Ascot
sweepstakes, paid to your account? These facts must be ex-
plained by Lord Hastings and yourself, under oath at the tribunal
you have advised Mr. Day to appeal to; and, wishing that you
should exculpate yourself, and that you and Lord Hastings have
been the victims of a conspiracy,

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

H. J. Rous.
To Hy. Padwick, Esq.

Then it is Mr, Padwick's turn. He explains the
state of affairs with regard to the Marquess's horses
at the time, and points out his kindly and disin-
terested anxiety for his noble friend and for the
public at large.

4, Hill-street, Berkeley-square, W., Sept. 30.

Sir — In reply to your letter of the 29th, I beg to state that,
previous to The Earl running at Newmarket, in the Craven Meet-
ing, the solicitor to the Marquess of Hastings applied to me for a
loan of a large amount, to meet some claims requiring prompt
attention; and in making the advance I received, with other
securities, a bill of sale, which included The Earl and other race-
horses of the Marquess. That bill of sale was duly registered. The
Marquess had various creditors pressing him and an execution about
to issue, in which case the sheriff would have seized the race-horses,
and removed and sold them, unless protected by myself. I was
advised that The Earl, at the time you refer to, had better run in
my colours, but neither his winnings on that occasion nor any
subsequent were ever carried to my private account by Messrs.
Weatherby, but placed by them to a separate account; and every
shilling appropriated by the Messrs. Weatherby to the payment ot
the forfeits and engagements of the horses sold to various persons
by Lord Hastings, under Lord Exeter's conditions. Even the

FURTHER EXPLANATIONS. 377

winnings of the animals I purchased at his pubHc sale (one-third
of which the Marquess became entitled to) were paid over to
Messrs. Weatherby to the private account of the Marquess, and
I have further contributed the sum of ^1,400 out of my own
pocket, up to this moment, to enable him to keep faith with the
public. I give you the benefit of these facts, which will be con-
firmed on oath when required; but, in the meantime, being
anxious to give you every possible information, I enclose two
letters, received at different periods from Messrs. Weatherby, on
the subject of my own account, and that marked No. 2, which is
that of Lord Hastings; and you are at perfect liberty to apply to
Messrs. Weatherby for any information with reference to the above,
and they will have my authority to afford it.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Hy, Padwick.
To the Hon. Admiral Rous.

The only reply to this letter to be got from
Admiral Rous was a curt line returning Messrs.
Weatherby 's letters. After waiting a fortnight, Mr.
Padwick again returns to the charge, announcing his
intention of publishing the correspondence, a course
he took.

4, Hill-street, Berkeley-square, W., Oct. 16.

Sir — I have now waited a fortnight since my last letter to you
and your return of Messrs. Weatherby's letters, in the expectation
held out to me, not only by your letter of the 29th ult., but by
many gentlemen with whom you have conferred, that you would
not only withdraw the imputation cast on me by your letter to The
Times, but would award to me the only reparation in your power,
by an admission that the charges made against me by you had no
foundation. With everything placed before you in my power to
enable you to satisfy yourself as to facts, I am entitled to demand
from you a full retractation, or to attribute the absence of it to
a want of moral courage on your part to admit a wrong, or remedy

378 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

— so far as you can — a most unwarrantable and wilful injustice.
In the absence of any satisfactory reply, I shall take the liberty of
publishing the further correspondence which has passed between
us, leaving the public to form their conclusions.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Henry Padwick.
The Hon. Admiral Rous, Newmarket.

And to this the Admiral, who was at head -quarters,

sent the following reply: —

Newmarket, October 20.

Sir — Tn answer to yours of the i6th instant, I must remind you
that you misinterpret mine of the 29th of September. The explana-
tion as to the interest of yourself in The Earl, which I told you I
should await before any further public statement on my part, was
an explanation (as appears by my words) to be given at the
ensuing trial of the pending action, Day v. Rous. In your letter
of the 30th of September, you refer, among other matters, to a
bill of sale from Lord Hastings to yourself. A copy of this
document is now before me, and I am bound to tell you that,
having regard to the terms and other circumstances of the case,
I do not feel justified in saying more at present than that, for
the sake of everybody, it is essential that the facts should be
thoroughly sifted by the examination of all parties before the
tribunal before which you yourself have advised Mr. Day to
appeal. Should you publish the correspondence between us, may
I beg you to include this letter.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Henry John Rous.

The Earl had been struck out of the Derby on the
day before the race, at seven o'clock in the evening.
He was struck out of the St. Leger, and all his other
engagements in 1868, on the Friday afternoon before

DAY V. ROUS. 379

the Doncaster race, whereupon the following certi-
ficate was issued : —

London, September 5, 1868.

I hereby certify that I have this day examined at Danebury,
by request of the Marquess of Hastings, a thoroughbred horse
called The Earl, and am of opinion that the said horse is lame
from a strain of the suspensory ligament of his near fore-leg, and
quite unfit to run in the approaching St. Leger race.

William Mavor, M.R.C.V.S.

The backers of The Earl were as much dissatisfied
with his St. Leger non-appearance as they had been
with his failure to run for the Derby. Opinion was
very strong at the time, and was expressed in terms
as strong; but when it came to be established as
a fact that the unfortunate colt had really broken
down, much sympathy was expressed for his owner,
broken in health and in fortunes. The scarlet and
white hoops had always been a prime favourite up
to a few months before, when, for the first time, the
Marquess, or those who controlled his horses, were
suspected of not running straight.

The curious and interesting proceedings regarding
" The Earl affair " came to a most lame conclusion.
The action Day v. Rons was never brought. The
following letters were interchanged between plaintift
and defendant, the excitement ended, and this Turf
scandal was left to rest, if not to be forgotten.

Sir — On the i6th of June last a letter appeared in your columns
from Admiral Rous, under the title of ** Admiral Rous on the
Turf," containing reflections upon me and my family.

38o HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

I have now to request the favour of your giving pubHcity to a
letter which has been addressed to me by the Admiral, withdraw-
ing his former letter, and a copy of which I beg to enclose.

I am, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

John Day.
Danebury, Stockbridge, Hants, Jan. 19, 1869.

13, Berkeley-square, Jan. 18.

Sir — As the legal proceedings pending between us have been
stopped by you, I now withdraw my letter published in The Times
newspaper on the i6th of June; and the fact of my having ad-
dressed a second letter to the editor on the same day, requesting
him not to insert the first, is a proof that I did not consider myself
justified in desiring it to be published.

I am. Sir, yours,

H. J. Rous.
To Mr. Day.

The opinion expressed by a writer in the Saturday
Review, on the occasion of the pubHcation of the last
two letters of the correspondence, was precisely in
accord with that of the public generally: —

"The action is withdrawn, and the letter is withdrawn; but
whether the action is withdrawn on condition of the letter being
also withdrawn, or whether the letter is withdrawn on condition of
the action being withdrawn, and which withdrawal was first pro-
posed and first accepted, and from which side the surrender was
suggested, we, at any rate, know not. Very likely we shall hear
that the sporting oracles congratulate themselves and their peculiar
people on the good feeling displayed by all parties, on the neces-
sity of avoiding public scandal, and the happy termination of t his
painful matter. But then we are not sporting people, and to our
poor minds the termination of this queer business is just the
most discreditable thing about it. To hush up such a case aggra-
vates it. ' Brother, brother, we're both in the wrong,' may be a
very amiable sentiment, and is a very convenient conclusion in this

THE EARL'S YEAR. 381

case. But the case is just one of those in which two wrongs cer-
tainly do not make one right."

But some two months before the foregoing letters,
which brousj'ht to a conclusion the exciting contro-
versy of Lady Elizabeth's and The Earl's year, their
unfortunate owner had been laid with his fathers.
Remarkable and brilliant as Lord Hastines's career
had been, its end was wretched. Worn out in body
and in mind, broken-hearted and bankrupt, died the
still young man, who had succeeded to the jaunty
lad, with an honest liking for a race-horse of his own,
of a few short years before. There is sufficient
evidence that the ruin of his fortunes was brought
about, not by betting on horse-races, but by extrava-
gant expenditure and high play : that of his consti-
tution— never a strong one — by late hours and in-
dulofence.

The second article previously mentioned as worthy
of republication here appeared in a leading daily
paper on the 12th of November, 1868, as fol-
lows:—

" ' The Earl's year' has reached a sad climax in
the death of its leading actor. The Spider and the
Fly drama is ended. That poor coroneted youth,
who had crowded into six years more Corinthian
excitement and weightier Turf cares than many 'fast
men' know in a lifetime, has laid down his weary
load. He was only twenty-six in July, and he had
frittered away two fine family estates. Betting is
said to be the touchstone of the Englishman's sin-

382 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

cerity, but with the Marquess a craving for the odds
had really become a disease. He worshipped chance
with all the ardour of a fanatic. His wits were, he
considered, worth to him in the Betting-ring at least
^20,000 a year, and he sometimes threaded his way
through the mazes of trials and public running with
all the sagacity of a wizard. His public coups were
often so brilliant that it was hardly to be wondered
at that he believed in his own destiny and his power
to break the Ring. He cared little whether the
draining or other improvements on his Donnington
estate were stopped, if he only got fresh supplies for
another Newmarket campaign. The Ring, on the
other hand, had marked him for their own, and
never left him. They would cluster beneath the
Jockey Club balcony at Epsom, holding up their
hands to claim his attention, and catching at his
replies like a flock of hungry hawks. There he
would stand, smiling at the wild tumult below, wear-
ing his hat jauntily on one side, a red flower in his
button-hole and his colours round his neck, and cool
and calm, while 'the talent' made his horse a 'hot
favourite' at once, and a few slipped back to the
Ring to follow his lead. For a time he was a perfect
Cocker; but he fell at last in the unequal strife, and
the men who had 'drawn' him most copiously were
among those who set their faces most sternly against
him when he wished to see the Heath once more.

The Marquess's taste for the Turf was not an
hereditary one. His father's heart was with hound

THE QUORN MASTERSHIP. 383

and horn. He loved to halloo 'the red rascal' over
the rides far better than watching the Leger horses
close up round the Red House turn. The men of
the Midlands still speak of him as quite a represent-
ative sportsman with Will Goodall and the 'Sir
Harry' whom they lost so early. He would hardly
have stepped aside to see a race; but a scarcity of
foxes in Charnwood Forest, or finding himself above
twelve stone on the scales, would have sorely vexed
his soul. His son cared for none of these thino-s.
Still, he could not bear to see the Ouorn v/ithout a
master, and he stepped boldly into the breach when
Mr. Clowes resigned in '66. He wore the horn at
his saddle bow for conformity's sake, but he never
blew it; and he let the field go its own way, and
hunted the country on no system. A bit of a gallop,
a check, and then trotting off to sift a favourite gorse
for a fresh fox, jumped much more with his humour
than an old-fashioned hunting run, where hounds
had to puzzle it out. Often, when his hounds had
reached the meet, ten or twelve miles away, he was
hardly out of bed, and he would turn up 'on wheels,'
and occasionally from London by special train, and
give Wilson the word to draw when half the field
had gone home. No wonder that caricatures were
drawn, and squibs flew gaily about, and that even
Leicestershire said it would rather be bled in the
purse-vein than have the country hunted gratis in
such fashion. Satirical verses failed to sour him.
He took the sting out of their tail by reprinting

384 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

them at his own private press, and posted them far
and wide. On the last day of his mastership he
sHpped quietly away to the station, and when they
looked for him to give him a parting cheer he had
been well-nigh gone an hour.

The honour of being 'the man who belongs to'
The Duke, or The Earl, or little Lecturer was no
burden to him. He took quite naturally to the Turf
from the first, enfolded under the wing of Danebury.
In 1862 not six people at Newmarket knew who the
slim lad was on the grey cob; but the Ring soon
saw that he was a veritable Hampshire ambassador
when he put down the money so unflinchingly on a
Danebury pot. To John Day's suggestion that in
his position he was morally bound to have a nice
yearling or two of his own, he leant no ungracious
ear. When the rivalry round the Hampton Court
and Middle Park Rings almost foamed into madness,
and 2,500 guineas and 2,000 guineas were among
the yearling prices of one afternoon, he was never
tempted beyond 1,650 guineas for King Charles'
and 1,500 guineas for Robespierre. The former
would have been dear^'at fifty guineas, and the latter
won well in the colours of another. His two best
horses. The Duke (500 guineas) and The Earl
(450 guineas), were among his cheapest purchases.
The late Alfred Day first wore his colours on Garot-
ter, in the Althorp Park Stakes at Northampton, and
Sam Roofers won a Maiden Plate on that colt a few
weeks afterwards. The first great victory for the

HERMITS DERBY. 385

'red and white hoops' was the Cambridgeshire of
1864, with Ackworth, which had been esteemed a
dear two thousand purchase. Gradually his stables
swelled to upwards of thirty, and about ^70,000
were the spoils of six seasons. Catalogue was a
great pet of his Lordship's, and he did not care how
much he backed her for in a Selling Sweepstakes, and
how dearly he redeemed her. A cycle of barren-
ness followed one of profusion, and Mr. Padwick
graciously allowed him, in 1865, to have Kangaroo
at, it was said, ^12,000, and he never won as many
halfpence; while The Duke was useless, from influ-
enza, till half the season was over. In 1866, which
produced him a One Thousand Guineas winner in
Repulse, and a Goodwood Cup one in The Duke,
the stable was once more at a deadlock for a Cesare-
witch horse ; but little Lecturer, a foal from the Sled-
mere sale, carried 7st. 3lbs., and won, it was said,
;^40,ooo for the Donnington party.

A winter's reflection convinced his Lordship that
Hermit could never win the Derby, and £\oi,ooo
was the price he paid for his thoughts. People were
once wont to tell, almost below their breath, that
' Davis, the Leviathan,' had been known to pay
away ^60,000 on the Derby. The present age is
capable of greater efforts, as before the Monday the
bankers and solicitors had consulted, and the whole
of the Marquess's losings were found for him. Thus
panic was averted from ' The Corner;' but the fair
lands of Loudoun passed from his hand. At Ascot

VOL. I. 25

386 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

his lucky star rose once more. Lady Elizabeth and
Lecturer were both in form, and his Lordship kept
backing them, and piling on the winnings again by
a sort of geometric progression, gambling till he
had won nearly half 'his ain again.' It was now
the turn for reverses. His Lordship rather fancied
The Earl, but the stable overruled him in favour of
Lady Elizabeth. The flying filly came back with a
sadly chequered fame, a bad fifth for the Middle
Park Plate, and yet the victress in one of the most
wonderful of modern matches at Qlbs. with the three-
year-old Julius.

The Marquess had now fallen back again to
nearly the same ' agony point' in finance as when
he saw the 'all rose' handed honie for the Derby.
A weary winter followed, and he was so driven from
pillar to post by many troubles and Turf creditors
that he lost his interest in Turf matters, and his
head for calculations with it. The irritable Lady
Elizabeth wasted to a shadow in her training; and
how The Earl was scratched, and then became the
hero of the Parisians and the Ascot visitors, and
how the few words that were dropped at York
proved the precursor of his Leger doom, are all
dark passages of Turf politics, and not easily for-
gotten. We savv^ the last of The Earl when he
was bought in, as stout as a burgomaster, for 3,900
guineas, at Tattersall's; and then he departed to
Findon, with a leg upon whose chances of standing a
preparation each man seemed to differ with his fellow.

DEATH OF LORD HASTINGS. 387

The late Marquess had been abroad all the summer
in his yacht; but no northern breezes could fan him
back to health. He came to Doncaster, from Nor-
way, on crutches, and looking very ill and nervous;
and well he might, as, instead of having a St. Leger
winner, he had only the lean comfort of a veterinary
certificate from Mr. Mavor. At the First October
he was on Newmarket Heath in a basket carriage,
which he only quitted to say a word to the pretty
Athena, ' which once was mare of mine,' when she
was led back a winner. As at Doncaster, he did
not go beyond 'a pony' or two. 'Mind, I'm to
have this paid,' said one Ring man when he booked
it to him; and after that week they saw him no
more. Nearly seven seasons had passed by since
he first came, a lad of nineteen, fresh from Eton, to
Newmarket; and he left it, a shattered man, only to
die. He spent some time at Folkestone, and visited
town for a few days, before he set out for a winter
sojourn with his wife on the Nile. Some few friends
dared to hope that he might come back a new man,
and live quietly in his old country home, and train
the foals by The Duke. It was not to be. ' All the
wheels were down,' and now the fourth and the last
Marquess of Hastings only lives in racecourse story."

The figure of the late Marquess filled so large a
space in the Turf world during his short connection
with it; his career was regarded with such great
interest, not only by Turfites, but by the public at
large; and his sad death at an early age evoked so

-5—2

388 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

much sympathy for him, and caused such torrents of
abuse to be poured forth upon the system of things
which it was alleged had brought about his ruin,
that no apology needs be made for reprinting the
previous articles concerning him. As, however, it
may appear that they are not representative, but
merely expressions of opinion — one from a writer
who, familiar with the incidents of the Marquess's life,
had no sympathy for the national sport; the other
from the pen of a man who, if not piqued himself,
was, at all events, the representative of the pique of
others — appended are five or six short extracts from
as many different journals, which will sufficiently show
the opinion of the press upon what was the subject
of universal comment — the career of the Marquess of
Hastings.

Bailys MoiitJily Magazine said : — " The daily
journals have well worked out this new vein of
sensationalism, and, amid the excitement and attrac-
tion of political strife, have found a place in
their columns for pitiless attack and outpourings
of bitter resentment upon one whose past life mercy
would fain consign to oblivion. What influence,
whether for good or evil, his example has had upon
Turf morals, it is beside our purpose to inquire.
To trace his ruinous downfall to his connection with
the Turf alone would be as notoriously ridiculous
as to attribute the present state of Turf affairs to any
influence he may have exercised upon them during
the period of his devotion to racing pursuits."

COMMENTS OF THE PRESS, 389

The Saturday Review said : — " Though a master
of hounds, he was the worst sportsman that ever
hunted the Quorn; and on the Turf he seems to
have neglected, or never found himself able to
comprehend, that which alone makes' horse-racing
a refined pursuit. It was not so much the blood
or bottom of the horses that he studied, as their
practical use as the chequers by which he played
his tremendous games of gambling. Whether it
was simple fatuity that consigned him as a prey to
the devices of the Ring, or whether gambling had
become a fanaticism to him, it is not for us to know.
We have not the materials on which to pronounce.
Enough that conscience, judgment, and feeling must
have all been obliterated before such a career was
lived throuofh. And now the end has come. A con-
stitution feeble from the first has been actually long-
lived, when it has taken a lustrum of such a constant
strain on body and mind, culminating in such a crash
of ruin and disgrace, to destroy it."

The Field said : — " There was something ap-
proaching to insanity in the way in which he
scattered his means ; a suicidal rendering of the
tela sparsimiLS which speaks to the honours of his
family. And then the return — the great object to
be obtained — was so small in comparison with the
risk he courted. Let us make the most we can of
it, and say he

' Blazed forth at once, Newmarket's brightest star,
With knaves of all descriptions popular;'

390 HISTORY OF THE BRITISH TURF.

and the notoriety of the Marquess of Hastings is at
its zenith. He had not even a sportsman's excuse
for his prodigaHty. He had no personal prowess;
was no horseman, and cared little or nothing for the
hounds he kept for a season or so, for he would
leave them in the field on the first opportunity;
whilst the thousands he wagered on a plating race
might, as far as real sport was concerned, as well
have depended on the length of a straw or the
colour of a cow."

The Sportsman said : — " The Hermit losses of
Lord Hastings, like his gains on Lecturer, were
unparalleled in the history of racing. When Mr.
Chaplin's horse 'came in to weigh, after winning the
Derby, we recollect that the man who was almost
the first to pat him on the neck was the nobleman
of whom we are now writing; and knowing, as we
did, how he must have lost by the result, we could
not but wonder at the composure with which he sur-
veyed the scene before him, not an expression of
mortification escaping his lips."

BelVs Life in London said : — "As a master of
hounds he totally ignored all the recognized rules
of the noble science. Of hounds he knew nothing;
could scarcely distinguish a badger-pied one from
a black and white. Of riding across country he
knew as little. To describe Lord Hastings as a
friend of racing would be impossible ; and we fully
endorse the remark of a leading Turf authority,
that the Marquess of Hastings was the worst

COMMENTS OF THE PRESS. 391

enemy to the Turf he ever recollected during the
course of his experience."

The. Sporting Gazette said: — "On being recently
asked his reason for scratching The Earl by a legal
emissary, the simple answer the Marquess gave
was, ' Because I chose.' He had a great eye
for neatness to appointments, and has been even
known to find fault with his cJmrgd d'affaires if
the men did not loop their boots up to the same
button on the knee. He cared little really for
his shooting, though he liked to have it * well
done;' and it would almost seem as if he never ex-
pected to see his pheasants shot again, for he sent
out all his annual game presents this year for
the first time in partridges instead."

Severe as were the comments of the Press, it is
impossible to say they were undeserved. At first
the Marquess undoubtedly loved his race-horse qtid
race-horse; but soon he learned to value him only
as an instrument of cfamblinsf. His influence on the
national sport was bad, and it is for the good of the
Turf that the inflated gambling spirit and high
wagering that distinguished the Hastings period of
its history passed away soon after the disappearance
of their chief supporter.

INDEX.

PAGE

Act, Betting, 1853 . . . 258
Acts of Parliament relating to

horse-racing 7, 9, 11, 15, 17

Age, a golden .... 286

Alarm, ifr. Greville's . . 326

Antonio's St. Leger , . . 118
Apperley, Mr. C. J. . . .201

Arab plates . . . . i58

Ascot at the end of last century 49

Cup .... 284

Grand Stand . .184

The Queen at . . 185

Athol, Blair .... 340

Australia, racing in . . . 278

Baily's Magazine on the Mar-
quess of Hastings . . 388
Banquet to Lord Chesterfield . 286

Barhelle 246

Barclay's matches. Captain 99, 1 1 1

Barrymore, Lord • • • 53

Bay Celia .... 370

Bay Malton's winnings . . 38

Bay Middleton . . 246
Bedford, Duke of . . .105

Bell Courses .... 8

Bellario 121

Bell's Life on the Marquess of

Hastings .... 390

Benevolent Fund, the Turf . 182
Bentinck, Lord George — his

career ..... 218

and the 'welshers . 196

V. Connop . . 207

and Running Reiu . 217

Betting Act of 1853 . . 258
Betting hells . . . .192
Betting houses . . . 254
Act for suppres-
sion of .... 256
Betting men, bad sportsmen . 307

Blacklock's pedigree and per-
formances .... 146
Blair Athol .... 340
Bolingbroke .... 242
Booths on Ascot Heath , . 50

Bowles, Mr 170

Buckle, F 148

Buckle's whip . . . .132
Bunbury, Sii" Charles . .120
Butler, F 266

334,

Caller Ou
Calvert's match, ]\Ir.
Canadian's withdrawal from the

Derby .
Caractacus
Cardinal Puff .
Challenges for the Whip .
Challoner ...
Chappie, J. . . .
Chesterfield's stud. Lord .

banquet to Lord

Chifney's " Genius Genuine"

• and George IV.

"Narrative" .

— death

Chifney, W. .
Childers's performances .
Clermont, Earl of .
Cleveland, Duke of
Club-house, Crockford's .
Coaching t). Railroad
Cockfighting, Earl of Derby and
Colours of the Earl of Derby
Connop and Lord G. Bentinck
Corker's match, Mr.
Correspondence on the scratch

ing of The Earl .
Costume of jockeys .
Craven Meeting
Crockford, Mr. W. .

338
152

205

329
124
129

339

260

284

286

66

67

67

80

332

37

107

207

202

185
178
178
207
152

371

42

45
201

INDEX.

393

Cumberland, Duke of

Daklington, Lord ,
Day, Alfred

John

Dawson, Daniel

Dawson, Mr. T.

Debts, racing .

DenunciatioES of horse -racing

Derby, the first

Derby of 1 793

Derby, twelfth Earl of .

his coloui's

■ cock-fighting

fourteenth Earl of, as a

sportsman .
Dilly ....
Diomed's career
Dispute as to definition of gen

tlemen riders
Disputed bets .
Doncaster Cup of 1850
Doncaster, Turf annals of
Dragon ....
Duke, The .
Duke of Bedford .

Cleveland

Cumberland

Queensberry

liichmond

Rutland .

York

Earl, The . .

Earl, the, of Derby 176 — '•

of Clemiont

Earl Egremont's stud

Grosveuor

Eclipse Foot, The .
Eglintou, Lord, and the welsh

ers ....

stud

Egremont's, Lord, stud .
Elizabeth, Lady
Ellington's Derby .
Elwes, Miser .
E. 0. , description of the game
Epitaph on Mr. R. Tattersall
Epsom, M. Grossley's descrip

tion of .

difficulty of 1834

Escape aflair, the .
Exeter, Marquess of

Father of the Turf, The
Fidd, on the Marquess of Hast
Ings's death .

of

PAGE
87

208
272
274
114
287
362

13

40

55
176
178
178

318

325
40

198
112

242

235
22

362
-105

207
87
87
24
96

123

369'

318

107

181

106

167

195
280
181
368
282

55
46

63

los

173

65

287

FilledeTAir .

Fisherman

Flatman, Nat .

Flint, W. . . .

Flying Dutchman, The .

against

Voltigeur
Foley, Lord Thomas
Fox's love of horse-racing
Frampton, Tregonwell
Frantic ....

Gale V. Ridmcad

Game of E. 0., description of

Gaming Acts Suspension Con

tinuation Bill
Gaming houses in 1842 .
Gaming Laws, Select Committee

on ... .
" Genius Genuine" .
Gentlemen riders, dispute about

at Warwick' .

definition of

George I. Royal Cup

George IV., first appearance c

the Turf
connection with the

Irish Turf .

and Chifney .

dispute with the

Jockey Club

Escape .

Gladiateur

Godolphin Arabian, M. Sue';

history of . .
Goodman, Mr., and Runnin<

Rein ....
Greville, Mr. C.

V. Sunday Times

Grimshaw, H.

Grossley's "Tom- to London"

description of Epsom

Grosvenor, Earl
Gully, Mr. J. .

Hambletonian, death of
Haricot ....
Hastings, The Marquess of —

his stud .

his debts .

his death .

comments of the Press

on ... .
Hawkins's case
Henry A''III. and horse-breed

ing . . . .8;
Herring, J. F.

II

350

394

INDEX.

Higli stakes eighty years ago
Highflyer's career and pedigree

winnings

Hippodrome, the . .182

abandonment of

Hirst, James .

Horse racing, origin of .

Horses in Britain, early existence

of ... .
not indigenous to Eng

land ....
Hoyle's match ...
Hugh Capet's running horses
Hutchinson's (Mr.) match

Iliona ....
Irish Turf Club and George I\

James I. and horse-racing
Jockey Club Cup, origin of the

conditions of

the race for .
Jockey Club and disputed bets

and George IV.

Jockeys, celebrated-
Buckle, F. .

Butler, F. . . .

Challoner, T.

Chappie

Day, A.

Day, J. . . .

Fitzpatrick .

Flatman

Grimshaw, H. . ,

Marson, J. .

Parsons, J. .

Kobinson, J.

Scott ....

Snowden, L.

Wells, J. . . .
Jockey's costume
Junior Tattersall's Co.

Kangaroo

Lade, Counsellor .
Lade, Sir John

his trousers

Legislation on horse-breeding in

Henry VIII. 's reign
to restrain excessive

horse-racing .
Lejiton's match, Mr.
Lipscomb's, Mr., match
Long courses .

Mameluke

99:

PAGE

57

38

202

205

143

5

154

5

156

320
133

5
140

141

112

68

91
266

339
262
272
274

93
263

346
267

331
261
240
300
269
42
141

356

lOI

187
55

15
150

156

25

292

Man and dog fight .
Marquess of Hastings

death of

comments of

the Press on ...

Marquess of Exeter .
Marson, Job ....
Matches in the eaily part of

eighteenth century
popularity of eighty

years ago . . .98*
Matclies —

]\Ir. Calvert's

Mr. Corker's

Flying Dutchman and Vol
tigeur

Giles Hoyle's

Mr. Hutchinson's

Mr. Lepton's

Vii. Lipscomb's

Lord JIarch's

Mat Milton's

Mr. Osbaldeston's

Captain Polhill's

Miss Pond's

Mr. Shafto's

Mr. Shaw's .

]\Ir. Thornhill's

Mr. Wilde's.
Melbourne, Young
Menu of banquet to Lord

Chesterfield .
Military races .
Monarque
Muscovite
Mytton, Mr. J.

Oak.s, the, intention of giving
up

Oatland Stakes, the

Orton, J.

Osbaldeston, Squire, his

and death

challenge

match

duel with

G. Bentinck
Osborne, J.

49,

Lord

PAGE
100

354
387

388
311

267

23

55

151
152

244
154
156
151
156
97
15s
157
156
153
153
154
152
154
370

286
328

344
328
180

Newland's match, Captain .
Newmarket meeting

in 1825.

Heath, the right of

the Jockey Club to . .139
Nimrod's " Hunting Tours " . 200

98
44
136

46

45

235

298

151
162

221
348

INDEX.

395

Padwick, Mr,, and Admiral
Rous ....

Paluierston, Lord, as a sports
man ....

Panton's, Mr., death

Parsons, J. . , .

Pavis, A. . . .

Pictures of famous racers .

Plates, "give and take" .

Plenipotentiary's year

Pocahontas

Polhill's, Captain, matches

Pond's, Miss, matches

Pratt, Mr. . . .

Puff, Cardinal .

371

319
109

331
191

30
26
172
269
156
153
«9
126

Queen Anne's Gold Cup . 24
Queen's Plates . . . 334
change in distri-
bution. .... 336
Queen Victoria at Ascot . . 185

at J. Scott's

stables 198

Queensberrj^ Duke of . . 87

Qui tarn actions . . . 224

Race-horses, tax on . . 17
Race meetings, spread of, in

last century .... 29
Racers, pictures of famous . 30
Races in Henry II. 's reign . 6
Races, military . . . 308
Racing at Chester ... 6
Racing debts .... 362
Racing, first, under rules as to
weight and distance . . 12

• in Australia . . , 278

legislation to restrict . 1 5

flourished since 1 700 . 20

statistics 1846-50 . 250

Radcliffe, Mr. . . .165

Railroads v. Coaching . .185

Regalia 347

Repeal of George II. Act on

horse-racing. . . . 233
Riddlesworths, The . .196

Fdchmad v. Gale . . .17
Eidsdale v. Gully . . .172
Robinson, J. . . . .261
Roodee, The .... 7
Rous, Admiral, and the scratch-
ing of The Earl . . .371
Running Rein case, the . .211
Bussell V. Lord G. Bcntinck . 227

Scott, W 240

Select Committee on Gaming

Laws . .. .
Shafto's, Mr., matches .
Shaw's Mr., matches
Shepherd, J. .
Simpson ....
Smith V. Bond
Snowden, L. .
Sporting Gazette on death of

JIarquess of Hastings .
Sportsman on death of Marquess

of Hastings .
St. Leger of 1819 .

of 1834 .

Stakes in the middle of last cen

tury ....
Stallions for covering in 1752
Stockwell . . . 268,
Sue's History of the Godolphin

Arabian
Sweeps ....
Sykes, Sir Tat ton .

Tattersall, Mr. Richard
his journalistic

experiences . . . _
death and epi

taph ....

son of "Old Tattersall'

Tattersall's death, 1859 .
Tattersall' s, the New

Co., Junior .

Tax on race-horses .
Thornhill's match .

stud

Tipsters ....

Touchstone

Turf annals of York and Don

caster ....
Turf Benevolent Fund .
Turf, the, after the Battle of

Waterloo ....
the, flourishing state of, in

1800-1810 . . . 122,
the, in 1825 .

229
152
155
241
279
191
300

391

390
118

175

33

32

316

188
210
293

5S

60

62
112
280
302
251

17
152
197
252
280

23s
1S2

116

248
134

Value of thoroughbreds eighty

years ago . . . .109
Voltigeur . . . 244, 247

Weatherbt, Mr. W.

23";

Wells, J

269

"Welshers" ....

193

Weltje, the Prince of Wales's

cook .....

102

Wentworth's death, Mr. .

109

Whitelock ....

147

396

INDEX.

Whip, the
Whyte, Mr. J.
Wilde's, Mr., match
William IV. and the Tuif
Wilson, Mr. Christopher .
Wood V. Fed .

PAGE
182

209

Wyndham, Hon. C.

York, Duke of

Turf, annals of

Races .

Young Melbourne .

1S7,

PAGE

123

235
26

END OF VOL. I.