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UC-NRLF 


•  •. 


!~ 


/I-     i 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA       | 

#» 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF. CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


EACING    LIFE 


OF 


LOED  GEOKGE  CAVENDISH  BENTINCK 

M.P. 


RACING    LIFE 


OF 


LORD    GEORGE    CAVENDISH 
.      BENTINOK,   M.P. 

AND    OTHER    REMINISCENCES 


BY 

JOHN     KENT 

PRIVATE  TRAINER  TO  THE   GOODWOOD   STABLE 
EDITED  BY  THE 

HON.     FEANCIS     LAWLEY 


TOitjj   3Hlustratt0tt0 


WILLIAM    BLACKWOOD    AND    SONS 

EDINBURGH    AND    LONDON 

MPCCCXCII 


Betitcateti  fig  permission 

TO 

HIS  GRACE 
ARTHUR  CHARLES  JAMES  CAVENDISH  BENTINCK, 

SIXTH    DUKE     OF    PORTLAND, 

IX   HUMBLE  ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
OF  HIS  GRACE'S  CONDESCENDING  KINDNESS  AND 

THOUGHTFUL  CONSIDERATION, 

BY   HIS   MOST   OBLIGED,   GRATEFUL, 

AND    DEVOTED    SERVANT, 

JOHN"    KENT. 


PREFACE. 


IN  May  1865  I  returned  to  England,  after  passing 
nine  years,  almost  without  intermission,  in  the 
United  States  of  America.  Shortly  after  my 
arrival  in  London,  I  met  an  old  friend  (now  de- 
ceased) who  asked  me  to  come  and  dine  with  him 
a  day  or  two  later  at  the  Windham  Club,  in  St 
James's  Square.  On  repairing  to  that  hospitable 
resort,  I  found  that  the  only  guest  besides  myself 
was  the  still  living  Mr  James  Weatherby.  Natur- 
ally I  had  much  to  ask  him  about  the  incidents 
connected  with  horse-racing  which  had  happened 
since  he  and  I  last  met,  nine  or  ten  years  before. 
Among  other  questions,  I  inquired  who  was  now 
the  Dictator  of  the  Turf.  "  Since  I  last  saw  you," 
Mr  Weatherby  replied,  "  there  have  been  two  or 
three  Dictators,  such  as  Sir  Joseph  Hawley  and 
Admiral  Rous  ;  but  from  the  day  when  I  first  knew 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

the  Turf,  forty  years  ago,  down  to  the  present 
moment,  it  has  had  but  one  Dictator  worthy  of 
that  name — I  mean,  of  course,  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck." 

Mr  Weatherby's  words  revived  in  my  mind  a 
desire  which  had  long  before  been  conceived  by  me, 
to  gather  together  materials  for  the  Racing  Life  of 
Lord  George  Bentinck,  who,  above  all  other  racing 
men  within  my  memory,  had  left  his  mark  most 
impressively  upon  the  history  of  the  British  Turf. 
I  had  often  enjoyed  opportunities  of  conversing  on 
this  subject  with  Lord  George's  old  and  trusted 
trainer,  Mr  John  Kent,  who,  I  was  well  aware, 
entertained  the  profoundest  respect  and  regard  for 
his  memory.  Not  until  within  the  last  two  or 
three  years,  however,  has  it  been  found  possible 
for  Mr  Kent  to  write,  or  for  me  to  edit,  the  notes 
on  which  this  volume  is  based.  Those  who  are 
interested  in  the  subject,  and  have  the  patience 
to  read  this  work,  will,  I  hope,  not  proceed  far 
without  discerning  that  its  hero,  Lord  George 
Bentinck,  was  undoubtedly  the  most  remarkable 
man,  and  also  the  strongest  character,  that  the 
British  Turf  has  known  or  seen  during  the  present 
century.  It  should  therefore,  I  think,  be  a  matter 
of  general  satisfaction  to  the  vast  army  of  followers 
and  supporters  to  whom  horse-racing  is  either  an 


PREFACE.  IX 

amusement  or  a  profession,  that  Mr  John  Kent, 
whose  health  has  long  been  far  from  strong, 
should  not  pass  away  without  chronicling  what  he 
knows  about  the  noble  master  whom  he  served  so 
faithfully. 

Lord  George's  active  connection  with  the  Turf, 
as  a  prominent  actor  thereupon,  did  not  extend  over 
more  than  fifteen  or  sixteen  years.  There  have,  of 
course,  been  many  conspicuous  patrons  of  horse- 
racing  who  have,  in  "The  Druid's"  phrase,  "found 
pleasure  in  listening  to  the  whistle  of  a  racing- 
jacket  "  for  a  far  longer  period  than  Lord  George 
was  permitted  to  do.  I  believe,  however,  that 
between  1830  and  1846  Lord  George  did  more  to 
improve,  and  in  some  senses  to  revolutionise,  the 
Turf,  than  all  the  other  members  of  the  Jockey 
Club  who  have  lived  during  the  present  century. 
The  following  chapters  will  explain  my  meaning  to 
those  who  know  no  more  of  Lord  George  Bentinck 
than  that  he  passed  away  before  their  time,  and  to 
others — many  of  whom  exist — who  have  not  even 
heard  his  name.  In  preparing  Mr  Kent's  notes  for 
publication,  I  have  been  surprised  to  find  how  com- 
pletely the  lapse  of  forty-four  years,  which  have 
intervened  since  Lord  George's  death,  have  oblit- 
erated all  recollection  of  the  most  masterful  and 
powerful  personality  known  to  racing  men  since  the 


X  PREFACE. 

death  of  Sir  Charles  Bunbury  in  1820.  Few  can 
be  aware,  until  they  study  the  history  of  the  Turf 
between  1800  and  1840,  what  its  condition  was 
when  Lord  George  Bentinck  moved  his  entire  stud 
from  Danebury  to  Goodwood  in  1841.  Not  until 
1843  and  1844  did  matters  come  to  a  crisis.  In 
the  former  of  those  years  Lord  George  Bentinck 
began  to  take  measures  to  purify  the  Turf  of  some 
of  its  worst  iniquities.  His  first  step  was  to  expel 
all  defaulters  from  race-courses  under  the  control  of 
the  Jockey  Club,  commencing  at  Goodwood,  which, 
being  the  private  property  of  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond, afforded  peculiar  facilities  for  banishing  and 
excluding  black  sheep  of  all  kinds.  The  immediate 
result  was  that,  in  revenge,  a  few  of  the  most  un- 
principled frequenters  of  the  race-courses  of  the 
United  Kingdom  banded  themselves  together  to 
sue  several  of  the  most  distinguished  patrons  of 
the  Turf  for  winning  sums  of  money  in  excess  of 
£10  by  betting  on  horse-races,  in  contravention  of 
an  obsolete  statute  of  Queen  Anne,  which  com- 
menced with  the  words  "Qui  tarn."  I  find  from  a 
return  ordered  by  the  House  of  Commons  of  the 
number  of  writs  issued  by  the  Court  of  Exchequer 
between  July  1  and  December  31,  1843,  that  thirty- 
four  were,  in  all,  taken  out  in  the  names  of  Mr  J. 
T.  Russell  and  of  Mr  C.  H.  Russell,  his  brother. 


PREFACE.  XI 

Upon  Lord  George  Bentinck  and  Mr  Bowes  six 
writs  apiece  were  served  ;  four  upon  Mr  Crockford  ; 
two  apiece  upon  Colonel  Peel,  Mr  Charles  Greville, 
and  Mr  Henry  Hill ;  while  the  Earl  of  Eglinton, 
Sir  William  H.  Gregory,  Mr  John  Gully,  Mr  Peter 
Cloves,  Mr  Henry  Justice,  Mr  John  Baily,  and  Mr 
John  Greatrex  escaped  with  one  apiece.  The 
ninth  of  Queen  Anne,  cap.  xiv.,  on  which  these 
actions  were  based,  provided  that  any  amount  in 
excess  of  £10  which  was  won  or  lost  by  betting 
could  be  sued  for  and  recovered,  together  with 
treble  the  amount  so  won  or  lost,  at  the  suit  of  a 
common  informer.  It  was  stated  in  the  House  of 
Lords  by  Lord  Brougham  on  February  8,  1844, 
that  the  penalties  sought  to  be  recovered  under 
these  thirty-four  writs  amounted  to  nearly  half  a 
million  of  money.  Only  one  of  these  "  Qui  tarn" 
actions  went  into  court.  On  August  8,  1844,  the 
case  of  "  Russell  v.  Lord  George  Bentinck  "  came 
on  for  trial  at  Guildford  Assizes.  The  plaintiff  de- 
clared that  "on  the  Derby  Day  in  1843,  John 
Barham  Day  did,  by  betting  on  a  horse-race,  con- 
trary to  the  statute  of  Queen  Anne,  lose  the  sum 
of  £3000  to  Lord  George  Bentinck,  the  defendant, 
who  was  sued  to  recover  from  him  the  said  sum  of 
£3000,  together  with  treble  the  value  thereof, 
making  altogether  the  sum  of  £12,000."  The 


xii  PREFACE. 

plaintiff,  however,  lost  his  case  from  failing  to  prove 
that  Lord  George  made  the  bet  with  John  Barham 
Day,  as  Mr  Gully,  with  whom  Lord  George  betted, 
deposed  that  he  took  the  bet  on  his  own  account. 

In  the  following  volume  it  will  be  made  apparent 
that  the  scoundrels  who  sought,  in  revenge  for 
their  banishment  from  Goodwood  and  other  race- 
courses, to  administer  a  death-blow  to  the  British 
Turf  by  making  it  impossible  for  betting,  which 
was  then  and  is  still  its  necessary  concomitant 
and  adjunct,  to  take  place  any  longer,  found  a 
formidable  antagonist  in  Lord  George  'Bentinck. 
At  his  instance  the  "  Manly  Sports  Bill,"  by  which 
the  obsolete  statute  of  Queen  Anne  was  repealed, 
and  its  penalties  abolished,  was  read  for  the  first 
time  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  February  1,  1844, 
011  the  motion  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond.  Follow- 
ing upon  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  bill,  it  was 
resolved  that  the  whole  subject  of  Betting  and 
Gaming  should  be  referred  to  Select  Committees 
of  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  and  even  at  the 
present  day  their  two  Reports  may  be  studied 
with  interest  and  advantage.  I  have  thought 
it  desirable  to  recapitulate  in  the  fewest  possible 
words  the  circumstances  under  which  Lord  George 
Bentinck  became,  in  1843,  the  acknowledged  Dicta- 
tor of  the  British  Turf.  Long  before  that  year, 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

however,  he  had  shown  by  repeated  examples 
that  the  racing  stables  over  which  he  presided 
were  looked  after  with  a  vigilance,  and  directed 
with  an  intelligence,  to  which  no  other  like  estab- 
lishments could  exhibit  a  parallel.  That  he  was 
ably,  loyally,  and  faithfully  sustained  and  seconded 
by  his  latest  trainers,  Mr  John  Kent  and  his 
father,  will  be  abundantly  proved  in  the  following 
pages.  Undoubtedly  the  most  trying  episode 
of  the  younger  Mr  John  Kent's  career  was  that 
connected  with  Surplice's  Derby  in  1848,  when 
Lord  George  Bentinck  had  quitted  the  Turf  in 
order  to  devote  himself  with  characteristic  energy 
to  the  pursuit  of  politics.  With  what  anxious 
solicitude  Lord  Clifden's  splendid  colt  Surplice  was 
guarded  against  the  machinations  of  his  enemies 
has  never  before  been  stated  in  print.  It  should, 
however,  be  added  that,  in  consequence  of  the  fatal 
mistake  as  to  the  comparative  merits  of  Surplice 
and  Loadstone,  for  which  the  Hon.  Francis  Villiers 
was  responsible,  Mr  John  Kent  was  not  only 
unrewarded  for  his  fidelity  and  vigilance,  but 
was  actually  a  loser  upon  the  only  Derby  winner 
ever  sent  forth  from  the  Goodwood  stable. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Lord  George 
Bentinck  would  have  made  ample  provision  for 
the  faithful  trainer  who  has  devoted  this  volume 


XIV  PREFACE. 

to  his  much-loved  master's  memory,  had  his  life 
been  spared  for  a  few  more  years.  Cut  off,  how- 
ever, as  he  was,  in  the  prime  of  his  manhood,  no 
opportunity  was  afforded  him  of  leaving  a  sum  of 
money  to  the  attached  and  loyal  servant  who  has 
already  outlived  him  for  nearly  forty-four  years. 

It  was  destined,  however,  before  the  end  of  Mr 
Kent's  life,  that  a  tribute  to  his  merit  should  be 
offered  by  one  in  whose  veins  runs  the  generous 
blood  of  the  noble  owner  of  Crucifix  and  Miss 
Elis.  Thus  in  1889  it  was  made  known  to  the 
present  Duke  of  Portland  that  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck's  trainer  was  passing  his  declining  years  in 
greatly  reduced  circumstances,  sickness,  and  ob- 
scurity. Forthwith  the  present  head  of  the  great 
House  of  Bentinck  displayed  unprecedented  kind- 
ness and  liberality  towards  this  old  and  loyal 
servant  of  the  family.  Ever  since  that  day  the 
present  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Portland  have  lost 
no  opportunity  of  showing  attention  in  a  thou- 
sand ways  to  the  inspirer  of  the  following  pages. 

Before  closing  these  remarks,  I  wish  to  put  upon 
record  the  obligations  which  I  owe  in  more  than 
one  quarter  for  guidance  and  assistance  of  the  most 
valuable  kind.  Among  others,  Mr  W.  H.  Langley, 
well  known  under  the  name  of  "Pavo"  as  the 
sporting  correspondent  of  '  The  Morning  Post,'  and 


PREFACE.  XV 

universally  recognised  as  one  of  the  ablest  members 
of  his  profession,  has  been  good  enough  to  read 
nearly  the  whole  of  this  work  in  MS.,  and  to  give 
it  the  benefit  of  his  corrections  and  emendations. 
Equally  great  has  been  the  interest  displayed  in  it 
by  Mr  Wilmshurst  of  Chichester,  whose  sugges- 
tions have  been  of  the  greatest  value  to  Mr  John 
Kent  and  myself.  Again,  Mr  Edmund  Tattersall, 
the  head  of  the  great  firm  whose  fame  has  gone 
forth  into  all  lands,  has  been  good  enough  to 
enlighten  me  upon  many  subjects  connected  with 
Lord  George  Bentinck's  eventful  history.  Finally, 
the  skill,  patience,  and  industry  with  which  Miss 
F.  Hays  has  supplied  Mr  Kent  with  information 
by  hunting  out  and  verifying  references  bearing 
upon  its  composition,  is  deserving  of  the  highest 
commendation  and  gratitude  from  its  author  and 
myself. 

In  the  hope  that  Lord  George  Bentinck's  claim 
to  be  regarded  as  the  most  remarkable  racing  man 
of  the  nineteenth  century  will  be  cheerfully  con- 
ceded by  intelligent  readers  of  the  following  pages, 
I  now  commend  them  to  the  public,  by  whose  im- 
partial verdict  they  will  stand  or  fall. 

FRANCIS    LAWLEY. 

LONDON,  Sept.  14,  1892. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.    BIRTH,    PARENTAGE,    AND    EARLY    YEARS,  ,  .  1 

II.  NEWMARKET  AT  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  CENTURY,  25 

III.  EARLY  RACING  DAYS,  .  .  .  .  .53 

IV.  HORSE-RACING  PREVIOUS  TO  VANS,  ...  76 

V.  REMOVAL    FROM    DANEBURY,  ....          97 

vi.  LORD  GEORGE'S  SUPPORT  OF  GOODWOOD  RACES,   .   123 

VII.  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE    IN    1844,  .  .  .  .149 

VIII.  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE   IN    1845,  .  .  .  .163 

IX.  LORD    GEORGE    AS    A    LETTER- WRITER,       .  .  .        185 

X.  LATTER    HALF    OF    THE    RACING    SEASON    OF  1845,  .        213 

xi.  LORD  GEORGE'S  GAINS  IN  1844  AND  1845,      .         .      225 

XII.    THE    SALE    OF    LORD    GEORGE'S    STUD,       .  .  .-  241 

XIII.  THE    DERBY    OF    1848,  ......  272 

XIV.  LORD    GEORGE    AS    A    TURF    REFORMER,    .             .             .  296 
XV.    PERSONAL    HABITS    OF    LORD    GEORGE    BENTINCK,        .  311 

XVI.    THE    FIFTH    DUKE    OF    RICHMOND,    E.G.,  .  »,  .        332 


XV111  CONTENTS. 

XVII.    RACING     CAEEER     OF    THE     LATE     RIGHT     HON.     SIR 

WILLIAM    H.    GREGORY, 366 

XVIII.    RACING     CAREER     OF     THE     LATE     RIGHT    HON.     SIR 

WILLIAM  H.  GREGORY — continued,     .          .          .      400 

XIX.  POLITICAL  CAREER  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK,   .    426 
XX.  DEATH  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK,   f     .      .    447 


INDEX,   .  ......    471 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THE   DUKE   OF  PORTLAND,        .....  Frontispiece 

LORD    GEORGE    BENTINCK,          .  .  .  .  .To  face  p.  2 

MRS     SCOTT    AND    HER     ELDEST     DAUGHTER    (^ET.     15), 
WHO  AFTERWARDS    MARRIED    THE    FOURTH    DUKE 

OF    PORTLAND,          ......  n               4 

FOURTH    DUKE    OF    PORTLAND,              .             .                           .  n            12 

WELBECK    ABBEY,    TERRACES,  .              .              .              .            ..  ,,            22 

JOHN    KENT,              .              .             ...              .             .  ii            40 

ELIS    AND    HIS    VAN,         ......  it            68 

THE    STABLES,    GOODWOOD,         .             .             .             .             .  i.            92 

GOODWOOD    HOUSE,           .             ...             .             .             .  n          116 

FIFTH    DUKE    OF    RICHMOND,    K.G.,    IN    HIS    ROBES,          .  n          124 

CRUCIFIX  (j.  B.  DAY),  .   .      .         .         .         .          ,,       126 

LORD    GEORGE    BENTINCK's    MISS    ELIS,         .             .  .             n          180 

CAROLINE    RICHMOND, n          244 

FACSIMILE    LETTER    FROM    LORD    GEORGE    BENTINCK,  {z^anTztf 

THE    KENNELS,    GOODWOOD,        .              .    ,,        .             .  To  face  p.  270 


xx  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

SURPLICE,    .          ,  Tofacep.282 

SKETCH     OF     WELBECK     ABBEY,    BY     LADY     CHARLOTTE 

ii        318 
BENTINCK,    . 

•  >oo 
FIFTH    DUKE    OF    RICHMOND,    . 

SIR    WILLIAM    H.    GREGORY,    K.C.M.G., 

LORD    GEORGE    BENTINCK    (BUST),      . 

WELBECK    ABBEY,    FRONT    VIEW, 

THE    BENTINCK    MEMORIAL,    MANSFIELD,     .  .,466 

THE    DUCHESS    OF    PORTLAND    AND    DAUGHTER,  \    ^^  ^S  and  4W 

THE    DUKE    OF    PORTLAND, 


RACING  LIFE 


OF 


LOED  GEOEGE  CAVENDISH  BENTINCK. 


CHAPTEE    I. 
BIRTH,  PARENTAGE,  AND  EARLY  YEARS. 

LORD  WILLIAM  GEORGE  FREDERICK  CAVENDISH 
BENTINCK,  more  generally  known  as  Lord  George 
Bentinck,  was  born  on  the  27th  of  February  1802, 
and  was  the  third  son  of  the  fourth  Duke  of  Port- 
land, and  of  his  wife  Henrietta,  the  eldest  daughter 
and  coheiress  of  General  John  Scott,  of  Balcomie, 
in  Fife,  who  had  three  daughters,  distinguished 
from  each  other  as  "  the  rich  Miss  Scott,"  "  the 
witty  Miss  Scott,"  and  "the  pretty  Miss  Scott." 
The  "  rich  Miss  Scott "  married  the  Marquis  of 
Titchfield,  afterwards  fourth  Duke  of  Portland  ;  the 
"  witty  Miss  Scott"  married  the  Eight  Honourable 
George  Canning,  M.P.  ;  and  the  "  pretty  Miss 


2  EARLY   YEARS. 

Scott"  married  the  Honourable  F.  Stewart,  after- 
wards Earl  of  Moray. 

The  "rich  Miss  Scott,"  afterwards  Duchess  of 
Portland  and  mother  of  Lord  George  Bentinck, 
was  an  exceedingly  kind  and  charitable  lady, 
always  ready  to  supply  necessaries  and  comforts 
to  the  poor,  especially  when  sick  or  in  distress. 
Her  sympathy  was  as  unbounded  as  her  disposi- 
tion was  generous.  She  took  the  liveliest  inter- 
est in  everything  connected  with  the  manage- 
ment of  her  husband's  household  and  estates, 
and  was  an  excellent  woman  of  business.  As 
her  Grace  declined  in  years  she  became  very 
retiring  in  her  habits,  shunning  the  company  of 
strangers  as  much  as  possible.  Indeed  during  the 
last  years  of  her  life,  which  ended  in  May  1844, 
she  was  often  unseen  by  the  guests  whom  the 
Duke,  her  husband,  entertained  at  Welbeck  Abbey 
for  many  days. 

A  few  reminiscences  of  Lord  George  Bentinck 
may  not  be  uninteresting  to  those  of  a  later 
generation  who  have  heard  of  his  Lordship's  dis- 
tinguished life  and  strongly  marked  character ; 
for,  with  the  exception  of  the  Bight  Hon.  B. 
Disraeli's  political  biography  of  his  Lordship,  no 
other  memorial  work  has  ever  been  attempted. 
I  am  therefore  induced,  through  the  repeated 
solicitations  of  friends,  to  commit  to  paper  a 
few  recollections  of  my  noble  master,  whom  I 
had  the  opportunity  of  knowing  thoroughly  from 


^A^VCUJt^C., 


A    LABOUR   OF    LOVE.  3 

long  acquaintance  with  his  character,  disposition, 
and  habits.  It  is  a  duty  of  which  I  have  long 
desired  to  acquit  myself,  but  which  other  avoca- 
tions have  led  me  to  defer  until,  at  my  compara- 
tively advanced  age,  I  feel  hardly  competent  to  do 
justice  to  the  many  great  qualities  and  exceptional 
merits  which  made  Lord  George  Bentinck  the  most 
remarkable  man  that  I  ever  knew.  To  me,  how- 
ever, it  will  be  a  labour  of  love  to  put  down  what 
I  remember  of  my  dear  and  honoured  master,  who 
was  pleased  to  repose  in  my  father  and  myself  a 
confidence,  and  to  admit  us  to  an  intimacy,  which 
were,  to  say  the  least,  unusual  when  our  relative 
stations  in  life  are  borne  in  mind.  Nor,  in  asso- 
ciation with  Lord  George  Bentinck,  ought  I  to 
omit  to  mention,  in  the  most  respectful,  loving, 
and  grateful  terms,  the  name  of  Lord  George's 
confederate  and  valued  friend,  the  fifth  Duke  of 
Richmond,  who  was  my  father's  and  my  own 
master  long  before  Lord  George  joined  the  Good- 
wood stable,  and  long  after  he  left  it.  His  Grace 
was  one  of  those  high-minded,  large-hearted,  and 
happily  constituted  noblemen  whom  to  know  was 
to  love ;  and  I  verily  believe  that  never  before 
did  it  fall  to  the  lot  of  any  trainer  to  serve  two 
such  masters.  In  the  reports  occasionally  given 
of  them  in  newspapers  and  magazines,  which  have 
from  time  to  time  come  under  my  eye,  there  is  so 
much  inaccuracy,  and  in  the  case  of  Lord  George 
Bentinck  often  so  much  injustice,  that  I  feel  it 


4  EARLY   YEARS. 

incumbent  upon  me  to  tell  to  the  best  of  my  ability 
the  story  of  his  racing  life  as  I  knew  and  saw  it 
from  day  to  day.  Having  known  the  Turf  and  all 
its  prominent  patrons  more  or  less  intimately  for 
nearly  sixty  years,  I  can  conscientiously  aver  that 
the  century  which  is  now  so  near  its  end  has  pro- 
duced but  one  Lord  George  Bentinck.  To  this 
conviction  I  hope  to  gain  the  assent  of  those  of 
my  readers  who  have  the  patience  to  read  this 
book  from  its  first  page  to  its  last,  and  to  forgive 
its  many  imperfections  and  shortcomings. 

At  an  early  age  it  was  thought  desirable  that 
Lord  George,  after  leaving  Eton,  should  have  some 
profession,  and  he  entered  the  army,  by  joining  the 
9th  Lancers,  and  eventually  attained  the  rank  of 
Major  in  the  2d  Life  Guards  ;  but/  as  a  military 
career  offered  him  little  prospect  of  profit  or  pro- 
motion, and  as  he  was  far  from  being  insensible  to 
the  attractions  of  London  society,  he  retired  from 
the  army  in  1827. 

The  celebrated  George  Canning,  who  had  mar- 
ried the  sister  of  Lord  George's  mother,  found  in 
his  Lordship  one  of  the  best  and  most  energetic 
of  private  secretaries  ;  for  he  had  all  the  qualities, 
such  as  sagacity,  grace  of  manner,  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  method  in  business,  shrewdness  in 
negotiation,  and  skill  and  indefatigability  in  con- 
ducting epistolary  correspondence,  which  such  an 
office  is  generally  supposed  to  require.  At  the 
same  time,  it  presented  to  his  Lordship  one  of  the 


MRS.  SCOTT  AND  HER  ELDEST  DAUGHTER  (AET.  15), 

WHO    AFTERWARDS    MARRIED    THE    FOURTH    DUKE.    OF    PORTLAND. 


M.P.    FOR   LYNN   REGIS.  5 

most  favourable  opportunities  that  could  possibly 
arise  for  entering  upon  a  public  career. 

In  1826  Lord  George  succeeded  his  brother,  the 
Marquis  of  Titchfield,  as  member  for  Lynn  Regis, 
which  constituency  he  continued  to  represent  for 
rather  more  than  twenty  years.1  On  the  acces- 
sion of  Lord  Grey's  Administration  in  1830,  Lord 
George  was  a  general  but  independent  supporter 
of  the  Government.  In  May  1832,  when  William 
IV.  refused  to  make  new  peers,  and  Lord  Grey 
tendered  his  resignation  to  the  King,  Lord  George 
Bentinck  gave  a  stronger  proof  than  ever  of  his 
complete  independence  of  the  Whig  party,  by 
refusing  to  vote  for  Lord  Ebrington's  famous 
motion  of  unabated  confidence  in  Ministers,  which, 
being  carried  by  a  large  majority,  put  an  end  to 
the  Duke  of  Wellington's  attempt  at  the  formation 
of  an  Administration,  and  dictated  terms  of  sub- 
mission to  the  King  and  House  of  Lords. 

On  the  retirement  of  Lord  Stanley,  Sir  James 
Graham,  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  and  Lord  Ripon, 
from  Lord  Grey's  Government  in  May  1834,  Lord 
George  seceded  from  the  Whig  ranks.  On  the 
accession  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  to  office  in  December 
1834,  and  upon  the  opening  of  Parliament  in  1835, 
Lord  George  was  extremely  active  in  forming  the 
party  which  was  afterwards  nicknamed  by  Mr 
O'Connell  "  the  Derby  Dilly,"  and  for  a  period  of 

1  Parts  of  this  and  the  following  pages  are  taken  from  the  *  Annual 
Register.' 


6  EARLY    YEARS. 

eleven  years  Lord  George  remained  a  steady  sup- 
porter of  Sir  Robert  Peel. 

As  a  frequenter  of  Newmarket,  Lord  George 
was  constantly  at  work  "  whipping  "  up  the  sport- 
ing members ;  and  once,  on  the  approach  of  a  close 
division,  he  showed  his  zeal  by  bringing  up  in  his 
private  carriage  a  country  gentleman  of  very 
eccentric  habits  and  manners,  who,  absurdly 
enough,  repaid  Lord  George's  kindness  in  sub- 
mitting to  his  tedious  companionship  during  a 
journey  of  sixty  miles,  by  voting  against  the  party 
to  which  Lord  George  belonged. 

During  the  first  four  years  of  Sir  Robert  Peel's 
Administration  Lord  George  Bentinck  was  never 
absent  from  his  post.  Awake  or  asleep,  there  he 
invariably  sat,  from  the  meeting  of  the  House 
until  its  rising,  generally  occupying  the  same  seat 
on  the  back  benches  on  the  Ministerial  side. 

At  this  time  Lord  George  was  very  eager  in  his 
pursuit  of  the  chase,  and  kept  a  stud  of  hunters 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Andover  for  the  purpose 
of  hunting  with  Mr  Assheton  Smith's  celebrated 
pack  of  fox-hounds.  His  Lordship  was  a  very 
hard  rider,  and  his  custom  was,  after  a  prolonged 
debate  in  the  House,  to  rise  at  six  next  morning, 
to  start  off  from  the  London  terminus  of  the  South- 
Western  Railway  by  the  seven  o'clock  train,  have 
a  long  day's  hunting,  and  return  by  the  same 
route  to  take  his  seat  once  more  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  wearing  a 


"PINK"    IN    PARLIAMENT. 


light  -  coloured  zephyr  paletot  above  his  scarlet 
coat,  and,  fully  accoutred  in  leathers  and  top-boots, 
he  would  enter  the  House,  and  sit  out  another 
long  debate.  Many  a  joke  was  indulged  in  by  his 
brother  members  on  seeing  the  red  collar  of  his 
hunting-coat  peeping  out  from  under  his  surtout ; 
and  he  was  perhaps  the  only  member  ever  seen 
of  late  years  in  the  House  of  Commons  in  "  pink." 
Often  on  these  occasions  has  Sir  Thomas  Fremantle, 
then  Secretary  to  the  Treasury  and  Whip  to  the 
Conservative  party,  been  heard  to  remark  to  some 
official  members,  "  How  I  wish  you  gentlemen 
would  take  example  from  George  Bentinck  !  Look 
at  him  ;  his  attendance  is  worth  all  yours  put 
together,  as  he  is  independent  of  us,  whereas 
you  are  office  -  holders."  Constantly  would  his 
Lordship  give  his  official  friends  a  good  scold- 
ing when  he  caught  them  coming  in  late  for  a 
division. 

It  is  not  my  business,  nor  indeed  do  I  pos- 
sess the  ability,  to  comment  with  discrimination 
upon  Lord  George's  political  career  from  the  day 
when  he  first  entered  Parliament  in  1826,  as 
member  for  King's  Lynn,  until  the  sadly  memor- 
able 21st  of  September  1848,  when  he  was  found 
dead  outside  the  deer-park  at  Welbeck  Abbey. 
I  must,  however,  claim  the  privilege  of  an  old  and 
attached  servant  to  bear  my  humble  testimony 
to  the  qualifications  possessed  by  my  noble  master, 
which,  despite  the  opinion  of  Mr  Greville  to  the 


8  EARLY   YEARS. 

contrary,  would  in  my  judgment  have  made  him 
a  great  success  in  public  life.  Mr  Greville  says 
that  "  Lord  George  never  was,  and  never  would 
have  been,  anything  like  a  statesman."  With  all 
deference  to  Mr  Greville,  I  cannot  but  think  that 
Lord  George  had  one  gift  which  few  statesmen 
possess — a  determination  never  to  speak  upon  any 
subject  until  he  had  mastered  its  every  detail.  I 
never  saw  or  heard  of  his  equal  in  industry,  per- 
severance, and  powers  of  long  -  sustained  applica- 
tion. Like  all  of  his  race,  he  became  sleepy  after 
eating  heartily,  and  it  was  his  practice  not  to 
touch  food,  after  partaking  of  a  very  moderate 
breakfast  at  half-past  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
until  he  left  the  House  of  Commons  at  night.  It 
was  then  his  habit  to  dine  at  White's  Club,  in  St 
James's  Street,  at  a  very  late  hour,  varying 
between  11  P.M.  and  2  A.M.  I  have  heard  that 
the  cook  at  White's  Club  gave  warning  to  throw 
up  his  engagement  —  a  very  lucrative  one,  as  I 
believe  he  was  in  receipt  of  £500  a -year  —  on 
account  of  the  late  hours  at  which  Lord  George 
dined.  To  show  Lord  George's  indomitable  energy, 
I  remember  that  after  his  lamented  death,  Gardner, 
his  valet,  told  me  that  his  Lordship's  positive 
orders  were  that,  however  sound  asleep,  he  was 
to  be  called  at  half-past  seven  A.M.,  although  he 
often  did  not  get  to  bed  until  four  or  even  half- 
past  four  in  the  morning. 

Furthermore,  I  find  the  following  passage  in  Mr 


LORD    GEORGE  S   STATESMANSHIP. 

Greville's  e  Diary,'  written  three  years  after  Lord 
George's  death  : — 

"November  24,  1851. — Yesterday  morning  Dis- 
raeli called  on  me  to  speak  about  his  work,  '  The 
Life  of  Lord  George  Bentinck,'  which  he  is  just 
going  to  bring  out.  I  find  that  he  means  to 
confine  it  to  his  hero's  political  career,  and  to 
keep  clear  of  racing,  and  of  his  antecedent  life. 
He  seems  to  have  formed  a  very  just  conception 
of  him,  having,  however,  seen  the  best  of  him, 
and  therefore  taking  a  more  favourable  view  of 
his  character  than  I,  who  knew  him  longer  and 
better,  could  do.  I  asked  Disraeli,  '  Supposing 
George  Bentinck  had  lived,  what  he  thought  he 
would  have  done,  and  how  he  would  have  suc- 
ceeded as  a  Minister  and  leader  of  a  Govern- 
ment in  the  House  of  Commons  ? '  He  said  he 
would  have  failed.  There  were  defects  in  his 
education  and  want  of  flexibility  in  his  character. 
In  his  speaking  there  were  physical  defects  he 
never  could  have  got  over.  Disraeli  added,  what 
is  very  true,  that  he  had  not  a  particle  of  conceit; 
he  was  very  obstinate,  but  had  no  vanity." 

I  must  venture  to  demur  to  the  truth  of  this 
prophecy,  although  emanating  from  such  high 
authorities  as  Mr  Disraeli  and  Mr  Greville,  by 
repeating  what  I  have  myself  heard  from  equally 
high  authorities.  I  have  been  told  that  the  late 


10  EARLY   YEARS. 

Duke  of  Richmond,  the  late  Earls  of  Derby  and 
Strafford,  General  Peel,  and  Colonel  Anson  stated 
repeatedly  that  never  yet  was  there  a  parliamen- 
tary speaker  who  improved  so  much  in  two  years 
as  Lord  George  Bentinck  did.  I  think  the  fol- 
lowing passage,  to  which  a  friend  has  kindly 
called  my  attention,  is  more  just  to  Lord  George's 
character,  foresight,  and  ability  as  a  statesman, 
than  it  was  possible  for  Mr  Greville  to  be.  It 
appeared  in  '  The  Life  of  the  Prince  Consort,'  by 
Sir  Theodore  Martin,  and  ran  as  follows  : — 

"  On  February  4,  1847,  Lord  George  Bentinck, 
who  had  expressed  himself,  during  the  debate  on 
the  Queen's  Speech,  as  dissatisfied  with  the  Min- 
isterial measures  for  the  relief  of  Ireland,  brought 
forward  a  very  carefully  devised  and  comprehen- 
sive scheme  of  permanent  relief  in  the  shape  of 
advances  to  the  extent  of  sixteen  millions,  to  be 
made  by  the  Government  for  the  construction  of 
railways  in  Ireland.  Powers  for  construction  of 
these  railways  had  been  already  granted,  and  the 
Government  advances  were  to  come  in  supple- 
ment of  eight  millions  to  be  provided  by  the 
companies  authorised  to  construct  them,  but  which 
they  were  unable  to  raise  in  the  prostrate  condi- 
tion of  the  country.  The  scheme  was  enforced 
with  all  that  minute  accuracy  of  statistical  detail 
and  careful  anticipation  of  practical  difficulties 
which  distinguished  its  author.  Much  might 


INSTANCE    OF   HIS    FORESIGHT.  11 

have  been  done  had  labour  been  directed  to  such 
works  of  permanent  utility  as  railways  from  the 
futile  operations  to  which  it  had  been  applied 
under  the  Government  grants  of  the  previous 
session.  A  large  portion  of  the  public  money, 
instead  of  being  absolutely  wasted,  would  have 
created  a  permanent  source  of  national  wealth, 
and  developed  the  resources  of  the  country  many 
years  in  advance  of  what  was  otherwise  possible." 

My  only  remark  upon  this  passage  is,  that  Mr 
Balfour,  the  late  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland, 
and  leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  is,  I  be- 
lieve, engaged  in  giving  effect  to  Lord  George's 
well-considered  proposals  delivered  nearly  half  a 
century  since.  I  base  my  own  confident  convic- 
tions that  Lord  George  Bentinck,  had  he  been 
spared,  would  have  played  a  very  distinguished 
part  in  public  life,  upon  one  fact  alone — I  never 
knew  him  to  fail  in  anything  to  which  he  gave  his 
serious  attention  and  which  he  took  in  hand  in 
earnest.  Whether  he  would  have  remained  in 
Parliament  after  the  final  defeat  of  Protection  I 
will  not  venture  to  say  ;  and  my  reason  for  enter- 
taining doubts  on  the  subject  will  be  found  in  the 
account,  subsequently  given,  of  my  last  interview 
with  his  Lordship. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  chapter  without  adding 
a  few  particulars  about  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
father,  the  fourth  Duke  of  Portland,  who  was  well 


12  EARLY   YEARS. 

known  to  my  father  and  to  my  father's  contem- 
poraries. His  Grace  possessed  so  many  admirable 
qualities,  both  as  a  landlord  and  as  a  patron  of  the 
Turf,  that  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  rescue  some  of 
them  from  oblivion ;  and  all  the  more  so  because 
the  influence  of  great  territorial  magnates  is  pass- 
ing away  in  this  country — not,  as  I  venture  humbly 
to  believe,  for  our  country's  good.  It  will  perhaps 
be  remembered  by  some  of  my  readers  that  in 
one  of  his  letters  to  '  The  Times,'  Admiral  Rons 
remarked  that  during  his  long  experience  of  the 
Turf  he  had  known  but  two  men — the  fourth  Duke 
of  Portland  and  the  fifth  Earl  of  Glasgow — who 
raced  from  pure  disinterested  love  of  sport,  and 
without  harbouring  a  single  mercenary  thought 
in  their  breasts.  From  what  I  have  heard,  there 
never  yet  was  a  supporter  of  horse-racing  who  took 
more  pleasure  than  did  the  fourth  Duke  of  Port- 
land in  breeding,  rearing,  and  racing  his  own 
thoroughbred  stock.  For  that  purpose  he  kept  a 
few  well-selected  brood  mares  at  Welbeck  Abbey, 
where  he  caused  their  produce  to  be  broken  as 
yearlings,  and  to  be  exercised  and  trained  as  two- 
year-olds  until  the  Doncaster  September  meeting 
was  over.  At  the  end  of  September  his  Grace 
engaged  some  four  or  five  good  jockeys  to  come  to 
Welbeck  in  order  to  try  his  two-year-olds,  the  best 
and  most  promising  of  which  he  sent  to  New- 
market to  be  trained  by  Richard  Prince.  His 
Grace  deemed  it  to  be  a  matter  of  prime  import- 


FOURTH    DUKE    OF    PORTLAND.  13 

ance  that  his  young  colts  and  fillies  should  be 
made  very  tractable  and  quiet,  and  for  this  purpose 
he  insisted  that  they  should  be  familiarised  with, 
and  accustomed  to,  every  object  and  every  sound 
that  was  likely  to  render  them  nervous  and  timid.1 
The  number  of  horses  kept  in  training  by  his 
Grace  was  always  limited,  as  in  the  course  of  some 
years  he  did  not  annually  start  more  than  three  or 
four  animals.  One  good  horse,  Tiresias  by  Sooth- 
sayer, he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  breed,  and  with 
him  won  the  Derby  in  1819,  beating  Mr  Crock- 
ford's  Sultan  and  Lord  Rous's  Euphrates  (both 
good  horses)  and  twelve  other  starters.  Tiresias 
was  a  sound  and  powerful  horse,  and  won  nine 
times  as  a  three-year-old,  and  five  times  as  a 
four-year-old,  over  all  distances.  Next  year  he 
was  put  to  the  stud,  where  he  proved  a  most 
unsuccessful  stallion.  So  infatuated,  however, 
was  his  princely  owner  about  him,  that,  in  spite 


*In  his  'Silk  and  Scarlet'  Mr  Henry  Dixon  ("The  Druid") 
remarks  :  "  Like  all  Lord  Fitzwilliam's  horses  when  Scaife  trained 
them,  Mulatto  was  very  badly  broken.  Clift,  the  jockey,  used  to 
say  of  him,  and  in  fact  of  every  one  of  them,  'Here's  a  pretty  brute! 
I  never  get  on  one  on  'em  but  I've  a  good  chance  of  breaking  my 
neck  ;  no  mouth,  no  nothing.  I've  all  to  make.'  Welbeck,  on  the 
contrary,  was  quite  as  remarkable  for  the  height  to  which  it  carried 
its  breaking.  The  fourth  Duke  of  Portland  used  to  say  that  a  horse 
should  never  go  on  to  a  race-course  till  it  could  face  anything.  Hence, 
in  order  to  complete  their  education  they  were  marched  over  and  over 
again  past  a  drum  and  fife  band,  with  a  flag  flying,  in  the  park  ;  and 
so  many  screws  of  powder  were  let  off  in  the  corn-bin  that  at  last 
they  would  hardly  lift  their  heads  out  of  the  manger  for  a  pistol 
report." 


14  EARLY   YEARS. 

of  continued  disappointments,  he  insisted  upon 
persevering  with  him,  in  the  confident  belief  that 
one  day  he  would  become  the  sire  of  a  great  horse. 
Although  a  good  honest  runner  himself,  Tiresias 
was  the  son  of  Soothsayer,  whose  progeny  were 
for  the  most  part  big  and  good  looking,  but  very 
uncertain  customers.  In  short,  Tiresias  proved  to 
be  as  great  a  failure  at  the  stud  as  Bay  Middleton 
was,  so  long  as  he  remained  the  property  of  Lord 
George  Bentinck.  At  last,  his  Grace  resolved  to 
have  recourse  to  better  sires  than  the  Derby 
winner  of  1819,  and  in  1838  his  bay  colt  Boeotian, 
by  Taurus,  won  eight  races,  including  the  Column 
and  Newmarket  Stakes,  and  the  St  James's  Palace 
Stakes  at  Ascot. 

Never  yet  was  there  a  more  enthusiastic  lover 
of  Newmarket  Heath,  a  large  portion  of  which  he 
owned,  than  Lord  George  Bentihck's  father.  His 
Grace  was  never  absent  from  a  Newmarket  race 
meeting  until  old  age  prevented  his  attending  ;  and 
the  training-gallops  and  race-course  at  "  the  little 
town  in  Cambridgeshire  "  were  constantly  receiving 
his  attention,  which  involved  the  outlay  of  con- 
siderable sums  of  money.  At  the  beginning  of 
this  century  a  large  portion  of  what  was  called 
"  the  new  ground  "  on  either  side  of  "  the  Flat " 
was  covered  with  furze-bushes,  which  his  Grace 
caused  to  be  stubbed  up  and  cleared  away.  The 
land  was  then  ploughed  and  sown  with  cole-seed 
or  rape,  which  was  fed  off  with  sheep  and  then 


"A  MORTA'  GOOD  OLD  CHAP."  15 

laid  down  in  grass.  His  Grace  next  proceeded  to 
purchase  some  land  which  lay  contiguous  to  the 
above-mentioned  "  new  ground,"  so  as  to  prevent 
its  ever  falling  into  the  hands  of  some  purchaser 
who  might  not  be  favourably  disposed  towards  the 
Turf.  Since  that  time  the  land  in  question  has 
been  known  as  "  the  Portland  farm,"  and  portions 
of  it  have  been  added  to  the  Heath.  He  also 
built  the  Portland  Stand,  at  the  end  of  the  Beacon 
course,  where  the  Criterion  and  Cambridgeshire 
courses  finished. 

I  remember  a  characteristic  story  which  was 
told  not  long  after  his  Grace  made  the  purchase 
to  which  I  have  just  alluded.  In  riding  for  the 
first  time  over  the  ground,  he  encountered  a 
shepherd,  from  whom  he  inquired  "  whether  he 
knew  where  the  land  lay  which  the  Duke  of  Port- 
land had  just  bought  ?  "  The  shepherd  pointed  to 
the  spot  on  which  they  were  standing,  exclaiming, 
"  This  be  part  of  it."  As  they  proceeded  over  the 
property  the  shepherd,  little  knowing  to  whom 
he  was  speaking,  volunteered  the  remark,  "  I  be 
moighty  glad  t'  Duke  of  Portland  'ave  bought 
this  'ere  farm,  because  he  be  a  morta'  good  old 
chap." 

"  And  what  makes  you  consider  him  '  a  morta' 
good  old  chap '  ?  "  inquired  the  Duke,  smiling. 

"  Because  he's  good  to  's  poor,  and  finds  work 
for  a  lot  o'  we,"  replied  the  unconscious  guide. 

During  the  intervals  between  the  various  race 


16  EARLY   YEARS. 

meetings  the  Duke  almost  always  remained  at 
Newmarket,  and  busied  himself  in  effecting  altera- 
tions and  improvements  upon  the  Heath.  For 
this  purpose  he  employed  many  hands,  and  rode 
about  among  them  inspecting  the  work,  and  en- 
couraging them  here  and  there  by  a  few  words  of 
praise.  A  groom  led  the  Duke's  black  cob  about 
the  Heath  as  he  walked  among  the  labourers,  and 
in  this  way  many  hours  of  each  day  were  spent. 
His  Grace  was  always  an  excellent  pedestrian,  and 
I  have  known  him  walk  home  two  or  three  miles 
in  heavy  rain,  followed  by  his  groom  leading  the 
well-known  black  cob. 

During  the  races  the  Duke  had  a  waggon  fitted 
up  as  a  movable  stand,  and  supplied  with  every 
convenience.  After  he  had  seen  the  competing 
horses  saddled  at  the  Ditch  stables,  he  would  get 
into  his  waggon,  which  was  drawn  up  near  the 
Bushes,  and  would  watch  through  a  powerful 
telescope  the  running  of  the  horses  in  the  race. 
As  they  drew  near  to  his  "  coign  of  vantage,"  he 
would  announce  in  a  loud  voice  what  their  relative 
positions  were,  and  their  respective  chances  of 
winning.  Although  his  Grace  never  betted  a 
shilling,  and  indeed  held  the  practice  in  utter 
detestation,  I  have  never  known  any  one  who  took 
such  keen  interest  in  racing  as  he  did.  He  had 
an  eye,  and  an  exceedingly  discriminating  one  too, 
for  the  riding  of  each  jockey,  as  I  have  often  had 
an  opportunity  of  remarking  when  he  permitted 


THE   DUKE'S   IMPROVEMENTS.  17 

me  to  occupy  a  place  in  his  covered  waggon.  His 
Grace's  long  and  powerful  telescope  is  now  in  my 
possession,  as  he  gave  it  to  Lord  George  Bentinck 
when  advancing  age  prevented  him  attending  the 
Newmarket  meeting  any  more,  and  Lord  George 
gave  it  to  me  when  he  sold  his  stud  in  1846. 

Although  his  Grace  never  took  a  very  active 
part  in  political  life,  there  were  few  noblemen  who 
devoted  themselves  more  energetically  to  improv- 
ing their  estates  than  he  did.  Being  the  most 
practical  of  men,  he  was  well  aware  that  a 
thorough  and  exhaustive  drainage  of  land  was 
needed  to  bring  his  Welbeck  estates  into  a  condi- 
tion to  produce  abundant  crops.  With  this  end 
in  view  he  drained  thousands  of  acres,  many  of 
them  at  the  cost  of  £100  per  acre. 

I  cannot  give  a  better  illustration  of  the  mag- 
nitude of  his  Grace's  expenditure  upon  his  property 
than  by  quoting  the  following  passage  from  the 
last  edition  of  Mr  John  Murray's  '  Handbook  to 
Nottinghamshire.'  The  writer  says  :— 

"  At  two  and  a  half  miles  from  Mansfield  a  road 
leads  by  Clipstone  and  Edwinstowe  to  Ollerton, 
seven  miles  distant  from  Mansfield.  Clipstone  is 
an  estate  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Portland,  and 
the  road  to  it  runs  by  the  side  of  a  canal  of  irri- 
gation, formed  by  the  fourth  Duke  at  an  expense 
of  £80,000,  and  called  'The  Duke's  Flood-Dyke.' 
By  it  the  stream  of  the  river  Mann,  augmented 

B 


18  EARLY   YEARS. 

by  the  sewage  and  washings  of  the  town  of  Mans- 
field, is  distributed  by  minor  cuts,  tiled  drains, 
and  sluice-gates  along  the  slopes  below  it,  con- 
verting the  previously  barren  valley,  whose  sides 
were  a  rabbit-warren  overgrown  with  heath  and 
gorse,  and  its  bottom  a  swamp,  producing  hassocks 
and  rushes,  into  a  most  productive  tract  of  meadow 
and  pasture  land,  yielding  three  crops  of  grass 
annually.  The  river  is  diverted  near  the  vale- 
head,  and  led  along  the  hillside  ;  and  the  bottom 
has  been  drained.  The  canal  extends  to  near 
Ollerton,  and  the  latter  portion  of  it  is  applied  to 
the  lands  of  Earl  Manvers. 

"These  famous  meadows  have  been  often  quoted, 
together  with  those  near  Edinburgh,  in  sanitary 
and  agricultural  discussions.  The  canal  -  water, 
after  depositing  all  its  more  valuable  ingredients 
upon  the  land,  runs  off  through  the  bottom  of  the 
valley  in  a  stream  as  clear  as  crystal  and  full  of 
trout,  though  angling  is  forbidden.  The  domain 
of  Clipstone  exhibits  a  fine  specimen  of  good  farm- 
ing, and  is  well  worth  a  visit  from  all  interested 
in  agricultural  improvements." 

One  of  his  Grace's  favourite  undertakings  was 
to  transplant  large  oak-trees  by  the  aid  of  very 
powerful  machinery  ;  and  so  successfully  was  this 
effected,  that  many  of  these  trees  are  now  great 
ornaments  of  the  park  at  Welbeck.  Clad  in 
appropriate  costume — that  is  to  say,  in  a  rough 


THE   DUKE'S    KINDNESS.  19 

coat  and  long  waterproof  boots  reaching  up  to  his 
hips  —  the  Duke  personally  superintended  the 
draining  operations  of  his  labourers,  and  would 
not  permit  the  tiles  to  be  laid  until  he  was  satis- 
fied that  there  was  sufficient  fall  to  carry  off  the 
water. 

Lord  George  Bentinck,  as  was  natural,  took 
great  interest  in  all  his  father's  proceedings  at 
Welbeck,  and  often  remarked  to  me,  when  en- 
gaged in  grubbing  up  trees  on  the  Goodwood 
estate  in  order  to  make  gallops  for  his  race-horses, 
that  his  father,  if  they  had  belonged  to  him, 
would  have  transplanted  them  with  his  powerful 
engines. 

In  every  relation  of  life  the  fourth  Duke  of 
Portland  was  one  of  the  kindest  and  most  consid- 
erate of  men.  When  any  matter  was  referred  to 
him,  he  never  came  to  a  decision  without  the  full- 
est and  most  patient  inquiry.  I  remember  hear- 
ing that  on  one  occasion  the  house -steward  at 
Welbeck  suggested  to  his  Grace  the  propriety  of 
making  a  reduction  in  the  wages  of  the  household 
servants.  "  By  all  means,"  replied  the  Duke,  "  if 
you  deem  it  advisable  ;  but  in  that  case  it  is  of 
course  to  be  understood  that  I  begin  with  you  ! " 
I  need  hardly  add  that  nothing  further  was  heard 
of  the  house-steward's  suggestion,  or  of  another  in 
which  he  represented  that  it  was  a  piece  of  un- 
heard-of extravagance  and  luxury  for  the  servants 
to  have  fires  in  their  bedrooms.  "You  may  stop 


20  EARLY   YEARS. 

the  practice  if  you  like,"  said  the  Duke,  "  but  not 
until  you  first  set  the  example  yourself." 

It  was  the  Duke's  invariable  habit  to  sit  down 
to  dinner  exactly  at  6.30  P.M.,  and  such  was  his 
punctuality  that  nothing  would  induce  him  to  wait 
for  any  guest,  however  distinguished,  who  might 
be  staying  at  Welbeck.  The  same  rigorous 
punctuality  was  observed  by  him  in  every  other 
transaction,  but  I  cannot  say  that  it  was  inherited 
by  Lord  George  Bentinck.  to  whose  nature  it  was 
foreign.  Such  was  his  Grace's  consideration  for 
others,  that,  upon  hearing  that  one  of  his  tenants 
had  given  notice  to  leave  his  farm,  he  sent  for  the 
man  and  inquired  why  he  had  taken  this  step  ? 
"  Because,  your  Grace,"  he  replied,  "  I  have  not 
enough  money  to  cultivate  my  farm  properly." 
"What  do  you  intend  doing?"  was  the  next 
question.  "  I  thought  of  taking  a  small  dairy- 
farm,  your  Grace."  "  Would  you  not  prefer 
remaining  in  your  own  house,  to  which  you  are 
accustomed,"  was  the  kind  inquiry  made  by  the 
Duke,  "  and  carrying  on  the  farm  for  me,  if  I  paid 
you  for  doing  so  ? "  "I  should,  indeed,  prefer 
that,  your  Grace."  An  arrangement  was  accord- 
ingly made  to  that  effect,  and  two  or  three  years 
later  the  Duke  inquired  from  his  agent  in  what 
condition  this  particular  farm  was,  and  whether  it 
yielded  a  profit  ?  Reassured  on  this  point,  his 
Grace  sent  for  the  tenant,  and  observed  to  him, 
"  If  you  are  able  to  make  this  farm  pay  when 


THE   DUKE'S   PEDESTRIAN    POWERS.  21 

cultivating  it  for  me,  could  you  not  do  the  same 
for  yourself? "  On  receiving  an  affirmative  reply, 
the  Duke  inquired  how  much  capital  the  farmer 
needed  for  his  purpose,  and  advanced  the  sum  at 
once,  with  the  happiest  results. 

I  have  already  said  that  his  Grace  was  an 
excellent  pedestrian,  and  delighted  in  walking. 
In  one  of  the  letters  written  by  Lord  George 
Bentinck  to  Mr  Croker  in  1846,  his  Lordship 
remarks  that  he  "  believes  his  father,  then  eighty 
years  old,  was  still  equal  to  a  ten-mile  walk." 
I  remember  being  at  Harcourt  House,  Cavendish 
Square,  on  one  occasion,  when  his  Grace  announced 
his  intention  of  walking  to  some  place  a  long  way 
off.  To  this  his  two  daughters,  Lady  Charlotte 
Bentinck,  afterwards  Viscountess  Ossington,  and 
Lady  Lucy,  now  the  Dowager  Lady  Howard  de 
Walden,  vehemently  objected,  and  begged  their 
father  to  order  his  carriage  to  the  door.  His  Grace 
scornfully  repudiated  the  idea  that  the  distance 
was  too  long  for  him  to  accomplish  on  foot,  and 
offered  there  and  then  to  run  either  of  the  young 
ladies  round  the  garden  behind  Harcourt  House. 
The  challenge  was  accepted  by  Lady  Charlotte, 
and  after  an  exciting  race  she  won,  as  it  were, 
cleverly  by  a  head,  to  her  own  great  delight. 

There  is  not  one  member  of  this  noble  family  to 
whom  I  do  not  personally  owe  a  deep  debt  of 
gratitude.  Hearing  of  my  only  son's  dangerous 
illness  in  1887,  Lady  Ossington  (who  has  since 


22  EARLY   YEARS. 

passed  away,  followed  by  the  blessings  and  grate- 
ful thanks  of  all  who  knew  her)  provided  him  with 
all  the  comforts  and  necessaries  that  he  required, 
and  showed  the  greatest  sympathy  with  my  wife  and 
me.  On  my  son's  decease  in  December  1887,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-four  years,  her  Ladyship  caused 
a  beautiful  gravestone  to  be  erected  to  his  memory, 
bearing  the  following  words  at  the  end  of  the 
inscription :  "  This  stone  was  erected  by  Vis- 
countess Ossington,  in  consideration  of  services 
faithfully  rendered  to  her  father,  his  Grace  the 
fourth  Duke  of  Portland,  and  to  her  brother, 
the  Eight  Honourable  Lord  George  Cavendish 
Bentinck,  M.P." 

Nor  should  I  omit  to  mention  that  the  spirit  of 
kindness,  sympathy,  and  generosity  which  has 
always  distinguished  this  noble  house,  has  de- 
scended in  full  measure  to  the  sixth  Duke  of 
Portland,  who  is  now  the  head  of  this  ancient 
and  illustrious  family.  From  his  Grace,  and  from 
the  Duchess,  I  have  received  so  many  favours  and 
such  unbounded  kindness,  not  only  in  my  own 
home  but  also  at  Welbeck  Abbey,  that  I  dare  not 
trust  myself  to  attempt  to  enumerate  them  here. 
I  am  persuaded  from  my  own  experience  that 
their  Graces  have  hearts  as  kind  and  warm  as  that 
which  induced  the  fourth  Duke  of  Portland  to  make 
provision  for  the  poor  tramps  who  shambled  along 
the  road  in  front  of  one  of  the  lodges  on  the  edge 


THE   DUKE'S    CHARITY.  23 

of  the  park  at  Welbeck.  At  this  lodge  his  Grace 
stationed  a  porter  whose  business  it  was  to  give 
relief  to  every  indigent  applicant  for  it — a  pint  of 
beer  and  half  a  loaf  of  bread  for  a  man,  and  half  a 
pint  of  beer  and  the  same  quantity  of  bread  for  a 
woman.  To  children  a  slice  of  cake  and  a  little 
wine-and- water  were  in  each  case  dispensed.  At 
Harcourt  House,  in  London,  his  Grace's  charities 
were  absolutely  boundless.  I  have  often  been 
present  when  Mrs  Jones,  the  housekeeper,  received 
letters  from  Welbeck,  written  by  the  fourth  Duke 
and  by  his  Duchess,  giving  instructions  for  the 
distribution  of  clothing,  food,  coals,  and  money 
among  the  poor  inhabitants  of  his  Grace's  London 
property. 

The  Duke  died  at  Welbeck  on  the  27th  March 
1854,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-five  years. 
His  last  words,  addressed  to  his  regular  medical 
attendant,  were  these  :  "  Dr  Ward,  in  a  few 
minutes  the  poorest  labourer  who  worked  on  my 
estate,  and  has  gone  before  me,  will  be  my  equal 
in  every  respect."  Throughout  his  protracted  life 
his  Grace  was  in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  health, 
the  result  of  abundant  exercise  and  of  many  hours 
passed  every  day  in  the  open  air  without  regard 
to  the  weather.  The  Duke  preferred  walking  to 
riding ;  but  when  he  rode,  it  was  invariably  on  a 
stout  trotting  cob,  which  nothing  could  ever  in- 
duce him  to  urge  into  a  canter  or  gallop.  In  the 


24  EARLY   YEARS. 

belief  that  Lord  George  Bentinck  derived  many 
of  his  most  valuable  and  characteristic  attributes 
from  his  father,  I  hope  that  what  I  have  now 
written  about  the  latter  will  not  be  considered 
inappropriate  by  those  who  take  the  trouble  to 
read  it. 


25 


CHAPTER    II. 

NEWMARKET   AT   THE    BEGINNING  OF   THE    CENTURY. 

A  FEW  words  explaining  how  I  came  to  be  a  trainer 
of  race-horses  may  perhaps  be  not  unacceptable  to 
those  of  my  readers  in  whom  a  taste  for  the  past 
predominates  over  (what  is  far  more  usual)  a  taste 
only  for  the  present.  It  would  by  many  be  deemed 
a  sufficient  reason  for  me  to  say  that  I  was  born 
at  Newmarket,  and  that  my  father  and  grand- 
father had  lived  there  for  more  than  sixty  years 
before  I  came  into  existence.  My  grandfather 
was  a  builder  by  profession,  and  constructed  a 
considerable  number  of  the  principal  houses  and 
other  buildings,  including  stables,  in  what  has 
long  been  erroneously  called,  "  The  famous  little 
town  in  Cambridgeshire  "  —  erroneously,  because 
only  half  of  it  is  in  Cambridgeshire,  the  other  half 
being,  as  every  one  knows,  in  Suffolk.  Among 
the  buildings  for  which  my  grandfather  was  re- 
sponsible may  be  included  "  The  Rooms,"  of  which 
a  Mr  Parrs,  who  also  kept  a  school,  was  for  a  long 


26  NEWMARKET   EARLY   IN    THE    CENTURY. 

time  lessee  and  manager.  In  addition  to  "  The 
Booms,"  my  grandfather  also  built  what  is  now 
called  the  "  Rutland  Arms  Hotel,"  on  the  site 
occupied  by  which  another  inn  (of  far  inferior  size 
and  pretensions,  and  called  "  The  Ram  ")  formerly 
stood.  I  have  often  been  told  by  my  old  friend 
Mr  J.  F.  Clark,  the  ex-racing  judge,  that  viewed 
as  an  edifice,  the  Rutland  Arms  is  well  calculated 
to  confer  credit  upon  its  builder,  as  the  brick- 
work is  a  very  excellent  specimen  of  neatness  and 
stability.  Mr  J.  F.  Clark's  authority  on  every- 
thing connected  with  Newmarket  has  long  been 
acknowledged  to  be  quite  unexceptionable ;  and 
the  fact  that,  in  addition  to  being  a  racing  judge, 
he  has  for  many  years  followed  the  profession  of 
an  architect,  lends  additional  weight  to  his  opinion 
on  such  a  subject.  Previous  to  the  erection  of 
the  Rutland  Arms,  which  was  commenced  a  few 
months  after  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  the  Ram 
Inn,  its  predecessor,  took  its  name  from  an  inci- 
dent connected  with  the  strange,  eventful  history 
of  the  eccentric  Earl  of  Orford,  about  whom  so 
many  queer  tales  were  told.  It  is  well  known  that 
on  one  occasion  Lord  Orford  drove  his  favourite 
team,  consisting  of  four  stags,  from  Houghton 
Hal],  his  country  seat  in  Norfolk  (after  which,  by 
the  way,  the  Houghton  meeting  is  called),  into 
Newmarket,  a  distance  of  about  twenty-nine  miles. 
When  he  was  approaching  his  destination,  the 
Essex  Hounds  chanced  to  cross  the  road  along 


THE   HAM   INN.  27 

which  he  had  passed  just  before,  and  catching 
up  the  burning  scent  of  the  four  stags,  they  im- 
mediately gave  chase.  As  they  drew  near  to  the 
vehicle,  their  loud  notes,  or  what  fox-hunters  call 
"  their  music,"  alarmed  the  stags,  which  galloped 
at  full  speed  into  the  little  town,  and  dashed  into 
the  wide-open  portals  of  the  inn  which  stood  on 
the  site  subsequently  occupied  by  The  Ram.  The 
doors  were  immediately  closed,  and  the  lives  of  the 
stags  saved  from  their  eager  pursuers.  This  occur- 
rence happened  about  the  middle  of  last  century, 
and  was  the  cause  of  the  name,  "  Ram  Inn,"  being 
bestowed  upon  this  noted  hostelry  and  posting- 
house.  In  1775,  it  was  kept  by  a  Mr  Barber,  who 
hailed  from  the  Bull  Inn  at  Barton  Mills — the  last 
stage  on  approaching  Newmarket  from  the  Suffolk 
side,  and  close  to  which  Sir  Charles  Bunbury's 
seat,  Barton  Park,  was  situated.  Many  famous 
race  -  horses  were  bred  there  by  the  Baronet  in 
question,  who  lived  to  be  the  senior  member  of 
the  Jockey  Club,  and  Father  of  the  British  Turf. 
Sir  Charles  Bunbury,  who  was  an  excellent  sports- 
man, died  in  1820,  and  owned  in  his  time  some 
famous  horses,  such  as  Bellario,  Eleanor  (winner  of 
the  Derby  and  Oaks),  and  Smolensko,  the  winner 
of  the  Two  Thousand,  the  Newmarket  stakes,  and 
Derby.  I  have  often  heard  Admiral  Eous  recount 
that  the  first  race  for  the  Two  Thousand  ever  seen 
by  him  was  that  won  by  Smolensko,  in  1813.  It 
is  a  thrice  -  told  tale  that,  after  the  Derby,  Sir 


28          NEWMARKET   EARLY   IX    THE    CENTURY. 

Charles  gave  Goodisson  three  ten-pound  notes  for 
winning  the  three  races ;  remarking  to  him  that 
he  could  not  afford  more  because  Brograve,  a 
celebrated  bookmaker  of  that  day,  had  committed 
suicide,  from  inability  to  meet  his  Derby  losses, 
including  a  large  sum  due  to  Sir  Charles. 

Mr  Barber  was  succeeded,  in  1778,  by  Mr  Daniel 
Potter,  who  reigned  for  many  years,  and  did  not 
die  until  1813,  after  which  date  his  widow  con- 
tinued the  hotel  until  1828,  when  Mr  Rateliffe 
took  it.  It  was  in  the  hands  of  Mr  Daniel  Potter 
and  his  widow  for  thirty-five  years.  Mr  Potter 
was  an  extremely  stout  man,  and  in  his  day 
there  resided  at  Newmarket  a  man  of  the  name  of 
Robert  Bones,  who  was  very  tall,  and  as  thin  as 
a  rail.  These  two  notabilities  were  talking  to- 
gether at  the  entrance  to  the  Rutland  Arms, 
immediately  opposite  to  the  shop  of  Mr  Rogers, 
the  stationer  and  printer,  who  was  also  a  clever 
sketcher.  With  a  few  skilful  touches  of  his  pencil, 
Mr  Rogers  took  the  portraits  of  these  two  eccentric 
individuals,  and  a  few  hours  afterwards  placed 
the  sketch  in  his  shop  -  window,  with  the  words 
"  Flesh  and  Bones "  inscribed  beneath.  I  re- 
member hearing  my  father  say  that  for  a  short 
time  this  caricature  afforded  intense  amusement 
to  passers-by. 

My  grandfather  resided  in  a  house,  which  he 
built  for  himself,  on  Mill  Hill,  Newmarket.  Close 
to  his  house  stood  the  residence  and  stables  of 


NEWMARKET   WORTHIES.  29 

"  old  Mr  Prince."  After  my  grandfather's  death, 
his  house  was  occupied  for  many  years  by  James 
Robinson,  and  then  by  Frank  Butler,  two  of  the 
very  finest  jockeys  that  I  ever  saw.  The  work- 
shops and  business  premises  occupied  by  my  grand- 
father were,  on  his  decease,  taken  by  Mr  John 
Clark,  the  father  of  the  present  much-respected 
ex-judge.  They  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
elder  Mr  Clark  and  his  sons  for  many  years.  It 
is  not  generally  known  that,  despite  my  lifelong 
connection  with  Newmarket  and  Goodwood,  my 
great  -  grandfather  was  a  native  of  Wantage,  in 
Berkshire,  where  some  of  the  best  training-grounds 
for  race  -  horses  that  England  contains  may  not 
improbably  have  given  him  a  taste  for  racing. 
Anyhow,  it  is  certain  that  his  son,  my  grandfather, 
took  up  his  abode  at  Newmarket,  and  was  greatly 
interested  in  racing  for  many  years.  I  find  that 
"  Mr  Kent  of  Newmarket,  Cambridgeshire,"  was 
a  subscriber  to  the  '  Racing  Calendar'  in  1775, 
and  has  continued,  with  slight  intermission,  since. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  surname  by  which  I 
am  known  was  borne  by  people  associated  more 
or  less  with  horse-racing  for  a  hundred  and  seven- 
teen years.  In  my  father's  lifetime,  no  less  than 
in  my  own,  a  vast  number  of  changes  have  occurred 
in  the  noble  sport,  which  is  now  more  popular  than 
ever  among  Englishmen,  and,  I  must  add,  among 
Englishwomen ;  nor  can  I  be  blind  to  the  fact 
that  to  the  influence  of  the  latter  such  "  drawing- 


30          NEWMARKET    EARLY   IN   THE    CENTURY. 

room  meetings"  as  Kempton  Park  and  Sandown 
Park  are  undoubtedly  due.  Some  of  these  changes 
are,  of  course,  unpalatable  to  an  old  man  like 
myself,  especially  those  identified  with  the  short 
courses,  which  are  now  all  the  vogue.  Upon  this 
oft-debated  subject  1  have  no  intention  of  entering 
with  wearisome  iteration  at  the  present  moment. 

As  I  have  previously  stated,  my  grandfather 
lived  in  a  house  built  by  himself  on  Mill  Hill. 
This  house  was  within  a  few  feet  of  that  occupied 
by  the  grandfather  of  Mr  Richard  Prince.  The 
latter  trained  for  the  fourth  Duke  of  Portland,  and 
for  many  other  distinguished  noblemen,  and  was 
one  of  the  most  upright  men  of  his  class  that  New- 
market ever  contained.  "  Old  Mr  Prince  "  and 
his  wife  took  a  great  liking  to  my  father  when  he 
was  a  little  child,  and  insisted  upon  having  him 
over  to  their  house  as  often  as  possible.  In  fact, 
he  was  adopted  at  a  very  early  age  by  her  and  her 
husband,  despite  their  own  large  family.  Mr  Prince 
himself  was  of  Irish  extraction,  and  was  buried  by 
torchlight,  which  at  the  time  made  a  great  sensa- 
tion at  Newmarket.  My  father  was  carried  when 
a  child  to  see  this  funeral  by  S.  Wright,  my  grand- 
father's foreman,  who,  to  distinguish  him  from 
another  man  of  the  same  name,  was  called  "  slab 
Wright,"  being  a  bricklayer  by  trade.  Mr  Prince 
was  succeeded  by  his  son,  whose  mother  kept  house 
for  him  until  his  own  death.  All  this  time  my 
father  continued  to  reside  under  her  kindly  roof, 


RICHARD    PRINCE.  31 

and  upon  her  death  she  confided  him  to  her  son, 
and  gave  him  a  beautiful  cane  as  a  "  souvenir  "  of 
herself.  The  cane  in  question  has  a  fine  ivory 
knob,  and  was  preserved  by  my  father  with  the 
greatest  care,  and  on  his  death  was  bequeathed 
by  him  to  me.  It  is  now  in  my  possession  ;  and 
whenever  I  look  upon  it,  my  thoughts  fly  back  to 
many  precious  memories  of  the  past,  which  would 
otherwise  escape  my  attention.  I  have  ventured 
to  reproduce  some  of  them  here. 

The  younger  Prince,  to  whom  my  father  was 
intrusted  by  Mrs  Prince,  his  mother,  had  the  kind 
heart  of  an  Irishman,  and  was  exceedingly  good  to 
the  boy  under  his  charge,  sending  him  to  school, 
and  treating  him  in  every  respect  as  well  as  his 
own  sons.  As  my  father  was  a  light-weight,  and 
a  good  natural  horseman,  he  was  selected  by  Mr 
Prince  to  ride  in  many  of  the  stable  trials,  and 
soon  gained  some  reputation  for  his  skill  in  manag- 
ing dangerous  and  difficult  horses.  On  one  occa- 
sion a  horse  trained  by  Mr  Prince,  and  looked  after 
by  my  father,  who  invariably  rode  him  at  exercise, 
was  sent  to  Black  Hambleton,  in  Yorkshire,  to  be 
trained  for  some  North  Country  engagement.  Mr 
Prince  could  not  spare  my  father,  and  consequently 
the  horse,  on  arriving  at  his  destination,  soon  be- 
came so  riotous  and  violent  that  none  of  the  York- 
shire boys  could  master  or  control  him.  Accord- 
ingly, my  father  was  despatched  to  Black  Hamble- 
ton to  ride  the  horse  back  to  Newmarket,  which  he 


32  NEWMARKET   EAELY    IN   THE    CENTURY. 

effected,  after  encountering  all  sorts  of  difficulties 
and  dangers,  as  the  roads  were  very  bad,  and 
skirted  by  open  ditches,  into  some  of  which  the 
refractory  animal  would  leap,  seriously  jeopardising 
his  own  limbs  and  life,  and  also  those  of  my  father. 
During  the  first  four  or  five  days  he  had,  as  may 
be  imagined,  a  very  uncomfortable  time  of  it ;  but 
after  that  the  horse  acknowledged  his  own  defeat, 
on  finding  that  he  had  a  horseman  on  his  back 
whom  he  could  neither  frighten  nor  unship. 

At  school  my  father  was  a  great  friend  of  Frank 
Baker,  a  fellow-pupil  and  contemporary,  who  sub- 
sequently trained  for  George,  Prince  of  Wales, 
afterwards  George  IV.,  and  was  an  intelligent  and 
well-informed  man,  devoting  many  hours  daily  to 
study,  by  which  means  he  amassed  a  great  stock 
of  general  information  apart  from  horse -racing. 
Baker  was  a  very  steady  and  economical  trainer, 
and  also  a  great  favourite  with  the  boys  and  em- 
ployees in  his  stable.  For  the  Prince  he  was  very 
successful,  and  by  care,  hard  work,  and  thrift 
acquired  a  small  competency.  His  house  and 
premises  adjoined  those  of  James  Edwards,  who 
trained  for  Lord  Jersey,  Sir  John  Shelley,  and 
many  other  notable  patrons  of  the  Turf.  Baker 
owned  the  house  in  which  he  lived,  and  in  it  he 
passed  his  declining  years,  altogether  secluded 
from  company.  At  school  the  friendship  between 
my  father  and  Baker  was  very  great,  and  it  con- 
tinued until  my  father  left  Newmarket  in  1823,  to 


MR  PRINCE'S  STABLE.  33 

accept  the  position  of  private  trainer  to  the  fifth 
Duke  of  Bichmond,  at  Goodwood. 

Mr  Prince  soon  adopted  the  habit  of  intrusting 
the  entire  management  of  his  stable  and  paddocks 
to  my  father,  who  took  the  greatest  interest  in  his 
work, and  was  always  a  very  conscientious  and  faith- 
ful servant  to  his  employers.  He  was  constantly 
sent  away  from  Newmarket  in  charge  of  horses 
which  had  to  run  for  provincial  engagements  far 
away  from  headquarters.  Among  the  distin- 
guished patrons  of  the  Turf  for  whom  Mr  Prince 
then  trained  were  included  Lord  Foley,  the  Eight 
Honble.  Charles  James  Fox,  Sir  Frank  Standish, 
Sir  Sitwell  Sitwell,  and  many  lesser  luminaries. 
Lord  Foley  and  Mr  Fox  were  racing  confederates, 
and  their  success  during  the  early  years  of  their 
connection  with  Mr  Prince's  stable  was  pheno- 
menally great.  It  was  a  very  heavy  betting 
stable  about  that  time,  and  in  the  opinion  of  many 
observant  judges  the  first  impulse  towards  reck- 
less speculation  was  administered  to  the  Turf  by 
Lord  Foley,  who  in  the  end  was  so  hard  hit  by 
gambling  that  his  noble  estate,  Witley  Court  in 
Worcestershire,  had  to  be  sold  for  nearly  a  million 
sterling  to  the  grandfather  of  the  present  Lord 
Dudley.  While  the  success  of  these  two  confed- 
erates was  at  its  height,  their  horses  were  always 
great  favourites,  a  fact  which  led,  in  one  instance, 
to  that  well-known  and  most  disgraceful  transac- 
tion with  which  Dan  Dawson  (an  ill-omened  name) 

c 


34          NEWMARKET   EARLY    IN    THE    CENTURY. 

became  notoriously  identified.  My  father  used 
to  relate  that  in  the  Newmarket  Spring  Meetings 
of  1811  some  horses  in  Mr  Prince's  stable  were 
very  heavily  engaged,  some  of  them  in  races 
upon  which  the  betting  was  pretty  sure  to  be 
heavy.  A  design  was  therefore  formed  by  some 
unprincipled  scoundrels,  who  hired  Dawson  and 
another  tout  to  administer  poison  to  those  of  Mr 
Prince's  horses  which  were  daily  out  at  exercise 
and  doing  strong  work.  With  this  flagitious 
purpose  in  view,  arrangements  were  made  by 
Dawson  and  his  accomplice  to  put  arsenic  into 
the  drinking-troughs  close  to  what  is  still  called 
"  Well  Gap,"  half-way  down  "  The  Ditch."  These 
troughs  were  Mr  Prince's  private  property,  and 
were  covered  over  with  wooden  coverings,  which 
were  carefully  locked  up  at  both  ends.  It  was 
at  that  time  the  custom  for  trainers  to  water 
their  horses  after  doing  a  strong  gallop,  especially 
if  the  morning  was  hot.  Every  trainer,  therefore, 
had  his  own  troughs,  which  were  scattered  about 
at  various  places  to  suit  their  owners'  convenience. 
As  arsenic,  unless  chemically  prepared,  will  not 
mix  with  water,  Dan  Dawson  took  into  his  con- 
fidence an  old  chemist  named  Cecil  Bishop,  and  con- 
sulted him  as  to  the  best  way  of  rendering  arsenic 
soluble  in  water.  Although  Dawson  was  one  of 
those  "  ne'er-do-weels"  who  pass  their  lives  in  the 
useless  and  disreputable  occupation  of  watching 
horses,  he  had  received  a  good  education,  and 


POISONING   RACE-HOESES.  35 

might  have  turned  his  hand  to  better  things. 
Apparently  his  object  was  not  to  kill  the  horses 
which  drank  at  the  poisoned  trough,  but  to  in- 
capacitate them  from  winning  a  race  for  several 
days  after.  In  some  mysterious  way  a  warning 
was  conveyed  to  Mr  Prince,  cautioning  him  against 
watering  his  horses  at  a  particular  trough.  For 
a  time  he  acted  upon  this  advice,  and  Dan  Dawson, 
who  for  obvious  reasons  carefully  abstained  from 
being  seen  near  the  trough,  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  Cecil  Bishop  had  made  a  mistake,  and  that 
enough  arsenic  had  not  been  mixed  with  the  water, 
seeing  that  Mr  Prince's  horses  continued  to  go  in 
their  usual  form.  He  proceeded,  therefore,  in  the 
middle  of  the  night  to  inject  a  stronger  dose  of 
arsenic  through  a  tube  which  he  inserted  under 
the  lid.  This  tube  was  stuck  into  the  neck  of  a 
bottle  full  of  a  strong  solution  of  arsenic.  It  was 
subsequently  discovered  that  one  quart  of  the 
water  thus  impregnated  by  this  unprincipled 
scoundrel  was  more  than  sufficient  to  kill  the 
strongest  horse. 

One  morning  Mr  Prince's  horses  were  out  as 
usual  for  exercise,  and  when  they  had  finished 
their  gallops  the  weather  suddenly  became  very 
hot  and  sultry.  Mr  Prince  remarked  to  my  father, 
who  was  riding  by  his  side,  "  This  rumour  about 
the  troughs  being  poisoned  seems  to  me  '  gammon,' 
as  I  have  heard  nothing  about  it  for  a  long  time." 
My  father  replied,  "  Nevertheless,  were  I  you,  I 


36          NEWMARKET    EARLY   IN    THE    CENTURY. 

should  pull  out  the  plugs  at  the  bottom  of  the 
troughs,  and  let  the  water  run  off;  after  which 
I  should  fill  the  troughs  again  with  fresh  water 
brought  from  the  well."  "  Oh,"  exclaimed  Mr 
Prince,  "  that  will  take  too  long ;  there  is  no 
danger ;  so  let  the  horses  drink  their  fill,  and  I 
will  be  responsible  for  all  risks."  When  the 
horses  were  brought  to  the  troughs,  their  natural 
powers  of  scent  led  them  at  once  to  suspect  that 
all  was  not  right.  Some  of  them  began  to  snort, 
and  refused  to  touch  the  water  at  any  price ;  but 
others  drank  a  little,  and  were  hardly  able  to  get 
home,  in  consequence  of  the  violent  griping  which 
immediately  overtook  them.  On  the  return  of 
these  latter  to  the  stable,  my  father,  who  was 
a  capital  "vet,"  although  all  his  knowledge  had 
been  acquired  by  rule  of  thumb,  administered  a 
strong  dose  of  castor-oil  to  Coelebs  and  Reveller, 
two  horses  belonging  to  Sir  Sitwell  Sitwell. 
Spaniard,  Pirouette,  and  The  Dandy,  which  be- 
longed to  Sir  Frank  Standish,  were  usually  at- 
tended, like  all  his  other  horses,  by  a  Dr  Bowles, 
of  Cambridge,  who  was  a  certified  physician  for 
human  beings,  and  also  very  clever  in  treating 
quadrupeds.  At  that  time  the  veterinary  art 
was  at  a  very  low  ebb,  as  any  one  may  see  if 
he  cares  to  exhume  such  books  as  '  Taplin's 
Stable  Directory '  and  '  Lawrence  On  the  Horse/ 
In  this  instance  the  delay  which  necessarily 
elapsed  before  Dr  Bowles  arrived  from  Cam- 


RACE-HORSES    POISONED.  37 

bridge  proved  fatal.  The  three  above  -  named 
horses  belonging  to  Sir  Frank  Standish  died  in 
great  agony ;  indeed  I  have  often  heard  my 
father  say  that  he  had  never  seen  a  poor  animal 
endure  anything  like  the  sufferings  sustained  by 
Spaniard,  before  death  brought  him  merciful  re- 
lief. He  and  his  two  stable  companions  were 
buried  in  the  gravel-pit  near  "The  Severals," 
opposite  to  the  house  in  which  John  Robinson 
lived  during  his  declining  years.  Thanks  to  the 
dose  of  castor -oil  administered  by  my  father  to 
Ccelebs  and  Reveller,  both  recovered,  and  ran  in 
many  races,  the  latter  winning  nine  times  during 
the  following  year.  Their  recovery  was  attri- 
buted by  the  ignorant  to  the  effects  of  some 
vinegar  administered  to  them  by  a  man  calling 
himself  a  veterinary  surgeon ;  but,  in  reality, 
they  were  saved  by  my  father's  prompt  action 
in  drenching  them  without  a  moment's  delay  with 
castor-oil. 

It  was  upon  Wednesday,  May  1,  1811,  that 
the  horses  drank  poison  at  the  troughs,  and  next 
day  a  notice  in  very  big  letters  was  posted  all 
over  the  town.  It  ran  as  follows  : — 

"NEWMARKET,  May  2,  1811. 

"  T17HEEEAS  several  race-horses,  under  the  care  of  Mr 
Eichard  Prince,  training  groom,  that  drank  out  of 
a-  trough  on  the  Heath  near  the  '  Well  Gap '  on  Wednesday 
morning,  were  soon  after  taken  ill,  one  of  which  is  since 
dead,  and  many  remain  in  a  dangerous  state ; 


38  NEWMARKET    EARLY   IN    THE    CENTURY. 

"  And  it  having  been  found,  on  investigation,  that  a  pre- 
paration of  arsenic  had  been  infused  in  the  water  of  two 
other  troughs  on  the  Heath,  where  the  racers  usually  drink : 

"  This  is  to  give  notice  that  Whoever  will  discover  the 
person,  or  persons,  who  put  the  arsenic  or  other  poison  into 
any  of  the  aforesaid  troughs,  so  that  he,  she,  or  they  may 
be  brought  to  Justice,  shall,  upon  conviction,  receive 

A  REWARD  OF 
FIVE  HUNDRED  GUINEAS. 

"  And  furthermore,  WHOEVER  shall  discover  any  person,  or 
persons,  who  instigated  or  abetted  the  above  offenders,  or 
shall  reveal  any  circumstances  which  may  lead  to  the  ap- 
prehension and  conviction  of  any  of  the  parties  concerned 
in  this  nefarious  transaction,  shall  be  liberally  rewarded  by 

applying  to 

MR  WEATHERBY 

AT  NEWMARKET." 

A  few  days  later  the  other  three  horses  died, 
and  the  excitement  became  intense.  Suspicion 
ultimately  settled  upon  Dan  Dawson,  who  for 
some  weeks  previously  had  lodged  at  the  "  Five 
Bells,"  kept  by  Mrs  Tilbrook,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Mill  Hill  to  that  on  which  Mr  Prince's 
house  stood.  Dawson  had  often  been  seen  by 
my  father  walking  across  the  Mill  Hill  towards 
Mr  Prince's  house,  with  his  head  down  and  a 
muffler  round  the  lower  part  of  his  face,  as  though 
he  desired  to  escape  observation  or  recognition. 
On  many  occasions  my  father  remarked  to  Mr 
Prince,  as  he  pointed  out  Dan  Dawson  to  him, 
"I  cannot  imagine  who  that  fellow  is;  he  comes 


CAPTURE    OF   DAN   DAWSON.  39 

across  the  hill  almost  every  morning,  and  passes 
our  house  about  the  time  when  the  horses  go  out 
to  exercise,  at  a  very  early  hour.  He  carries  his 
head  as  though  he  were  ashamed  to  have  his  face 


seen." 


As  soon  as  the  horses  were  taken  ill,  Dan 
Dawson  left  the  "Five  Bells."  The  First  Spring 
Meeting  of  1811  was  then  near  its  close,  and 
several  months  were  yet  to  elapse  before  the  sus- 
pected culprit  was  arrested  at  Cambridge,  on 
August  12,  1812.  Into  the  details  of  his  trial 
and  death  sentence  I  shall  not  enter,  beyond 
saying  that  it  seems  incredible  in  these  days  that 
a  man  should  be  hanged  for  such  an  offence.  One 
justification  of  the  sentence  being  carried  out  in 
its  full  severity  was  said  to  be,  that  although 
horses  were  the  only  sufferers,  it  was  obvious  that 
human  beings  might  with  equal  facility  have  been 
poisoned,  because  in  the  summer  months  the  lads 
on  the  backs  of  the  horses  frequently  drank  at 
the  same  troughs.  Mrs  Tilbrook  of  the  "  Five 
Bells,"  being,  like  most  of  her  sex,  of  an  inquisitive 
disposition,  had  examined  Dan  Dawson's  luggage, 
which  he  kept  under  his  bed  at  her  house.  She 
soon  discovered  a  bottle  marked  "  poison "  in  one 
of  his  trunks  ;  and  in  the  neck  of  this  bottle  there 
was  a  flaw  which  made  it  easy  of  identification. 
The  bottle  was  afterwards  found  in  Dan  Dawson's 
possession,  and  was  shown  to  Mrs  Tilbrook,  who 
stated,  "If  it  be  the  same  bottle  I  found  under  his 


40          NEWMARKET    EARLY   IN    THE    CENTURY. 

bed,  there  is  a  c  delve '  in  it  into  which  I  can  put  my 
thumb."  This  evidence  led  to  Dawson's  conviction 
and  public  execution  at  Cambridge,  in  presence  of 
from  twelve  to  fifteen  thousand  persons. 

If  I  am  censured  by  some  impatient  readers  for 
entering  at  this  length  into  a  transaction  with 
which  many  are  familiar,  I  can  but  plead  that  the 
details  given  are  generally  inaccurate,  and  that 
my  father  was  intimately  connected  with  the  dis- 
covery of  this  dastardly  crime,  and  was  never 
tired,  in  my  youth,  of  talking  about  it.  I  remem- 
ber that  it  was  his  habit  to  impress  upon  me  most 
forcibly,  what  I  afterwards  learned  from  my  own 
experience,  that  it  was  impossible  to  exercise  too 
much  vigilance  as  to  the  water  supplied  to  horses 
away  from  home.  This  caution  was  not  forgotten 
by  me  when  I  had  Surplice  at  Epsom,  just  before 
the  Derby  of  1848. 

I  remarked  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter- 
that  it  would  have  been  enough  for  me  to  state 
that  I  was  the  son  of  a  trainer,  and  born  at  New- 
market, in  explanation  of  the  fact  that  I  myself 
followed  my  father's  profession.  This,  however, 
was  not  my  father's  desire.  He  would  infinitely 
have  preferred  that  I  should  have  studied  chem- 
istry at  the  laboratory  of  a  relative  of  his  and 
mine,  at  Stratford,  in  Essex.  The  firm  in  ques- 
tion was  that  of  Messrs  Howard,  Gibson,  &  Kent. 
I  was  placed  under  their  care  for  a  short  time  ; 
but  soon  after,  my  father  became  a  widower,  and 


J.    B.    O.    MUNICH. 


FRANK   BAKER.  41 

was  constantly  absent  from  home  at  the  race 
meetings  where  his  horses  had  engagements.  He 
found  it  necessary,  therefore,  to  call  in  my  assist- 
ance to  do  what  I  could  towards  managing  the 
vast  stud  under  his  care ;  and  most  assiduous  he 
was  in  teaching  me  the  art  of  training  racre-horses. 
He  carefully  explained  to  me  the  various  systems 
of  training  adopted  by  different  professors  of  that 
art.  As  regards  Mr  Prince,  my  father  regarded 
him  as  too  severe  with  horses  of  delicate  constitu- 
tions ;  whereas  Mr  Boyce,  though  a  most  careful 
and  honest  man,  seemed  to  my  father  to  be  occa- 
sionally too  indulgent  in  dealing  with  some  of  his 
horses.  When  my  father  left  Mr  Prince's  stable, 
and  transferred  himself  as  head-lad  to  that  of  Mr 
R.  D.  Boyce,  he  remained  with  the  latter  for 
many  years.  At  last,  in  1823,  he  was  recom- 
mended to  the  fifth..  Duke  of  Richmond,  by  the 
Earl  of  Stradbroke,  as  fit  to  take  command  of  the 
large  Goodwood  stable.  He  remained  at  Good- 
wood until  his  death  in  1869,  when  he  was 
eighty -six  years  old.  The  Duke  of  Richmond 
kindly  permitted  him  to  occupy  until  his  death 
the  house  and  garden  at  Goodwood,  in  both  of 
which  he  took  the  greatest  delight. 

Mr  Baker,  who,  as  I  have  said,  trained  for  the 
Prince  Regent,  continued  to  be  very  intimate  with 
my  father  from  their  school-days  downwards  until 
my  father  left  Newmarket  for  good.  Their  tastes 
and  habits  were  singularly  harmonious,  and  nothing 


42          NEWMARKET   EARLY    IN    THE    CENTURY. 

pleased  them  more  than  to  dabble  in  quasi-scientific 
studies.  During  their  youth  this  country  was 
continually  at  war  with  France,  and  a  semaphore, 
or  signal -post,  was  erected  on  the  top  of  the  Bury 
Hill,  the  highest  elevation  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
.Newmarket.  They  were  never  tired  of  watching 
the  signals  conveyed  from  Yarmouth  by  this  sema- 
phore to  the  Admiralty  in  London,  and  back  thence 
to  the  sea -coast.  With  a  curiosity  which  was 
natural  under  the  circumstances,  they  endeavoured, 
by  constant  observation,  to  read  the  messages 
which  passed  backwards  and  forwards,  and  thus 
to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  tidings  received 
from  the  seat  of  war  on  the  Continent.  In  those 
primitive  days  newspapers  were  not  received  in 
country  places  for  many  days  after  the  arrival  of 
a  report  which  told  of  the  loss  or  gain  of  a  great 
battle.  Everything  connected  with  the  war  per- 
colated through  the  Admiralty,  to  which  the  com- 
manders of  the  different  vessels  engaged  as  carriers 
of  news  naturally  sent  their  reports,  by  semaphore 
or  by  road.  After  many  weeks  of  close  watching, 
my  father  and  Mr  Baker  got  to  understand  the 
working  of  the  semaphore  sufficiently  to  write 
some  of  the  messages  down  on  paper.  Unfortun- 
ately one  day  they  dropped  a  paper  on  which  they 
had  written  one  of  these  messages.  It  was  picked 
up  on  the  Bury  Hill,  and  carried  by  its  finder 
to  Mr  Hylet,  who  was  the  official  in  charge  of 
the  semaphore,  and  was  therefore  deemed  likely 


READING   THE    SEMAPHORE.  43 

to  take  interest  in  a  paper  which  was  supposed 
to  be  his  property.  Naturally  Mr  Hylet  was 
greatly  surprised  at  the  accuracy  with  which  the 
message  had  been  spelt  out,  and  at  the  intelligent 
comprehension  of  the  principle  on  which  the  sema- 
phore was  worked  displayed  by  the  document. 
It  was  therefore  forwarded  to  the  Head  Office  in 
London,  and  a  complete  change  in  signalling  was 
immediately  adopted.  The  two  students  were  at 
first  very  much  puzzled  by  the  new  signals,  but 
were  not  long  in  discovering  their  meaning.  The 
first  message  which  they  were  able  to  read  cor- 
rectly after  this  occurrence,  conveyed  the  following 
words:  "A  complete  revolution  in  Holland"! 
Their  persistency  in  observing  and  deciphering  the 
signals  was  another  instance  of  the  truth  of  Lord 
George  Bentinck's  remark,  to  which  I  have  so 
often  heard  him  give  utterance,  that  "  you  can 
accomplish  anything  if  you  will  only  try  hard 
enough  "  !  I  doubt  whether  in  those  ignorant  days 
there  was  any  other  watcher  of  the  signals  ex- 
changed from  semaphore  to  semaphore,  all  over 
these  islands,  who  succeeded  in  accomplishing  a 
similar  feat.  The  two  allies  began  by  mastering 
the  shutter  system  of  signalling,  and  thereby  forced 
the  Government  to  substitute  for  it  the  workable 
arms  which  are  still  employed  on  board  H.M.'s 
ships  of  war  for  the  same  purpose. 

Let   me   turn   to   another   field   of  observation 
widely  different  from  that  to  wrhich  I  have  just 


44          NEWMARKET   EARLY   IN   THE    CENTURY. 

alluded.  I  have  often  heard  my  father  relate 
some  of  the  practical  jokes  indulged  in  at  New- 
market in  his  youth,  and  which  were  much  more 
frequent  than  in  this  prosaic  age.  I  call  it 
prosaic ;  for  the  undoubted  effect  of  all  our 
modern  inventions  and  discoveries  —  like  the 
railway,  the  telegraph  wire,  the  telephone,  and 
the  electric  light  —  is  to  extinguish  the  indivi- 
duality and  quench  the  imagination  of  men, 
women,  and  children.  It  was  far  otherwise  in 
the  England  of  my  youth.  There  was  then  re- 
siding at  Newmarket  a  Mr  Thomas  Bryant,  who 
was  greatly  addicted  to  jokes  of  this  kind.  When, 
for  instance,  William  Arnull,  the  well  -  known 
jockey,  was  sent  for  on  one  occasion  to  the  north 
to  ride  some  trials  for  the  Hon.  Edward  Petre, 
who  was  a  very  liberal  gentleman,  he  returned 
very  much  richer  than  he  was  when  he  started. 
Among  the  presents  which,  in  addition  to  money, 
Mr  Petre  promised  to  send  to  "  old  Bill  Arnull," 
was  included  a  big  hamper  of  wine.  On  his  return 
home,  Bill  could  not  help  boasting  to  some  of  his 
friends  about  the  hamper  that  was  coming.  Mr 
Bryant,  hearing  the  news,  thought  it  an  excellent 
opportunity  to  play  off  an  amusing  joke  at  Bill 
ArnuH's  expense.  Accordingly  he  made  overtures 
to  a  dwarf,  called  "  Little  Peter,"  who  was  then 
well  known  at  Newmarket,  requesting  that  he 
would  allow  himself  to  be  packed  into  a  hamper, 
which  was  to  be  despatched  to  Bill  Arnull's  house. 


BILL   AKNULL.  45 

The  latter's  engagements  and  occupations  in  riding- 
trials  on  the  Heath  were  carefully  ascertained  be- 
forehand by  this  inveterate  practical  joker,  and  the 
hamper  containing  "  Little  Peter "  was  conveyed 
in  a  luggage  van  to  the  jockey's  residence.  Mrs 
Arnull,  who  expected  to  receive,  as  per  promise, 
a  hamper  of  wine,  directed  that  the  new  arrival 
should  be  put  into  the  cellar.  When  Arnull  got 
home  his  wife  told  him  the  gleeful  tidings  that 
Mr  Petre's  hamper  had  arrived,  and  was  in  the 
cellar.  "  I  will  go  and  see  it  directly,"  quoth  the 
exultant  jockey  ;  and  down  he  went,  followed  by  a 
little  pet  dog,  who  was  his  constant  companion. 
Scarcely  had  the  faithful  quadruped  got  into  the 
cellar  before  he  became  greatly  excited,  and  barked 
furiously,  running  backwards  and  forwards  round 
the  hamper.  Thereupon  old  Bill  exclaimed,  "Drat 
it,  there  must  be  a  mouse  inside  ! "  As  he  spoke 
he  thrust  his  whip  into  the  hamper,  upon  which 
the  dog  barked  more  furiously  than  ever.  "  Beggar 
my  limbs  if  it  ain't  a  rat  ! "  ejaculated  the  jockey  ; 
"  get  me  a  knife  to  cut  the  string,  so  that  I  may 
let  it  out."  Suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he 
uplifted  the  lid,  and  out  jumped  "  Little  Peter." 
"  You  young  rascal  ! "  exclaimed  the  astonished 
jockey,  "  what  brings  you  here  ?  Get  out  of  my 
house  immediately,  or  I  will  lay  this  whip  about 
your  shoulders."  The  dwarf,  thus  admonished, 
proceeded  to  make  tracks  with  all  expedition  to 
the  Horse  Shoe  Inn  over  the  way,  at  which  Mr 


46  NEWMARKET    EARLY   IN    THE    CENTURY. 

Bryant  and  a  knot  of  expectant  friends  were 
eagerly  awaiting  his  arrival. 

William  Arnull,  who  was  one  of  the  greatest 
favourites  ever  known  in  the  jockey- world  at 
Newmarket,  or  elsewhere,  was  much  afflicted  with 
gout,  which  caused  him  to  be  of  a  very  irritable 
temper,  especially  when  he  was  wasting  hard. 
One  day,  shortly  after  he  had  been  appointed 
overseer  of  the  poor,  he  was  riding  off  the  Heath 
in  the  company  of  some  gentlemen  who  were  his 
employers.  His  temper  was  in  a  more  than  or- 
dinarily crusty  condition,  and  some  of  the  practi- 
cal jokers,  who  were  his  habitual  tormentors,  saw 
that  he  was  in  a  fit  state  to  be  experimented 
upon.  Accordingly  they  assembled  opposite  "  The 
Rooms,"  and  told  a  tramp,  who  had  been  soliciting 
alms,  to  wait  there  until  "that  gentleman"  (at 
whom  they  pointed)  "  came  by,  as  he  was  very 
kind-hearted,  and,  being  overseer,  in  a  position  to 
give  jobs  to  needy  men."  Thus  encouraged,  the 
poor  man  hobbled  up  to  Arnull's  horse's  side  and 
pleaded  very  earnestly  for  relief,  stating  that  he 
had  had  nothing  to  eat  for  a  long  time.  "  Noth- 
ing to  eat ! "  exclaimed  Bill ;  "  why,  I'll  bet  a 
crown  you  have  had  something  to  eat  since  I 
have,  or  you  wouldn't  look  as  well  as  you  do." 

Despite  the  practical  jokes  to  which  he  was 
continually  exposed,  no  man  in  Newmarket  was 
more  respected  than  Bill  Arnull.  With  perfect 
truth  it  might  have  been  said  of  him,  as  it  was 


BILL   ARNULL.  47 

about  the  same  time  of  Frank  Buckle,  that  "  it 
would  have  been  easier  to  turn  the  sun  from  his 
course  than  either  of  these  famous  jockeys  from 
the  path  of  duty."  Consequently,  his  services  in 
the  saddle  were  in  much  request  by  many  dis- 
tinguished noblemen  and  gentlemen,  whose  colours 
he  habitually  wore.  Whenever  he  heard  of  a 
good  horse  or  became  cognisant  of  the  merits  of 
some  good  performer,  he  would  exclaim,  "  I  wish 
he  were  mine  !  Wouldn't  I  turn  him  into  '  Button 
Park '  ! "  Nevertheless  he  did  not  succeed  in  fill- 
ing his  pockets  very  full,  although,  for  many  years, 
no  man  had  more  riding.  In  addition  to  winning 
countless  races,  he  was  continually  wanted  to  ride 
trials,  as  he  was  a  capital  judge  of  the  noble 
animal,  and  always  secured  a  good  pace  when 
questions  were  asked.  In  1822,  shortly  before 
the  Craven  Meeting,  Lord  George  Cavendish  tried 
Godolphin  to  be  a  good  horse.  At  that  time 
Godolphin  had  no  engagements,  and  his  Lordship 
was  undecided  in  what  race  to  run  him.  The 
Craven  Stakes,  then  a  very  important  event,  gener- 
ally gave  rise  to  some  spirited  betting.  Mr  Boyce, 
who  trained  for  Lord  George  Cavendish,  advised 
his  Lordship  to  run  Godolphin  in  the  Craven 
Stakes.  With  his  usual  caution  Lord  George 
interposed  with  the  remark,  "  Send  for  Arnull, 
and  let  us  hear  what  he  says."  Upon  the  great 
jockey's  arrival  he  was  asked  whether  he  thought 
Godolphin  could  win  the  Craven  ?  "  Win,  my 


48          NEWMARKET   EARLY   IN    THE    CENTURY. 

Lord  ?  "  exclaimed  Arnull ;  "of  course  he  will  win, 
and  easily  enough  too,  unless  a  crow  flies  down 
his  throat  as  he  comes  across  the  flat/'  Lord 
George  followed  his  jockey's  advice,  and  Godol- 
phin  was  duly  entered.  His  weight  was  eight 
stone,  and,  ridden  by  Bill  Arnull,  he  won  in  a 
canter,  as  had  been  prophesied  by  his  pilot.  Lord 
George  won  a  good  stake ;  and  to  show  the  dif- 
ference between  then  and  now,  Mr  Boyce  and 
Arnull  stood  a  fiver  apiece  on  the  horse,  which 
in  these  days  fashionable  jockeys  would  doubt- 
less magnify  one-hundredfold.  Vast  as  were  the 
number  of  races  in  which  "  Old  Bill"  rode,  no  one 
ever  dreamed  of  accusing  him  of  riding  dishonestly. 
Such,  however,  was  not  always  the  case  at 
the  period  of  which  I  am  speaking,  and  the  very 
mention  of  the  word  "  Escape  "  recalls  an  episode 
as  to  which  I  will  only  add  that  Colonel  Leigh, 
who  had  the  management  of  the  Prince  Regent's 
stud,  accused  Sam  Chifney  of  foul  riding.  Sam 
Chifney's  son  William  was  then  a  boy,  but  old 
enough  to  feel  great  indignation  at  Colonel  Leigh's 
unjust  aspersions.  Walking  up  to  the  Colonel, 
the  high-spirited  boy  told  him  to  his  face  that 
when  a  little  older  he  would  have  his  revenge. 
Straightway  he  set  to  work  to  practise  boxing, 
and  took  every  opportunity  of  learning  the  pugi- 
listic art.  When  he  had  grown  into  a  lanky 
stripling  of  eighteen,  he  waited  for  Colonel  Leigh 
in  the  street  at  Newmarket,  as  he  was  going  to 


BILL    CHIFNEY.  49 

the  Rooms,  and  exclaimed  on  approaching  him, 
"  I  told  you  I  would  one  day  have  my  revenge 
for  your  ill-treatment  of  my  father ;  and  now  the 
time  has  come."  With  that  he  struck  the  Colonel 
a  violent  blow  in  the  face  with  his  fist,  knocking 
him  down,  and  striking  him  as  he  lay  in  the  road. 
But  for  the  intervention  of  the  bystanders  it  was 
thought  that  he  would  have  killed  the  Colonel, 
who  was  then  a  stout  and  pursy  man.  The  latter 
had  him  up  for  assault  before  the  magistrates  next 
day.  They  sent  William  Chifney  to  prison  for 
six  months,  with  hard  labour ;  and  when  he  came 
out  at  the  end  of  his  term  he  offered  "to  make 
door  mats  for  a  pony  "  against  any  other  inhabi- 
tant of  Newmarket.  Six  months  of  hard  labour 
had  indeed  made  him  an  expert  at  picking  oakum. 
Bill  Chifney  was  at  the  climax  of  his  fortunes 
when  he  won  the  Derby  in  1830  with  Priam, 
whom  he  bought  as  a  yearling  for  a  thousand 
guineas  from  Sir  John  Shelley.  In  that  year  the 
two  brothers,  Sam  and  Bill  Chifney,  lived  in  ad- 
joining houses  at  Newmarket,  one  of  which  (that 
occupied  by  Sam)  was  greatly  improved  and 
enlarged  by  the  eccentric  Duke  of  Cleveland,  who 
was  one  of  Sam's  employers.  This  circumstance 
caused  great  jealousy  between  the  two  Mrs  Chif- 
ney s,  and  William's  wife  persuaded  her  husband 
to  build  a  new  house  so  as  to  cut  out  their  sister- 
in-law.  She  vowed  that  not  a  single  old  brick 
should  enter  into  the  composition  of  the  new 


50          NEWMARKET   EARLY   IN    THE    CENTURY. 

building.  Pride,  however,  comes  before  a  fall,  and 
scarcely  was  the  house  finished  before  its  owner 
found  it  unavoidably  necessary  to  sell  it  at  a  ruin- 
ous sacrifice  to  Mr  J.  F.  Clark,  who  afterwards 
resold  it  to  Count  Batthyany.  It  is  now  the 
residence  of  Mr  John  Dawson. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  H.R.H.  the 
Prince  Regent  was  not  driven  away  from  New- 
market by  the  "  Escape "  affair,  but  by  another 
race  in  which  his  horse  Sultan  was  supposed  to 
have  been  ridden  foully.  H.R.H.  then  resolved 
to  sell  all  his  horses  and  to  retire  from  the  Turf. 
Bill  Chifney's  house  became,  as  I  have  just  said, 
the  property  of  Count  Batthyany,  and  his  stables 
and  paddocks  at  Headley  (near  Epsom)  passed 
into  the  hands  of  "  Lawyer  "  Ford,  who  afterwards 
disposed  of  them  to  my  noble  master  Lord  George 
Bentinck ;  and  there  Gaper,  Refraction,  Surplice, 
Loadstone,  and  many  other  horses  from  the  Good- 
wood stable,  were  located  before  they  met  their 
Epsom  engagements.  The  inconveniences  then 
experienced  in  getting  horses  from  Newmarket  to 
Epsom  have  often  led  me  to  admire  the  foresight 
and  sagacity  of  Lord  George  Bentinck,  who  pre- 
dicted that  railways  would  entirely  revolutionise 
horse-racing.  The  youngest  boy  at  Newmarket 
can  now  appreciate  the  accuracy  of  Lord  George's 
prophecy. 

With  one  final  tale,  which  about  that  time 
caused  no  slight  amusement,  let  me  close  a  chapter 


ANECDOTE  OF  GOODY  LEVY.          51 

which  is  already,  I  fear,  too  long.  Three  gay 
youths,  belonging  to  a  class  or  type  which  to-day 
is  far  more  numerously  represented  than  it  was  in 
my  youth,  chanced  one  rough  morning  to  enter  a 
little  wayside  inn  near  Six  Mile  Bottom,  to  get  a 
drop  of  "  something  hot "  to  keep  out  the  cold. 
At  the  fireside  a  harmless-looking  old  Jew  was 
quietly  seated,  whose  pronounced  Hebrew  features 
tempted  the  three  mischievous  young  sprigs  to 
make  him  their  butt.  "Good  morning,  Father 
Abraham  ! "  exclaimed  the  first.  "  I  hope  I  see 
you  well?" 

"  How  are  you,  Father  Isaac  ? "  continued  the 
second,  with  well-counterfeited  civility. 

"  All  hail,  Father  Jacob  ! "  reiterated  the  third. 
"  I  wonder  what  brings  you  out  so  far  from  home 
on  this  raw  day  ?  " 

Rising  humbly  from  his  seat,  the  old  Jew  lifted 
his  hat  with  much  mock  dignity,  and  replied  in 
quiet  tones,  "  Gentlemen,  you  do  me  too  much 
honour  by  your  courteous  inquiries  and  by  the 
names  you  have  been  pleased  to  bestow  upon  me. 
My  real  name  is  Saul,  the  son  of  Kish ;  and  I 
have  been  sent  forth  in  search  of  my  father's 
asses  which  he  has  lost.  I  was  about  to  return 
despairing  of  finding  them,  when,  lo  and  behold  ! 
the  God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob  has 
brought  them  into  this  very  room ;  and  here 
will  I  leave  them  while  I  go  to  report  to  my 
father." 


52          NEWMARKET    EARLY   IN    THE    CENTURY. 

With  these  words,  and  doubtless  with  many  a 
secret  chuckle,  the  old  man  tottered  feebly  along 
the  passage  and  left  the  house. 

There  is  a  tradition  —  whether  resting  on  a 
stable  foundation  or  on  none  at  all,  who  shall  say  ? 
— that  the  hero  of  this  story  was  none  other 
than  the  celebrated  "Goody  Levy"  of  "Running 
Rein"  notoriety.  He  had  gone  down  to  New- 
market on  a  touting  expedition,  and  had  disguised 
himself  as  an  old  and  infirm  Jew  to  prevent  his 
being  recognised,  as  "The  Heath,"  off  which  he 
had  been  warned,  was  to  him  forbidden  ground. 


53 


CHAPTEE   III. 

EARLY    RACING    DAYS. 

LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK  evidently  took  an  interest 
in  racing  at  an  early  age,  as  in  1824,  when  twenty- 
two  years  old,  he  rode  Mr  Poyntz's  chestnut  mare, 
Olive,  for  the  Cocked -Hat  Stakes  at  Goodwood, 
beating  Lord  George  Lennox's  bay  gelding, 
Swindon,  and  three  others,  after  running  two 
dead  heats  with  Swindon.  In  the  third  heat 
his  Lordship  rode  without  spurs,  and  to  his  great 
delight  won,  beating  Captain  Berkeley,  an  ex- 
cellent rider,  who  piloted  Swindon.  At  that  time 
Lord  George  Bentinck  was  staying  with  Mr  Poyntz 
at  Cowdray,  and  some  ladies  who  were  also  guests 
in  the  house  kindly  undertook  the  task  of  mak- 
ing a  jacket  for  him  to  ride  in.  How  far  this 
gratifying  success  tended  to  promote  his  par- 
tiality for  Goodwood  I  cannot  say,  but  after  its 
occurrence  he  attended  Goodwood  races  without 
intermission;  was  a  subscriber  in  1827  to  the 
Cup,  Stakes,  and  Drawing  -  Room  Stakes ;  and 
was  Steward  in  1837. 


54  EARLY   RACING   DAYS. 

As  his  father,  the  fourth  Duke  of  Portland, 
took,  as  I  have  already  said,  the  greatest  in- 
terest and  delight  in  breeding  and  racing  his 
own  horses,  Lord  George  was  familiarised  from 
his  youth  upwards  with  the  noble  sport  to 
which  he  subsequently  became  so  attached.  Al- 
though his  Grace  was  a  great  supporter  of 
Newmarket,  and  seldom  engaged  his  horses  else- 
where, Lord  George,  aided  by  his  first  cousin, 
Mr  Charles  Greville,  obtained  the  Duke's  support 
as  a  subscriber,  in  1827,  to  the  Stakes,  Cup, 
and  Drawing-Room  Stakes  at  Goodwood,  where 
H.R.H.  the  Duke  of  York  was  Steward  the  pre- 
vious year.  At  the  same  time  Lord  George  had 
an  interest  in  some  of  the  horses  running  in  Mr 
Greville's  name,  and  was  a  very  heavy  speculator. 
Thus  it  is  well  known  that  he  backed  Mr  Richard 
Watt's  Belzoni  and  Lord  Fitzwilliam's  Mulatto 
for  the  Doncaster  St  Leger  of  1826  for  a  con- 
siderable amount.  The  race,  however,  was  run 
when  the  ground  was  very  deep,  and  was  won  by 
Lord  Scarbrough's  Tarrare,  so  that  Lord  George 
lost  heavily — it  was  reported  £27,000  ;  but  from 
his  Lordship  subsequently  admitting  to  me  that 
it  was  "  the  most  disastrous  event  of  his  racing 
career,"  I  feel  sure  that  his  loss  must  have  greatly 
exceeded  that  sum ;  and  his  mother,  and  sister, 
Lady  Charlotte  Bentinck,  afterwards  Viscountess 
Ossington,  most  kindly  and  generously  assisted 
him  to  meet  it.  It  may  naturally  be  supposed 


BEGINNING   OF   THE   STUD.  55 

that  this  untoward  incident  could  not  be  unknown 
to  his  father,  who  was  much  troubled  and  grieved 
about  it,  and  expostulated  most  earnestly  with 
his  son,  pointing  out  the  consequences  of  such 
reckless  speculation.  To  wean  Lord  George  from 
such  a  dangerous  pursuit,  the  Duke  purchased  an 
estate  in  Scotland  for  his  Lordship,1  urging  him 
with  affectionate  importunity  to  forswear  racing 
and  betting.  For  a  few  years  Lord  George  re- 
spected his  father's  wishes ;  but  the  natural  in- 
stinct could  not  be  suppressed,  stimulated  as  it 
was  by  his  father's  stud,  and  by  that  of  his  cousin, 
Mr  Greville  (who  was  his  senior  by  seven  years), 
and  by  his  own  great  attachment  to  Goodwood,  and 
to  his  valued  friend,  the  fifth  Duke  of  Richmond. 
The  latter  took  the  greatest  interest  in  the  noble 
sport  of  horse-racing,  and  permitted  Lord  George 
to  share  a  few  horses  with  him.  This  induced 
Lord  George  to  make  several  other  purchases, 
running  his  horses  in  the  name  of  the  Duke  of 
Richmond.  These  purchases  were,  in  1832,  Kislar 
Aga  and  a  black  yearling  colt  by  Reveller ;  and 
in  1833,  a  chestnut  filly,  Chanterelle.  In  1835 
his  Lordship  bought  Pussy,  Tiber,  and  three  year- 
lings— viz.,  a  colt  by  Sultan  out  of  Gold  Pin,  a 
colt  by  Sir  Benjamin  Backbite,  and  Wimple,  a 


1  The  estate  in  question  was  at  Muirkirk,  in  Ayrshire.  On  the 
death  of  Lord  George  Bentinck,  his  brother,  Lord  Henry,  succeeded 
to  it,  and  sold  it  some  years  later  to  Mr  James  Baird  of  Cambusdoon, 
whose  nephew,  Mr  John  Baird,  now  holds  it. 


56  EARLY   RACING   DAYS. 

filly  by  The  Colonel.  In  1836  and  1837  there 
were  added  Zipporah,  Frontignac,  Chateau  La- 
fitte,  Hooghly,  and  Guava.  In  1838  the  stud 
was  augmented  by  The  Currier,  Tamburini,  and 
others,  all  running  in  the  name  of  the  Duke  of 
Bichmond.  Lord  George  also  had  horses  running 
in  the  names  of  Lord  Orford,  Mr  Greville,  and 
Lord  Lichfield — Ascot  and  Bodice,  for  instance, 
running  in  Lord  Orford's  name  ;  Preserve,  Dacre, 
and  Elis  in  Mr  Greville's ;  and  Elis,  Arbaces, 
Ascot,  El  Pastor,  with  others,  in  Lord  Lichfield's. 
It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  so  many  differ- 
ent interests  could  be  -reconciled  for  any  great 
length  of  time  without  some  conflict  of  opinion 
arising,  and  accordingly  the  two  keenest  specu- 
lators, Lord  George  and  Mr  Greville,  soon  came 
into  collision.  Their  differences  became  so  great 
that  all  efforts  on  the  part  of  their  most  intimate 
friends  to  compose  them  were  of  no  avail — the 
result  being  that  the  horses  in  Mr  Greville's  name 
were  removed  to  other  stables,  whilst  Elis,  with 
others,  was  intrusted  to  John  Doe,  Lord  Lich- 
field's trainer.  Preserve  joined  Lord  George's 
stud  at  Doncaster,  where  his  brood  mares  were 
under  the  charge  of  Mr  Bowe,  who  kept  the  Turf 
Tavern,  and  in  whose  name  his  Lordship  subse- 
quently ran  most  of  his  horses. 

This  Mr  John  Bowe  was  a£  that  time  ostensibly 
landlord  of  the  Turf  Tavern  at  Doncaster,  but  the 
real  lessee  was  Mr  Samuel  King,  whose  daughter 


BENTINCK   STUD   AT   DANEBURY.  57 

Mr  Bo  we  had  married.  Lord  George  Bentinck  ran 
some  of  his  horses  in  the  name  of  Mr  King,  but 
the  latter  was  a  trainer  who,  among  other  horses, 
prepared  Tarrare — the  property  of  the  Earl  of 
Scarbrough — for  the  Doncaster  St  Leger  of  1826, 
which  Tarrare  won.  Mr  King  therefore  thought 
it  would  expose  him  to  invidious  comments  if  he 
appeared  as  nominator  of  mysterious  horses  of 
which  he  was  not  the  trainer,  and  with  which  he 
had  no  intelligible  connection.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances he  begged  Lord  George  to  find  some 
other  nominator  for  his  entries,  and  in  this  way 
the  services  of  Mr  John  Bowe  were  secured  for 
that  purpose.  In  reality,  Lord  George  would  have 
preferred  to  use  Mr  King's  name,  as  he  was  very 
energetic  and  skilful  in  managing  Lord  George's 
paddocks  and  brood  mares  at  Doncaster,  and  Lord 
George  knew  him  well  and  trusted  him  thoroughly. 
The  Duke  of  Richmond  did  not  approve  of  hav- 
ing any  more  of  his  Lordship's  horses  at  Goodwood 
to  run  in  his  Grace's  name,  although  it  was  his 
Lordship's  wish  to  have  all  his  stud  there.  In 
consequence,  therefore,  of  this  objection  on  the  part 
of  his  Grace,  Lord  George  established  a  stud  at 
Danebury,  where  he  expended  a  large  sum  in 
building  stables,  forming  paddocks,  making  roads 
and  plantations,  and  double-turfing  the  gallops  ; 
in  fact,  it  was  rumoured  that  his  Lordship  expended 
£1500  for  bone-dust  alone.  At  that  time  John 
Barham  Day,  familiarly  known  as  "  Honest  John," 


58  EARLY   RACING    DAYS. 

was  at  the  head  of  the  Danebury  stables,  and  he 
had  long  been  the  Duke  of  Portland's  favourite 
jockey. 

As  previously  stated,  his  Lordship  entertained  a 
great  predilection  for  Goodwood  from  its  privacy, 
excellent  downs,  elastic  iurf,  and  glorious  expanse 
of  ground,  affording  superb  gallops  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year  and  under  all  vicissitudes  of  weather, 
and  it  was  greatly  against  his  will  that  it  became 
necessary  for  him  to  go  elsewhere. 

Being  favourably  impressed  with  my  father's 
training  and  stable-management,  more  especially 
when  Mr  Kent's  (in  reality  the  Earl  of  Uxbridge's) 
Rubini  won  the  Goodwood  Cup  in  1833,  beating 
Mr  Greville's  (Lord  George's)  Whale,  and  again 
when  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  Elizondo  won  the 
Port  Stakes  at  Newmarket,  beating  Sylvan  and 
Bodice,  Lord  George  told  my  father  that  these 
horses  had  won  solely  by  reason  of  the  condition 
in  which  he  brought  them  to  the  post.  His  Lord- 
ship lost  heavily  upon  each  race,  but  he  did  not 
omit  to  tell  his  friends,  including  the  Duke  of 
Richmond,  that  it  was  "  all  owing  to  Kent's  train- 
ing." 

In  1834  his  Lordship  bought  Venison  as  a  year- 
ling, and  as  he  hoped  soon  to  have  all  his  horses 
at  Goodwood,  Venison  was  entered  for  the  Derby 
in  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  name.  Owing,  how- 
ever, to  his  Grace's  subsequent  objection,  Venison 
was  sent  to  John  Day's  at  Danebury  to  be  trained. 


VARIED    FORTUNES.  59 

When  two  years  old  he  ran  for  the  Lavant  Stakes 
at  Goodwood  in  John  Day's  name,  and  was  beaten. 
Gondolier,  who  had  been  at  Goodwood  a  year  or 
two  previously  in  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  name, 
was  sent,  after  having  been  in  Prince's  stable  as 
Mr  Greville's  property,  to  John  Day's,  in  whose 
name  he  ran  in  1835.  These  two  horses  were  all 
that  ran  in  John  Day's  name  that  year  ;  El  Pastor, 
Preserve,  Dacre,  Marmalade,  and  Elis  ran  in  Mr 
Greville's  till  that  unfortunate  difference  occurred, 
when  Elis  and  El  Pastor  joined  Gab,  Arbaces, 
Ethiopian,  and  Ascot  at  John  Doe's,  nominally 
as  Lord  Lichfield's  property,  in  whose  name  they 
ran  for  their  engagements.  Although  Lord  George 
lost  heavily  upon  Preserve  for  the  Oaks,  he  had 
already  been  successful  with  her  in  winning  the 
One  Thousand  at  Newmarket,  to  which  were  sub- 
sequently added  the  Drawing-Room  Stakes  and 
the  Verulam  Stakes  at  Goodwood.  With  Elis 
his  Lordship  won  the  Chesterfield,  Clearwell, 
Criterion,  and  a  sweepstakes  at  Newmarket,  and 
the  Molecomb  Stakes  at  Goodwood.  Although 
at  that  time  his  Lordship  betted  heavily  and 
lost  considerably  upon  Preserve  when  Queen  of 
Trumps  beat  her  for  the  Oaks,  and  when  Glaucus 
beat  her  for  the  Goodwood  Stakes,  he  won  a  big 
stake  upon  Queen  of  Trumps  when  she  won  the 
St  Leger,  owing  to  the  great  ease  with  which 
she  defeated  Preserve  in  the  Oaks ;  prior  to  which 
Mr  Greville,  in  giving  Nat  his  orders,  told  him  to 


60  EARLY   RACING   DAYS. 

"  come  away  at  Tattenham  Corner,  but  not  to 
spread-eagle  them  too  far ! "  John  Blenkhorn, 
trainer  of  the  Queen,  happened  to  hear  this,  and 
instructed  Tommy  Lye  to  "  spread-eagle  the  others 
as  far  as  he  could,"  with  the  result  that  such  a 
tailing  race  has  seldom  been  seen  since  ! 

In  1836  his  Lordship  entered  more  fully  than 
ever  into  the  spirit  of  racing,  and  increased  the 
number  of  his  horses.  Elis  was  beaten  for  the 
Two  Thousand  Guineas  by  Bay  Middleton,  much 
to  his  Lordship's  disappointment,  as  he  backed  him 
for  a  considerable  amount,  after  trying  him  with 
the  Duke  of  Richmond's  Pussy  (winner  of  the 
Oaks  in  1834)  and  with  others,  whom  he  beat  so 
easily  that  we  all  thought  his  defeat  impossible. 
Bay  Middleton,  however,  defeated  him  in  such 
style  that  Lord  George  never  ceased  to  back  Lord 
Jersey's  splendid  colt  for  the  Derby  of  1836  ;  and 
after  seeing  him  saddled  and  cantered,  his  Lord- 
ship rode  up  to  the  ring,  which  was  then  formed 
on  the  hill  near  the  mile-post,  and  took  £2000  to 
£1000  three  times  about  Bay  Middleton,  thereby 
landing  a  good  stake,  although  he  had  Venison 
running,  whom  he  had  also  backed. 

Encouraged  by  his  success  in  backing  Bay 
Middleton  for  the  Derby  and  in  owning  Elis,  of 
whom,  although  he  admitted  his  inferiority  to  Bay 
Middleton,  he  entertained  a  very  high  opinion, 
and  remembering  that  Venison  had  evinced  good 
form  by  winning  the  Gloucestershire  Stakes  and 


FIRST   IDEA   OF   VANS.  61 

Cup  at  Cheltenham,  his  Lordship  exercised  his 
active  and  ingenious  mind  in  giving  effect  to  an 
idea  that  race-horses  might  be  conveyed  in  a  sort 
of  van  which  would  preserve  them  from  the  risk 
and  fatigue,  to  say  nothing  of  the  delays,  in- 
separable from  travelling  on  foot  from  place  to 
place.  This  idea  he  expounded  to  my  father, 
who  thought  there  would  not  be  much  difficulty 
in  accomplishing  it,  as  he  remembered  a  horse 
called  Sovereign,  belonging  to  Mr  Terrett,  having 
been  conveyed  in  a  bullock-van  from  Worcester- 
shire to  Newmarket.  As  there  was  a  similar  van 
upon  the  Goodwood  estate,  his  Lordship  inspected 
it  with  my  father,  who  was  so  convinced  that  the 
principle  could  be  adopted  for  the  conveyance  of 
race-horses,  that  he  at  once  used  every  means  in 
his  power  to  give  effect  to  his  master's  wishes. 
My  father  judged  that  if  a  valuable  horse  could 
be  moved  from  the  south  to  the  north  of  Eng- 
land so  as  to  run  well  in  the  St  Leger,  the  method 
would  at  once  be  established  and  adopted.  Hav- 
ing Elis  engaged  in  the  St  Leger,  Lord  George 
thought  it  a  good  opportunity  to  make  trial  of 
this  plan.  Accordingly  he  employed  Mr  Herring, 
a  coachbuilder  in  Long  Acre,  to  construct  a  van 
capable  of  holding  two  horses.  Mr  Herring  was 
kept  in  the  dark  as  to  the  object  with  which  the 
van  was  being  built,  and  few  were  allowed  to 
know  of  its  construction.  As  it  progressed,  its 
successful  adaptation  to  the  purpose  for  which 


62  EARLY   RACING   DAYS. 

it  was  built  was  confidently  anticipated,  although 
it  was  a  heavy  cumbrous  vehicle,  with  the  wheels 
running  under  it,  an  arrangement  which  elevated 
the  body  so  high  that  it  was  not  easy  to  get  the 
horses  inside.  This  difficulty  wTas  surmounted  by 
raising  or  banking  up  the  surface  of  the  ground 
into  a  sloping  approach.  In  order  to  ensure 
success,  Lord  George  sent  Elis  to  Goodwood  to 
be  prepared  upon  its  splendid  gallops,  and  to  run 
in  the  interim  for  his  Goodwood  engagements, 
and  for  another  at  Lewes.  The  horse  was  under 
the  care  of  John  Doe,  who  was  also  in  charge 
of  Ascot,  Arbaces,  and  Toss  Up.  Elis  won  the 
Drawing-Room  Stakes  at  Goodwood,  and  in  re- 
ward for  his  victory  Lord  George  presented  my 
father  with  £25  for  the  following  reason.  The 
day  previous  to  the  race  Elis  had  a  severe  attack 
of  gripes,  and  Lord  George  thought  all  chance  of 
his  being  able  to  run  was  at  an  end.  Even  after 
the  horse's  recovery,  thanks  to  remedies  suggested 
by  my  father,  Lord  George  feared  that  the  effects 
of  the  medicine  would  weaken  Elis  and  prevent 
his  winning ;  but  my  father  assured  his  Lordship 
to  the  contrary.  After  Elis  had  won  the  Drawing- 
Room  Stakes,  his  Lordship's  hopes  that  he  would 
also  win  the  Goodwood  Cup  began  to  revive.  He 
had  backed  the  horse  heavily  for  the  Cup,  which 
was  run  two  days  after  the  Drawing-Room  Stakes  ; 
but  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  a  three- 
year  -  old  should  beat  such  a  four  -  year  -  old  as 


ELIS.  63 

Hornsea  at  15  Ib.  over  a  distance  of  two  miles 
and  a  half.  Nevertheless,  Elis  ran  a  great  horse, 
and  for  a  time  appeared  likely  to  win ;  but  at 
last  the  distance  and  the  disadvantage  in  weight 
told  upon  him,  and  he  finished  a  good  second  to 
Hornsea.  Notwithstanding  this  race,  Elis  was 
pulled  out  for  a  second  time  on  the  same  day— 
to  run  for  the  Racing  Stakes — which  he  won  easily, 
beating  the  Drummer  and  Taglioni,  with  odds  of 
10  to  1  laid  on  him. 

A  fortnight  later  Elis  won  the  Lewes  Stakes  at 
Lewes  over  a  mile  and  a  half,  giving  2 1  Ib.  to  Lord 
Egremont's  Hock,  and  beating  seven  others,  in- 
cluding Buckingham.  This  was  a  great  perfor- 
mance, and  Lord  George's  hopes  of  winning  the 
Doncaster  St  Leger  with  him  were  raised  higher 
than  ever.  As  the  horse  continued  to  take  his 
gallops  at  Goodwood  with  The  Drummer  to  lead 
him,  assisted  by  Pussy  and  Tiber,  it  was  the 
general  impression  that  after  four  races  (three  at 
Goodwood  and  one  at  Lewes)  Elis  would  never 
see  Doncaster.  Fortunately  he  possessed  a  strong 
constitution,  like  his  grandsire  Selim.  Both  were 
ravenous  feeders,  but  Elis  differed  in  one  respect 
from  Selim,  whom,  from  his  restive  and  violent 
behaviour  in  the  box,  it  was  difficult,  and  even 
dangerous,  to  approach  with  a  feed  of  corn.  Elis, 
on  the  contrary,  was  very  quiet  both  in  and  out 
of  the  stable.  Some  time  after  the  race  at  Lewes, 
Venison  was  sent  to  Goodwood  to  try  Elis,  who 


64  EARLY    RACING   DAYS. 

gave  him  7  Ib.  and  21  Ib.  to  The  Drummer,  beat- 
ing both  over  the  St  Leger  distance.  This  was 
most  encouraging  to  Lord  George,  who  was  greatly 
excited,  and  more  than  ever  anxious  to  have  his 
wonderful  new  van  completed.  As  John  Doe  was 
obliged  to  return  home  to  Newmarket  for  a  short 
time,  my  father  took  temporary  charge  of  the 
horse,  and  had  many  communications  made  to 
him  by  Lord  George  on  the  subject  of  the  van. 
My  father's  interest  in  it  was  naturally  as  great 
as  that  of  his  Lordship,  and  he  assisted  John  Doe 
in  every  possible  way  to  prepare  Elis  for  the  race, 
and  to  make  him  handy  for  entering  the  van.  At 
last  the  day  arrived  for  the  machine  to  reach 
Goodwood,  and  preparations  were  made  for  pack- 
ing Elis  and  The  Drummer  into  it  side  by  side, 
and  despatching  them  to  Doncaster.  Lord  George, 
who  had  been  a  frequent  visitor  to  Goodwood 
while  Elis  was  there,  and  who  posted  down  from 
London  or  from  Andover  to  see  his  favourite,  was 
on  the  spot  when  the  van  arrived.  He  inspected 
it  inside  and  out  with  the  greatest  care,  and  was 
vastly  pleased  with  the  result  of  the  examination. 
Next  he  proceeded  to  inquire  with  characteristic 
thoroughness  what  the  two  horses  would  require 
on  the  road,  and  gave  orders  that  until  the  St 
Leger  was  over  Elis  should  eat  no  corn  or  hay 
except  what  was  drawn  from  my  father's  granary 
at  Goodwood.  Even  the  sieve  out  of  which  the 
horse  was  fed  was  to  be  taken  from  Goodwood. 


FIRST   TRIAL   OF   THE   VAN.  65 

As  I  have  already  stated,  the  body  of  the  van 
was  lifted  high  above  the  ground,  on  account  of 
the  construction  of  the  wheels — being  built,  in  fact, 
on  the  same  lines  as  the  old  gipsy-vans.  It  there- 
fore became  necessary  to  back  it  against  a  bank 
which  formed  a  boundary  of  old  Goodwood  Park, 
and  stood  opposite  the  kennels.  In  this  way 
entrance  into  the  van  was  made  easy  for  the  two 
horses  ;  and  the  platform  or  gangway  being  covered 
with  straw  litter,  the  horses  entered  without  hesi- 
tation, especially  Elis,  who  was  a  very  docile  and 
tractable  animal.  All  being  prepared,  the  six 
post-horses  were  attached  to  the  vehicle,  and  Mr 
John  Doe  mounted  the  box.  After  this  fashion 
was  the  great  tentative  experiment  initiated,  and 
the  start  effected,  greatly  to  the  delight  and 
astonishment  of  all  who  had  witnessed  the  prepara- 
tions by  which  the  first  specially  constructed  race- 
horse van  on  record  was  brought  into  active 
requisition. 

Nor  were  the  curiosity  and  wonder  less  as  it 
proceeded  on  its  way,  the  greatest  surprise  and 
interest  being  excited  by  it  in  every  village  and 
town  through  which  it  passed.  Some  of  the  spec- 
tators asserted  that  a  wild  beast  of  extraordinary 
ferocity  was  locked  up  inside ;  others  that  a 
notorious  criminal  was  being  sent  from  jail  to  be 
tried  at  the  assizes.  Pedestrians  stopped  and  eyed 
it  with  amazement.  The  coachmen  and  passengers 
of  the  various  coaches  were  astounded  at  seeing 

E 


66  EARLY   RACING   DAYS. 

six  post-horses  attached  to  such  an  uncommon  and 
strange-looking  machine.  At  some  of  the  towns 
through  which  it  passed  three  pairs  of  horses  could 
not  be  obtained  ;  at  others  it  was  thought  advisable 
to  have  but  two  pairs.  The  distance  from  Good- 
wood to  Doncaster  (about  250  miles)  was  divided 
into  three  sections  of  about  eighty  miles  per  diem. 
At  the  end  of  the  second  day,  which  was  a  Satur- 
day, Elis  and  The  Drummer  were  taken  out  of  the 
van,  and  galloped  on  the  following  morning  on  Lich- 
field  race-course  ;  and  on  Monday  morning  they 
proceeded  on  their  way  to  Doncaster,  where  they 
arrived  in  the  evening  (two  days  before  the  St 
Leger),  to  the  undisguised  amazement  of  thousands 
of  beholders. 

As  it  required  some  time  to  complete  the  neces- 
sary preparations  for  unvanning  the  two  horses,  a 
multitude  assembled  at  the  Turf  Tavern  to  witness 
the  disembarkation  of  the  mysterious  favourite, 
Elis,  who  a  few  days  previously  was  supposed  to 
be  still  at  Goodwood,  and  not  likely  to  put  in  an 
appearance  at  Doncaster.  When  Elis  was  landed 
upon  terra  firma  he  shook  himself  vigorously,  and 
walked  unconcernedly  into  his  stable.  At  the 
betting-rooms  in  the  evening  all  sorts  of  conjectures 
were  rife,  and  the  odds  fluctuated  a  good  deal. 
In  the  morning  Elis  was  taken  out  upon  the  race- 
course accompanied  by  The  Drummer,  and  the  two 
went  a  good  gallop.  The  rapid  strides  and  healthy 
appearance  of  the  Goodwood  favourite  so  satisfied 


OTHER   VANS.  67 

all  who  saw  him  that  it  was  generally  remarked, 
"  Although  he  came  into  Doncaster  in  the  rear  of 
six  horses,  he  will  leave  twice  that  number  to 
inspect  his  tail  in  the  great  race." 

The  van,  although  cumbrous  and  heavy,  was  a 
commodious  vehicle,  and  completely  fitted  inter- 
nally with  padded  sides.  Moreover,  the  horses 
stood  upon  a  hard-stuffed  mattress,  so  that  their 
knees  might  not  be  broken  if  they  fell  down. 
There  was  also  a  manger  for  each,  and  every  other 
convenience  ;  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  the  machine 
resembled  a  movable  stable. 

As  this  enterprise  proved  beyond  expectation 
successful,  Mr  Herring  was  instructed  by  Lord 
George  to  build  another  van  upon  an  improved 
principle — in  short,  a  less  cumbersome  and  pon- 
derous conveyance.  A  hind  platform  was  attached, 
which  could  be  let  down,  so  that  the  ascent  might 
be  made  less  steep.  A  door  was  also  added  in 
front,  to  obviate  the  necessity  of  turning  the 
horses  round  or  backing  them  when  getting  them 
out.  This  second  van  was  used  by  me  for  many 
years.  Mr  Hunnybun,  a  coachbuilder  at  New- 
market, subsequently  built  others  upon  greatly 
improved  principles,  with  peculiar  axles  which 
brought  the  body  of  the  van  much  nearer  the 
ground,  so  that  the  difficulty  often  experienced 
of  getting  the  horses  into  their  travelling  carriage 
was  overcome.  Mr  Hunnybun's  vans  were  beauti- 
fully finished  and  admirably  constructed,  costing 


68  EARLY   RACING   DAYS. 

from  £150  to  £160  for  a  double,  and  £120  for  a 
single  one.  At  Goodwood  we  soon  had  three  of 
the  former  pattern  and  two  of  the  latter,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  first  constructed  by  Herring.  They 
were  frequently  used,  his  Lordship  being  so  much 
in  favour  of  their  employment  that  he  insisted 
upon  having  even  the  most  inferior  animals  con- 
veyed to  their  destination  in  them — some  of  which, 
indeed,  were  of  less  value  than  the  horses  employed 
in  drawing  them.  As  the  average  cost  of  a  pair 
of  post-horses  was  2s.  per  mile,  the  expenses  were 
naturally  very  heavy ;  but  his  Lordship  thought 
it  might  be  the  means  of  avoiding  the  introduc- 
tion of  disease  into  the  stable,  which  was  often 
contracted  through  horses  being  put  into  un- 
healthy quarters  at  the  various  inns  at  which, 
when  travelling  on  foot,  they  were  compelled  to 
stop.  The  journey  of  Elis  from  Goodwood  to 
Doncaster  could  not  have  cost  less  than  from  £80 
to  £100.  It  was  said  at  the  time  that  the  old- 
fashioned  trainers  complained  in  no  measured  terms 
of  this  new  mode  of  conveyance  for  race- horses,  and 
insisted  that  it  was  unnatural,  and  certain  to  be 
injurious  to  the  delicate  constitution  and  organisa- 
tion of  the  trained  thoroughbred.  This  they  very 
soon  discovered  to  be  an  error,  as  it  enabled  horses 
which  were  heavily  engaged  to  run  at  many  meet- 
ings which  they  never  could  have  reached  on  foot. 
To  no  racing  centre  was  it  of  greater  advantage 
than  Newmarket,  as  horses  trained  there  could  be 


3  3 

•    < 


Y-*    Q 

<    x 

H3 


ADVANTAGES    OF   THE    VAN.  69 

despatched  with  comparatively  little  fatigue,  and 
no  wear  and  tear,  to  run  at  meetings  to  which  it 
would  have  been  impossible  for  them  to  proceed 
by  road.  At  that  time  there  were  not  more  than 
250  horses  in  training  at  the  metropolis  of  the  Turf, 
while  far  larger  numbers  were  prepared  for  their 
engagements  at  various  provincial  places.  In  this 
manner  the  van  was  of  immense  advantage  to  race- 
horses, and  also  to  their  owners  and  trainers,  and, 
like  many  other  reforms  initiated  by  Lord  George 
Bentinck,  it  was  of  untold  benefit  to  all  who  took 
an  interest  in  horse-racing.  Indeed  the  introduction 
and  universal  employment  of  vans  inaugurated  a 
revolution  in  the  management  and  engagement  of 
race -horses.  When  it  is  remembered  that  Mr 
John  Scott's  Cyprian  walked  from  Malton  to 
Epsom  and  won  the  Oaks  on  May  20,  1836,  and 
was  immediately  despatched  on  foot  to  Newcastle- 
on-Tyne,  where  on  June  22  she  won  the  Northum- 
berland Plate,  having  taken  nearly  a  month  to 
walk  300  miles  from  Epsom  to  Newcastle,  it  is 
easy  to  understand  that,  previous  to  the  employ- 
ment of  vans,  young  horses  were  often  temporarily 
worn  out,  and  sometimes  lamed  for  life,  by  long 
journeys  on  the  hard  road. 

Some  two  or  three  weeks  before  the  St  Leger 
of  1836  it  became  evident  that  Elis  was  being 
backed  for  large  sums,  and  that  the  market  was 
being  worked  actively  by  some  persons  who,  as 
Lord  George  had  reason  to  suspect,  were  betray- 


70  EARLY   RACING   DAYS. 

ing  him,  and  getting  on  a  big  sum  of  money.  To 
test  his  suspicions,  his  Lordship  made  it  publicly 
known  that  he  would  not  run  the  horse  unless  he 
could  obtain  the  odds  at  12  to  1  to  £1000,  knowing 
well  that  no  one,  unless  he  had  previously  backed 
Elis  heavily,  would  be  in  a  position  to  lay  such 
a  bet.  The  result  was  that  £12,000  to  £1000 
against  Elis  was  laid  to  his  Lordship's  commissioner. 
Nothing  could  have  been  more  to  his  Lordship's 
gratification,  as  it  proved  beyond  doubt  that  he  was 
right  in  his  conjectures.  Although  Mr  W.  Scott's 
Scroggins  was  a  great  favourite,  having  been 
heavily  backed  at  6  to  4,  Elis  won  rather  cleverly, 
and  Lord  George  was  rewarded  by  landing  a  good 
stake.  In  my  opinion  he  never  would  have  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  odds  against  Elis  at  12  to  1 
to  that  large  amount  had  it  not  been  that  the  layers 
believed  it  impossible  for  the  horse  to  reach  Don- 
caster  in  time  to  run  for  the  St  Leger.  They 
were  well  aware  that  Elis  was  still  at  Goodwood 
in  the  middle  of  the  week  preceding  the  Doncaster 
meeting,  and  that  it  took  fifteen  or  sixteen  days 
for  a  horse  to  walk  from  Goodwood  to  Doncaster. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  Danebury  party, 
who  had  backed  him  heavily,  became  uneasy,  and 
were  not  long  in  making  up  their  minds  to  "  un- 
load." They  were  perfectly  cognisant  of  the  fact 
that  Venison,  who  came  from  Danebury  to  Good- 
wood to  be  tried  with  Elis,  had  been  beaten  by 
the  latter  when  in  receipt  of  7  lb.,  and  accordingly 


PURCHASE   OF   BAY   MIDDLETON.  *71 

they  made  haste  to  "  get  on,"  never  caring  whom 
they  forestalled.  They  soon  found,  however,  that 
Lord  George  was  a  dangerous  customer  to  take 
liberties  with ;  and  I  am  perfectly  confident  that 
his  Lordship  would  not  have  allowed  Elis  to  start 
for  the  St  Leger  unless  the  bet  of  £12,000  to 
£1000  had  been  forthcoming. 

In  the  First  October  Meeting  at  Newmarket, 
Elis  again  met  Bay  Middleton  for  the  Grand  Duke 
Michael  Stakes ;  but  Lord  George,  satisfied  that 
although  Elis  had  won  the  St  Leger,  Bay  Mid- 
dleton was  the  better  animal,  invested  merely  at 
trifle  on  his  own  horse.  In  the  race  Bay  Middle- 
ton,  beautifully  ridden  by  Jem  Robinson,  beat 
Elis,  ridden  by  J.  B.  Bay,  rather  easily,  and 
proved  to  be  what  Lord  George  considered  him. 
Determined  to  acquire  possession  of  this  grand 
horse,  Lord  George  offered  Lord  Jersey  4000 
guineas  (the  largest  sum  ever  paid  for  a  horse 
down  to  that  time)  for  Bay  Middleton,  which 
Lord  Jersey  accepted.  Lord  George  then  pro- 
posed to  make  use  of  Elis's  van  in  order  to  con- 
vey Bay  Middleton  to  Danebury  in  it.  Upon 
this  "  Tiny "  Edwards,  Lord  Jersey's  trainer, 
exclaimed,  "  You  may  send  the  van,  my  Lord,  if 
you  like,  but  all  Newmarket  will  not  get  Bay 
Middleton  into  it ! "  As  usual,  his  Lordship  was 
not  to  be  turned  from  his  purpose.  The  van 
was  sent,  and  Bay  Middleton  was  easily  induced 
to  enter  it,  and  was  thus  conveyed  to  Danebury, 


72  EARLY   RACING   DAYS. 

greatly  to  the  surprise  of  all  who  were  acquainted 
with  the  horse's  impetuous  temper.  An  attempt 
was  made  to  train  him,  but  it  failed,  as  his  fore- 
leg had  gone  before  Lord  Jersey  sold  him.  He 
was  then  sent  to  join  Lord  George's  stud  at  the 
Turf  Tavern  Paddocks  at  Doncaster,  where  Ascot, 
who  ran  second  to  Mundig  for  the  Derby,  and 
from  thirty  to  forty  brood  mares,  were  already 
installed.  In  addition,  his  Lordship  had  a  lot 
more  brood  mares  at  Danebury,  and  others  at 
Bonehill,  near  Tarn  worth,  making  in  all  about 
sixty-five.  Next  year  he  had  about  thirty  foals 
by  Bay  Middleton,  some  of  which  were  out  of 
valuable  mares ;  and  as  his  fee  was  only  thirty 
guineas,  Bay  Middleton  had  some  very  high-bred 
mares  sent  to  him  in  addition  to  those  belonging 
to  his  owner.  Although  a  most  superior  race- 
horse, Bay  Middleton  was  for  a  long  time  very 
unsuccessful  at  the  stud,  so  many  of  his  stock 
being  unsound  and  very  difficult  to  train,  which 
was  not  only  a  great  loss  to  his  Lordship  but 
also  a  great  disappointment.  A  very  remark- 
able fact  was  that  daughters  of  Velocipede — 
of  all  mares  the  most  unlikely  to  throw  sound 
stock,  as  their  sire  was  notoriously  infirm  in  his 
knees  —  nicked  best  with  Bay  Middleton.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  progeny  thrown  to  Bay  Mid- 
dleton by  Emilius  mares  and  Whalebone  mares 
were  generally  unsound,  and  sometimes  cripples. 
Still  Lord  George  believed  that  some  day  Bay 


BAY  MIDDLETON'S  PROGENY.  73 

Middleton  would  get  a  good  race-horse,  and  it 
was  only  in  consequence  of  continual  failures  that 
he  was  at  last  induced  to  send  Crucifix,  Latitude, 
and  one  or  two  others  to  Touchstone,  with  the 
result  that  Surplice  and  Loadstone  were  foaled  in 

1845,  and  sold  by  Lord  George   as  yearlings  in 

1846,  with  the  rest  of  his  stud.      His  Lordship 
did  not  live  to  see  the  full  realisation  of  his  antici- 
pation that  one  day  Bay  Middleton  would  become 
the  sire  of  a  great  horse.     This  happened  in  1846, 
when  The   Flying   Dutchman  was   born,    and   in 
1851,  when  Andover,  another  winner  of  the  Derby, 
first   saw  the  light.     Again,  in  1848,   Sir  Joseph 
Hawley's  Venus  gave  birth  to  Aphrodite,  and  in 
1853  to  Kalipyge,  both  being  daughters  of  Bay 
Middleton, — the  last-named  being,  in  Sir  Joseph 
Hawley's    opinion,    the   best    mare   that   he    ever 
owned.     She  broke  down  in  1856,  after  winning 
the  Craven  Stakes  at  Epsom. 

The  site  selected  by  the  present  Duke  of  Port- 
land for  his  breeding  establishment  at  Welbeck 
Abbey,  upon  which  he  has  erected  extensive 
buildings  and  formed  very  complete  and  well- 
arranged  paddocks,  is  the  very  spot  which  it  was 
Lord  George's  ambition  to  employ  for  the  same 
purpose,  if  he  could  have  prevailed  upon  his  father 
to  entertain  the  idea.  The  extraordinary  success 
attending  the  valuable  stud  installed  at  this 
moment  upon  the  site  in  question  is  another  proof 
of  Lord  George's  foresight ;  but  it  is  doubtful 


74  EARLY   RACING    DAYS. 

whether  a  stud  owned  by  Lord  George  would 
have  attained  that  excellence,  or  afforded  him  as 
much  pleasure  as  it  has  to  the  present  Duke,  more 
especially  if  Bay  Middleton  had  been  stationed 
there.  It  was  Lord  George's  hope,  when  he  bought 
Bay  Middleton,  that  the  horse  might  be  able  to 
win  the  Ascot  Cup  as  a  four-year-old  in  1837; 
but  one  of  his  fore  -  legs,  which  had  been  very 
suspicious  -  looking  when  he  ran  his  last  race, 
failed  in  training,  and  though  entered  for  the 
Cup,  to  which  there  were  forty  subscribers,  he 
could  not  start.  He  was  then  sent,  as  I  have 
already  said,  to  join  his  Lordship's  stud  at  Don- 
caster.  Nothing  could  exceed  Lord  George's  dis- 
appointment when  Bay  Middleton  failed  as  a 
stallion.  The  enormous  amount  of  forfeits  paid 
in  produce  stakes  for  his  stock  would  have  dis- 
couraged any  one  else,  while  to  some  it  would 
have  been  absolutely  fatal.  But  Lord  George 
was  too  firm  of  purpose  to  be  daunted  or  turned 
aside  by  any  disappointment.  The  only  effect  it 
had  was  to  make  him  patronise  more  successful 
stallions  at  any  cost.  However  clever  and  prac- 
tical a  breeder  or  owner  of  thoroughbreds  may  be, 
the  uncertainty  attending  speculation  in  racing 
stock  is  always  likely  to  upset  his  calculations. 
Although  Lord  George  possessed  two  game  and 
fairly  good  horses  in  Elis  and  Venison,  he  could 
not  be  satisfied  without  investing  4000  guineas  in 
buying  Bay  Middleton.  Simultaneously  he  sold 


CASUALTY   STOCK.  75 

the  other  two,  which  it  would,  perhaps,  have  been 
wiser  in  him  to  have  kept,  and  not  to  have  bought 
Bay  Middleton  at  all.  It  cannot  be  denied  that 
the  late  Sir  Tatton  Sykes  spoke  truly  and  from 
long  experience  when  he  called  thoroughbred 
stallions,  brood  mares,  and  their  progeny  "  casualty 
stock." 


CHAPTEE   IV. 

,         HORSE-RACING   PREVIOUS   TO   VANS. 

THE  success  attending  the  conveyance  of  Elis  to 
Doncaster  by  this  novel  and  expeditious  method 
was  a  great  achievement,  as  upon  few,  if  upon 
any,  previous  occasions  was  the  attempt  to  win 
the  St  Leger  with  a  horse  sent  from  the  south 
of  England  successful.  From  Newmarket  it  oc- 
cupied nine  days  to  travel  to  Doncaster  on  foot, 
and  from  Goodwood  fifteen  or  sixteen  days,  which, 
with  all  the  vicissitudes  of  weather,  undesirable 
accommodation,  and  inferior  provender,  entailed 
great  risk,  expense,  and  frequent  disappointment. 
To  set  off  with  four  or  five  horses  in  order  to 
make  a  long  journey  on  foot,  with  little  or  no 
change  of  clothes  for  the  horses  or  lads,  each 
horse  having  his  muzzle,  containing  brush  and 
comb,  rubber,  sponge,  and  perhaps  a  set  of  extra 
bandages — the  whole  secured  by  one  of  the  stir- 
rup-leathers and  laid  over  the  withers — was  indeed 
a  serious  business.  I  generally  accompanied  the 
horses  on  my  own  hack,  and  sometimes  driving 


HORSES    ON   THE   ROAD.  77 

in  my  buggy.  If  the  weather  proved  wet,  our 
difficulties  were  greatly  increased,  as  it  took  an 
infinity  of  trouble  to  dry  all  the  clothes  at  the 
inns  where  the  horses  stopped  for  the  night. 
Colds  and  coughs,  attended  with  distemper  or 
strangles,  were  of  frequent  occurrence,  and  it  was 
with  a  knowledge  of  all  this  that  Lord  George 
exercised  his  resourceful  ingenuity  to  devise  some 
plan  of  carrying  his  horses  on  wheels  to  the  scene 
of  action.  Previously,  the  endeavour  to  win  the 
St  Leger  with  what  were  termed  in  those  days 
South  Country  horses  had  signally  failed,  al- 
though such  superior  animals  had  been  sent  to 
Doncaster  as  Sultan,  Plenipotentiary,  Shillelagh, 
Ascot,  Revenge,  Byzantium,  Rubini,  Marcus, 
Priam,  Frederick,  Exquisite,  Mameluke,  Transla- 
tion, Spondee,  Redgauntlet,  and  Preserve.  With 
the  exception  of  Mameluke,  who  ran  second  to 
Matilda,  and  of  Priam,  who  was  placed  second 
to  Mr  Beardsworth's  Birmingham,  not  one  of  the 
above-named  starters  got  a  place,  although  some 
of  them  were  backed  heavily.1  Those  were  indeed 
primitive  times,  and  Lord  George  seemed  to  possess 
a  special  faculty  for  revolutionising  and  galvan- 
ising them.  Previous  to  the  construction  of  vans, 

1  For  the  following  statement  I  am  indebted  to  Mr  W.  H.  Lang- 
ley  :  "  This  was  not  surprising  in  Plenipo's  case,  as  he  came  to  the 
post  as  fat  as  a  bullock,  from  having  done  little  or  no  work  during 
the  time  he  was  located  at  Brocklesby  Park  during  the  previous 
month.  Such  information  was  volunteered  to  me  by  a  resident  at 
Limber,  who  saw  the  horse  daily." — ED. 


78  HORSE-RACING   PREVIOUS   TO   VANS. 

it  was  a  matter  of  no  slight  difficulty  and  risk  to 
get  horses  even  from  Newmarket  to  Epsom  to 
run  for  the  Derby  and  Oaks.  Many  a  favourite 
on  arriving  at  Epsom  was  unable  to  start,  from 
being  amiss  on  the  day.  It  was  usual  for  New- 
market horses  to  reach  Epsom  or  the  neighbour- 
hood three  weeks  or  a  month  prior  to  the  races. 
Some  were  located  at  Epsom,  some  at  Ashstead, 
Leatherhead,  Mickleham,  and  Headley,  the  last 
place,  when  Mr  Ladbroke  resided  there,  being 
headquarters,  as,  in  addition  to  being  an  opulent 
banker,  he  was  an  enthusiastic  sportsman  and  a 
confederate  for  many  years  of  the  late  Earl  of 
Egremont.  It  was  his  great  delight  to  entertain 
as  many  of  the  most  distinguished  patrons  of  the 
Turf  as  possible,  and  also  to  accommodate  their 
horses.  The  Duke  of  Grafton,  the  Duke  of 
Cleveland,  and  the  Duke  of  Rutland  were  always 
included  among  Mr  Ladbroke's  guests,  and  their 
horses  were  provided  with  excellent  stable  accom- 
modation. Mr  Ladbroke  also  took  lodgings  near 
his  own  house  for  their  trainers — Robert  Robson, 
R.  D.  Boyce,  and  William  Chifney.  The  Cock  Inn 
hard  by  was  well  patronised  by  other  trainers  and 
jockeys,  so  that  Headley,  as  long  as  Mr  Ladbroke 
lived,  was  an  important  racing  centre  whenever 
the  Epsom  Summer  Meeting  came  round.  In 
addition  to  entertaining  as  many  distinguished 
guests  as  he  could  find  room  for,  Mr  Ladbroke 
took  the  greatest  pleasure  in  inviting  all  the 


ASHSTEAD   STABLES.  79 

jockeys  and  trainers  who  stopped  at  Headley  to 
a  sumptuous  repast,  over  which  he  presided  in 
person,  towards  the  end  of  the  Epsom  week. 
Needless  to  say,  the  Epsom  meeting  was  greatly 
enjoyed  by  Robson,  Neale,  William  Chifney,  R. 
D.  Boyce,  and  my  father.  After  the  death  of 
Mr  Ladbroke,  Headley  ceased  to  be  so  attrac- 
tive to  frequenters  of  Epsom,  and  deeply  indeed 
was  his  loss  felt  and  lamented  by  the  inhabi- 
tants. Leatherhead  and  Ashstead  were  also  fa- 
vourite resorts  during  the  Derby  and  Oaks  week 
— the  former  place  being  frequented  by  John 
Scott  and  James  Edwards,  and  the  latter  by  John 
Forth  and,  after  Mr  Ladbroke's  death,  by  Neale 
and  R.  D.  Boyce.  It  was  at  the  "  Leg  of  Mut- 
ton and  Cauliflower "  at  Ashstead  that  Cadland, 
Frederick,  Little  Wonder,  Merry  Monarch,  and 
the  notorious  Leander  were  stabled,  and  also 
Gulnare,  winner  of  the  Oaks,  whom  the  Duke 
of  Richmond  came  there  to  see.  With  his  usual 
kind  and  considerate  thought  fulness,  his  Grace 
said,  "  Well,  Kent,  how  is  the  mare  ?  I  hope  she 
is  well,  and  you  too?  You  ought  to  live  well, 
as  you  have  a  '  Haunch  of  Venison '  at  one  end 
of  the  village  and  a  '  Leg  of  Mutton  and  Cauli- 
flower '  at  the  other  !  " 

After  Mr  Ladbroke's  death  the  Chifneys  pur- 
chased a  meadow  and  paddock  at  Headley,  not 
far  from  the  Cock  Inn,  upon  which  they  built 
some  good  stables.  Before  long  the  Chifneys 


80  HORSE-RACING   PREVIOUS    TO   VANS. 

experienced  a  reverse  of  fortune,  and  the  land 
and  stables  at  Headley  passed  into  the  hands  of 
"  Lawyer "  Ford,  from  whom  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck  purchased  them.  It  was  here  that  Crucifix 
and  Grey  Momus  stood,  together  with  other 
horses,  including  Gaper  and  Chatham,  all  of  which 
belonged  to  Lord  George.  In  1845,  I  passed  the 
Epsom  week  there  with  the  Duke  of  Richmond's 
Refraction  (who  won  the  Oaks),  and  other  horses 
under  my  charge,  and  in  1848,  full  of  anxiety 
about  the  safety  of  the  favourite,  I  took  Lord 
Clifden's  Surplice  and  Loadstone  to  the  same 
spot  to  run  for  the  Derby,  which  the  former  won. 

So  great  was  the  importance  attached  by  Lord 
George  to  having  all  his  horses  vanned  to  Epsom 
and  to  other  race  meetings  that,  although  he  had 
animals  running  at  Epsom  on  the  first  day  of  the 
races,  and  again  in  the  Derby  on  Wednesday,  he 
would  insist  upon  having  his  mares  which  were 
to  run  in  the  Oaks  conveyed  in  vans  to  Headley 
on  the  Derby  Day.  The  inevitable  result  was 
that  he  had  to  pay  enormous  charges  for  post- 
horses — at  the  rate  of  fifteen  guineas  a-pair — to 
take  the  vans  from  Kingston  railway  station  to 
Headley.  This  was  the  price  paid  in  1842  for 
Firebrand's  van,  as  his  Lordship  had  backed  the 
mare  for  the  Oaks  in  consequence  of  her  having 
won  the  One  Thousand  Guineas  at  Newmarket ; 
but  in  the  Oaks  she  only  finished  third  to  Mr  G. 
Dawson's  Our  Nell,  who  was  first,  and  to  Mr 


LORD    GEORGE    CAVENDISH.  81 

Shackel's  Meal  (both  of  them  daughters  of  Bran), 
who  was  second.  Firebrand  was  a  light-built 
filly  of  very  delicate  constitution,  and  her  noble 
owner  grudged  no  expense  in  order  to  give  her 
every  chance.  I  have  known  him  do  the  same, 
however,  with  animals  not  worth  more  than  the 
hire  of  each  pair  of  post-horses  attached  to  their 
vans  on  the  Derby  Day. 

Had  Lord  George's  convenient  system  of  vanning 
race-horses  been  available  in  Lord  George  Caven- 
dish's time,  it  is  probable  that  "  Royal  George," 
as  he  was  invariably  called,  would  have  landed  a 
great  stake  on  the  Derby  of  1815,  which  was  won 
by  the  Duke  of  Grafton's  Whisker.  In  Boyce's 
stable  at  Newmarket,  where  Lord  George  Caven- 
dish's horses  were  trained,  there  was  in  1815  a 
first-class  three-year-old,  Sir  Joshua,  the  property 
of  the  Hon.  Richard  Neville,  who  was  afterwards 
Lord  Braybrooke.  Sir  Joshua  had  won  the 
Riddlesworth  at  Newmarket,  and  some  other 
races,  and  Lord  George  Cavendish,  one  of  the 
heaviest  speculators  that  I  can  remember,  backed 
him  for  the  Derby  for  an  enormous  sum.  Unfor- 
tunately, the  horse  caught  cold  while  journeying 
to  Epsom  on  foot,  and  was  unable  to  start.  At 
the  Houghton  Meeting  of  that  same  year,  Sir 
Joshua  was  matched  to  give  Whisker,  the  Derby 
winner,  5  Ib.  across  the  Flat.  The  betting  was 
very  heavy,  and  when  Sir  Joshua  won  cleverly, 
Lord  George  Cavendish  got  back  most  of  his 

F 


82  HORSE-RACING   PREVIOUS   TO   VANS. 

Epsom  losses.  Like  Lord  George  Beiitinck,  the 
nobleman  of  whom  I  am  now  speaking — who,  by 
the  way,  was  great  -  grandfather  to  the  present 
Duke  of  Devonshire  —  could  not  be  daunted  or 
turned  from  his  purpose.  I  have  often  heard  my 
father  describe  the  celebrated  match  between 
Filho  da  Puta  and  Sir  Joshua  in  1816,  when  both 
were  four  years  old.  Filho  da  Puta  had  won  the 
St  Leger  easily  in  1815,  and  was  undoubtedly  a 
great  horse.  He  was  matched  to  give  Sir  Joshua 
7  Ib.  over  the  Rowley  mile  in  the  Craven  meeting 
of  1816.  The  winter  of  1815-16  was  extraor- 
dinarily severe  in  the  north  of  England,  and  Filho 
was  sent  by  Croft,  his  trainer,  from  Middleham 
to  Newmarket  many  weeks  before  the  great 
match.  The  horse  stood  at  William  Chifney's 
stable  at  Newmarket,  and  was  under  the  charge 
of  John  Scott,  afterwards  the  famous  Whitewall 
trainer,  who  was  then  head-lad  to  Croft.  Not 
long  before  the  match  Sir  Joshua  was  tried  with 
Lord  George  Cavendish's  Bourbon,  and  won  his 
trial.  On  the  first  day  of  the  Craven  meeting, 
Bourbon  won  the  Craven  Stakes  very  handsomely, 
beating  a  good  field  of  sixteen  horses,  which  gave 
Lord  George  Cavendish  and  other  patrons  of 
Boyce's  stable  great  confidence  in  Sir  Joshua. 

During  the  race  meetings  at  Newmarket  Lord 
George  Cavendish  always  lodged  at  Mr  Boyce's 
house.  When  he  arrived  there  shortly  before  the 
Craven  meeting  of  1816,  he  was  met  by  the  Hon. 


ROYAL   GEORGE       AT   NEWMARKET.  83 

George  Watson  (one  of  his  most  intimate  friends), 
and  by  Mr  Boyce  and  my  father,  who  was  then 
head-lad  to  Mr  Boyce.  They  told  Lord  George 
Cavendish  that  the  Yorkshire  gentlemen  had  mus- 
tered in  great  force  at  Newmarket  to  back  Filho, 
whom  they  thought  invincible.  "  I  am  glad  to 
hear  it,"  rejoined  "  Royal  George,"  "  as  I  have 
brought  my  strong-box  with  me."  When  his 
Lordship  entered  the  betting-rooms  on  the  night 
before  the  match,  he  was  received  with  three  times 
three  by  the  north-country  sportsmen.  Not  much 
time  was  wasted  in  useless  preliminaries.  His 
Lordship  was  assailed  on  all  sides  by  offers  to 
bet  500  to  400  on  Filho,  and,  taking  out  his 
betting-book  with  the  utmost  composure,  he  wrote 
down  all  the  bets  offered  on  those  terms.  Then 
there  was  a  momentary  lull,  to  which  Lord  George 
put  an  end  by  offering  to  bet  500  even  that  Sir 
Joshua  won.  Again  he  was  accommodated  to  a 
very  large  extent,  and  again  he  tired  out  all  the 
backers  of  Filho  at  even  money.  Finally,  looking 
round  the  room,  the  indomitable  backer  of  Sir 
Joshua  exclaimed,  "As  no  one  will  go  on  backing 
Filho  at  evens,  I  shall  be  happy,  before  going,  to 
bet  500  to  400  on  the  little  horse  as  often  as  any 
one  will  take  it."  The  last  voice  heard  that  night 
was  Lord  George  Cavendish's,  as  he  shouted  out, 
"  Five  hundred  to  four  on  Sir  Joshua  ! "  without 
finding  a  taker. 

How  much  money  Lord  George  Cavendish  staked 


84  HOUSE-RACING   PREVIOUS    TO    VANS. 

that  night  will  never  be  known ;  but  it  was  the 
opinion  of  my  father,  and  also  that  of  the  late  Earl 
of  Stradbroke,  whose  horses  were  trained  at  that 
time  by  Mr  Boyce,  and  who  managed  the  trial  of 
Sir  Joshua,  that  it  could  not  have  been  much  less 
than  £50,000.  Next  day  the  match  came  off,  and 
Sir  Joshua  just  won.  When  the  start  was  effected, 
Filho,  who  was  very  impetuous,  reared  high  in  the 
air,  losing  two  or  three  lengths,  which  he  could 
never  quite  regain.  Perhaps  "  Royal  George " 
was  fortunate  in  getting  safely  through  this 
desperate  encounter  between  two  good  horses ; 
but  although  invited  to  do  so,  neither  he  nor  Mr 
Neville  would  consent  to  make  the  match  over 
again,  although  the  backers  of  Filho  offered  to  put 
down  £3000  against  Mr  Neville's  £2000. 

It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  my  father  should 
have  served  two  noble  patrons  of  the  Turf  who 
were  so  much  alike  in  the  magnitude  of  their 
betting  ventures  as  Lord  George  Cavendish  and 
Lord  George  Bentinck.  When  Bourbon  won  the 
Craven  Stakes  some  foreigners  wanted  Mr  Boyce 
to  ask  Lord  George  Cavendish  whether  he  would 
sell  him,  and  if  so,  what  price  he  would  take. 
Mr  Boyce  replied,  "  I  might  as  well  ask  him  to  sell 
Burlington  House ;  you  had  better  ask  him  your- 
self." And  when  the  question  was  put  to  Lord 
George,  the  answer  he  gave  was,  "  When  I  want 
to  sell  him  I  will  let  you  know."  At  this  time 
Lord  George  Cavendish  was  considered  the  most 


"THE  ROTHSCHILD  or  TATTERSALL'S."         85 

influential  patron  of  Newmarket ;  and  Lord  George 
Bentinck  in  his  day  was  regarded  by  many  as 
"  The  Eothschild  of  Tatter-sail's." 

It  was  always  Lord  George's  opinion  that  the 
most  satisfactory  races  are  those  over  a  distance 
of  ground,  and  of  his  preference  evident  proof  was 
afforded  by  his  gift  of  the  Waterloo  Shield,  the 
largest  and  most  valuable  prize  ever  given  to  a 
race  by  one  person,  which  was  run  for  at  the 
Goodwood  meeting  of  1837.  It  may  appear  to 
some  that  the  three  prizes  of  £1000  each,  so 
generously  given  in  1890  by  Mr  C.  D.  Rose,  were 
each  of  them  equal  to  the  Waterloo  Shield ;  but 
the  advertised  cost  of  the  latter  was  greatly  ex- 
ceeded by  additional  embellishments  suggested  by 
his  Lordship  after  it  was  supposed  to  be  completed. 
This  magnificent  piece  of  plate  was,  in  conformity 
with  Lord  George's  predilections,  run  for  over  the 
King's  Plate  Course  of  about  three  miles  and  three 
quarters.  There  were  forty  subscribers  of  £25 
each,  fifteen  forfeit,  and  eighteen  runners,  and 
the  shield  was  won  by  Colonel  Peel's  Slane,  who 
claimed  a  7  Ib.  allowance  for  having  been  beaten 
in  the  Cup.  Since  1834  it  had  been  the  custom 
for  one  of  the  Stewards  of  Goodwood  races  to  give 
a  Cup  of  £100  value.  In  1837  the  Earl  of  Albe- 
marle  was  Steward  with  Lord  George  Bentinck, 
and  being  the  senior  of  the  two,  he  did  not  feel 
disposed  to  relinquish  his  right  to  give  the  annual 
£100  Cup ;  so  that,  in  order  to  enhance  the  popu- 


86  HORSE-RACING   PREVIOUS    TO   VANS. 

larity    of    his    favourite    meeting,    Lord    George 
promptly  gave  the  Waterloo  Shield. 

Lord  George's  father,  the  Duke  of  Portland,  was 
also  disposed  to  encourage  long-distance  races,  and 
he  established  the  Portland  Handicap  at  New- 
market, to  be  run  for  over  the  last  three  miles  of 
the  B.C.,  to  which  race  his  Grace  added  £300. 
The  Duke  seldom  or  never  ran  a  two-year-old ; 
and  at  that  time  it  was  considered  unwise  to 
encourage  three-year-olds  to  race  too  much,  as  is 
shown  by  the  following  extract,  which  appeared 
in  the  'Sporting  Magazine'  of  1836:  "The  ten- 
dency of  the  great  three  -  year  -  old  races  is  to 
deteriorate  the  breed  of  the  English  race-horse. 
Nothing  can  be  done  to  correct  it  till  the  close 
of  the  present  season.  For  a  true  patriotic  at- 
tempt in  this  direction  we  are  indebted  to  the 
Duke  of  Portland,  who  has  founded  and  endowed 
the  Portland  Handicap  ;  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  we  shall  find  other  stakes  upon  the 
same  plan  instituted  at  all  the  great  race  meet- 
ings." There  is  no  question  that  races  exceeding 
a  mile  in  distance  afford  more  opportunity  of  ex- 
hibiting fine  horsemanship  than  the  short-course 
races  of  the  present  day.  The  riding  of  such 
artists  as  Samuel  Chifney,  Frank  Buckle,  and 
James  Robinson  over  some  of  the  long  courses 
at  Newmarket  was  quite  an  attraction,  and  far 
more  interesting  to  good  judges  than  the  com- 
petition of  the  horses. 


FRANK   BUCKLE.  87 

My  father  used  to  say  that  Frank  Buckle  had 
the  finest  character  of  any  jockey  that  he  ever 
knew.  His  power  of  riding  long  distances  was 
unequalled  in  an  age  when  all  jockeys  per- 
formed their  journeys  on  horseback.  In  point  of 
fact,  Robert  Robson,  who  was  called  "  the  Em- 
peror of  Trainers/'  would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  any  jockey  unless  he  rode  long  distances 
almost  every  day  on  horseback.  For  many 
years  of  his  long  life  Frank  Buckle  resided  at 
Peterborough,  where  he  was  born,  and  where  he 
now  lies  buried.  Although  Peterborough  is  about 
ninety  miles  distant  from  Newmarket,  Buckle 
thought  nothing  of  riding  from  his  own  home 
to  the  Heath  and  back  on  the  same  day.  In 
finishing  a  race,  he  had  recourse  to  a  circular  mo- 
tion of  his  arms,  which  caused  him  to  be  often 
called  the  "  Peterborough  screw."  His  integrity 
was  so  well  known  that,  in  a  corrupt  era,  no 
one  ever  thought  of  approaching  "  Old  Frank " 
with  dishonest  proposals  or  suggestions,  as  in  one 
instance  he  was  said  to  have  drawn  his  whip 
smartly  across  the  face  of  a  gentleman  who,  al- 
though a  member  of  the  Jockey  Club,  had  the 
audacity  to  ask  Buckle  to  pull  a  horse  in  a  match. 
During  the  whole  of  Buckle's  career  the  rivalry 
between  North,  and  South  was  infinitely  greater 
than  it  has  been  during  the  last  twenty  or 
thirty  years.  Owners  and  trainers  of  race-horses, 
and  the  jockeys  who  bestrode  them,  were  greatly 


88  HORSE-RACING   PREVIOUS    TO   VANS. 

under  the  influence  of  this  predominant  feeling, 
which  was  perhaps  at  its  climax  in  1827,  when 
the  Honourable  Edward  Petre's  Matilda  beat  the 
Derby  winner,  Mr  Gully's  Mameluke,  for  the  great 
St  Leger  Stakes  at  Doncaster.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  this  century  Frank  Buckle  was  the  crack 
jockey  at  Newmarket,  which  was  always  regarded 
as  being  in  the  south  of  England,  and  simultane- 
ously John  Shepherd  held  a  similar  position  among 
his  northern  congeners.  Buckle  and  Shepherd 
were  frequently  in  the  habit  of  meeting  in  races 
and  matches,  and  no  slight  jealousy  existed  be- 
tween them,  although  Buckle  was  naturally  too 
kind-hearted  and  easy-going  to  harbour  an  un- 
kind thought  about  anybody.  He  was  sometimes 
forced,  however,  to  ride  with  suspicion,  because 
Shepherd  was  by  no  means  scrupulous,  and  would 
take  every  unfair  advantage  that  came  in  his 
way,  which  indeed  was  at  that  time  a  character- 
istic of  most  of  the  north-country  jockeys.  Fre- 
quently there  was  a  great  deal  of  money  betted 
upon  matches  in  which  Buckle  and  Shepherd  met, 
and  in  those  days  it  was  generally  impossible  to 
draw  a  line,  or  form  an  estimate  as  to  the  com- 
parative merits  of  the  two  opposing  horses.  As 
a  rule,  it  was  Shepherd's  policy  to  make  run- 
ning, while  Buckle  waited,  following  immediately 
in  his  antagonist's  track.  It  once  occurred  that, 
in  a  match  over  the  four  -  mile  course  at  York, 
Buckle  had  his  enemy  dead  -  beat  about  a  hun- 


BUCKLE    AND    SHEPHERD.  89 

dred  yards  from  home,  and  came  up  between 
Shepherd  and  the  rails.  Even  then  the  north- 
country  jockey  would  not  allow  himself  to  be 
beaten ;  as  he  drove  Buckle,  who  would  otherwise 
have  won  in  a  canter,  upon  the  rails,  and  kept 
his  own  knee  in  advance  of  Buckle's  knee,  so 
that  the  latter  found  it  impossible  to  extricate 
himself  from  the  position  in  which  his  old  anta- 
gonist held  him  as  in  a  vice.  In  those  days  there 
was  no  such  thing  as  disqualification  for  foul  rid- 
ing, and  Buckle  knew  full  well  that  no  complaint 
made  by  him  would  be  listened  to  for  a  moment  on 
a  Yorkshire  course.  He  contented  himself,  there- 
fore, by  saying  to  Shepherd :  "  It  will  not  be 
long,  I  reckon,  before  you  and  I  meet  again  at 
Newmarket,  where  you  cannot  drive  me  on  the 
rails ;  and  then  I  warn  you  that  I  will  have 
my  revenge."  , 

The  words  were  prophetic,  as  within  a  few  weeks 
the  two  jockeys  met  in  an  important  match  over 
the  Beacon  Course  at  Newmarket  for  a  thousand 
guineas  a  side.  Shepherd  was  universally  regarded 
as  a  wonderful  judge  of  pace,  and  resorted  as  usual 
to  his  favourite  game  of  making  play.  Buckle,  on 
the  other  hand,  was  one  of  the  finest  finishers  of  a 
race  that  ever  galloped  across  the  Flat,  and  his  skill 
and  finesse  in  getting  the  last  ounce  out  of  a  tired 
horse  at  the  end  of  four  miles  have  never  been 
surpassed  from  that  day  to  this.  In  the  match 
of  which  I  am  now  speaking  Shepherd  made  the 


90  HOUSE-RACING   PREVIOUS    TO   VANS. 

pace  so  good,  that,  glancing  repeatedly  over  his 
shoulder,  he  soon  satisfied  himself  that,  long  before 
the  winning-post  was  reached,  he  would  succeed  in 
galloping  his  adversary  to  a  standstill.  As  the 
two  horses  drew  near  to  the  judge's  chair  Buckle 
kept  close  to  the  heels  of  the  other  horse,  so  that 
Shepherd  could  not  see  him  without  turning  right 
round  in  the  saddle  to  look.  At  this  critical 
moment  the  north-countryman  became  aware  that 
he  had  not  yet  done  with  his  pertinacious  op- 
ponent, who  gave  every  indication  of  intending  to 
come  up  on  Shepherd's  whip-hand.  When  they 
were  about  a  hundred  yards  from  the  chair,  Shep- 
herd's eye  was  anxiously  fixed  upon  the  winning- 
post.  Observing  Shepherd's  preoccupation,  Buckle 
pulled  his  horse  to  the  near  side,  and  before  Shep- 
herd had  withdrawn  his  eyes  from  the  judge's  box, 
Buckle  had  stolen  a  march  upon  his  enemy,  and 
was  leading  a  couple  of  lengths  on  the  near  side. 
Loud  cries  of  "  Look  at  Buckle  !  look  at  Buckle  !  " 
arose  from  the  onlookers,  who  were  waiting  on 
horseback  at  the  cords.  When  it  was  too  late 
Shepherd  perceived  his  danger,  but  Buckle  had  got 
the  first  run,  and  although  there  was  a  good  effort 
left  in  Shepherd's  horse,  who  had  been  most  judi- 
ciously ridden,  the  race  was  over,  and  Buckle  had 
won  by  half  a  length.  Such  shouting  and  cheer- 
ing as  arose  upon  the  Heath  had,  according  to  my 
father,  never  been  heard  before  that  day.  As  the 
two  rivals  rode  back  to  scale,  Buckle  curtly  re- 


BUCKLE    AS   A   RIDER.  91 

marked,  "  I  told  you  when  you  came  to  Newmarket 
that  I  would  pay  you  off,  as  I  have  done  to-day." 

Never  was  jockey  more  respected  than  Frank 
Buckle  during  the  last  thirty  years  of  his  honour- 
able and  spotless  career.  He  was  a  most  agree- 
able man,  and  always  glad  to  give  hints  about 
riding  to  his  younger  rivals.  When  it  came  to  a 
fine  point  between  two  horses  after  a  long  gallop, 
it  was  6  to  4  on  "  Old  Frank  "  against  any  other 
"  knight  of  the  pigskin."  No  man  had  a  more 
powerful  seat  upon  a  horse,  and  in  the  longest 
race  he  was  never  known  to  tire.  Occasionally  he 
had  to  ride  horses  which,  without  his  knowledge, 
had  been  nobbled  or  in  some  way  made  safe  before 
leaving  their  stables.  My  father  often  told  me 
that  in  1811,  at  the  Second  Spring  Meeting,  he 
saw  Mr  Christopher  Wilson's  chestnut  horse  Wiz- 
ard beat  Lord  George  Cavendish's  Middlethorpe 
(also  a  chestnut  horse)  over  the  Beacon  Course  in 
a  500-guinea  match.  Wizard  was  ridden  by 
Buckle,  and  Middlethorpe  by  Arnull.  In  the  race, 
Milddlethorpe,  who  was  the  son  of  Shuttle,  and, 
like  all  of  Shuttle's  breed,  a  bad-tempered  horse, 
stopped  so  short  that  Arnull  was  pitched  off,  and 
Buckle  galloped  home  alone.  Much  to  his  aston- 
ishment, Buckle  experienced  the  greatest  difficulty 
in  keeping  Wizard  upon  his  legs  till  the  winning- 
post  was  passed.  The  horse  reeled  and  staggered 
like  a  drunken  man,  and  seemed  to  be  wholly  be- 
reft of  sight.  "  I  don't  know  what  you  have  done 


92  HORSE-RACING   PREVIOUS   TO   VANS. 

to  this  horse,"  exclaimed  Buckle  to  the  trainer,  "  but 
he  is  as  blind  as  a  bat."  No  reply  was  made  by 
the  trainer,  who,  as  subsequently  became  known, 
lost  a  heavy  stake  by  backing  Middlethorpe  for 
the  match,  which,  in  Wizard's  condition,  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  Middlethorpe  to  lose  had 
not  his  jockey  fallen  off. 

In  order  to  get  back  his  losses,  Wizard's  trainer 
persuaded  Mr  Wilson  to  make  another  match  be- 
tween Wizard  and  Middlethorpe,  conceding  2  Ib. 
to  the  latter.  It  came  off  over  the  Two  Middle 
Miles  in  the  First  October  Meeting  1811,  and  again 
the  dishonest  trainer  had  to  put  up  with  a  costly 
defeat.  He  backed  Wizard  for  enough  money  to 
get  back  all  his  previous  losses.  Unfortunately 
the  horse,  on  whom  odds  of  7  to  4  were  betted  at 
the  start,  fell  lame  in  the  race,  and  Middlethorpe 
won  by  more  than  a  hundred  yards. 

In  1836,  when  James  Robinson  won  the  Two 
Thousand  Guineas  upon  Bay  Middleton,  and  the 
Portland  Handicap  upon  Sheet-Anchor,  the  follow- 
ing remarks  were  made  by  a  sporting  writer  at 
the  time  :  "A  very  remarkable  display  of  jockey- 
ship  occurred  on  the  part  of  Jem  Robinson  at  the 
First  Spring  Meeting  at  Newmarket  over  the 
last  three  miles  of  the  B.C.  upon  Mr  Cooke's 
Sheet-Anchor,  when  he  beat  Lord  Chesterfield's 
Hornsea,  ridden  by  William  Scott,  and  Mr  Mos- 
tyn's  Birdlime,  ridden  by  T.  Lye,  in  addition  to 
Hevenge,  Rioter,  Pelops,  Tiber,  and  other  starters. 


REMARKABLE    DISPLAY    OF    JOCKEYSHIP.          93 

Lye  upon  Birdlime  made  running  to  the  distance, 
when  Bill  Scott,  who  had  been  nursing  Hornsea, 
brought  him  up  resolutely,  challenged  Lye,  and 
raced  with  him.  The  pace  was  good,  and  the 
punishment  severe,  and  to  all  appearances  Scott 
had  the  race  in  hand,  when,  on  the  lower  ground, 
for  the  first  time  his  eyes  caught  sight  of  Bobinson 
on  Sheet- Anchor.  A  glance  was  enough,  as  Bobin- 
son  was  sitting  quite  still  in  the  saddle,  with  the 
race  evidently  in  hand,  and  close  upon  home  out 
he  came  with  a  rush  that  sent  your  heart  into 
your  mouth,  and  won  by  a  length,  while  half* 
the  lookers-on  believed  Hornsea  had  caught  the 
judge's  eye.  When  shall  we  again  see  two  such 
races  as  this  and  the  Two  Thousand  between  Bay 
Middleton  and  Elis  ? "  Being  an  eyewitness  of 
this  consummate  display  of  jockey  ship,  it  reminded 
me  of  the  same  two  opponents  when  they  met  in 
the  Derby  of  1828,  and  Cadland,  ridden  by  Bobin- 
son,  ran  a  dead-heat  with  The  Colonel,  ridden  by 
William  Scott.  In  the  deciding  heat,  Bobinson, 
after  making  running  to  the  distance,  gammoned 
Scott  that  Cadland  was  tiring,  which  induced  Scott 
to  take  the  lead,  and,  as  he  expected,  to  go  up  and 
win.  But  Jem  had  a  good  effort  left  in  Cadland, 
for  which  Scott  was  quite  unprepared,  and  to 
his  great  astonishment  Jem  beat  him  on  the  post 
by  about  a  neck.  To  witness  Bobinson's  riding 
was  indeed  a  treat,  for  as  a  specimen  of  skill 
and  knowledge  of  the  animal  it  could  not  be  sur- 


94  HORSE-RACING   PREVIOUS   TO   VANS. 

passed.  I  could  mention  a  number  of  instances 
of  this  famous  jockey's  matchless  prowess  in  the 
saddle,  equal,  perhaps,  to  those  above  enumerated. 
The  great  secret  in  his  art  was,  that  it  was  impos- 
sible for  any  one,  not  even  the  old  jockeys  who  so 
frequently  rode  against  him,  to  know  whether  his 
horse  was  extended  or  not,  or  whether  he  was  on 
the  back  of  a  free  or  a  sluggish  animal.  He  sat 
without  any  apparent  motion ;  and  when  it  suited 
his  purpose  he  would  appear  to  be  riding  as  if  his 
horse  were  tiring,  whether  he  was  so  or  not,  a 
latent  effort  being  nearly  always  left  in  him  suffi- 
cient to  win  the  race.  He  had  a  great  aversion 
to  short  -  course  races,  and  as  much  as  possible 
avoided  riding  in  them,  stating  that  often  some 
stable-boy  upon  an  animal  hardly  able  to  carry  a 
saddle  got  off  in  front,  and  was  past  the  winning- 
post  before  any  riding  on  the  part  of  real  jockeys 
could  be  called  into  requisition. 

With  the  view  of  promoting  long  races  at  Good- 
wood, Lord  George  Bentinck,  at  a  great  expense, 
constructed  the  Maidstone  Course,  four  miles  long  ; 
and  the  King's  Plate  Course  (another  of  his  crea- 
tions) which  was  three  furlongs  short  of  four  miles. 
The  desired  length  could  have  been  obtained  by 
going  twice  round  the  hill,  as  used  to  be  done  for 
sweating  horses  in  those  days ;  but  of  this  his 
Lordship  did  not  approve,  and  preferred  to  make 
a  course  outside  the  old  circle  round  the  hill  and 
the  various  clumps  of  trees.  This  course  was 


MATCHES.  95 

used  for  a  few  years  ;  but  as  the  taste  for  short 
races  increased,  the  number  of  courses  made  by 
Lord  George  was  found  to  be  confusing,  so  dolls 
were  put  across  those  which  were  not  used,  with 
a  view  to  guiding  and  directing  the  jockeys  as  to 
the  right  track  for  them  to  follow.  Even  with 
these  precautions,  mistakes  sometimes  occurred,  as 
in  the  case  of  Ithuriel  and  Red  Deer. 

Being  always  ready  to  make  matches  and  pro- 
mote sport,  Lord  George  pitted  his  Captain 
Cook  against  Lord  Maidst one's  Larry  M'Hale 
over  two  miles  and  a  half  at  Goodwood,  nominally 
for  £100  but  in  reality  for  £1000 ;  as  it  was  cus- 
tomary with  Lord  George  to  advertise  the  amount 
staked  in  some  of  his  matches  as  one-tenth  of  the 
actual  sum.  Hence  the  match  between  his 
Bramble  and  Lord  Maidstone's  The  Caster  the 
same  year  in  the  Craven  Meeting  at  Newmarket, 
over  the  B.C.,  was  for  1200  sovereigns,  800  forfeit, 
although  advertised  at  sixty  sovereigns  each  and 
forty  forfeit.  Also  at  Goodwood  the  same  year, 
in  a  match  between  Olive-Oil  and  Rose  of  Cash- 
mere for  500  sovereigns  each,  the  sum  was  adver- 
tised at  £50.  Although  gratifying  his  partiality 
for  long  races,  Lord  George  did  not  profit  by  the 
result  of  his  match  against  Lord  Maidstone's 
Larry  M'Hale,  nor  by  the  example  of  the  magnifi- 
cent riding  of  Jem  Robinson,  whose  style  he  so 
much  admired,  as  there  was  much  more  agitation 
in  his  Lordship's  long  arms  and  legs  than  would 


96  HOUSE-RACING   PREVIOUS    TO    VANS. 

have  been  visible  in  Robinson's  when  his  oppo- 
nent closed  with  him  for  the  final  struggle. 
Whether  the  course  was  too  long  for  Captain 
Cook,  who  was  a  bad  roarer,  trained  by  the  late 
Isaac  Day,  I  cannot  say ;  but  it  evidently  was  for 
his  pilot,  who  was  not  so  fit  for  the  contest  as 
Lord  Maidstone.  The  latter,  being  in  fine  condi- 
tion, rode  four  winners  during  the  week,  beating, 
upon  Lord  George's  Na worth  his  own  horse,  Me- 
chanic, after  the  two  had  run  a  dead-heat  over 
the  Maidstone  course,  Captain  Percy  Williams 
riding  Mechanic.  If  Lord  Maidstone  was  able  to 
beat  such  a  jockey  as  Captain  Percy  Williams, 
after  running  a  dead-heat  with  him,  it  was  not 
much  discredit  to  Lord  George  to  be  beaten  only 
by  a  neck  by  such  an  excellent  rider  over  a  course 
of  two  miles  and  a  half,  when,  moreover,  Lord 
George  was  altogether  out  of  condition  and  his 
noble  opponent  as  fit  as  a  fiddle. 


CHAPTER    V. 

REMOVAL    FROM   DANEBURY. 

IN  the  autumn  of  1841  Lord  George  Bentinck 
resolved  to  remove  all  his  horses  from  Danebury 
to  Goodwood,  and  to  sacrifice  the  enormous  outlay 
he  had  incurred  at  the  former  place.  He  stated 
his  intention  to  me  as  he  rode  off  the  course  at 
Newmarket  on  the  Friday  of  the  Hough  ton  Meet- 
ing of  1841,  desiring  me  to  send  at  once  and  take 
charge  of  those  horses  he  had  at  Newmarket — viz., 
Tripoli,  Topsail,  Halfcaste,  and  Crusade — as  "he 
had  made  up  his  mind  not  to  continue  at  Dane- 
bury." I  was  also  instructed  to  arrange  for  the 
removal  of  the  remainder  of  his  stud  from  Dane- 
bury to  Goodwood,  with  everything  belonging  to 
him ;  which  I  must  confess  greatly  surprised  me, 
and  caused  me  to  feel  in  a  somewhat  unpleasant 
position.  I  was  well  aware  that  for  a  long 
time  his  Lordship  had  been  dissatisfied  with  cer- 
tain proceedings  at  Danebury,  upon  which  he 
enlarged  during  the  Houghton  week  at  New- 

G 


98          REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

market,  and  especially  upon  the  circumstances 
connected  with  Mr  Etwall's  Melody  colt,  who 
was  heavily  backed  for  the  Cambridgeshire  Stakes 
and  ran  second,  having  been  trained  by  John 
Day,  who  also  trained  Lord  Palmerston's  Ilione, 
the  winner  of  the  Cesarewitch  during  the  Second 
October  Meeting.  Rather  than  submit  to  what 
he  deemed  an  injustice,  Lord  George  thought  no 
sum  of  money  too  great  to  sacrifice,  and  showed 
his  indomitable  spirit  by  leaving  Danebury,  where, 
as  was  often  stated  at  the  time,  he  was  "  literally 
walking  on  gold  laid  out  by  himself." 

When  I  went  to  Danebury  I  found  five  or  six 
horses  in  training,  a  large  number  turned  out,  and 
several  yearlings.  It  was  his  Lordship's  wish  that 
all  of  them  should  be  conveyed  in  vans  to  Good- 
wood ;  and  as  the  yearlings  were  unbroken,  the 
carrying  out  of  this  plan  was  attended  with 
no  little  anxiety,  trouble,  and  risk.  From  the 
unusual  circumstance  of  the  yearlings  not  having 
been  broken,  I  fully  believe  that  Lord  George 
contemplated  this  great  change  some  months 
previous  to  effecting  it,  as  it  was  his  custom 
to  have  his  yearlings  broken  early  in  the  year, 
and  to  try  them  before  the  closing  of  the 
Stakes  after  the  Houghton  Meeting.  He  told 
me  he  did  not  desire  to  have  them  broken 
at  Danebury,  in  order  to  avoid  any  estimate  of 
their  merits  being  formed  there.  Four  of  these 
yearlings — Farintosh,  Gaper,  Bramble,  and  Fore- 


TRANSPORT    TO    GOODWOOD.  99 

sail — he  considered  very  promising,  and  wished 
them  to  be  conveyed  in  vans  to  prevent  their 
incurring  any  risk  in  travelling  on  foot.  This 
arrangement  necessitated  the  employment  of  four 
vans  (two  double  and  two  single  ones)  for  four  days, 
on  the  journey  from  Goodwood  to  Danebury  and 
back,  a  distance  by  road  of  about  106  miles  per  day. 
I  left  home  between  four  and  five  each  morning, 
and  returned  at  night  about  ten  o'clock.  My 
daily  freight  consisted  of  horses  in  training  and 
of  yearlings,  as  I  did  not  think  it  advisable  to 
convey  all  the  yearlings  by  themselves.  Under 
the  most  favourable  circumstances  my  responsi- 
bility was  far  too  great  to  be  pleasant.  Before 
leaving  Danebury  in  the  morning,  I  was  occupied 
for  two  or  three  hours  in  making  arrangements 
for  the  journey,  some  of  the  youngsters  being  most 
difficult  to  get  into  the  vans,  and  refractory  when 
there,  not  to  mention  that  during  the  journey 
they  were  sometimes  almost  unmanageable.  What 
with  the  fatigue  of  the  four  consecutive  days' 
journey  and  the  anxiety  attending  it,  I  was  glad 
enough  when  my  task  was  completed ;  especially 
as  I  was  under  the  impression  that  the  removal 
could  have  been  effected  with  considerably  less 
expense,  less  risk,  and  inconvenience,  had  all  the 
horses  left  Danebury  on  the  same  day,  and  pro- 
ceeded on  foot  to  Goodwood.  So  positive  and 
peremptory,  however,  were  his  Lordship's  instruc- 
tions, that  I  came  to  the  conclusion  he  had  more 


100         REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

reasons  for  such  arrangements  than  he  cared  to 
express.  As  we  were  starting  from  Danebury  on 
the  last  day,  John  Day's  lads  jeered  at  my  lads, 
and  told  them  that  all  Lord  George's  horses  com- 
bined were  not  worth  as  much  as  their  journey  to 
Goodwood  would  cost.  Before  the  end  of  the 
following  year  they  had  to  change  their  tone, 
especially  when  Firebrand  won  the  One  Thousand 
Guineas,  Flytrap  the  Column,  and  Tedworth  a 
One  Hundred  Sovereign  Stake,  all  at  Newmarket ; 
Misdeal  the  St  James's  Palace  Stakes,  at  Ascot, 
value  £650 ;  the  Racing  Stakes,  at  Goodwood, 
value  £1300 ;  the  Grand  Duke  Michael  Stakes, 
at  Newmarket,  value  £1100.  That  same  year, 
also,  Tripoli  won  the  Somersetshire  Stakes,  and 
Topsail  the  Cup,  at  Bath  ;  Mustapha  a  stake  at 
Goodwood  of  the  value  of  £1950;  and  finally, 
Gaper  the  Criterion,  at  Newmarket. 

Lord  George's  instructions  to  me  were  to  take 
my  own  lads  and  servants  in  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond's vans,  which  his  Grace  lent  him.  My  next 
instructions  were  to  arrange  for  the  transport  of 
the  cart-horses,  carts,  rollers,  &c.,  from  Danebury 
to  Goodwood,  and  to  provide  temporary  shelter  for 
them  near  the  stables  at  the  latter  place,  as,  natu- 
rally, such  an  addition  to  the  Goodwood  establish- 
ment made  it  necessary  to  provide  greater  accom- 
modation, which  his  Lordship,  with  the  consent  of 
the  Duke  of  Richmond,  lost  no  time  in  doing.  He 
superintended  the  work  at  Goodwood  personally, 


DIETING   RACE-HORSES.  101 

and  soon  forgot  the  great  sacrifices  he  must  have 
made  by  leaving  Danebury.  This  did  not  appear 
to  trouble  him  in  the  least,  but  rather  to  incite 
him  to  find  means  to  replace  what  he  had  left  be- 
hind, and,  if  possible,  to  improve  upon  it.  During 
the  winter  months  much  of  his  time  was  spent  at 
Goodwood  with  the  Duke  of  Richmond ;  and  he 
took  the  greatest  interest  in  the  work  as  it  pro- 
ceeded, spending  many  hours  each  day  with  the 
labourers  employed.  Often  he  was  accompanied 
by  the  Duke,  who  was  also  greatly  occupied  in 
watching  the  various  works,  some  of  which  might 
have  been  thought  likely  to  intrude  upon  the 
privacy  of  his  Grace's  splendid  estate.  On  ac- 
count, however,  of  the  long  personal  friendship 
existing  between  himself  and  Lord  George,  the 
Duke  made  concessions  to  him  which  he  would 
never  have  granted  to  another. 

Some  of  the  horses  from  Danebury  being  very 
light  in  condition,  and  others  infirm,  his  Lordship 
was  most  anxious  that  every  effort  should  be  made 
to  recover  them.  He  therefore  suggested  to  my 
father  that  they  should  be  liberally  fed  upon  split 
beans  and  white  peas.  Of  this  my  father  did  not 
quite  approve,  alleging  that  he  had  frequently 
known  horses  select  the  beans  and  peas,  and  refuse 
to  eat  the  oats  with  which  they  were  mixed.  He 
much  preferred  giving  them  a  certain  quantity  of 
flour  in  their  water,  as  from  experience  he  found 
great  nourishment  was  afforded  by  it  to  such 


102         REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

animals  as  were  subjected  to  severe  races  and 
strong  exercise  entailing  fatigue,  and  even  dis- 
tress ;  and  it  did  not  discourage  them  from  eating 
their  corn.  This  seemed  to  impress  his  Lordship 
very  favourably,  and  he  desired  that  its  effects 
might  be  fully  tested  upon  all  those  horses  whose 
constitutions  were  not  as  robust  as  could  be  wished. 
As  time  advanced  the  horses  so  treated  improved 
greatly  in  appearance.  Firebrand  and  Flytrap, 
being  the  most  delicate,  and  most  heavily  engaged, 
his  Lordship  thought  their  strength  and  powers 
might  be  still  further  increased  by  giving  them 
new  milk  mixed  with  flour  to  drink,  and  a  dozen 
new-laid  eggs  in  each  feed  of  corn.  Accordingly, 
cows  were  purchased  to  provide  the  required 
milk,  and  the  eggs  ordered  from  the  farmers 
were  marked  with  their  initials,  to  ensure  their 
being  fresh,  as  his  Lordship  would  not  buy  from 
a  dealer  or  shopman,  for  fear  of  the  eggs  being 
musty,  so  as  to  give  the  animals  a  distaste  for 
their  corn.  At  first  there  was  some  difficulty  in 
inducing  the  horses  to  partake  of  this  unnatural 
diet  and  beverage,  but  after  a  time  they  ate  and 
drank  it  with  avidity,  and  stood  a  good  pre- 
paration, Firebrand  winning  the  One  Thousand 
Guineas  and  Flytrap  the  Column. 

After  these  successes  Lord  George,  being  so  much 
impressed  with  the  beneficial  effects  of  milk  and 
eggs,  wished  all  the  light-fleshed  and  delicate  ani- 
mals to  be  fed  in  the  same  way.  Some  were  most 


DIETING   RACE-HORSES.  103 

wretched  specimens,  especially  those  got  by  Bay 
Middleton,  which  were  not  worth  keeping  in  the 
stable,  and  still  less  worth  pampering  in  this 
manner.  One  cripple,  Crusade,  by  Ascot,  out  of 
Crucifix's  dam,  was  fed  for  some  time  on  this  diet. 
When  a  yearling  he  injured  his  back  by  falling  in 
the  paddock,  and  if  a  rehabilitation  could  be 
effected,  his  Lordship  thought  it  would  not  be 
difficult  to  recover  the  expense  of  "  a  little  milk 
and  a  few  eggs."  When  at  Danebury,  Crusade  had 
run  for  small  selling  races,  but  without  success. 
His  back  was  so  bad  that  he  had  entirely  lost 
the  natural  action  of  his  hind-legs.  The  case  was 
perfectly  hopeless,  yet  Lord  George  insisted  upon 
persevering  in  this  treatment  till  time  at  length 
convinced  him  that  it  was  useless.  This  milk-and- 
egg  system  involved  great  expense  and  additional 
labour  with  no  compensating  result,  as  was  ob- 
served by  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  who  one  day 
remarked  to  his  noble  friend,  when  looking  over  the 
stables  with  him,  "  You  will  soon  want  my  farm 
and  poultry-yard,  George,  to  supply  your  horses 
with  milk  and  eggs,  in  addition  to  filling  all  my 
stables,  I  think  you  had  better  let  Kent  feed  the 
horses  in  his  own  way ;  he  has  hitherto  been 
successful  for  me,  and  my  horses  have  done  very 
well."  After  a  few  months  the  milk  and  eggs 
were  discontinued  ;  but  the  flour,  in  which  my 
father  and  I  were  firm  believers,  was  given  to 
many  of  the  horses — to  some  to  accustom  them 


104         REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

to  it  in  case  they  should  ever  run  down,  and  need 
it  ;  and  it  was  invariably  given  after  a  severe  race 
or  after  running  heats — especially  after  a  dead 
heat — in  which  we  were  seldom  beaten  when  it 
was  run  off.  Whether  the  result  was  due  to  the 
support  afforded  by  the  flour  or  not,  I  cannot  say ; 
but  it  was  a  matter  of  common  remark  that  de- 
ciding heats  were  almost  invariably  won  by  the 
Goodwood  stable.  Some  of  the  old  horses  enjoyed 
the  flour  so  much  that  it  was  with  difficulty  the  pails 
containing  it  could  be  removed  from  them  until  the 
contents  were  entirely  extracted  by  aid  of  the 
tongue,  which  often  amused  Lord  George  greatly. 

In  1842  (the  first  year  in  which  all  his  Lord- 
ship's horses  were  trained  at  Goodwood)  he  ran 
twenty-one,  and  was  more  successful  than  he  ex- 
pected, many  of  them  being  very  infirm  either  in 
their  limbs  or  wind, — a  great  failing  in  the  Bay 
Middletons,  by  whom  many  of  them  were  sired. 
John  Day,  indeed,  had  such  an  objection  to  them, 
that  he  said,  when  Lord  George's  stud  left  Dane- 
bury, he  would  never  train  another  Bay  Middleton. 
Certainly  they  were  not  very  desirable  animals  to 
have  in  your  stables.  The  two  finest  yearlings 
brought  from  Danebury — viz.,  Farintosh  by  Bay 
Middleton,  out  of  Camarine's  dam,  and  Gaper  by 
Bay  Middleton,  out  of  Flycatcher — were  so  infirm 
that  it  was  a  great  anxiety  to  a  trainer  to  have  to 
do  with  them.  Farintosh,  one  of  the  finest  horses 
ever  bred  or  seen,  was  a  very  bad  roarer  indeed ; 


THE  HALNAKER  GALLOP.          105 

and  Gaper  had  such  doubtful  legs  that  it  appeared 
almost  hopeless  to  endeavour  to  train  him.  John 
Day,  in  fact,  said  he  never  could  be  trained ;  but 
by  the  aid  of  "Kent's  charges"-— as  Lord  George 
subsequently  called  the  application — and  the  ex- 
cellent training-grounds  at  Goodwood,  he  was  kept 
upon  his  legs  and  won  the  Criteron  Stakes  at  New- 
market in  1842,  greatly  to  his  Lordship's  delight, 
as  he  had  a  yearling  bet  of  £10,000  to  £100  about 
him  for  the  Derby.  His  legs  being  so  bad  through 
standing  over  at  the  knees  like  a  cab-horse,  liberal 
odds  were  laid  against  him  for  the  Derby,  after  the 
Criterion,  which  were  taken  by  and  for  his  Lord- 
ship, till  he  stood  to  win  a  very  large  stake  upon 
him.  This  unexpected  success,  enhanced  by 
Gaper's  future  prospects,  stimulated  Lord  George 
still  further  to  persist  in  his  endeavours  to  com- 
mand success.  He  determined  to  extend  and 
improve  the  exercise  -  ground,  and  to  form  a 
gallop  upon  the  ascent  for  a  mile  and  a  half  upon 
the  most  elastic  turf  that  I  have  ever  seen.  To 
attain  this  object,  he  devised  the  famous  Hal- 
naker  Park  gallop,  which,  with  other  works 
upon  the  Molecomb  Hill,  he  was  most  anxious 
to  complete.  After  explaining  his  views  and 
projects  to  my  father  and  myself,  he  inquired  of 
me  what  the  cost  of  such  works  would  amount 
to,  as  a  large  number  of  immense  timber -trees 
would  have  to  be  felled  and  their  roots  grubbed 
up,  banks  levelled,  and  turf  and  mould  brought 


106         REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

from  some  distance.  I  said  that  it  was  a  most  ex- 
pensive undertaking,  and  could  not  be  carried  out 
for  much  less  than  £3500  ;  to  which  he  replied,  "If 
it  enables  me  to  win  one  race  it  will  pay  all  that." 
With  his  usual  ardour,  after  obtaining  permission 
from  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  he  at  once  commenced 
the  job,  employing  over  one  hundred  labourers  and 
twenty-eight  cart-horses,  the  superintendence  of 
the  work  affording  him  the  greatest  pleasure.  One 
day,  after  riding  upon  the  race-course  and  the  Mole- 
comb  Downs,  he  pulled  up  on  the  summit  of  the 
new  Halnaker  gallop  then  in  progress,  and  coming 
suddenly  upon  the  splendid  and  extensive  pano- 
ramic view  spread  before  him  on  emerging  from  the 
wood,  he  remarked,  "  There's  a  beautiful  sight ! " 
Of  course  I  thought  he  alluded  to  the  landscape  so 
suddenly  brought  before  his  eyes.  "  I  did  not 
mean  that,"  he  explained,  "  but  the  sight  of  so 
many  men  at  work,  and  the  means  it  affords  them 
to  provide  food  for  their  families  during  this  in- 
clement season."  The  potato-disease,  which  pre- 
vailed greatly  that  year,  engaged  his  Lordship's 
attention.  He  said  the  gardener  at  Welbeck  had 
found  that  a  sprinkling  of  lime  over  each  layer 
of  potatoes,  when  storing  them,  was  the  best 
preservative  he  had  tried ;  and  he  added  that 
if  any  of  the  Goodwood  labourers  wished  to  try 
the  experiment,  they  were  to  be  supplied  with 
lime  for  the  purpose  at  his  expense.  During 
the  progress  of  these  works  a  labourer  met 


GAPER'S  CAREER.  107 

with  an  accident  by  falling  from  a  tree  while 
adjusting  a  rope  to  assist  in  felling  it.  He 
sustained  a  fracture  of  one  of  his  legs,  and  was 
taken  to  the  infirmary  at  Chichester.  When  Lord 
George  heard  of  it  he  inquired  whether  the  man 
was  married,  and  on  being  informed  that  he  had 
a  wife  and  family,  his  Lordship  directed  that  the 
wife  should  be  paid  her  husband's  wages  until  he 
was  able  to  resume  work. 

After  the  season  for  laying  turf,  tan  -was  put 
upon  the  various  gallops  and  upon  the  race-course. 
The  cart-horses  were  employed  upon  this  work 
for  months,  bringing  the  tan  from  Chichester,  a 
distance  of  five  or  six  miles.  This  was,  of  course, 
a  heavy  expense,  but  his  Lordship  believed  it  to 
have  been  of  great  benefit  to  the  grass  at  Dane- 
bury, where  he  had  caused  hundreds  of  tons  to  be 
spread,  and  he  thought  it  would  be  of  equal  service 
at  Goodwood,  and  repay  the  cost. 

As  previously  stated,  Lord  George  had  backed 
Gaper  heavily  for  the  Derby.  During  the  winter 
and  as  the  spring  advanced  he  was  encouraged  in 
his  speculation  by  the  improved  prospect  of  the 
horse  standing  a  preparation  which  would  enable 
him  to  run  up  to  his  form.  In  the  Craven  meeting 
at  Newmarket  Gaper  ran  on  the  Tuesday,  and 
won  a  sweepstakes  of  100  sovereigns  each,  R.M., 
by  eight  lengths,  beating  the  Duke  of  Grafton's 
Esop,  ridden  by  J.  Day,  who,  although  greatly 
surprised  at  the  easy  manner  Gaper  won,  still 


108        REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

thought  with  his  bandaged  legs  he  could  not  be 
trained  to  win  a  Derby.  On  the  following  Thurs- 
day Gaper  ran  and  won  again,  beating  New  Brigh- 
ton and  Jerry  Sneak  for  a  sweepstakes  of  200 
sovereigns  each,  D.M.  John  Day,  having  laid 
£20,000  to  £250  against  him,  examined  him  very 
anxiously,  and  still  thought  he  could  have  no 
chance  of  winning  the  Derby  with  such  doubtful 
legs.  Cotherstone,  whom  Gaper  had  beaten  for 
the  Criterion,  won  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas 
easily,  which  increased  Lord  George's  confidence 
in  Gaper,  and  he  continued  to  back  him  till  he 
stood  to  win  about  £135,000  upon  the  horse.  On 
account  of  his  legs  Gaper  was  not  tried  previously 
to  running  for  his  engagements  at  Newmarket ; 
but  about  a  fortnight  after  the  Two  Thousand  he 
was  stripped  and  had  a  rough  gallop  of  a  mile  and 
a  quarter,  when  he  won  with  ridiculous  ease.  On 
the  20th  of  May,  about  a  week  before  the  Derby, 
he  was  again  tried  a  mile  and  a  half  with  Discord 
(the  Melody  colt  before  alluded  to)  and  others, 
when  he  won  very  easily  indeed.  This  raised  his 
Lordship's  hopes  and  expectations  greatly,  more 
especially  as  Gaper  appeared  to  be  perfectly  sound, 
and  none  the  worse  for  his  races  and  trials.  Every 
precaution  was  taken  to  get  him  safely  to  Epsom 
and  to  the  Derby  post ;  and  in  order  to  test  the 
form  of  Discord,  he  was  started  for  the  Craven 
Stakes  on  the  first  day,  which  he  won,  to  the 
great  surprise  of  Lord  George,  beating  Knight  of 


GAPER   AT   THE   DERBY.  109 

the  Whistle,  Alice  Hawthorne,  and  six  others. 
After  the  race  I  said  to  his  Lordship,  "  Where 
would  Gaper  have  been  had  he  run  ? "  His  reply 
was,  "  He  would  have  been  in  Epsom  town  before 
the  others  reached  the  winning-post ! "  Robert 
Hesseltine,  who  trained  Alice  Hawthorne,  re- 
marked, "If  Gaper  can  beat  Discord  at  16  lb., 
as  stated,  the  Derby  will  be  won  by  the  Sussex 
nag  by  little  short  of  a  hundred  yards."  As  I 
understood  that  John  Day  had  laid  £20,000  to 
£250  against  Gaper,  I  took  an  opportunity  of  ad- 
vising him  in  a  friendly  way  not  to  risk  such  a 
sum,  and  at  the  eleventh  hour  he  got  Mr  Gully 
to  take  £20,000  to  £3000  for  him  about  the 
horse  from  Lord  George,  losing  on  the  balance 
£2750.  The  tremendous  play  made  by  Gaper 
cut  down  more  than  half  the  field  at  once ;  the 
hill  settled  the  chance  of  many  more ;  and  as 
the  leading  horses  neared  the  turn  five  only  were 
left  in  the  race.  Gaper  came  gallantly  round 
Tattenham  Corner  with  a  lead  of  a  couple  of 
lengths,  and  had  such  a  winning  look  about  him 
that  shouts  of  "  Gaper  wins  !  "  rent  the  air.  "  Gaper 
was  fit  to  run  for  a  man's  life,  but  we  apprehend 
that  the  course  was  a  trifle  too  sticky  for  his 
action."  Such  was  one  report  of  the  race.  Another 
said :  "  Lord  George's  horse  rattled  round  the  corner 
at  such  awful  speed,  and  looked  so  well,  that '  Gaper 
wins  ! '  *  Gaper  wins  ! '  was  shouted  from  hundreds 
of  throats ;  but  he  ended  by  being  fourth  in  the 


110         REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

race.  The  greatest  winners  were  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck,  who  netted  nearly  £8000  by  Cotherstone, 
Lord  Chesterfield,  Colonel  Anson  (a  handsome 
stake),  Mr  Bowes,  about  £12,000,  Mr  Gully,  Mr 
O'Brien,  the  Scotts,  and  others  connected  with  the 
Malton  establishment."  Cotherstone  won  cleverly 
by  two  lengths,  Gorhambury  being  second, — the 
betting  being  13  to  8  against  Cotherstone,  5  to  1 
against  Gaper,  14  to  1  against  Newcourt,  with  a 
long  list  of  others  who  were  backed  at  various  odds. 
Such  was  the  termination  of  Lord  George's  long- 
entertained  expectations  and  anxious  hopes.  I 
did  not  feel  quite  satisfied,  and  thought  if  Gaper 
had  been  ridden  by  Abdale,  as  in  the  trial,  with 
a  snafHe  bridle  and  without  spurs,  he  would  have 
run  better,  and  might  probably  have  won,  his 
health  and  condition  being  so  good.  As  it  was, 
he  was  ridden  by  Sam  Rogers  in  a  severe  curb 
bridle,  and  was  rattled  along  so  mercilessly  that 
the  deep  ground  soon  brought  him  to  a  standstill. 
Like  his  sire,  Gaper  was  very  impetuous,  and  it 
was  difficult  to  make  him  submit  to  any  restraint. 
He  was  rather  a  fine  and  good-looking  horse,  with 
much  power,  but  his  legs  were  so  unsound  that 
the  Duke  of  Richmond  remarked  to  his  con- 
federate, "  I  suppose,  George,  you  will  have  this 
horse  painted  some  day ;  when  you  do,  I  should 
advise  you  to  have  him  taken  standing  in  a 
quantity  of  straw  to  conceal  those  legs  of  his." 
Yet  it  is  very  remarkable  that  Gaper  ran  fifteen 


RACING   EXPENSES.  Ill 

times  when  three  years  old  and  won  seven  races, 
beating  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  Lothario  by  a 
head  for  the  St  Leger  at  Newmarket  (D.I.),  ridden 
for  the  first  time  by  Flatman,  Sam  Rogers  riding 
Lothario,  whom  Lord  George  and  others  in  the 
stable  backed.  The  next  day  Sam  Rogers  rode 
Gaper  for  the  Town  Plate  (D.I.),  when  7  to  1  was 
betted  on  him,  and  he  finished  last  of  three 
starters. 

This  year  his  Lordship  ran  twenty-eight  horses 
in  122  races,  and  had  seventy-three  in  training, 
the  expenses  of  which  were  great.  My  father's 
accounts  were — June  30,  £3447,  18s.  8d.  ;  Decem- 
ber 31,  £3503,  3s.  l^d. ;  and  at  the  close  of  the 
year  Lord  George  said  to  me,  "  I  never  during 
all  my  life  received  such  bills  as  I  get  from  you." 
Naturally  I  felt  alarmed,  and  replied,  "  I  am  sorry, 
my  Lord,  they  are  not  satisfactory.  I  know  they 
are  very  heavy,  but  I  really  cannot  lessen  the  ex- 
penses. My  hands  are  continually  in  my  pocket, 
travelling  so  much  as  I  do  with  so  many  horses  : 
I  am  frequently  obliged  to  pay  something  extra 
to  accomplish  the  distance  in  time.  I  do  not 
think  I  have  charged  more  than  I  have  actually 
paid  out  of  pocket.  If  there  is  any  mistake,  it 
is  in  not  charging  some  few  pounds  paid  by  me 
which  are  not  accounted  for,  as  it  is  impossible  for 
me  to  put  down  all  that  I  am  obliged  to  disburse." 
"  That  is  just  what  I  think,"  was  his  Lordship's 
reply ;  "  you  do  not  charge  two-thirds,  or  one- 


112         REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

half,  as  much  for  many  things  as  I  have  paid  for 
the  same  'at  Danebury.  With  all  your  travelling 
you  must  sustain  considerable  loss  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  your  clothes  ;  therefore  for  the  future  charge 
me  £200  a-year  for  their  wear  and  tear  !  "  That 
year  I  travelled  6155  miles,  a  large  portion  of  it 
by  road.  The  distances  were  greatly  increased  in 
some  years,  and  for  travelling  expenses  alone  I 
disbursed  £3600  in  one  year.  His  Lordship  would 
never  reduce  his  expenses  by  selling  a  horse. 
"  They  will  do  for  the  gentlemen  to  ride,"  he  would 
say,  when  advised  to  dispose  of  some ;  and  on 
being  told  that  they  were  too  infirm  to  carry 
gentlemen,  he  would  get  over  the  difficulty  by 
saying,  "  Then  they  will  do  to  teach  the  little 
boys  how  to  ride." 

Although  he  had  built  a  large  number  of  new 
stables,  and  converted  into  stables  all  available 
buildings,  still  the  accommodation  was  insuffi- 
cient, and  Lord  George  asked  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond to  permit  him  to  erect  more.  "If  you  had 
Chichester  barracks,"  replied  the  Duke,  laughing, 
"  you  would  fill  all  the  stalls.  You  had  better 
get  rid  of  some  of  your  horses,  as  Kent  recom- 
mends." "How  am  I  to  get  rid  of  them?" 
asked  his  Lordship.  "  Sell  them,  my  Lord,  if 
you  can,"  was  my  reply ;  "if  not,  give  them 
away  or  shoot  them,"  which  his  Grace  thought 
good  sound  advice.  After  much  persuasion,  Lord 
George  consented  that  fifteen  should  go  to  Tatter- 


THE    GOODWOOD    YEARLINGS.  113 

sail's,  and  made  a  promise  not  to  attend  the  sale, 
but  to  let  them  go  for  what  they  would  fetch. 
All  were  sold   but   one,  which,  naturally,  no  one 
would    purchase    when    offered   with    its    engage- 
ments.    The  highest  prices  realised  were  £25  and 
£30.       Some    of  them    were   yearlings,    and    had 
been  tried.     Three  of  the  latter  became  the  prop- 
erty of  Mr  Francis  Yilliers,  who,  like  his  father 
the  Earl  of  Jersey,  had  no  faith  in  yearling  trials. 
In   the    spring   Lord   George   said   to   me,   "You 
have  got  me  into  a  pretty  mess  by  your  advice 
to  sell   those   yearlings,   as  Mr  Villiers   tells   me 
they  can  run."     I  told  his  Lordship  that  I  was 
pleased   to  hear  it.      "You   are   pleased  when  I 
have    sold   good   horses,    are   you  ? "   he   rejoined, 
sharply.      I  answered   that  I  was   glad   to   hear 
they  could  run,  for  I  knew  that  his  Lordship  had 
better  in  his  stables,   which  I  hoped  would  win 
some  of  their   engagements.      Still  he  continued 
to  regret  having  sold  them,  and  in  order  to  try 
and  reassure  him,  I  selected  some  of  our  horses 
which  had  been  tried,  and  which  I  thought  were 
better  than  those  sold,  although   not  the  best  of 
his  lot.     I  therefore  advised  his  Lordship  to  make 
some  matches  with  them  against  those  Mr  Vil- 
liers had  bought.      Three  or  four   matches  were 
accordingly   made.      Lord   George   won   the   first 
very   easily,   and  received  forfeit  for  the    others. 
After   this   he  was   satisfied,    and   no   longer   re- 
gretted the  sale  of  his  yearlings. 

H 


114         REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

Counting  those  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond and  Lord  George,  forty  or  fifty  yearlings 
were  broken  each  year.  I  found  it  very  advan- 
tageous to  ascertain  their  merits  as  soon  as  I  could, 
and  to  select  a  few  of  the  best  for  heavy  engage- 
ments, as  was  proved  by  results ;  for  often,  when 
taken  from  the  paddocks,  the  most  promising  were 
put  into  stakes  which  closed  very  early.  If  possi- 
ble, all  were  tried  before  the  end  of  the  Houghton 
Meeting.  In  some  years  many  were  tried  before 
Doncaster  Races,  as  was  the  case  in  1844,  when 
Ennui  (dam  of  Saunterer,  Loiterer,  &c.)  distin- 
guished herself  by  winning  two  trials.  At  Don- 
caster  John  Scott  had  what  was  thought  a  very 
fine  yearling  to  sell,  called  Tom  Tulloch — by  Het- 
man  Platoff,  out  of  Cyprian — which  Lord  George 
was  anxious  to  purchase,  and  desired  me  to  look 
him  over.  I  did  not  quite  like  the  colt,  as  he  was 
heavy-shouldered,  and  one  of  his  fore-feet  rather 
clubby.  Still,  his  Lordship  had  a  fancy  to  buy 
him.  I  recommended  him  not  to  do  so,  but  to 
let  some  one  else  have  him,  and  to  match  the  little 
filly,  Ennui,  against  him.  At  the  sale  Lord  George 
bid  1200  guineas  for  Tom  Tulloch,  when  I  en- 
treated him  not  to  bid  more.  Eventually  the  colt 
became  the  property  of  Lord  Maidstone  for  1500 
guineas.  The  next  day  Lord  Maidstone,  the  Earl 
of  Glasgow,  and  others  went  round  Lord  George's 
stud  at  Doncaster.  "  So  I  hear  you  bought  that 
yearling  from  John  Scott  yesterday,"  said  Lord 


THE    GOODWOOD   YEARLINGS.  115 

George  to  Lord  Maidstone.  "  I  will  run  you  for 
£500  at  Goodwood  next  year  with  a  little  filly 
I  have  got."  To  which  Lord  Maidstone  replied, 
66  John  Scott  will  not  take  a  two-year-old  to  Good- 
wood, but  I  will  run  you  here."  Lord  Glasgow 
wished  it  to  be  a  sweepstakes,  that  he  might  put 
one  in,  which  was  agreed  to.  "I  will  bet  each  of 
you  a  thousand  I  beat  you,"  said  Lord  George. 
The  bets  were  taken.  When  the  race  came  off,  6 
to  4  was  laid  on  Tom  Tulloch,  but  Ennui  won  easily 
by  four  lengths.  This  success  encouraged  his  Lord- 
ship to  try  his  yearlings  as  early  as  possible,  and 
ultimately  some  were  tried  before  York  Races, 
with  good  results.  This  was  one  of  the  many 
endeavours  of  Lord  George  to  accomplish  what 
to  others  appeared  impossible.  "Nothing  is  im- 
possible," he  would  say,  "  if  you  will  only  try." 
Whenever  I  told  him  that  I  did  not  think  some 
wish  of  his  could  be  carried  out,  he  would  say 
immediately,  "  Will  you  try  ?'"  and  if  successful, 
he  would  greet  me  with,  "  I  told  you  it  could  be 
done."  If  unsuccessful,  he  would  say,  "  As  you 
could  not  succeed,  I  suppose  it  is  not  possible. 
I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  trying  all  the  same." 
A  great  and  just  characteristic  of  his  Lordship's 
was,  that  he  always  acknowledged  a  service  ren- 
dered, and  appreciated  the  effort  made.  There 
was  no  limit  to  his  sanguine  self-confidence,  or 
to  the  resources  he  suggested  and  called  into 
play  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  some  object. 


116        REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

To  cite  expense  as  a  reason  for  not  attempting  it 
was  sure  to  offend  him ;  and  he  would  invariably 
sign  a  blank  cheque  when  he  deputed  me  to  make 
any  purchase  for  him,  and  handed  it  to  me,  saying, 
"  There,  fill  that  up  for  whatever  you  think  it,  or 
they,  are  worth." 

In  1844  Lord  George  Bentinck  ran  thirty-eight 
horses  in  175  races,  and  won  fifty-three.  He  had 
increased  his  stud  considerably,  having  about 
seventy  brood  mares  and  two  or  three  stallions, 
in  addition  to  the  large  number  in  training,  the 
forfeits  for  which  alone  amounted  to  £9170.  This 
was  rather  a  successful  year.  The  stable,  including 
his  Lordship's  and  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  horses, 
won  sixty-three  races,  value  £19,840,  including  the 
Port  Stakes  at  Newmarket,  the  Somersetshire 
Stakes  at  Bath,  the  Chester  Cup,  Ham,  Drawing- 
Room,  and  Nassau  at  Goodwood,  Municipal  and 
Two-year-old  Stakes  at  Doncaster,  the  Clearwell, 
a  great  match  with  Miss  Elis  against  Oakley 
and  another  between  Clumsy  and  Vibration,  both 
at  Newmarket.  At  the  First  October  Meeting 
the  stable  won  six  races,  ten  at  the  Second  October 
and  ten  at  the  Houghton  Meeting,  making  twenty- 
six  races  in  the  three  weeks.  Upon  some  Lord 
George  won  largely,  especially  on  the  two  matches 
of  Miss  Elis  and  Clumsy.  The  latter  was  only  a 
two-year-old,  and  ran  a  match  over  the  Two  Middle 
Miles  against  Vibration,  a  five-year-old  mare  be- 
longing to  Sir  Joseph  Hawley.  Clumsy  carried  a 


SUCCESSES   IN    1844.  11*7 

1  feather "  and  Vibration  8  st.  9  Ib.  The  betting 
^vas  very  heavy,  as  it  was  considered  absurd  to 
*un  a  two-year-old  over  such  a  long  course  against 
i  good  five-year-old  mare ;  but  to  win  such  a  race 
vas  the  height  of  his  Lordship's  ambition. 

The  stable's  successes  in  1844  commenced  with 
;he  victory  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  Red  Deer 
or  the  Chester  Cup.  The  betting  was  heavy,  and 
;he  race  had  never  been  won  before  by  a  three- 
rear-old  ;  in  fact,  three-year-olds  were  not  entered 
or  it  until  two  years  previously,  when  his  Lordship 
>ut  some  in.  During  the  winter  Lord  George  was 
ible  to  get  on  a  large  stake  in  small  sums  by  back- 
ng  the  three-year-olds,  Kent's  lot,  and  Red  Deer 
>utright,  without  directing  attention  to  the  horse. 
\_s  Red  Deer  was  handicapped  at  4  st.,  it  ap- 
>eared  to  Lord  George  so  great  a  certainty  that 
le  made  a  book  for  him,  laying  against  others, 
.n  a  letter  to  me  dated  January  13,  1844,  he  says  : 
6 1  am  glad  to  see  Red  Deer  in  at  4  st.  (as  well 
is  Strathspey)  for  the  Chester  Cup ;  for  "if  Kitch- 
ener can  get  Red  Deer  out,  and  if  he  is  the  horse 
>ver  a  distance  of  ground  that  you  tried  him 
;o  be,  I  don't  see  how  he  can  be  beaten."  With 
lis  Lordship's  love  for  heavy  speculations  it  may 
)e  easily  imagined  to  what  extent  he  would  bet 
ipon  a  race  of  this  description,  when  entertaining 
iie  opinion  he  expresses  in  the  above  letter.  In 
mother  letter,  written  from  Harcourt  House,  Feb- 
•uary  24,  1844,  he  says:  "At  present  all  I  have 


118  REMOVAL   FROM   DANEBCJRY. 

done  is  to  get  700  to  100  about  the  lot  for  the 
Chester  Cup.  I  wish  I  had  had  the  luck  to  get 
the  odds  about  the  three-year-olds.  I  have  desired 
my  commissioners  to  be  on  the  look-out  for  any 
repetition  of  such  offers.  I  do  sincerely  hope  I 
may  get  through  in  my  match  with  The  Caster." 

On  March  19  his  Lordship  wrote  me:  "I  am 
delighted  to  hear  so  good  a  report  of  Bramble. 
If  he  can  ivin  his  match,  it  ivill  pay  all  my  for- 
feits at  the  Spring  Meetings,  which  is  as  much 
as  I  can  expect  to  do.  I  am  very  glad  to  hear 
Kitchener  seems  to  manage  Red  Deer  so  well. 
I  have  now  got  on  the  odds  to  £285  about  the 
lot  at  7J  to  1,  and  the  odds  to  £75  outright  about 
Red  Deer,  which  averages,  I  believe,  about  24  to 
1.  It  has  been  very  hard  work  to  get  on ;  all  in 
£10  bets.  Your  father  and  you  shall  stand  at 
25  to  1.  Your  father  wishes  to  stand  £20 — 
viz.,  500  to  20  ;  let  me  know  what  you  would 
like  to  stand.  I  am  bound  to  confess  that  I 
think  Chester  the  worst  course  in  England  for  a 
'  feather ' ;  if  it  were  at  Newmarket,  Goodwood, 
or  even  Bath,  I  should  not  be  much  afraid.  If 
Bramble  wins  his  match  against  The  Caster,  he 
will  be  first  favourite  for  the  Chester  Cup  ;  and 
from  what  you  write  me  I  cannot  help  being 
very  sanguine."  Bramble's  match  against  The 
Caster  was  for  1200  guineas  (Beacon  Course). 
Although  John  Scott's  party  were  very  confident 
of  winning  with  The  Caster,  Bramble  made  strong 


REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY.         119 

running  and  won  easily  by  twelve  lengths.  As 
Lord  George  predicted,  Bramble  became  first 
favourite  for  the  Chester  Cup,  being  in  at  7  st. 
9  Ib.  and  4  years  old,  Scott's  party  backing  him 
stoutly.  "  Those  who  like  may  back  Red  Deer," 
said  they,  "  but  Bramble  will  win."  John  Day's 
party  also  backed  the  latter,  remembering  how 
easily  he  beat  Ben-y-ghlo  and  Vitula  at  Bath  the 
year  before.  As  Red  Deer  could  beat  Bramble 
at  one  half  the  weight  he  had  to  give  him — viz., 
3  st.  9  Ib. — his  Lordship  stood  a  heavy  stake 
against  Bramble,  and  felt  much  alarmed  when 
he  saw  him  gallop  at  Chester;  but  I  assured 
him  he  had  no  earthly  chance  of  giving  the  weight 
to  Red  Deer,  unless  the  latter  fell  down.  Few 
if  any  other  owners  would,  however,  have  started 
Bramble  under  the  circumstances,  and  allowed  the 
public  to  have  a  run  for  their  money,  when  it 
would  have  been  so  easy  to  put  the  pen  through 
the  horse's  name.  As  Red  Deer  belonged  to  the 
Duke  of  Richmond,  and  Bramble  to  Lord  George, 
it  was  impossible  to  declare  to  win  with  the 
former. 

Rumours  being  rife  that  some  foul  play  might 
be  attempted,  as  such  reports  were  frequently 
circulated  in  connection  with  races  upon  which 
there  had  been  much  heavy  speculation,  I  deemed 
it  advisable  to  lead  Red  Deer  to  the  post  myself, 
not  feeling  disposed  to  intrust  so  important  and 
responsible  a  task  to  any  one  else.  The  field 


120         REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

being  so  large  and  the  circular  course  so  narrow, 
the  horses  were  started  in  two  lines.  Having 
Bramble  and  Best  Bower  in  the  race  as  well  as 
Red  Deer,  I  placed  the  two  former  horses  im- 
mediately in  front  of  Red  Deer,  and  instructed 
their  jockeys  to  let  Red  Deer  pass  between  them 
as  soon  as  the  flag  fell.  It  was  with  no  little 
difficulty  that  I  was  able  to  retain  hold  of  the 
horse,  and  avoid  being  run  over  or  kicked,  as 
Red  Deer  was  of  a  free  and  rather  nervous  tem- 
perament. If  he  had  once  broken  away  with 
such  a  tiny  jockey  upon  his  back,  I  thought  it 
most  improbable  that  he  would  ever  get  to  the 
starting-post  again.  At  last  a  start  was  effected, 
when  Red  Deer,  after  making  two  or  three  vigor- 
ous plunges,  passed  between  Bramble  and  Best 
Bower,  and  took  up  the  running  at  such  a  terrific 
pace  that  he  was  soon  many  lengths  in  advance 
of  everything  in  the  race,  and  ultimately  won  by 
a  dozen  lengths,  running  on  to  the  Dee  side  be- 
fore Kitchener  could  pull  him  up.  So  dense  was 
the  crowd  round  him,  and  so  great  the  enthu- 
siasm, that  it  was  feared  an  attempt  might  be 
made  to  displace  the  tiny  jockey.  With  all  pos- 
sible haste,  therefore,  I  made  my  way  to  him, 
and  succeeded  in  getting  hold  of  the  bridle  and 
in  leading  the  winner  back  to  the  weighing-place, 
but  not  till  long  after  all  the  other  jockeys  had 
weighed  and  the  horses  had  left  the  course.  It 
will  readily  be  imagined  that  the  announcement 


ENTHUSIASM   AT    GOODWOOD.  121 

"All  right!"  was  an  inexpressible  relief  to  me. 
The  prevailing  opinion  that  the  Chester  course 
was  the  most  unfavourable  one  in  England  for 
such  a  horse  and  jockey,  in  which  opinion  Lord 
George  Bentinck  fully  concurred,  proved  quite 
the  reverse  of  the  truth,  as  it  was  really  equiva- 
lent to  turning  the  horse  loose  in  a  circus  from 
which  there  was  no  escape.  Instead  of  a  race, 
it  bore  more  resemblance  to  a  "  Red  Deer  chase," 
and  every  arrangement  connected  with  this  re- 
markable event  appeared  to  have  been  thought 
out  and  brought  off  to  perfection. 

Upon  the  return  home  of  Red  Deer  in  his  van 
he  was  met  at  the  Fareham  station  by  a  large 
number  of  people  amid  great  rejoicings.  At  the 
next  stage,  Havant,  the  landlord  (Mr  Lock),  who 
enjoyed  the  lucrative  privilege  of  supplying  post- 
horses  for  all  the  vans  and  chaises  from  Goodwood 
to  Fareham  and  back,  was  desirous  of  adding  em- 
phasis to  the  general  jubilations  by  decorating  his 
horses  and  the  post-boys  with  a  profusion  of  the 
victorious  colours.  At  Chichester  the  van  was 
met  by  many  of  the  citizens,  with  flags  and 
banners  bearing  the  well-known  yellow  and  scar- 
let colours.  The  enthusiasm  and  cheering  were 
as  great  as  when  the  news  of  the  glorious 
victory  of  Waterloo  was  received  in  1815.  At 
Goodwood  Lodge  gates  the  Chester  party  found 
a  well  -  constructed  set  of  rope  -  harness,  with 
poles,  &c.,  in  readiness,  and  fifty  or  sixty  stable- 


122         REMOVAL  FROM  DANEBURY. 

men  and  lads  waiting  to  take  the  place  of  the 
post-horses,  which  were  soon  detached.  The  two- 
legged  substitutes  made  their  way  with  perfect 
ease  to  the  Goodwood  stables,  delighted  at  the 
good  fortune  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  the  uni- 
versally popular  owner  of  the  horse.  If,  indeed, 
I  were  to  say  "  beloved,"  I  should  not  exaggerate 
the  prevailing  sentiment  entertained  towards  that 
estimable  nobleman. 

Lord  George  Bentinck  started  the  horses  at 
Chester,  consisting  of  a  field  of  twenty-six ;  and 
with  a  view  to  helping  the  tiny  jockey,  Kitchener, 
who  weighed  only  3  st.  4  lb.,  Red  Deer  made  strong 
running,  and  won  very  easily,  much  to  the  gratifi- 
cation of  his  Lordship,  who  immediately  despatched 
a  messenger  to  Goodwood  to  communicate  the  re- 
sult to  their  Graces.  The  news,  however,  had  been 
received  there  many  hours  earlier,  by  means  of 
carrier-pigeons  sent  by  me  from  the  course,  un- 
known to  any  one  except  my  father,  so  as  to  avoid 
disappointment  should  the  pigeons  fail  to  reach 
home.  Upon  the  race  Lord  George  won  a  large 
stake,  and  stated  to  me  in  a  letter  that  he  got 
every  farthing  due  to  him,  much  to  his  own  sur- 
prise, as  on  no  previous  occasion  had  he  escaped 
loss  from  defaulters  when  betting  on  the  same  scale. 


123 


CHAPTEE  VI. 
LORD  GEORGE'S  SUPPORT  OF  GOODWOOD  RACES. 

PREVIOUS  to  1841,  when  Lord  George  Bentinck 
transferred  his  race-horses  from  Danebury  to  Good- 
wood, he  had  taken  great  interest  in  the  Good- 
wood race-course,  and,  in  conjunction  with  the  Duke 
of  Richmond,  had  in  many  ways  improved  it  and 
its  stands.  In  order  to  relieve  the  congestion  of 
traffic  flowing  through  Goodwood  Park  during  the 
race  week,  he  increased  the  approaches  to  the 
grand  stand  by  making  two  new  roads,  one  on 
each  side  of  the  park.  Subsequently  he  discovered 
that  the  last  half-mile  of  the  course  was  not  so 
elastic  as  he  wished,  especially  in  dry  seasons.  It 
was  newly  made  ground,  and  the  soil  under  the 
turf  had  been  laid  on  loose  chalk,  through  which 
the  mould  percolated  and  was  carried  down  after 
heavy  rain,  so  that  the  turf  subsided  in  many 
places.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Duke  of 
Richmond  and  Lord  George  caused  four  inches  of 
fine  mould  to  be  laid  upon  the  old  turf,  right  across 


124  GOODWOOD    RACES. 

the  last  half-mile  of  the  course.  Upon  this  mould 
another  layer  of  turf  was  superimposed,  the  grassy 
side  being  turned  downwards,  and  over  it  another 
three -inch  layer  of  friable  soil  was  spread,  the 
whole  being  crowned  by  sods,  which,  together  with 
the  mould,  were  bought  from  a  tenant  farmer 
who  lived  two  or  three  miles  away.  Like  all  Lord 
George's  undertakings,  this  improvement  of  the 
last  half-mile  of  the  course  was  conducted  in  no 
half-hearted  or  perfunctory  way.  Nothing  could 
be  more  satisfactory  than  the  results  effected  by 
this  heavy  and  well  -  directed  outlay  when  the 
season  was  dry.  The  mould  was  held  in  its  place 
by  the  double  turfing,  to  which  Lord  George 
previously  had  recourse  at  Danebury.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  was  found  that  in  wet  weather  this 
portion  of  the  course  was  very  heavy  going,  as  is 
always  the  case  with  newly  made  ground.  In 
1848,  for  instance,  Surplice  could  not  raise  a  gal- 
lop when  opposed  by  Distaffina  in  the  Gratwicke 
Stakes,  although  Lord  Chesterfield  was  well  aware, 
through  his  old  mare,  Lady  Wildair,  with  whom 
Surplice  had  been  tried,  that  upon  racing-ground 
the  Derby  winner  could  give  Distaffina  two  stone 
and  a  good  beating.  In  1855,  again,  John  Scott, 
who  never  was  partial  to  Goodwood,  attributed  the 
defeat  in  the  Ham  Stakes  of  Mr  Bowes's  Fly-by  - 
Night,  who  was  known  to  be  very  smart,  to  the 
deep  ground,  through  which  Mary  Copp,  the  win- 


LORD    GEORGE   AND    GOODWOOD. 


125 


ner,  galloped  without  sinking,  as  her  feet  were  very 
large.  The  upset  of  public  form  which,  from  the 
same  causes,  took  place  in  1888,  will  be  fresh  in  the 
memory  of  many  of  my  readers. 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  to  what  pitch  of  perfec- 
tion Lord  George  would  have  raised  the  Goodwood 
meeting  had  he  been  spared  to  return  to  the  Turf, 
which,  as  I  shall  shortly  state,  he  contemplated  at 
the  time  of  his  death.  In  order  to  demonstrate 
what  his  Lordship  actually  effected,  I  have  com- 
piled the  following  comparative  tables,  showing, 
on  the  one  hand,  what  Goodwood  races  were  dur- 
ing the  ten  years  prior  to  the  removal  of  Lord 
George's  stud  from  Danebury  in  1841,  and,  on  the 
other,  what  they  were  between  1842  and  1851, 
inclusive  : — 

TABLE  I. 


*S 

£ 

i 

§§• 

g 

S-  CD  ^ 

«  S 

J* 

Subscribe 
to  the 
Stakes. 

Acceptane 

Starters 

11 

1 

i 

1832     .  . 

64 

16 

69 

28 

13 

33 

6 

4,275 

1833     .  . 

89 

17 

81 

26 

14 

37 

9 

4,937 

1834     .  . 

90 

18 

112 

41 

16 

40 

10 

5,415 

1835     .  . 

58 

15 

117 

29 

14 

47 

10 

5,590 

1836     .  . 

85 

17 

94 

41 

18 

40 

10 

4,260 

1837     .  . 

133 

20 

107 

39 

17 

44 

10 

9,495 

1838     .  . 

116 

21 

118 

40 

10 

40 

8 

8,645 

1839     .  . 

111 

19 

128 

45 

16 

46 

9 

10,295 

1840     .  . 

171 

28 

127 

64 

15 

44 

9 

10,620 

1841     .  . 

175 

31 

151 

49 

18 

51 

9 

18,23* 

1092 

202 

1104 

402 

151 

422 

90 

81,802 

126 


GOODWOOD   RACES. 


TABLE  II. 


°§tb 

o  c£ 

| 

9 

C 

II 

. 

«L 

&  £'c 

"g  « 

"S^iM 

1 

I 

s» 

1 

03  'S_2 

s  g^ 

§H  | 

|S 

|s| 

! 

3 
m 

1! 

1 

§11 

02 

^ 

03  -M 

£ 

1842 

177 

30 

151 

50 

20 

50 

9 

18,417 

1843 

206 

34 

161 

48 

15 

47 

13 

17,666 

1844 

242 

36 

121 

52 

18 

52 

9 

23,849 

1845 

230 

36 

133 

58 

23 

48 

12 

18,547 

1846 

352 

38 

147 

60 

21 

53 

9 

24,910 

1847 

220 

38 

134 

63 

14 

38 

9 

23,475 

1848 

210 

37 

123 

47 

16 

32 

9 

20,455 

1849 

201 

41 

114 

41 

21 

30 

S 

19,020 

1850 

199 

36 

140 

43 

17 

23 

8 

19,002 

1851 

193 

33 

116 

41 

13 

30 

10 

13,215 

2230 

359 

1340 

503 

178 

403 

96 

198,556 

The  ten  previ-\ 
ous  years   / 

1092 

202 

1104 

402 

151 

... 

... 

81,802 

Increase  . 

1138 

157 

236 

101 

27 

... 

... 

116,754 

Although  Lord  George  ceased  to  run  any  horses 
after  August  1846,  he  had  others  entered  at  Good- 
wood (some  of  them  very  heavily  engaged)  in  1847, 
1848,  and  1849,  which,  of  course,  augmented  the 
value  of  the  stakes.  I  will  venture  again  to  call 
attention  to  the  extraordinary  support  given  by 
his  Lordship  to  his  favourite  meeting ;  and  as 
specimen  years,  let  me  take  1844  and  1845.  In 
1844  he  ran  forty-nine  horses  there — viz.,  eleven 
on  the  first  day,  nine  on  the  second,  fourteen  on 
the  third,  and  fifteen  on  the  fourth.  For  the  week 
his  stakes  and  forfeits  amounted  to  £6155 — a  sum 
wholly  unparalleled,  either  before  or  since,  for  a 
single  owner  of  race-horses  to  put  down  at  one 
meeting.  In  1845  Lord  George  ran  forty-eight 


- 


LORD  GEORGE'S  EXPENSES.  127 

horses  at  Goodwood — viz.,  ten  on  the  first  day, 
nine  on  the  second,  thirteen  on  the  third,  and  six- 
teen on  the  fourth.  This  year  his  stakes  and  for- 
feits amounted  to  £4580. 

It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  enormous  ex- 
penses incurred  by  Lord  George  in  connection  with 
his  stud,  including  the  training  of  about  sixty 
horses,  the  maintenance  of  three  stud-farms,  the 
cost  of  travelling,  of  stakes  and  forfeits,  and  a  hun- 
dred other  charges,  could  be  defrayed,  or  half  de- 
frayed, by  the  races  he  won  in  days  when  owners 
ran  almost  exclusively  for  each  other's  money.  It 
was  necessary  for  him  to  bet,  and  it  must  be  added 
that  he  took  the  greatest  delight  in  it,  so  long  as 
he  could  devote  all  his  energies  to  watching  the 
running  of  his  own  and  of  other  horses,  to  compar- 
ing their  respective  forms,  and  to  gaining  informa- 
tion on  all  sorts  of  subjects  germane  to  the  Turf, 
in  which  respect  I  never  knew  his  equal.  I  can 
well  imagine  what  an  effort  it  must  have  cost,  and 
what  a  wrench  it  must  have  been  to  him,  to  dis- 
pose of  his  stud,  and  to  tear  himself  away  from  the 
Turf,  to  which  his  attachment  was  so  unmistak- 
ably genuine  ;  for  success  in  connection  with  which 
he  was  exceptionally  adapted  ;  and  which,  in  addi- 
tion to  affording  him  great  pleasure,  contributed 
materially  to  the  preservation  of  the  robust  health 
which,  until  he  took  to  politics  in  earnest,  he  al- 
ways enjoyed.  It  was,  indeed,  impossible  to  wit- 
ness the  zest  and  appetite  with  which  he  invariably 


128  GOODWOOD    RACES. 

partook  of  breakfast  and  luncheon  at  my  father's 
house  after  walking  about  the  downs,  and  breath- 
ing their  elastic  and  invigorating  air,  without  feel- 
ing conscious  that  his  mind  and  body  were  at  their 
very  best.  He  repeatedly  avowed  that  he  never 
enjoyed  food  so  much  as  the  simple  viands  put 
before  him  on  my  father's  table,  and  expressed  a 
wish  to  know  where  they  were  obtained,  so  that 
he  might  procure  some  of  the  same  sort  and  send 
them  to  Welbeck  Abbey.  Even  the  common  fruits 
and  vegetables  at  Goodwood  he  thought  superior 
to  those  he  tasted  elsewhere.  He  was  hardly  aware 
for  how  much  health  and  enjoyment  he  was  in- 
debted to  the  fine  air  he  was  breathing,  to  the 
simple  life  he  was  leading,  and  the  entire  absorp- 
tion of  his  faculties  in  a  pursuit  to  which  he  was 
passionately  devoted. 

Had  it  not  been  that  the  fifth  Duke  of  .Rich- 
mond and  every  member  of  his  family  appreciated 
the  enjoyment  taken  by  Lord  George  in  Good- 
wood and  in  his  race-horses,  he  would  hardly  have 
been  permitted  by  the  Duke  to  keep  such  an 
enormous  number  of  horses  in  training,  necessitat- 
ing the  constant  employment  of  a  corresponding 
number  of  boys  and  stablemen.  It  must  not  be 
forgotten  that  the  racing  stables  are  close  to 
Goodwood  House,  and  that  any  lack  of  order  or 
discipline  among  the  stable-boys  might,  and  pro- 
bably would,  have  been  extremely  disagreeable 
to  the  members  of  the  family.  My  father  fre- 


EMILIUS'S    PROGENY.  129 

quently  inquired  whether  the  noise  inseparable 
from  such  a  large  establishment,  but  which  he 
always  endeavoured  to  keep  within  bounds,  was 
the  cause  of  any  inconvenience,  and  was  repeatedly 
assured  that  the  Duke  and  Duchess  and  their 
family  took  pleasure  in  watching  the  amusements 
of  the  boys,  and  especially  the  games  of  cricket 
in  which  they  took  part.  When  I  mention  that, 
in  1844,  Lord  George  ran  thirty-eight  different 
horses  in  182  races  at  places  scattered  all  over 
England,  and  in  1845,  thirty-six  horses  in  190 
races,  I  do  not  think  that  a  similar  record  can  be 
quoted  about  any  other  patron  of  the  Turf.  The 
nearest  approach  to  it  that  I  can  find  was  that 
made  by  the  Prince  of  Wales  in  1789  and  1790, 
in  each  of  which  years  his  Royal  Highness  started 
thirty  -  five  horses,  almost  all  of  which  he  had 
purchased,  while  those  belonging  to  Lord  George 
Bentinck  were  almost  without  exception  bred  by 
himself. 

Lord  George  was  most  favourably  impressed 
with  the  soundness  and  stoutness  of  the  progeny 
of  Emilius,  finding  that  when  to  the  above-named 
qualities  Emilius's  sons  and  daughters  added  speed, 
in  which  they  were  generally  deficient,  they  never 
failed  to  make  their  mark.  When  Priam,  Emilius's 
best  son,  won  the  Goodwood  Cup,  beating  Fleur  de 
Lis,  his  Lordship  took  the  greatest  liking  to  that 
noble  horse,  who,  in  my  opinion  (and  I  am  never 
tired  of  repeating  it),  was  the  best  and  most 

I 


130  GOODWOOD    RACES. 

perfectly  shaped  race-horse  I  ever  saw.  It  was 
because  Crucifix  was  a  daughter  of  Priam  that 
Lord  George  purchased  her  and  her  dam  at 
Tattersall's,  when  the  latter  was  twenty-two  years 
old,  and  Crucifix  one  of  the  scraggiest  and  most 
unpromising  foals  ever  seen.  There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  Crucifix,  when  tried  as  a  yearling  in 
1838,  kept  Lord  George  on  the  Turf  at  a  moment 
when  he  thought  of  leaving  it  for  ever  ;  and,  again, 
the  victory  of  Crucifix's  son,  Surplice,  for  the 
Derby  and  St  Leger  of  1848,  confirmed  him  in  his 
determination  to  return  to  the  Turf,  which  he 
would  most  assuredly  have  done — probably  on  a 
greater  scale  than  ever — had  his  life  been  spared. 

Some  time  after  the  death  of  Mr  Thornhill  in 
1844,  Lord  George  purchased  Emilius  privately, 
although  the  horse  was  then  twenty-four  years 
old,  and  very  weak.  Such  was  the  care  taken  of 
him  by  Lord  George,  that  the  old  horse  regained 
his  strength  and  was  as  fresh  as  a  four-year-old 
when  leased,  in  1846,  to  Mr  R  M.  Jaques,  of  Easby 
Abbey,  near  Bichmond-on-Swale,  on  the  sale  of 
Lord  George's  stud.  Emilius  died  in  1847  at  the 
age  of  twenty-seven.  "  He  was  perfectly  well," 
writes  "  The  Druid,"  in  '  Silk  and  Scarlet,'  "  until 
just  before  his  death,  which  was  caused  by  some 
one  giving  him  a  feed  of  whole  oats,  which  he  was 
not  able  to  masticate.  They  buried  him  near 
some  loose-boxes  in  a  paddock  which  the  Abbot 
of  the  White  Canons  of  Easby  surveyed  of  yore 


DEATH    OF   EMILIUS.  131 

from  his  study  window.  A  stone  that  had  once 
been  the  crosiered  tomb  of  a  Cardinal,  but  had 
gradually  mingled  with  the  ruins,  and  then  served 
as  threshold  to  the  box  where  Weatherbit  now 
stands,  is  built  into  the  wall  to  mark  the  spot ; 
and  thus  to  a  certain  extent  Frank  Buckle's  last 
Derby  winner  is  canonised." 

In  Mr  Langley's  '  Reminiscences  of  Easby,'  full 
justice  is  done  to  Emilius's  extraordinary  career 
at  the  Stud  ;  and  it  is  recorded  that  "  Mr  Jaques 
hired  him  for  £100  for  the  season  of  1847,  and, 
owing  to  his  great  age,  insured  his  life — the  first 
policy  of  the  kind  ever  issued  by  the  office — for 
that  amount,  which,  curiously  enough,  fell  in, 
owing  to  the  horse  dying  in  the  August  of  that 
year,  aged  twenty-seven." 

His  Lordship's  partiality  for  stayers  was  not 
gratified  when  he  purchased  Bay  Middleton. 
Nevertheless  he  managed  to  win  some  races 
over  two  or  three  miles  of  ground  with  two- 
year-olds  got  by  that  famous  son  of  Sultan.  It 
was  one  of  their  characteristics  that  they  stood 
less  in  need  of  severe  training  than  the  young  sons 
and  daughters  of  other  sires.  When  Lord  George's 
horses  went  from  Danebury  to  Goodwood,  he 
imagined  that  they  would  stay  better  if  trained 
more  severely.  After  experimenting  with  some  of 
them  in  this  way,  I  found  that  long  and  strong 
gallops,  often  repeated,  had  the  effect  of  making 
them  worse  and  worse,  until  at  last  they  lost  even 


132  GOODWOOD    RACES. 

such  form  as  they  possessed,  through  tiring  from 
weakness.  His  Lordship  soon  came  to  the  same 
opinion  as  that  inculcated  after  long  experience 
by  my  father,  and  now  repeated  by  me  after  sixty 
years  of  familiarity  with  the  Turf  in  all  its  depart- 
ments. If  there  be  any  art  in  training  race-horses, 
it  consists  in  knowing  when  they  are  perfectly  fit 
to  run  the  distance  for  which  they  are  destined 
by  Nature.  Such  knowledge  can  only  be  gained 
by  close  observation  and  practical  experience.  I 
could  enumerate  a  vast  number  of  horses  which, 
within  my  knowledge,  have  been  sacrificed  from 
lack  of  judgment  and  skill  in  ascertaining  what 
was  their  best  distance  and  what  their  constitu- 
tions required.  One  instance  I  will  mention  which 
will  perhaps  be  remembered  by  some  who  read 
these  remarks,  as  it  happened  in  1865. 

In  that  year  Mr  Padwick  had  a  three-year-old 
called  Kangaroo,  who  stood  at  Drewitt's  stable  at 
Lewes,  but  was  under  my  supervision.  With 
Kangaroo  I  won  for  Mr  Padwick  the  Abbot  Stakes 
at  Chelmsford  on  March  28,  1865  ;  the  Craven 
Handicap  at  Lewes  on  March  30  ;  and  the  New- 
market Biennial  on  April  18.  In  the  last-named 
race  Kangaroo  beat  a  field  of  nineteen  starters, 
scattering  them  in  such  a  manner  after  making 
strong  running  that  the  Marquis  of  Hastings  gave 
Mr  Padwick  12,000  guineas  and  contingencies  for 
the  horse,  upon  the  strength  of  his  having  easily 
defeated  the  Duke  of  Beaufort's  Koenig,  whom 


KANGAROO.  133 

Lord  Hastings  and  other  patrons  of  the  Danebury 
stable  backed  very  heavily,  taking  7  to  4  to  thou- 
sands of  pounds. 

Kangaroo  was  a  very  powerful  muscular  horse, 
and  appeared  to  those  who  eyed  him  superficially 
to  be  not  half-trained  when  he  won  at  New- 
market. When  I  delivered  the  horse  to  John 
Day,  he  told  me  that  he  should  give  him  a  couple 
of  good  sweats,  and  try  him  before  he  ran  for  the 
Two  Thousand,  distant  a  fortnight  from  that  day. 
John  Day  added  that  by  so  doing  he  expected  to 
improve  Kangaroo  a  stone  in  a  fortnight.  My 
reply  was  that  I  doubted  whether  he  or  any  one 
else  could  make  the  horse  an  ounce  better  than 
he  was  that  day.  In  addition  to  severe  daily 
gallops,  such  as  Danebury  has  always  been  famous 
for,  Kangaroo  had  two  long  and  distressing  sweats, 
and  when  tried  was  a  worse  horse  by  two  stone 
than  when  he  beat  Koenig  and  a  large  field  so 
easily.  In  point  of  fact,  Kangaroo  never  won 
another  race,  although  he  ran  at  last  in  very 
inferior  company.  He  was  practically  ruined  by 
an  injudicious  attempt  to  make  him  better. 

Precisely  the  same  thing  happened  in  1855  with 
Oulston,  a  fine  upstanding  colt,  son  of  Melbourne 
and  Alice  Hawthorne.  Oulston  did  not  start  for 
the  Derby  which  Wild  Dayrell  won,  and  for  which, 
in  point  of  fact,  Oulston  was  not  trained.  He  was 
brought  out  by  Mr  Pad  wick,  his  owner,  to  run 
for  the  Queen's  Vase  at  Ascot  in  the  expectation 


134  GOODWOOD    RACES. 

that,  having  done  very  little  work  at  Findon, 
where  he  was  trained  by  old  John  B.  Day,  he 
would  not  get  half-way.  To  the  astonishment  of 
both  owner  and  trainer,  Oulston  won  the  Vase  in 
a  canter,  and  before  night  Mr  Pad  wick  sold  him 
to  Mr  Elwes  for  6500  guineas,  who  sent  him  to 
Danebury.  At  York  August  Races  Oulston  was 
brought  out  to  oppose  Wild  Dayrell  for  the  Ebor 
St  Leger,  the  latter  carrying  6  Ib.  extra  for  win- 
ning the  Derby.  It  was  notorious  that  Wild 
Dayrell  pulled  up  lame  after  the  Derby,  and 
having  a  bad  leg  he  had  done  little  or  no  work 
before  meeting  Oulston  at  York.  Infirm  and  un- 
trained, however,  as  he  was,  the  extra  6  Ib.  did 
not  prevent  his  giving  Oulston  a  stone  beating, 
as  in  two  months  the  latter  had  become  a  con- 
firmed roarer,  and  almost  worthless. 

I  have  no  hesitation,  as  the  result  of  my  long 
experience,  in  saying  that  more  horses  are  ruined 
by  over-training  than  in  any  other  way.  To  assist 
Nature  is  all  that  a  trainer  can  effect ;  but  to  im- 
pose a  greater  strain  on  a  horse  than  Nature  can 
bear,  is  to  defeat  the  purpose  for  which  the  animal 
is  put  into  training.  When  I  add  that  every  horse 
requires  to  be  trained  in  a  different  way — the  dif- 
ference being  sometimes  grave  and  sometimes  in- 
finitesimal— it  will  be  seen  what  observation,  at- 
tention, and  vigilance  a  trainer  must  exercise  who 
has  one  hundred  horses  under  his  care.  Another 
fatal  mistake  often  perpetrated  is  to  get  a  horse 


REVOLUTION   IN    TRAINING.  135 

fit  to  run,  as  the  phrase  has  it,  "  for  a  man's  life," 
two  or  three  weeks  before  the  day  when  his  race 
is  due.  To  keep  a  horse  at  concert -pitch  for 
twenty,  or  even  for  fourteen  days,  will  try  the 
skill  of  the  very  ablest  trainer.  I  may  add,  at  the 
end  of  a  long  life,  that  I  could  never  have  gone 
through  what  I  did  at  Goodwood,  between  1841 
and  1848,  but  for  the  constant  support  and  en- 
couragement so  generously  accorded  to  me  by  my 
two  noble  masters,  the  fifth  Duke  of  Richmond 
and  Lord  George  Bentinck. 

The  construction  and  wide  extension  of  railways, 
the  facility,  rapidity,  and  safety  with  which  horses 
are  conveyed  in  boxes  to  the  scene  of  action  and 
back  to  their  training  stables,  and  lastly,  the  elec- 
tric wire,  have  revolutionised  the  whole  system  of 
racing  and  of  training,  early  maturity  and  quick 
returns  being  at  present  the  order  of  the  day. 
Nowadays  a  vast  majority  of  horses  terminate 
their  racing  careers  at  an  age  at  which  they  com- 
menced it  in  my  youth,  the  result  being  that  mod- 
ern trainers  are  subjected  to  much  less  work  and 
much  less  anxiety  than  their  predecessors  under- 
went. Such,  moreover,  is  the  richness  of  the  prizes 
now  within  reach  of  a  good  horse  during  the  first 
two  years  of  his  racing  career,  that  enormously  in- 
creased prices  are  given  for  thoroughbreds  of  all 
ages,  although  in  my  opinion  these  prices  cannot 
and  will  not  be  sustained.  Lord  George  Bentinck 
was  one  of  the  first  to  pay  long  prices  for  horses. 


136  GOODWOOD   RACES. 

He  gave,  for  instance,  1500  guineas  at  the  sale  of 
Sir  Mark  Wood's  stud,  in  1837,  for  the  famous 
brood-mare  Camarine,  and  1010  guineas  for  her 
yearling  colt,  Glenlivat,  by  Rowton  or  Cetus.  As 
a  rule,  modern  purchasers  of  thoroughbred  year- 
lings have  not  the  same  opportunities  of  looking 
over  the  youngsters  which  they  think  of  buying 
as  were  afforded  to  their  predecessors  fifty  or  sixty 
years  since.  At  that  time  yearlings  were  almost 
invariably  purchased  by  private  contract,  and 
auction  sales  were  almost  unknown.  Formerly 
Lord  George  and  other  purchasers  would  pay  more 
than  one  visit  to  the  best-known  stud-farms,  such 
as  Riddlesworth,  the  seat  of  Mr  Thornhill ;  Euston 
Park,  the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Grafton  ;  Underley 
Park,  near  Barrow- in -Furness,  the  seat  of  Mr 
Nowell ;  Bishop  Burton  Hall,  near  Beverley,  the 
seat  of  Mr  Richard  Watt ;  Sledmere  Park,  near 
Malton,  the  seat  of  Sir  Tatton  Sykes ;  Rock- 
ingham  House,  Malton,  the  home  of  Mr  Allen, 
who  bred  Rockingham  and  Canezou.  Before 
buying  a  yearling  (whom  he  had  probably  seen 
as  a  foal),  Lord  George  would  run  round  the 
paddock  after  him,  rattling  a  stick  inside  his 
hat,  and  closely  observing  the  youngster's  action 
and  style  of  going.  In  those  days,  moreover, 
yearlings  were  not  fattened  up  like  prize  oxen 
before  they  were  sold,  and  their  condition  was 
such  that  their  trainer  had  not  to  strip  them  of 
fat  before  they  were  fit  to  gallop.  I  remember 


LOKD    GLASGOW.  137 

to  have  heard  Tom  Dawson  say  that  Mr  Copper- 
thwaite,  an  Irish  gentleman,  sent  him  a  yearling 
to  train  who  was  as  fat  as  a  pig.  Six  months  after- 
wards Mr  Copperthwaite  went  to  Middleham  to 
inspect  his  colt,  whom  he  found  to  be  not  half  as 
heavy  as  when  he  last  saw  him.  "  Good  heavens  ! " 
he  exclaimed  to  Tom  Dawson,  "  half  the  horse  is 
gone  already,  and  if  I  leave  him  here  any  longer, 
the  other  half  will  soon  follow  !  "  To  prevent  such 
a  catastrophe,  the  colt  was  taken  away  next  day. 

Vast  as  is  the  change  which  racing  has  under- 
gone since  Lord  George  Bentinck's  day,  I  have  no 
manner  of  doubt  that  he  would  have  reaped  a 
rich  harvest  by  following  his  old  system  of  early 
training  and  early  trying  if  he  had  been  living 
now.  It  was  his  uniform  practice  to  find  out  the 
form  of  his  yearlings  before  he  engaged  them  ;  and 
I  do  not  think  that  many  of  the  fatted  youngsters 
which  are  now  knocked  down  at  prices  varying 
between  one  thousand  and  six  thousand  guineas 
would  have  had  much  chance  with  Lord  George's 
picked  colts  and  fillies,  bred  by  himself  regardless 
of  expense,  and  brought  up  with  every  care  so  as 
to  fit  them  to  be  running  machines  of  the  highest 
quality. 

I  never  remember  any  wealthy  patron  of  the 
Turf  who  was  so  obstinate  or  so  blind  to  his  own 
interests  as  the  late  Earl  of  Glasgow.  It  was  his 
Lordship's  custom  to  make  a  lot  of  matches  every 
year  with  Lord  George  Bentinck,  seldom  winning 


138  GOODWOOD    RACES. 

one  of  them.  In  1843,  for  instance,  these  two  old 
antagonists  ran  a  lot  of  matches  against  each 
other,  all  of  which  resulted  in  Lord  George's 
favour,  with  the  exception  of  one  which  ended  in 
a  dead  heat.  This  match,  run  at  Goodwood,  was 
between  Lord  George's  brown  filly  Alva  by  Bay 
Middleton,  and  Lord  Glasgow's  brown  filly  by 
Retainer — Purity.  Immediately  afterwards  Lord 
Glasgow  characteristically  changed  his  trainer, 
and  in  order  to  test  the  capacity  of  the  trainer 
whom  he  had  left,  he  insisted  upon  making  pre- 
cisely the  same  lot  of  matches  over  again  to  be 
run  in  the  following  year.  To  this  Lord  George 
greatly  objected,  as  some  of  his  animals  were  so 
bad  that  he  had  no  desire  to  keep  them  in  training 
for  another  twelvemonth.  Lord  Glasgow,  how- 
ever, insisted,  and  to  oblige  him  Lord  George  gave 
way.  Curious  to  relate,  the  result  of  all  the 
matches  in  1844  was  the  same  as  in  1843,  including 
that  between  Alva  and  the  Purity  filly,  which 
again  ended  in  a  dead  heat.  The  only  difference 
was  that  Flatman  rode  the  Purity  filly  in  1843, 
and  Job  Marson  in  1844,  Sam  Rogers  being  on 
the  back  of  Lord  George's  filly  on  each  occasion. 

There  was  certainly  a  fatality  attending  Lord 
Glasgow's  numerous  matches,  for  however  bad  the 
animal  of  his  opponent  might  be,  Lord  Glasgow's 
was  sure  to  be  worse.  Again,  when  Lord  Glasgow 
got  hold  of  one  that  could  run  a  little,  his 
opponent's  almost  invariably  proved  to  be  a  little 


LORD  GLASGOW'S  UNFORTUNATE  MATCHES.     139 

better.  In  1843  Lord  Glasgow  was  beaten  in 
nineteen  matches,  received  forfeit  in  three,  and 
ran  one  dead  heat.  In  1844  he  was  defeated  in 
twenty  matches,  won  one,  received  forfeit  in  two, 
and  ran  one  dead  heat.  Notwithstanding  his  lack 
of  success  as  a  match  -  maker,  Lord  Glasgow's 
constant  aim  and  ambition  was  to  pit  his  horses 
against  those  of  Lord  George  Bentinck,  and  to 
make  heavy  additional  bets  when  the  matches 
were  made.  Under  these  circumstances,  no  sports- 
man that  ever  lived,  with  the  exception  of  Lord 
Glasgow,  would  have  insisted  upon  running  off  the 
match  when  it  had  been  made  patent  that  his 
animal  was  worthless,  and  the  animal  he  was 
about  to  oppose  had  shown  some  form.  By  paying 
forfeit,  Lord  Glasgow  would  have  annulled  the 
unprofitable  bets  he  had  made.  He  was  not 
"  built  that  way,"  however,  as  nothing  could  ever 
induce  him  to  pay  forfeit  unless  his  horse  was 
dead  or  a  hopeless  cripple. 

Mr  Langley  adds  :  "  One  of  the  most  extra- 
ordinary matches  ever  conceived,  for  particulars  of 
which  I  am  indebted  to  a  literary  friend  of  long 
acquaintance,  originated  as  follows.  After  a  heavy 
and  late  debate  in  the  House  of  Commons,  Lord 
George  fell  sound  asleep  next  day  in  the  drawing- 
room  at  White's  Club,  so  that  all  attempts  to  rouse 
him  proved  unavailing  until  the  usual  afternoon 
visit  of  Lord  Glasgow,  who  was  at  once  informed 
of  these  fruitless  efforts.  ;  Oh,  I'll  soon  wake  him  ! ' 


140  GOODWOOD    RACES. 

remarked  Lord  Glasgow,  and  walking  up  to  the 
chair  in  which  the  sleeper  was  ensconced,  called  out, 
'  Bentinck,  I  want  to  make  a  bet  with  you  ! '  The 
effect  was  so  magical  that  Lord  George  instantly 
opened  his  eyes,  and  replied,  '  With  pleasure, 
Glasgow  ;  what  is  it ? '  'I  want  to  back  the  pro- 
duce of  Miss  Whip  against  that  of  any  mare  you 
name  for  the  Derby  of  1848.'  'Done;  I  name 
Crucifix — for  how  much  ? '  '  Five  thousand  ! '  The 
bet  was  made,  Crucifix  being  at  that  moment  in 
foal  with  Surplice,  and  Miss  Whip  with  a  brute 
called  Whipstick." 

The  history  of  Lord  George  Bentinck's  Farintosh 
will  further  show  how  atrociously  bad  Lord  Glas- 
gow's luck  was.  Farintosh,  by  Bay  Middleton  out 
of  Camarine's  dam,  was  a  magnificent  yearling, 
and,  contrary  to  his  usual  practice,  Lord  George 
engaged  him  very  heavily  before  he  was  broken. 
Among  his  engagements  was  a  match  for  200 
sovereigns,  half-forfeit,  in  which  Farintosh  under- 
took to  give  Colonel  Peel's  Murat  5  Ib.  at  the  July 
meeting  of  1842.  Long  before  that  date  Farin- 
tosh had  turned  roarer ;  indeed  I  never  knew  a 
worse  one  of  his  age.  Nevertheless,  I  had  instruc- 
tions to  take  him  to  Newmarket,  where  I  arrived 
the  day  before  his  match  with  Murat,  which  was 
also  the  day  upon  which  the  July  Stakes  was  to 
be  run,  in  which  both  horses  were  engaged.  When 
Farintosh  was  brought  out  for  the  match,  his 
appearance  was  so  formidable  that  at  the  last 


FARINTOSH.  141 

moment  Colonel  Peel  paid  forfeit.  I  then  implored 
Lord  George  not  to  run  Farintosh  for  the  July 
Stakes,  as  no  one  was  aware  that  the  horse  was  a 
bad  roarer,  and  I  felt  persuaded  that  if  the  secret 
was  well  kept,  Farintosh  would  receive  forfeit  in 
some  of  his  other  matches,  and  might  even  be 
allowed  to  walk  over  for  some  of  his  smaller 
engagements.  Lord  George,  however,  was  firm, 
and  Farintosh  accordingly  started  for  the  July 
Stakes,  in  which  he  met  Murat  at  even  weights. 
The  race  was  won  by  Mr  Thornhill's  brown  filly 
Extempore,  Lord  Exeter's  Jerry  filly  being  second, 
and  Colonel  Peel's  Murat  third,  beating  Farintosh 
(who  was  last)  by  twenty  lengths. 

Unfortunately  Farintosh  had  several  engage- 
ments and  matches  for  the  following  year.  One 
of  the  last  (for  300  sovereigns,  half- forfeit)  was 
against  Lord  Glasgow's  Sister  to  Pathfinder 
(A.F.)  I  was  instructed  to  keep  Farintosh  in 
training  for  this  match,  which  it  would  have  been 
impossible  for  him  to  win,  as  he  could  not  have 
galloped  "  across  the  flat "  to  save  his  life.  Even 
under  these  circumstances  Lord  Glasgow's  luck 
would  not  permit  him  to  win  such  a  match,  as 
shortly  before  the  appointed  day  his  filly  died. 

Lord  George  never  forgot  the  lesson  taught 
him  by  Farintosh,  whom  he  entered  for  thirty- 
three  engagements  before  he  left  the  paddock. 
The  forfeits  for  these  engagements  amounted  to 
nearly  £3000,  which  served  at  any  rate  to  awaken 


142  GOODWOOD    RACES. 

his  Lordship  to  a  sense  of  the  impolicy  of  engaging 
yearlings  before  they  had  been  broken  and  tried. 
As  early  as  1833  the  Hon.  E.  M.  Lloyd  Mostyn 
was  alive  to  the  advantage  of  trying  his  yearlings. 
In  that  year  he  discovered  that  his  superlatively 
good  yearling  filly  Queen  of  Trumps  was  a  "  flyer," 
although,  like  all  the  Velocipedes,  she  was  heavily 
fleshed  and  very  robust  of  constitution,  with  bad 
knees. 

In  those  days  there  were  few  two  -  year  -  old 
stakes,  and  it  was  dangerous  for  a  colt  or  filly  of 
that  tender  age  to  travel  long  distances  on  foot. 
Mr  Mostyn,  therefore,  engaged  Queen  of  Trumps 
in  but  one  two-year-old  race — the  Champagne  at 
Holywell  Hunt  Races,  which  took  place  close  to 
her  training  quarters.  This  race  she  won  without 
an  effort,  and  her  next  appearance  in  public  was 
for  the  Oaks  at  Epsom.  Here  she  met  and  de- 
feated Mr  Greville's  Preserve,  on  whom  2  to  1 
was  betted,  as  previously  recorded.  So  favourably 
was  Lord  George  impressed  with  that  performance, 
that  he  gave  Mr  Mostyn  very  valuable  advice, 
which  resulted  in  the  Queen  being  moved  from  the 
sandy  gallops  at  Holywell  to  the  fine  downs  at 
Hednesford,  to  be  trained  for  the  St  Leger. 

The  mention  of  Queen  of  Trumps  reminds  me 
that  a  more  honest,  industrious,  capable,  and  trust- 
worthy man  than  John  Blenkhorn,  her  trainer, 
never  entered  a  stable.  He  enjoyed  Mr  Mostyn's 
confidence  to  the  full,  and  it  was  a  pleasure  to  see 


NAT    FLATMAN.  143 

employer  and  trainer  agreeing  and  understanding 
each  other  so  thoroughly.  Sometimes  it  happens 
that  all  the  integrity  of  an  owner,  all  the  skill 
and  devotion  of  a  trainer,  are  baffled  by  the  dis- 
honesty of  a  jockey.  Many  such  cases  have  I 
known  in  my  time ;  but  I  cannot  resist  going  out 
of  my  way  to  put  on  record  what  I  know  of  El- 
nathan  Flatman,  one  of  the  most  honourable 
and  meritorious  men  of  his  class  that  I  ever  en- 
countered. 

Flatman,  better  known  by  the  abbreviated 
sobriquet  of  "Nat,"  was  born  in  1810  at  the 
village  of  Holton,  or  Holton.  St  Mary,  in  Suffolk. 
His  father  (a  small  yeoman  farmer)  gave  him  a 
good  education  at  a  school  kept  by  a  clergyman 
near  to  the  house  in  which  Nat  was  born ;  but  in 
a  few  years  the  father  failed,  and  the  boy,  a  pigmy, 
less  than  4  stone  in  weight,  gravitated  to  New- 
market, where  in  a  fortunate  moment  for  himself 
he  obtained  employment  in  the  stable  of  William 
Cooper,  one  of  the  most  upright  trainers  and  best 
men  that  ever  lived.  I  have  often  heard  Colonel 
Peel  say  that  when  Nat  knocked,  as  a  boy,  at 
William  Cooper's  back-door,  he  carried  all  his 
worldly  goods  in  a  bundle  slung  to  a  stick,  thrown 
over  his  right  shoulder.  In  1825  there  were  plenty 
of  stables  at  Newmarket  and  elsewhere  in  which 
the  atmosphere  was  far  less  pure  than  that  of  the 
establishment  into  which  Nat  was  inducted,  and  of 
which  Colonel  Peel  was  for  many  years  the  pre- 


144  GOODWOOD    RACES. 

siding  genius.  The  boy's  rise  in  his  profession  was 
rapid  and  unintermitted.  His  first  mount  was  on 
Lord  Exeter's  Gold  Pin  in  1829;  his  last,  curi- 
ously enough,  upon  the  Duke  of  Bedford's  Golden 
Pippin  in  1859.  Being  able  to  ride  7  st.  5  Ib.  and 
to  keep  down  to  that  weight,  he  soon  got  more 
mounts  than  any  other  jockey,  and  for  seven  years 
(from  1846  to  1852,  both  inclusive)  he  headed  the  list 
of  winning  jockeys.  When  he  died  in  1860,  having 
been  riding  for  just  thirty  years,  he  left  behind 
him  the  modest  sum  of  £8000,  and,  in  addition,  he 
gave  his  sons  and  daughters — two  of  whom  were 
drowned  when  the  Princess  Alice  came  into  col- 
lision with,  and  was  sunk  by,  the  Bywell  Castle 
on  the  Thames  in  September  1878 — an  excellent 
education. 

Never  was  there  a  more  faithful  or  honest 
servant  than  Flatman  proved  himself  to  all  his 
employers.  The  masters  for  whom  he  rode  at  the 
commencement  of  his  career  may  be  set  down  in 
the  following  order :  First,  William  Cooper  and 
his  stable,  including  Colonel  Peel,  General  Yates, 
Captain  George  Byng  (afterwards  Earl  of  Straf- 
ford),  and  Captain  Gardnor ;  second,  Mr  Payne 
and  Mr  Greville  ;  third,  Lord  Chesterfield  ;  fourth, 
the  Goodwood  stable  ;  and  fifth,  Lord  Glasgow. 

From  William  Cooper  no  retaining  fee  was  ever 
accepted  by  Nat ;  and  from  Colonel  Peel  he  would 
never  take  more  than  £20  per  annum,  and  £50 
from  Mr  Payne.  His  last  list  of  masters,  accord- 


NAT    FLATMAN.  145 

ing  to  '  Bell's  Life/  included  Mr  Cooper,  General 
Peel,  Lord  Strafford,  Mr  Payne,  Mr  Greville,  Lord 
Chesterfield,  Lord  Wilton,  Lord  Ailesbury,  and 
Lord  Stradbroke.  In  addition,  he  was  frequently 
employed  by  Lord  Zetland,  General  Anson,  Lord 
Derby,  Sir  Charles  Monck,  Sir  Joseph  Hawley,  Mr 
Bowes,  Mr  A.  Nicol,  and  John  Scott. 

Nat's  chief  characteristics  were  that,  more  than 
any  other  jockey  of  my  acquaintance,  he  rode 
scrupulously  to  orders ;  and,  secondly,  that  it  was 
at  all  times  difficult  to  induce  him  to  stand  £5  or 
£10  on  his  mount,  or  on  a  "good  thing"  from  any 
of  the  stables  for  which  he  rode.  One  instance  I 
remember  of  a  race  which  he  lost  from  not  under- 
standing the  sluggishness  of  the  horse  upon  which 
he  was  mounted!  In  1847  he  rode  Mr  Mostyn's 
Crozier,  by  Lanercost  out  of  Crucifix,  in  a  Produce 
Stake  at  Ascot,  over  the  Old  Mile,  against  Mr 
Harvey  Combe's  Trouncer.  The  betting  was  5  to 
4  on  Crozier,  and  Flatman's  orders  were  to  make 
strong  running,  as  Crozier  was  an  extremely  lazy 
horse  and  a  good  stayer.  To  my  great  surprise 
and  disappointment,  Trouncer  waited  upon  Crozier, 
and  beat  him  easily  by  a  couple  of  lengths.  Two 
days  later  Crozier  and  Trouncer  were  in  another 
sweepstakes  at  the  same  weights,  and  among 
others  they  were  opposed  by  a  smartish  horse 
called  Epirote,  who  belonged  to  Colonel  Anson. 
Mr  Cynric  Lloyd,  who  acted  for  Mr  Mostyn, 
thought  it  quite  useless  to  start  Crozier  again ; 

K 


146  GOODWOOD   RACES. 

but  I  persuaded  him  to  do  so,  as  I  was  not 
satisfied  about  the  former  race,  and  was  prepared 
to  give  W.  Abdale  the  mount  upon  Crozier,  and 
to  let  Nat  ride  Epirote  for  Colonel  Anson.  When 
Nat  saw  that  Crozier  was  being  led  about  the 
course,  he  came  up  to  me  exclaiming,  "  Surely  you 
are  not  going  to  run  Crozier  again,  are  you  ?  "  I 
replied  that  such  was  my  intention,  but  that  I 
would  not  interfere  with  his  mount  on  Epirote,  as 
Abdale  would  ride  Crozier,  "  and,"  I  added  laugh- 
ing, "would  win  upon  him."  The  little  man  was 
obviously  stung  by  my  remark,  and  said  to  me  in 
a  low  voice,  and  with  a  very  serious  manner,  "  Do 
you  mean  to  imply  that  I  did  not  try  my  best  to 
win  upon  Crozier  the  day  before  yesterday  ?  "  "I 
imply  nothing  of  the  kind,"  I  replied ;  "  but  I 
think  the  horse  deceived  you,  and  that  you  did 
not  make  as  strong  running  as  you  might  have 
done."  "  Then  I  insist  upon  riding  him  again,"  he 
rejoined.  "  Certainly,"  I  answerd,  "  and  I  will 
tell  you  how  I  want  him  ridden.  When  the  flag 
is  down  take  him  by  the  head,  touch  him  with 
the  spurs,  and  make  the  pace  as  strong  as  you 
possibly  can  every  inch  of  the  way."  Nat  looked 
very  serious,  but  obeyed  his  instructions  to  the 
letter.  The  betting  was  5  to  4  against  Trouncer, 
6  to  4  against  Epirote,  5  to  1  against  Bucks  ton ; 
Crozier  not  mentioned.  The  latter  was  never 
headed,  and  won  cleverly  by  half  a  length — Epirote 
second.  Trouncer  third,  the  rest  beaten  off. 


CROZIER.  147 

After  the  race  I  said  to  Flatman,  "  Well,  what 
do  you   think  of  Crozier  now  ?  "     "I  think  him 
the  hardest  horse  to  ride  that  I  ever  sat  on.     In 
fact,   he  requires  two  men  to  get  him  out,  and 
make  him  show  his  true  form.      Henceforward  I 
will  ride  more  strictly  than  ever  to  your  orders,  as 
I  am  now  quite  conscious  that  I  lost  the  race  on 
Tuesday."     I  have  often  heard  him  say  that  there 
was   no   stable   for    which   he   rode  with  greater 
pleasure  and  confidence  than  the  Goodwood  stable, 
as  he  always  found  our  horses  to  be  just  what  they 
were  represented  to  him  before  the  race.      One 
further  trait  I  must  mention,  which  was,  in  my 
opinion,   greatly  to  his  credit.      No  jockey  ever 
rode  in  more  trials  than  Flatman  did,  but  not  a 
word  as  to  the  results  ever  escaped  his  lips.     He 
would  stop,  for  instance,   at  Bretby,  on  his  way 
back  from  Malton,  where  he  had  been  riding  trials 
for   Colonel   Anson   and   John    Scott.      Although 
Colonel  Anson  and  Lord  Chesterfield  were  brothers- 
in-law,  Nat  would  never  consent  to  say  one  syl- 
lable to  Lord  Chesterfield,  of  whom  he  was  very 
fond,  and  for  whom  he  had  ridden  for  years,  as  to 
the   trials    in  which   he   had    taken   part.      It  is 
greatly  to  be  regretted  that  the  fidelity,  silence, 
obedience  to  orders,  and  general  integrity  of  Flat- 
man are  not  more  closely  copied  by  his  modern 
successors,  some  of  whom  amass  in  ten  years  ten 
times   as  large    a  fortune  as  by  steady  industry 
and  conscientious  honesty  he  acquired  in  thirty. 


148  GOODWOOD   RACES. 

If  ever  it  were  deemed  desirable  to  erect  a  monu- 
ment to  a  jockey,  Nat  deserves  to  have  a  tablet 
set  up  in  All  Saints'  Church,  Newmarket  (under 
the  tower  of  which  he  now  sleeps),  and  dedicated 
to  his  memory,  as  he  was  beyond  all  doubt  one  of 
the  most  respectable  and  honourable  "  knights  of 
the  pig-skin  "  that  ever  performed  upon  an  English 
race-course. 


149 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE   IN    1844. 

WITH  the  year  1844  we  enter  upon  a  period  when 
Lord  George  Bentinck  became  more  than  ever  en- 
grossed in  his  stud,  which  now  began  to  realise  his 
expectations,  and  to  compensate  him  for  his  previ- 
ous heavy  expenditure.  It  was  most  satisfactory 
to  witness  his  Lordship's  delight  and  the  enjoyment 
that  racing,  upon  which  his  whole  thoughts  were 
centred,  afforded  him.  Much  of  his  time  was 
spent  at  Goodwood.  He  stayed  with  the  family 
when  there  ;  and  when  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of 
Richmond  were  absent  he  slept  at  the  Swan  Hotel 
in  Chichester,  breakfasting  and  lunching  at  my 
father's  house.  When  the  Duke  was  at  Goodwood, 
nothing  gave  Lord  George  more  pleasure  than  to 
take  the  house  party  over  the  stables,  and  to  show 
them  the  horses.  He  was  ever  ready  to  encour- 
age and  induce  others  to  take  interest  in  the  sport 
he  enjoyed  so  much ;  and  it  afforded  him  no  slight 
amusement  to  elicit  from  the  ladies  who  accom- 


150  THE    GOODWOOD   STABLE   IN    1844. 

panied  him  an  expression  of  their  opinion  as  to  the 
merits  of  the  horses  which  they  inspected.  If,  as 
sometimes,  but  not  often,  happened,  their  guesses 
were  correct,  he  never  failed  to  reward  them  by 
putting  the  successful  guessers  on  some  small  sum 
"  to  nothing,"  in  case  the  horse  of  their  choice 
should  win  an  engagement.  So  extensive,  how- 
ever, was  the  Goodwood  establishment,  between 
1841  and  1846,  that  it  would  have  puzzled  not 
only  ladies,  but  also  some  of  the  keenest  male 
judges  of  racing  in  England,  to  make  a  selection 
among  the  horses  in  the  stable,  or  to  read  his 
Lordship's  intentions  aright.  One  of  his  most 
marked  characteristics  was,  that  he  was  always 
ready  to  make  matches.  At  and  about  that  time 
it  was  most  unusual  for  a  large  party  of  noblemen 
and  gentlemen  who  owned  race-horses,  to  sit  down 
to  dinner  without  matches  of  all  kinds  being  pro- 
posed before  the  party  broke  up.  It  was  his  Lord- 
ship's custom  to  note  down  the  weights  at  which 
the  horses  of  his  friends  were  pitted  against  each 
other ;  and  when  a  match  was  proposed  to  him, 
he  rarely  agreed  to  it  until  he  had  sent  for  me, 
and  consulted  me  upon  it.  If  I  thought  that  his 
horse  would  win,  he  would  go  back  and  make  the 
match  ;  and  his  first  question  when  I  met  him  next 
morning  would  invariably  be,  "  How  much  of  the 
match  money  will  you  stand,  John  ?  "  It  was  his 
express  wish  that  I  should  have  a  money  interest 
in  every  match  made  by  him  under  these  circum- 


LORD  GEORGE'S  MATCHES.  151 

stances ;  but  I  seldom  stood  more  than  £10,  and 
very  rarely  indeed  £25.  It  was  always  a  disap- 
pointment to  his  Lordship  if  I  refused  to  stand 
anything1,  or  reduced  my  venture  to  £5  or  £10. 
On  these  occasions  he  would  inquire  of  me,  "  Why 
will  you  not  stand  more  on  this  match  which  you 
advised  me  to  make  ?  Surely,  if  it  is  not  worth 
your  money  it  cannot  be  worth  mine  ? "  To  say 
the  truth,  I  was  never  fond  of  betting  on  my  own 
account,  and  was  always  glad  to  discourage  his 
Lordship,  who  was  apt  on  all  occasions  to  bet  too 
much  rather  than  too  little.  No  accountant  could 
be  more  accurate  and  methodical  than  he  was  in 
recording  every  bet  made  by  or  through  him.  If 
I  was  a  winner,  a  cheque  was  invariably  sent  to 
me  on  the  following  Monday.  In  all  other  mat- 
ters his  Lordship's  attention  to  detail  was  equally 
minute.  Nothing  escaped  his  observation.  I  once 
had  occasion  to  foment  a  horse  for  many  days 
which  had  met  with  an  accident,  and  it  struck 
Lord  George  that  the  sponges  used  were  not  large 
enough.  Upon  returning  to  London,  he  instructed 
Gardner,  his  valet,  to  buy  some  big  sponges,  and 
have  them  sent  to  Harcourt  House,  Cavendish 
Square.  When  they  arrived,  they  did  not  satisfy 
his  ideas  of  magnitude.  "  Go  again,"  he  said,  "  and 
search  London  until  you  can  bring  me  six  sponges 
half  as  big  again  as  these."  Gardner  again  sallied 
forth  and  returned  with  six  enormous  sponges,  for 
which  he  had  paid  £15  or  £16.  "There!"  ex- 


152  THE   GOODWOOD   STABLE   IN    1844. 

claimed  his  Lordship,  "  I  told  you  you  could  suc- 
ceed if  you  would  only  try."  The  sponges  were 
sent  down  to  Goodwood,  where  they  were  kept  as 
curiosities,  being  useless  for  the  purpose  contem- 
plated by  his  Lordship,  as  their  size  and  the  weight 
of  water  which  they  held  made  it  almost  impossible 
to  handle  them.  The  story  is  indicative  of  his 
Lordship's  determination  to  get  the  best  of  every- 
thing— or  what  he  thought  the  best — if  his  horses 
required  it. 

Never  was  there  a  man  in  any  class  of  life  less 
liable  to  be  daunted  or  intimidated  by  difficulties 
than  Lord  George  Bentinck.  The  word  "  impossi- 
ble "  mentioned  in  his  hearing  served  but  to  inten- 
sify his  determination  not  to  be  beaten  ;  and  I  have 
often  thought  that,  had  his  lot  been  cast  in  stormy 
times,  he  would  have  gained  the  greatest  distinc- 
tion as  the  commander  of  a  large  army.  Nothing 
could  frighten  him ;  nothing  could  tire  him,  or 
exhaust  his  resources.  He  delighted  in  details, 
and  it  was  hard  indeed  for  anybody  to  outwit  him 
or  take  him  in.  Mr  Greville  never  made  a  truer 
remark  than  when  he  observed  in  his  '  Diary/ 
"  Lord  George  did  nothing  by  halves,  and  was 
afraid  of  no  man."  But  for  Lord  George's  in- 
domitable energy  and  indefatigable  perseverance, 
the  notorious  Running  Rein  case  would  never 
have  been  thoroughly  investigated,  and  the  fraud 
exposed.  When  Running  Rein  ran,  nominally  as 
a  two-year-old,  at  Newmarket,  in  1843,  for  a  two- 


THE   RUNNING   REIN    CASE.  153 

year-old  plate  which  he  won,  beating  the  Duke  of 
Rutland's  Crinoline  and  ten  others,  the  Duke 
objected  to  him  on  the  ground  that  he  was  three 
instead  of  two  years  old.  The  case  was  inves- 
tigated by  the  Stewards,  who  dismissed  it  with 
the  remark  that  the  Duke  of  Rutland  had  not 
proved  Running  Rein  to  be  three  years  old. 
When,  however,  the  same  horse  started  subse- 
quently for  the  Clearwell  Stakes,  in  which,  al- 
though backed  heavily  by  the  public,  he  was 
beaten,  Lord  George's  keen  and  vigilant  suspicions 
were  aroused  by  something  that  reached  his  ears. 
During  the  winter,  therefore,  he  quietly  obtained 
information  which  greatly  strengthened  his  doubts 
as  to  Running  Rein's  real  age.  Scarcely  had  the 
horse  been  placed  first  for  the  Derby  of  1844  before 
Lord  George  mentioned  the  facts  which  he  had 
accumulated  to  Colonel  Peel,  the  owner  of  Orlando, 
who  finished  second  to  Running  Rein,  and  advised 
him  strongly  to  make  an  objection,  which  he  did 
at  once,  and  claimed  the  Derby  Stakes.  The 
Stewards  of  Epsom  Races  directed  Messrs  Wea- 
therby  to  pay  the  stakes  into  the  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer, and  to  leave  the  law  to  settle  who  was 
their  rightful  owner.  Under  these  circumstances 
an  action  was  brought  by  Mr  A.  Wood,  the  nomi- 
nator of  Running  Rein,  against  Colonel  Peel  in  the 
Court  of  Exchequer,  to  decide  who  was  entitled 
to  receive  the  Derby  Stakes.  It  was  tried  on  the 
1st  and  2d  of  July  1844,  and  resulted  in  a  verdict 


154  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE    IN    1844. 

for  Colonel  Peel.  I  am  one  of  the  few  survivors 
to  whom  every  detail  of  the  Running  Rein  Derby 
is  well  known,  and  I  affirm,  without  hesitation, 
that  but  for  Lord  George  Bentinck,  Colonel  Peel 
would  never  have  objected  to  Running  Rein,  and 
that  but  for  Lord  George,  Mr  Wood  would  have 
won  the  case.  The  result  of  this  celebrated  trial 
was  to  make  Lord  George  what  Mr  Disraeli,  in 
his  political  biography  of  that  nobleman,  calls  him, 
"  Lord  Paramount  of  the  British  Turf." 

Such  was  the  sense  universally  entertained  of 
the  value  of  the  services  rendered  by  Lord  George 
Bentinck  in  this  case,  that  a  public  subscription 
was  immediately  set  on  foot  with  a  view  to  pre- 
senting his  Lordship  with  a  testimonial,  expressing 
the  gratitude  and  admiration  of  the  subscribers. 
In  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time  the  sum  of 
£2100  was  collected;  but  the  Hercules  of  the 
Turf,  having  cleansed  the  Augean  stable,  refused 
to  accept  anything,  either  in  the  form  of  plate  or 
money.  It  was  therefore  determined  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Jockey  Club,  consisting  of  the  Dukes 
of  Bedford,  Beaufort,  and  Rutland,  the  Earl  of 
Chesterfield,  and  Viscount  Enfield  (afterwards  Earl 
of  Strafford),  "  that  the  amount  subscribed  should 
be  applied  to  some  public  institution,  with  a  view 
to  forming  the  nucleus  of  a  fund  for  securing  in 
perpetuity  to  a  certain  number  of  the  children 
of  deserving  trainers  and  jockeys  enough  to  sup- 
port and  educate  them  from  infancy  until  of  an 


BENTINCK   BENEVOLENT   FUND.  155 

age  to  earn  their  own  living."  Lord  George 
Bentinck  ultimately  expressed  a  wish  that  the 
money  thus  subscribed  "  should  be  appropriated 
for  the  advantage  of  trainers  and  riders  of  good 
character."  His  Lordship's  wish  was  respected, 
and  out  of  it  sprang  the  "  Bentinck  Benevolent 
Fund,  for  the  benefit  of  the  widows  and  children 
of  deserving  trainers  and  jockeys."  Furthermore, 
it  was  resolved  at  a  general  meeting  of  the  Jockey 
Club,  held  on  Saturday,  July  6,  1844,  "That  the 
thanks  of  the  Jockey  Club  are  eminently  due,  and 
are  heartily  offered,  to  Lord  George  Bentinck,  for 
the  energy,  perseverance,  and  ability  which  he 
displayed  in  detecting,  exposing,  and  defeating 
the  atrocious  frauds  which  have  been  brought  to 
light  during  the  recent  trial  respecting  the  Derby 
stakes  in  1844."1 

That  same  year  his  Lordship  distinguished  him- 
self by  the  courage  with  which  he  confronted  what 
seemed  likely  to  prove — and  was  in  fact — a  fraud 
of  a  not  less  flagitious  kind  than  the  attempt  on 
the  part  of  Mr  A.  Wood  and  Goodman  Levy  to 
win  the  Derby  with  a  four-year-old. 

In  1843  Mr  Crockford  had  a  two-year-old  called 

1  Mr  W.  H.  Langley,  who  witnessed  the  Derby  of  1844  and  its  six 
predecessors,  adds  :  "  Before  taking  leave  of  the  memorable  Derby  in 
question,  I  cannot  resist  recording  the  remarkable  coincidence  of 
Leander,  a  German-bred  five-year-old,  belonging  to  Herr  Lichtwald, 
and  trained  by  Forth  at  Michel  Grove,  being  galloped  into  by  the 
other  *  old  'un '  in  descending  the  hill,  whereby  Leander's  off  hind 
fetlock  was  so  badly  smashed  that  he  ran  home  on  the  exposed  bony 
stump  ! 


156  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE    IN    1844. 

Ratan,  trained  by  Joe  Rogers  at  Newmarket. 
Ratan  won  the  New  Stakes  at  Ascot  by  three 
lengths,  beating  a  bay  filly,  Assay,  belonging  to 
Alderman  Copeland,  who,  from  her  previous  per- 
formances, was  backed  at  evens  against  the  field. 
Lord  George  was  a  heavy  backer  of  Assay,  and 
lost  his  money.  Ratan  was  an  upstanding,  good- 
looking  horse,  but  rather  short.  Lord  George 
immediately  took  the  odds  about  him  for  the 
Derby.  In  the  Houghton  Meeting  at  Newmarket 
Ratan  won  the  Criterion  Stakes  easily  by  four 
lengths,  and  was  ridden,  as  at  Ascot,  by  Sam 
Rogers.  This  encouraged  Lord  George  during 
the  winter  to  increase  his  investments  upon  Ratan 
for  the  Derby.  In  the  Craven  Meeting  at  New- 
market, 1844,  Ratan  again  won  a  race  easily  by 
two  lengths,  beating  a  field  of  seven.  This  again 
encouraged  Lord  George  to  continue  backing  him 
for  the  Derby.  At  the  First  Spring  Meeting,  Mr 
John  Day's  The  Ugly  Buck  won  the  Two  Thou- 
sand Guineas,  beating  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
Devil-to-Pay  by  a  neck,  after  a  good  race ;  which 
form  Lord  George  did  not  consider  nearly  equal 
to  that  displayed  by  Ratan,  and  he  therefore  con- 
tinued to  back  the  latter  heavily  for  the  Derby. 
Still  there  was  such  an  unmistakable  disposition 
to  lay  against  Ratan  in  certain  dangerous  quar- 
ters that  Lord  George  began  to  suspect  some- 
thing was  amiss ;  but  as  the  horse  was  doing 
regular  work  he  could  not  understand  the  mar- 


HAT  AN  AND  THE  UGLY  BUCK.        157 

ket,  and  was  determined  to  find  out  what  was  the 
matter.  By  some  unaccountable  means,  which 
he  disclosed  to  no  one,  he  discovered  that  Sam 
Rogers  had  bets  with  Mr  Gully  and  others,  in 
which  he  had  backed  The  Ugly  Buck  upon 
such  favourable  terms  that  his  Lordship's  mis- 
givings were  aroused.  He  lost  no  time,  there- 
fore, in  communicating  his  information  to  Sam 
Rogers,  who  was  much  confused  upon  finding 
that  Lord  George  had  acquired  so  much  know- 
ledge of  the  matter.  Next  day  Sam  Rogers 
brought  his  Lordship  a  book  which  contained,  or 
purported  to  contain,  all  his  bets.  There  were 
some  very  suspicious  names  and  bets  entered  there, 
which  partly  confirmed  his  Lordship's  suspicions, 
and  in  conformity  with  the  usual  custom  Lord 
George  then  proceeded  to  call  over  and  compare 
Sam  Roger s's  bets,  selecting  the  Spread  Eagle  Inn 
at  Epsom  ("Lumley's"  it  was  commonly  called  in 
those  days)  for  that  purpose.  Lord  George, 
ascending  the  steps  in  front  of  the  inn,  said : 
"  Gentlemen,  I  am  going  to  call  over  my  jockey 
Samuel  Rogers's  book,  and  will  thank  you  to 
answer  to  your  names  and  bets  ! "  He  began  by 
calling  out  Mr  Gully's  name.  "  Here,"  replied 
Mr  Gully,  quietly  removing  the  cigar  from  his 
lips.  "You  have  betted  Samuel  Rogers  350  to 
25  against  Ratan,  I  perceive,"  said  Lord  George, 
in  an  interrogating  voice.  Mr  Gully  gave  a  nod 
of  assent.  "  I  see,"  continued  his  Lordship, 


158  THE   GOODWOOD    STABLE   IN    1844. 

"  that  Rogers  stands  £50  with  you  on  The  Ugly 
Buck,  no  terms  or  price  being  named."  Again  a 
nod  from  Mr  Gully.  "  Are  these  all  the  bets  you 
have  with  Rogers,  Mr  Gully  ?  "  inquired  his  Lord- 
ship. "  If  you  have  any  more  in  my  name,  my  Lord, 
and  will  specify  them,  I  shall  be  better  able  to 
answer  you,"  replied  Mr  Gully,  cautiously.  Lord 
George  then  read  out  the  whole  of  the  book, 
dwelling  particularly  on  some  of  the  bets  he 
was  anxious  to  emphasise,  such  as  those  with 
Messrs  Tom  Crommelin,  "Dollar"  Scott,  and  a 
number  of  other  heavy  betters.  He  then  closed 
the  book  and  withdrew  into  the  inn,  leaving  the 
crowd  of  listeners  by  whom  he  was  surrounded 
110  wiser  as  to  his  secret  thoughts  and  future 
intentions.1 

The  betting  at  starting  for  the  Derby  was  5  to 
2  v.  The  Ugly  Buck ;  3  to  1  v.  Ratan ;  10  to  1  v. 
Running  Rein;  14  to  1  v.  Leander ;  20  to  1  v. 
Orlando.  The  Ugly  Buck,  ridden  by  J.  Day, 
jun.,  and  Ratan,  ridden  by  Rogers,  were  beaten 
some  distance  from  home,  the  running  of  the 
former  confirming  Lord  George's  estimate  of  him 
after  he  had  won  the  Two  Thousand ;  but  Ratan's 
form  was  altogether  inexplicable.  An  inquiry  was 

1  For  the  following  valuable  note  I  am  again  indebted  to  Mr 
W.  H.  Langley :  "  The  particular  transaction  he  was  so  anxious  to 
have  acknowledged  was  a  bet  of  10,000  to  1000  against  Eatan, 
which  Eogers  had  laid,  and  which  appeared  at  the  top  of  a 
page,  as  my  informant,  an  eyewitness  of  the  proceedings,  can 
testify." 


SAM   ROGERS    PUNISHED.  159 

immediately  demanded,  but  for  some  inscrutable 
reason  it  was  not  gone  into  by  the  Stewards  of  the 
Jockey  Club  until  the  October  meetings  at  New- 
market came  round.  The  result  was  that  Samuel 
Rogers  and  John  Braham  were  warned  off  the 
course  and  exercising-grounds  at  Newmarket ;  and 
Samuel  Rogers  was  declared  unfit  to  ride  or  train 
for  any  member  of  the  Jockey  Club  either  at  New- 
market or  any  other  place  where  their  rules  and 
regulations  were  in  force.  Knowing  Sam  Rogers's 
associates  and  something  of  his  betting  proclivities, 
I  had  frequently  remonstrated  with  him  upon  the 
danger  to  which  he  was  exposing  himself,  and  the 
unpleasant  consequences  which  would  ensue  if  he 
were  detected.  After  his  disgrace  he  wrote  me 
some  very  penitent  letters,  expressing  the  deepest 
regret  that  he  had  not  followed  my  advice,  and 
thus  avoided  the  sad  difficulties  which  he  had 
brought  upon  himself.  Few  people  were  more 
free  from  jealousy  or  suspicion  than  Lord  George ; 
but  facts  sometimes  occurred  to  which  it  was  im- 
possible for  him  or  any  one  else  to  be  blind.  I 
have  no  doubt  he  received  some  deprecatory 
cautions  from  Mr  Harry  Hill,  his  chief  commis- 
sioner, respecting  his  heavy  and  oft  -  repeated 
instructions  to  back  Ratan  for  the  Derby — as  Mr 
Hill  was  a  personal  friend  of  Mr  Gully,  and  shared 
many  horses  with  him  at  Danebury.  Whatever 
reports  might  be  circulated,  I  never  remember  Lord 
George  expressing  a  desire  to  guard  against  any 


160  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE    IN    1844. 

fraudulent  design  or  practice  beforehand.  All  he 
wished  was,  that  every  endeavour  might  be  used 
to  get  the  horses  to  the  post  well,  and  fit  to 
run  through  their  races  successfully.  Naturally 
there  existed  a  rivalry  between  the  Goodwood  and 
Danebury  establishments,  which  the  Ratan  affair 
tended  to  increase.  After  that  my  doubts  were 
strengthened  with  regard  to  the  running  of  Gaper 
for  the  Derby,  and  for  a  Produce  Stake  at  Abing- 
don,  where  Gaper  was  beaten  by  Mr  Isaac  Day's 
Somerset,  when  the  odds  were  "breast-high"  on 
Gaper.  In  the  '  Racing  Calendar's '  official  report 
of  the  race,  the  following  sentence  occurred  : 
"  Somerset  fell  within  the  distance,  but  recovered 
himself  and  won  by  half  a  neck."  This  was  a 
remarkable  occurrence,  as  the  following  week  at 
Warwick  they  met  again.  The  distance  (1  mile) 
and  weights  were  the  same,  and  Gaper  won  easily. 
Even  this  did  not  excite  Lord  George's  suspicion 
of  any  foul  play,  although  at  Warwick  the  betting 
was  even  on  Gaper,  when,  after  the  running  of 
Somerset  at  Abingdon,  it  ought  to  have  been  2  to 
1  on  Somerset.  When  Sam  Rogers  rode  the  Duke 
of  Richmond's  Red  Deer  at  Liverpool  for  the 
Liverpool  St  Leger,  and  the  Gratwicke  Stakes  at 
Goodwood  the  following  year  (1844),  there  were 
unpleasant  rumours  about  him  then.  At  Liver- 
pool it  was  remarked  that  "  he  rode  Red  Deer 
with  the  greatest  severity, — in  fact,  that  he  rode 
his  head  off."  Red  Deer  was  beaten  two  lengths 


SAM   ROGERS    PARDONED.  161 

by  Ithuriel,  Flatman  up,  the  betting  being  6  to  5 
on  Red  Deer.  The  week  afterwards  the  two  horses 
met  again  at  Goodwood,  when  Sam  Rogers  went 
the  wrong  course,  though  he  had  so  frequently 
ridden  over  it,  and  was  cautioned  by  Nat  that  he 
was  "going  wrong."  Even  then  Lord  George  con- 
tinued to  support  him  through  that  week,  and 
through  the  following  one  at  Brighton. 

The  punishment  inflicted  on  Sam  Rogers  was 
prolonged  for  three  years,  on  the  expiration  of 
which  Lord  George,  being  then  senior  Steward  of 
the  Jockey  Club,  invited  the  favourable  considera- 
tion of  his  brother  members  to  a  measure  which  he 
brought  forward  in  the  July  meeting  of  1847,  by 
proposing  that  the  sentence  passed  on  Sam  Rogers 
and  other  jockeys  should  forthwith  be  remitted. 
His  Lordship  added  that  Rogers  had  been  repre- 
sented to  him  as  having  conducted  himself  well 
and  discreetly  since  the  infliction  upon  him  of  the 
severe  punishment  which  he  had  incurred  in  1844. 
It  was  resolved,  therefore,  nemine  contradicente, 
that,  "  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  Stewards, 
the  sentences  passed  in  1844  and  1845  upon  Sam- 
uel Rogers  and  others,  excepting  John  Braham, 
shall  now  be  remitted,  and  that  they  be  allowed 
to  come  on  the  course,  and  to  ride  and  train 
at  Newmarket  as  formerly."  In  addition,  the 
Stewards  expressed  their  sincere  hope  "  that  the 
punishment  these  delinquents  have  received  may 
be  a  warning  to  them  which  they  will  never  forget, 

L 


162  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE    IN    1844. 

and  that  their  conduct  hereafter  may  justify  the 
leniency  now  extended  to  them." 

When,  ridden  by  Sam  Rogers  and  trained  by 
his  father,  Mr  Stirling  Crawfurd's  The  Cur  won 
the  Cesarewitch  of  1848,  beating  Colonel  Peel's 
Dacia,  who  ought  to  have  won,  and  affording  Sam 
Rogers  an  opportunity  for  displaying  a  fine  bit  of 
jockeyship,  all  recollection  of  Ratan's  year,  and 
of  other  transgressions,  was  obliterated  from  the 
public  mind. 


163 


CHAPTEE   VIII. 

THE   GOODWOOD   STABLE   IN    1845. 

THE  winter  of  1844-45  was  very  severe  and  pro- 
tracted, commencing  on  the  4th  of  December  1844 
with  sharp  frosts,  which  continued  with  little 
intermission  till  the  23d  of  March  1845 — two  days 
before  the  Northampton  meeting.  So  severe  and 
wintry  was  the  weather  a  week  before  the  races 
that  it  was  thought  they  would  have  to  be  post- 
poned, there  being  19°  of  frost  from  the  14th  to 
the  17th  of  March,  and  11°  on  the  21st.  In 
order  to  utilise  to  the  fullest  extent  the  great 
advantages  afforded  by  the  exercise  -  grounds  at 
Goodwood,  which  are  completely  sheltered  by 
plantations  and  trees,  Lord  George  caused  straw- 
beds  of  immense  magnitude  to  be  laid  down,  the 
outer  ring  being  nearly  half  a  mile  in  circum- 
ference, within  which  two  lesser  rings  were  formed. 
As  these  straw-beds  were  some  distance  from  the 
stables,  it  was  necessary  to  make  an  approach  to 
them  by  covering  a  track  or  path  with  litter, 


164  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE    IN    1845. 

leaves,  and  straw.  As  there  were  from  sixty  to 
seventy  horses  to  be  exercised  every  day,  I  did  not 
like  to  trust  more  than  a  few  of  them  upon  the 
track  leading  to  the  straw-beds  at  the  same  time, 
for  fear  of  one  or  more  lads  being  pitched  off,  and 
the  horses  getting  loose.  The  straw  -  beds  were 
surrounded  by  a  high  ring-fence,  and  as  soon  as 
one  detachment  had  got  safely  inside  the  fence, 
others  were  despatched  from  the  stables.  There 
were  outlets  provided  at  many  points  in  the  sur- 
rounding fence  through  which  riotous  horses  could 
be  removed,  in  order  not  to  disturb  or  demoralise 
their  quieter  and  better-behaved  companions.  In 
this  manner  the  horses  engaged  at  Northampton 
and  other  early  meetings  were  able  to  do  enough 
work  to  make  them  far  more  fit  to  run  than  others 
which  had  not  enjoyed  the  same  advantages.  The 
famous  Halnaker  gallop,  which  ran  for  a  long  way 
through  a  wood  in  the  park,  afforded  a  convenient 
trial-ground  for  the  Northampton  lot :  and  as  the 
Halnaker  gallop  was  between  two  and  three  miles 
distant  from  the  stables  at  Goodwood,  each  horse 
about  to  be  tried  was,  by  Lord  George's  instruc- 
tions, conveyed  in  a  van  to  the  trial-ground.  He 
took  great  pleasure,  and  was  much  interested,  in 
making  all  these  preparations  to  circumvent  "  Jack 
Frost,"  and  was  not  a  little  encouraged  by  the 
results  of  the  trials  in  which  Cherokee,  a  two-year- 
old  filly  by  Redshank  ;  Discord,  aged  eight  years  ; 
John  oj  Gaunt,  aged  seven  years,  and  others,  were 


CHEROKEE.  165 

"put  through  the  mill."  Cherokee  won  her  trial 
so  easily  by  four  or  five  lengths,  that  his  Lordship 
was  afraid  some  of  the  old  horses  in  the  gallop  had 
not  run  up  to  their  form  by  reason  of  the  shortness 
of  their  preparation.  He  therefore  desired  me, 
before  I  left  for  Northampton,  to  try  My  Mary 
(who  was  second  to  Cherokee)  over  again  with 
the  unerring  old  African,  as  it  was  his  Lordship's 
intention  to  stand  a  good  stake  on  Cherokee  for 
the  Althorp  Park  Stakes,  if  I  was  able  to  make 
out  that  My  Mary,  aged  three  years,  was  in  form. 
The  second  trial  came  off  all  right,  as  My  Mary  won 
it  easily,  making  it  pretty  evident  that  Cherokee 
was  very  smart,  as  My  Mary  had  won  the  Pren- 
dergast  at  Newmarket  in  the  preceding  autumn. 
Accordingly,  Lord  George,  after  arriving  at  North- 
ampton, gave  his  chief  commissioner,  Mr  Harry 
Hill,  an  unlimited  commission  to  back  Cherokee  for 
the  Althorp  Park  Stakes.  As  I  was  saddling  the 
mare,  Mr  Hill  came  up  to  his  Lordship  in  great 
tribulation,  stating  that  he  was  unable  to  execute 
the  commission,  as  they  only  offered  5  to  4  against 
Cherokee,  although  there  were  ten  starters,  and 
two  or  three  others  heavily  backed.  "  Don't  come 
here  to  bother  me  with  your  fears,"  exclaimed  his 
Lordship,  testily ;  "  go  back  and  get  on  as  much 
money  as  you  can,  and  you  will  find  5  to  4  good 
enough  odds  when  the  race  is  over."  And  so  it 
proved,  as  Cherokee  won  in  a  canter  by  two 
lengths.  Lord  George  next  proceeded  to  back 


166  THE   GOODWOOD   STABLE   IN    1845. 

Discord  with  great  spirit  for  the  Northamptonshire 
Stakes,  having  already  made  a  book  for  him,  as 
in  those  days  the  betting  on  this  race  commenced 
many  weeks  before  it  came  off.  At  that  time, 
indeed,  the  Northamptonshire  Stakes  was  one  of 
the  heaviest  betting  races  in  the  '  Calendar.' 

In  order  to  discourage  others  from  backing  Dis- 
cord, Lord  George  started  Clumsy,  aged  three 
years,  for  the  Trial  Stakes,  and  backed  him  for 
£100.  The  horse  was  slightly  amiss,  and  ran 
second  to  Mr  Osbaldeston's  Sorella,  who  won  by 
three  lengths.  Everybody  supposed  that  Clumsy 
was  Discord's  trial  horse,  and  therefore  Discord 
receded  in  the  betting,  much  to  his  Lordship's 
satisfaction  when  Clumsy  was  beaten.  I  need 
not  add  that  the  two  horses  had  never  been  to- 
gether, as  Clumsy  had  not  been  in  condition  to  be 
tried  for  some  weeks  before  Northampton.  The 
race  was  won  by  Discord  by  three  lengths,  and  his 
Lordship  added  considerably  to  his  winnings  upon 
Cherokee. 

After  this  second  victory,  Lord  George  thought 
he  had  a  choice  rod  in  pickle  for  his  old  antagon- 
ist Mr  Osbaldeston,  with  whom  he  had  fought  a 
memorable  duel  two  or  three  years  before,  to  which 
reference  will  be  made  hereafter.  Mr  Osbaldeston 
had  his  famous  mare  Sorella  engaged  in  the 
Queen's  Plate  at  Northampton  on  the  second  day, 
for  which  Lord  George's  John  o'  Gaunt,  one  of 
the  stoutest  horses  in  training,  was  also  entered. 


JOHN   O'    GAUNT.  167 

John  o'  Gaunt  had  finished  second  to  Discord  in 
the  trial  at  Goodwood,  and  the  approaching  con- 
test between  him  and  Sorella  appeared  to  excite 
his  Lordship  more  than  either  of  the  preceding 
races  upon  which  he  won  so  largely.  For  the 
Queen's  Plate  there  were  five  runners,  including 
Coranna  (a  good  old  horse),  and  the  betting  opened 
at  4  to  1  but  closed  at  2  to  1  on  Sorella,  and  5  to 
1  against  John  o'  Gaunt.  Lord  George  freely  con- 
fessed to  me  that  there  was  no  man  whose  money 
he  should  more  like  to  win  than  that  of  Mr  Osbal- 
deston,  unless  it  were  that  of  Mr  Charles  Greville, 
for  whom  his  antipathy  was  still  more  pronounced. 
The  Queen's  Plate  distance  was  two  miles,  and 
the  orders  given  to  Flat  man,  who  rode  John  o' 
Gaunt,  were  to  make  the  strongest  running  pos- 
sible. Flatman  obeyed  his  orders  to  perfection, 
making  the  pace  so  desperate  that  all  the  starters 
except  Sorella  pulled  up  a  long  way  from  home, 
and  did  not  run  the  course  at  all.  In  the  end 
John  o'  Gaunt  won  in  a  canter  by  three  or  four 
lengths.  In  general,  winning  or  losing  produced 
no  visible  effect  upon  Lord  George  Bentinck ;  but 
on  this  occasion  he  did  not  attempt  to  conceal  his 
delight.  As  I  led  John  o'  Gaunt  back  to  the 
weighing  -  room  his  Lordship  remarked  to  me, 
"  This  is  indeed  a  victory !  The  old  squire  will 
now  have  to  pay  me  in  coin  instead  of  in  lead." 
His  Lordship's  winnings  upon  the  three  races  must 
have  been  very  considerable,  and  his  outlay  in 


168  THE    GOODWOOD   STABLE    IN    1845. 

causing  the  three  concentric  straw-beds  to  be  made 
was  repaid  a  hundredfold.  Undoubtedly  he  was 
most  fortunate  in  getting  two  broken-down  horses, 
like  Discord  and  John  o'  Gaunt — for  such  they 
were  considered  at  the  end  of  the  previous  year — 
through  a  couple  of  big  races  of  this  description 
by  their  superior  condition.  In  1844  Discord 
had  failed  in  both  fore-legs,  his  back  sinews  being 
fearfully  bowed.  By  the  aid,  however,  of  the 
"  Gaper  charges,"  Discord  was  restored  during  the 
winter  to  such  an  extent  that  his  Lordship  re- 
solved to  run  and  to  back  him  at  the  Epsom 
Spring  Meeting  for  a  selling  race — winner  to  be 
sold  for  £250.  When  the  weights  for  the  North- 
amptonshire Stakes  came  out  in  February,  I  ad- 
vised him  to  accept  with  Discord,  who  was  handi- 
capped at  8  stone.  The  horse's  legs  were  so  im- 
proved by  the  charges  that  I  was  able  to  give  him 
a  good  deal  of  work  on  the  straw-beds,  and  to  get 
him  very  forward  in  condition.  On  February  25, 
1845,  his  Lordship  wrote  to  me  as  follows  : — 

"  By  your  advice  I  will  accept  with  Discord  at 
Northampton,  but  with  such  legs  I  cannot  think 
he  has  any  earthly  chance  of  getting  two  miles  in 
a  strong-run  race,  unless  you  have  given  him  a 
new  pair  of  fore-legs.  However,  it  will  only  cost 
£10,  and  will  not  prevent  my  running  him  in  the 
selling  race  at  Epsom." 

It   was    certainly    a    wonderful   restoration,    as 


JOHN    O'    GAUNT.  169 

Discord  won  not  only  the  Northamptonshire 
Stakes,  but  also,  during  the  following  week,  the 
Granby  Handicap  at  Croxton  Park,  carrying  11 
stone  10  lb.,  and  the  Cup  next  day,  carrying 
12  stone.  Later  in  the  year  he  ran  in  many 
other  races,  and  was  repeatedly  tried  at  home, 
leaving  off  at  last  perfectly  sound. 

After  these  two  experiences  of  Discord  and  John 
o'  Gaunt,  his  Lordship  would  never  believe  that 
any  horse  was  absolutely  incurable,  however  badly 
broken  down  he  appeared  to  be.  When  he  bought 
John  o'  Gaunt  the  year  before  from  the  Duke  of 
Bedford,  Mr  William  Edwards,  then  his  Grace's 
trainer,  remarked  to  Lord  George  :  "  I  suppose,  my 
Lord,  you  have  bought  John  o'  Gaunt  for  a  stallion, 
as  it  is  useless  to  attempt  to  train  him  again.  We 
have  had  him  fired  and  otherwise  treated,  but  to 
no  purpose."  When  the  horse  arrived  at  Good- 
wood, his  Lordship  said  to  me  :  "  I  wish  you  would 
try  the  effect  of  your  charges  on  John  o'  Gaunt's 
legs,  as  I  could  win  some  money  on  him  if  he  could 
be  brought  sound  and  well  to  the  post,  since  he 
stays  so  well."  Not  only  did  John  o'  Gaunt  win 
the  Queen's  Plate  at  Northampton,  but  another  at 
Newmarket,  and  also  the  Cup  at  Stockbridge  and 
the  Cup  at  Egham.  His  Lordship  then  obtained 
a  good  price  for  him  as  a  stallion.  He  afterwards 
became  the  sire  of  Bolingbroke — a  good  horse  if  he 
had  not  been  "  messed  about "  ;  in  fact,  he  was 
only  half  trained  when  a  distance  from  home  he 


1*70  THE   GOODWOOD    STABLE   IN    1845. 

looked  like  winning  the  Doncaster  St  Leger,  for 
which  Voltigeur  and  Russborough  ran  a  dead  heat. 
The  "  Gaper  charges  "  certainly  effected  some  mar- 
vellous cures,  especially  upon  the  progeny  of  Bay 
Middleton.  But  I  was  also  greatly  assisted  by  the 
excellent  gallops  at  Goodwood,  which  were  kept 
in  perfect  order  at  Lord  George's  expense.  I  do 
not  believe  that  it  would  have  been  possible  to 
bring  Discord  or  John  o'  Gaunt  sound  to  the  post 
in  1845  had  they  been  prepared  on  any  other 
training  -  ground.  Every  day  the  gallops  were 
bush-harrowed  and  carefully  rolled,  and  a  band 
of  women  were  employed  to  repair  the  tracks, 
remove  stones,  and  fill  in  the  footprints  with  forks 
specially  made  for  the  purpose.  His  Lordship 
walked  over  the  tracks  after  the  women  had  left, 
and  the  slightest  imperfection  in  their  work  was 
sure  to  catch  his  eye,  when  he  would  desire  me  to 
point  it  out  to  them.  Although  the  kindest  and 
most  generous  of  masters,  he  would  never  suffer 
a  servant  or  employee  to  scamp  his  work  or  shirk 
his  duty. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  Goodwood  stable 
had  a  phenomenal  year  in  1845.  Commencing,  as 
I  have  just  stated,  at  Northampton  and  Croxton 
Park,  horses  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Richmond 
and  to  Lord  George  Bentinck  won  the  One  Thousand 
Guineas  at  Newmarket ;  the  Oaks  at  Epsom ;  the 
Ascot  Stakes ;  the  Liverpool  Cup ;  the  Goodwood 
Stakes  and  Cup  ;  the  Champagne  and  Great  York- 


A   PHENOMENAL   YEAR.  171 

shire  Stakes  at  Doncaster  (all  of  them  heavy  bet- 
ting races,  and  therefore  very  acceptable  to  his 
Lordship),  in  addition  to  many  less  important 
stakes,  such  as  the  Port  at  Newmarket ;  the 
Mostyn  Stakes  at  Chester;  the  Surrey  Cup  at 
Epsom ;  the  Great  Produce  Stakes  and  the  Fern 
Hill  at  Ascot ;  the  Bretby,  Prendergast,  and 
Glasgow  Stakes  at  Newmarket ;  and,  finally,  a 
great  match  between  Miss  Elis  and  Oakley,  which 
the  mare,  ridden  by  William  Abdale,  won  by  a 
head,  although  the  betting — enormously  heavy- 
was  six  to  five  on  Oakley,  ridden  by  Robinson. 
In  fact,  the  Goodwood  stable  won  eighty  -  two 
races  in  1845,  the  collective  value  of  which  was 
£31,502 — an  unparalleled  sum  for  any  stable  to 
win  in  those  days  when  "  added  money  "  was  an 
almost  "  unknown  quantity."  Lord  George  as 
a  thorough,  uncompromising,  unblemished  sports- 
man was  always  ready  to  promote  sport.  At  the 
same  time,  he  steadily  kept  in  view  his  main 
design  and  chief  amusement,  which  was  auxiliary 
betting ;  and,  to  this  end,  it  was  his  custom 
whenever  possible  to  try,  just  before  the  race  in 
which  he  was  engaged,  any  horse  that  he  in- 
tended to  back.  In  those  days  most  of  the  races 
for  three-year-olds  and  upwards  were  over  long 
distances,  and  it  sometimes  happened  that  horses 
with  delicate  constitutions  were  unfavourably  af- 
fected and  thrown  off  their  feed  by  a  long  and 
severe  trial.  I  therefore  begged  his  Lordship  on 


172  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE   IN    1845. 

many  occasions  to  desist  from  this  practice  on 
the  eve  of  a  big  race,  particularly  in  the  case  of 
Miss  Elis,  who  was  always  a  difficult  and  deli- 
cate mare  to  train,  and  who  had  disappointed 
us  more  than  once  by  not  running  up  to  her 
trial.  As  the  Goodwood  Stakes  drew  near  in 
1845,  for  which  Miss  Elis  was  handicapped  at 
5  stone  7  lb.,  Lord  George,  having  already  backed 
her  for  several  hundred  pounds,  was  anxious  to 
have  her  tried  with  Discord,  John  o'  Gaunt, 
Naworth,  and  others, — all  of  them  capable  of 
getting  the  distance,  and  of  telling  his  Lordship 
to  a  certainty  whether  Miss  Elis  was  good  enough 
to  win  the  Stakes.  For  this  purpose  his  Lordship 
came  to  Goodwood,  and  I  lost  not  a  moment  in 
entreating  him  not  to  upset  her  by  a  trial  when  I 
was  able  to  assure  him  with  confidence  that  she 
would  win  in  a  canter  if  she  came  to  the  post  as 
well  as  she  was  then.  It  was  a  vast  responsibility 
for  me  to  assume,  and  great  was  the  difficulty  I 
had  in  persuading  his  Lordship  to  abstain  from 
trying  her.  At  last,  however,  he  consented ;  and 
my  words,  "  The  Goodwood  Stakes  will  only  be  an 
exercise  gallop  which  will  not  prevent  her  from 
winning  the  Cup  next  day,"  were  fulfilled  to  the 
letter.  Never  before  had  I  ventured  to  remonstrate 
so  earnestly  with  his  Lordship  ;  and  although  I  had 
little  fear  of  her  being  beaten  for  the  first  race,  it 
was  a  great  relief  to  me  when,  as  I  anticipated,  she 
"  made  hacks  "  of  all  her  opponents. 


MISS    ELIS.  173 

After  deciding  not  to  try  Miss  Elis  for  the 
Goodwood  Stakes,  his  Lordship  was  anxious  to 
see  her  gallop  at  half  speed  with  John  o'  Gaunt, 
Discord,  and  other  old  horses.  I  again  ventured 
to  remonstrate,  explaining  that  down  to  that  time 
Miss  Elis  had  done  all  her  work  by  herself  entirely 
to  my  satisfaction,  and  that,  contrary  to  her  wont, 
after  being  galloped  in  company  with  other  horses 
or  tried,  she  had  fed  remarkably  well,  and  would 
go  to  the  post  in  better  condition  than  ever  before. 
After  she  had  taken  her  usual  gallop  by  herself, 
Lord  George  wished  to  see  the  rest  perform,  and 
was  so  much  impressed  by  the  style  in  which  John 
o'  Gaunt  did  his  work,  and  the  determined  way  in 
which  he  galloped,  that  he  became  quite  excited, 
remarking,  "  I  have  laid  heavily  against  this  horse, 
and  shall  be  half  ruined  if  he  wins."  I  replied  that 
if  he  were  not  mulcted  in  pocket  until  John  o' 
Gaunt  gave  Miss  Elis  2  stone  10  Ib.  over  two  miles 
and  a  half,  no  harm  would  happen  to  him  for  a 
long  time  to  come,  as  I  knew  that  over  that  or 
any  other  distance  he  would  not  give  her  7  Ib.  and 
a  beating.  "  But,"  he  rejoined,  "  that  was  some 
time  ago  ;  are  you  sure  that  they  are  in  that  form 
now,  as  I  never  saw  John  o'  Gaunt  go  in  such  style 
before  ? "  I  lost  no  time  in  reassuring  his  Lord- 
ship, and  begged  him  to  make  strong  running  with 
John  o'  Gaunt  (who  was  nicely  handicapped  for  an 
old  horse  at  8  stone  3  Ib.),  in  order  to  let  the  mare 
settle  down  to  her  work,  when  I  promised  him 


1*74  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE    IN    1845. 

that  he  would  never  have  another  uneasy  moment. 
John  o'  Gaunt's  last  appearance  in  public  had  been 
at  Stockbridge,  where  he  won  the  Cup  very  easily 
indeed,  and  was  immediately  made  favourite  for 
the  Goodwood  Stakes.  Not  long  after  Stockbridge 
Races  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  Lothario  won  the 
Liverpool  Cup,  and  passed  John  o'  Gaunt  in  the 
betting  for  the  Goodwood  Stakes.  The  starters 
for  the  latter  race — I  quote  from  the  '  Racing 
Calendar ' — were  as  follows  : — 

"  Lord  George  Bentinck's  ch.  f.  Miss  Elis,  by  Stockport 

3  yrs.,  5  st.  7  Ib.  (Kitchener),  1. 
Mr   F.  Ongley's   ch.  g.  Eoderick,  6   yrs.,   6    st.   12   Ib. 

(Crouch),  2. 
Duke  of  Kichmond's  b.  h.  Lothario,  5  yrs.,  8  st.  11  Ib. 

(Flatman),  3. 
Lord  George  Bentinck's  ch.  h.  John  o'  Gaunt,  aged,  8  st. 

31b. 

Lord  Eglinton's  b.  g.  Aristides,  5  yrs.,  8  st.  2  Ib. 
Mr  H.  Eobinson's  br.  c.  Morpeth,  4  yrs.,  7  st.  11  Ib. 
Sir  J.  Hawley's  b.  m.  Venus,  5  yrs.,  7  st.  9  Ib. 
Lord  George  Bentinck's  b.  g.  Na  worth,  aged,  7  st.  9  Ib. 
Mr  Clifton's  ch.  g.  Nottingham,  5  yrs.,  7  st.  7  Ib. 
Mr  Eamsbottom's  br.  h.  Pineapple,  5  yrs.,  7  st.  3  Ib. 
Mr  S.  Herbert's  ch.  h.  Ajax,  aged,  7  st.  2  Ib. 
Mr  A.  W.  Hill's  br.  c.  The  Libel,  3  yrs.,  7  st.  2  Ib. 
Mr  Mostyn's  b.  c.  A-la-mode,  4  yrs.,  7  st. 
Mr  Collin's  br.  h.  Eochester,  6  yrs.,  6  st.  10  Ib. 
Lord  Exeter's  br.  m.  Wee  Pet,  5  yrs.,  6  st.  9  Ib. 
Lord  Stradbroke's  b.  f.  Boarding-school  Miss,  4  yrs.,  6  st. 

31b. 

Mr  Parr's  b.  in.  Europa,  5  yrs.,  6  st. 
Lord  George  Bentinck's  bl.  f.  Coal-black  Eose,  4  yrs.,  5  st. 
13  Ib. 


THE    GOODWOOD    STAKES.  175 

Duke  of  Kichmond's  b.  c.  Laird  o'  Cockpen,  3  yrs.,  5  st. 
12  Ib. 

Mr  W.  H.  Johnstone's  ch.  f.  Pythia,  3  yrs.,  5  st.  13  Ib. 

Mr  Etwall's  ch.  f.  JEgis,  3  yrs.,  4  st.  10  Ib. 

Sir  J.  B.  Mill's  br.  f.  Giantess,  3  yrs.,  4  st  10  Ib. 

Mr  H.  J.  Thompson's  b.  f.  by  Stumps,  dam  by  Comus 
3  yrs.,  4  st. 

"  Betting — 7  to  1  agst.  Pythia,  8  to  1  agst.  Lothario,  10 
to  1  agst.  Pineapple,  11  to  1  agst.  Wee  Pet,  12  to  1  agst. 
Eochester,  13  to  1  agst.  Boarding-school  Miss,  14  to  1  each 
agst.  The  Libel,  ^Egis,  and  Miss  Elis,  20  to  1  each  agst. 
Europa,  Aristides,  and  Morpeth,  25  to  1  each  agst.  Laird  o' 
Cockpen,  Ajax,  and  Venus,  30  to  1  agst.  Eoderick,  and  50 
to  1  agst.  Nottingham. 

"  Aristides  led  for  a  short  distance,  but  at  the  first  turn 
.ZEgis  and  Miss  Elis  went  in  front.  In  coming  round  the 
last  turn  ^Egis,  being  then  second,  just  behind  Miss  Elis, 
ran  against  a  post,  which  broke  between  her  legs,  and  fell 
just  before  Nottingham  and  Lothario.  At  this  part  of  the 
race  Miss  Elis  increased  her  lead,  and  won  very  easily  by  six 
lengths.  Lothario  was  beaten  by  a  length  for  second  place, 
Pythia  and  Ajax  being  close  together,  just  behind  Lothario." 

It  was  Lord  George's  intention  that  John  o' 
Gaunt  should  jump  off  with  the  lead  and  make 
strong  running,  and  orders  to  that  effect  were 
given  to  his  rider.  When  the  flag  fell,  however, 
Lord  Eglinton's  Aristides,  a  five-year-old  gelding 
by  Bay  Middleton,  outpaced  John  o'  Gaunt  and 
cut  out  the  work  at  a  tremendous  pace,  until  Miss 
Elis  got  into  her  stride  and  passed  Aristides,  soon 
having  everything  behind  her  safe.  When  she 
went  first  past  the  winning-post  by  six  lengths 
(which  she  could  easily  have  made  ten  or  twelve), 


176  THE    GOODWOOD   STABLE   IN    1845. 

she  ran  nearly  to  the  top  of  Trundle  Hill  before 
Kitchener  could  stop  her.  It  will  be  observed  that 
in  this  race  six  of  the  twenty-three  starters  were 
supplied  by  the  Goodwood-  stable — viz.,  Lothario, 
John  o'  Gaunt,  Naworth,  Coal-black  Rose,  Laird 
o'  Cockpen,  and  Miss  Elis,  whom  Kitchener  rode 
in  a  7-lb.  saddle.  But  it  is  also  worthy  of  remark, 
in  these  days  when  there  are  no  six -year- old  and 
aged  horses  in  training,  and  when  five-year-olds 
and  even  four-year-olds  are  rare,  what  was  the 
composition  of  the  field  that  Miss  Elis  beat  so 
easily.  Among  the  starters  there  were  three  aged 
horses — John  o'  Gaunt,  Naworth,  and  Ajax ;  two 
six -year -olds  —  Roderick  and  Rochester;  seven 
five -year -olds — Lothario,  Aristides,  Venus,  Not 
tingham,  Pineapple,  Wee  Pet,  and  Europa  ;  four 
four  -  year  -  olds — Morpeth,  A-la-mode,  Boarding- 
school  Miss,  arid  Coal-black  Rose ;  and  seven 
three -year -olds — Miss  Elis,  The  Libel,  Laird  o' 
Cockpen,  Pythia,  ^Egis,  Giantess,  and  bay  filly 
by  Stumps.  In  estimating  the  merits  of  modern 
three-year-olds  like  Robert  the  Devil,  St  Gatien, 
Foxhall,  and  Plaisanterie,  which  are  able  to  win 
the  Cesarewitch  and  Cambridgeshire  with  9  stone, 
or  nearly  9  stone,  on  their  back,  I,  for  one,  should 
feel  more  certain  that  they  were  better  than 
Faugh-a-ballagh,  The  Baron,  and  Alarm,  if,  like 
these  last-named  horses,  they  were  capable  of 
beating  large  fields  of  old  horses,  such  as  Miss 
Elis  defeated  for  the  Goodwood  Stakes  in  1845. 


THE    GOODWOOD    CUP.  177 

After  Miss  Ells' s  victory  in  the  Goodwood  Stakes 
Lord  George  was  naturally  much  gratified,  though 
not  in  the  least  elated.  Deeming  nothing  done 
while  aught  remained  to  accomplish,  his  thoughts 
flew  forward  to  the  next  day,  and  he  remarked  to 
me  that  he  hoped  he  should  be  able  to  win  the 
Cup  with  her,  although  well  aware  that  in  Weath- 
erbit  he  had  a  formidable  opponent.  That  same 
night  his  Lordship  sent  for  me,  after  dinner,  at 
Goodwood  House,  and  inquired  how  Miss  Elis  was, 
and  whether  she  had  fed  well.  I  replied  that  she 
did  not  appear  to  be  in  any  way  the  worse  for  her 
race,  which  I  regarded  as  only  an  exercise-gallop 
preparatory  to  her  weight -for-age  race  on  the  mor- 
row. "  In  that  case,"  he  remarked,  "  I  shall  back 
her  to-night,  as  there  is  sure  to  be  some  betting  on 
the  Cup,  for  which  Weather  bit  has  many  friends." 

Next  day  the  Goodwood  Cup  brought  twelve 
starters  to  the  post,  and  the  result  was  reported  as 
follows  in  the  '  Racing  Calendar  '  : — 

"Lord  George  Bentinck's  ch.  f.  Miss  Elis,  3  yrs.,  7  st. 
(Abdale),  1. 

Mr  Gully's  br.  c.  Weatherbit,  3  yrs.,  7  st.  4  Ib.  (White- 
house),  2. 

Sir  C.  Monck's  b.  g.  My  Old  Hack,  aged,  7  st.  5  Ib.  (Lye), 
3. 

Lord  George  Bentinck's  b.  h.  Discord,  Aged,  9  st.  12  Ib. 
(W.  Hewlett). 

Mr  Gully's  br.  h.  St.  Lawrence,  aged,  9  st.  7  Ib.  (J.  Day). 

Mr  Surflen's  b.  h.  Gorhambury,  5  yrs.,  8  st.  13  Ib.  (J. 
Hewlett). 

M 


178  THE   GOODWOOD   STABLE   IN    1845. 

Mr  A.   Johnstone's   ch.   f.   Kowena,   4  yrs.,  8  st.  6  Ib. 

(Marson). 
Sir   G.   Heathcote's   ch.   c.   Akbar,   4  yrs.,   8    st.   5  Ib. 

(Chappie). 

Mr  Vane's  ch.  c.  Valerian,  4  yrs.,  8  st.  1  Ib.  (F.  Butler). 
Colonel  Anson's  b.  g.  Arundo,  5  yrs.,  7  st,  12  Ib.  (Flat- 
man). 
Baron  N.  de  Rothschild's  Drummer,  5  yrs.,  7  st   5  Ib. 

(E.  Flatman). 
Duke  of  Eichmond's  br.  c.  The  Laird  o'  Cockpen,  3  yrs., 

6  st.  13  Ib.  (Esling). 

"  2  to  1  each  agst.  Miss  Elis  and  Weatherbit,  and  6  to  1 
agst.  Valerian.  Discord  made  play  at  a  great  pace,  Miss 
Elis  next ;  she  passed  him  at  the  turn  round  the  hill  and 
was  never  headed,  and  won  by  two  lengths.  Weatherbit 
came  up  to  Miss  Elis  about  the  commencement  of  the  rails 
and  ran  with  her  for  a  short  time,  but  she  increased  her 
lead,  and  was  never  approached  afterwards.  My  Old  Hack 
was  a  bad  third." 

I  have  frequently  been  present  upon  race- courses 
when  the  betting  was  heavy,  but  never  have  I 
seen  money  staked  so  lavishly  as  it  was  by  Lord 
George  on  the  one  hand,  and  by  the  Danebury 
party  on  the  other,  just  before  this  event.  Weath- 
erbit had  been  a  great  favourite  for  the  Derby 
of  that  year,  which  was  won  by  Mr  Gratwicke's 
Merry  Monarch  in  a  field  of  thirty-one  starters ; 
but  in  coming  round  Tattenham  Corner,  Lord 
Chesterfield's  Pam  fell  just  in  front  of  Mr 
John  Gully's  Old  England  and  Weatherbit,  both 
of  whom  jumped  over  him.  Old  England 
finished  third,  but  Weatherbit  was  the  best, 
as  was  proved  at  Ascot,  where  Weatherbit 


GOODWOOD   AND    DANEBURY   RIVALRY.  179 

beat  Old  England,  and  also  the  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond's Refraction,  who,  however,  carried  6  Ib. 
extra  for  winning  the  Oaks.  Weatherbit's  next 
race  was  for  the  Goodwood  Cup,  and  his  owner, 
trainer,  and  all  the  patrons  of  the  Danebury 
stable,  thought  he  was  the  best  three-year-old  in 
England.  Lord  George,  however,  had  won  so 
much  money  on  the  Stakes,  that  in  backing  Miss 
Elis  for  the  Cup  the  firm  front  maintained  by  his 
opponents  exercised  no  effect  upon  him,  and  was 
incapable  of  stalling  him  off.  In  1845  the  Good- 
wood stable  and  the  Danebury  stable  were  nat- 
ural rivals,  and  Lord  George  was  not  the  man 
to  forget  when  he  had  good  reason  for  resenting 
supposed  wrong  and  injustice  inflicted  upon  him. 
The  money,  therefore,  was  piled  upon  Miss  Elis 
and  Weatherbit  with  a  recklessness  which  I  never 
saw  equalled,  and  their  respective  supporters  were 
both  equally  determined  to  have  a  good  pace. 
For  this  purpose  Lord  George  started  Discord,  and 
Mr  Gully  started  St  Lawrence,  but  when  the  flag 
fell  Discord  jumped  off  with  the  lead,  and  St 
Lawrence  was  not  speedy  enough  to  take  any 
part  in  the  race.  So  good  was  Miss  Elis's  condi- 
tion that  at  the  end  of  the  first  mile  she  passed 
Discord,  and  was  never  again  headed.  After  her 
victory,  Lord  George,  although  showing  no  exter- 
nal signs  of  elation,  gave  me  to  understand  how 
much  he  was  gratified,  exclaiming,  sotto  voce,  "I 
think  I  have  at  last  got  the  better  of  Danebury." 


180  THE    GOODWOOD    STABLE    IN    1845. 

In  both  races  Miss  Elis  was  ridden  without 
spurs.  The  large  sum — about  £30,000 — won  by 
Lord  George  on  the  Stakes  and  Cup  would  have 
been  much  reduced  had  the  mare  been  tried  before 
the  former  race. 

To  commemorate  the  double  triumph  more  fully, 
Lord  George  presented  my  father  with  a  picture  of 
Miss  Elis,  concerning  which  he  wrote  the  following 
characteristic  letter  :— 

"  HARCOURT  HOUSE,  Aug.  6,  1845. 

"  KENT, — As  a  token  of  my  sense  of  the  ability 
and  skill  with  which  you  and  John  trained  Miss 
Elis  for  the  Goodwood  Stakes  and  Goodwood  Cup, 
and  as  a  memorial  of  the  fidelity  with  which  on 
this  occasion  in  particular  my  secrets  were  kept, 
by  which  I  was  enabled  to  win,  and  without  which 
I  could  not  have  won,  the  large  stake  I  did  win,  it 
is  my  intention  to  make  you  a  present  of  a  picture, 
in  which  I  propose  that  your  portrait  and  John's 
as  well  as  hers  should  be  comprehended. 

"  In  presenting  you  with  this  memorial  of  your 
joint  triumph  with  your  son,  I  must  add  the  wish 
that  the  picture  I  give  you  shall  descend  as  an 
heirloom  in  your  family.  The  way  I  propose  to 
group  the  picture  is  that  Abdale  should  be  mounted 
upon  her,  John  leading  her  in  his  left  hand — 
dressed  in  his  Gordon  tartan  waistcoat — whilst 
you  must  be  on  the  old  grey  mare,  in  your  Cluny 
Macpherson  waistcoat.  The  scene  should  be  in 
the  front  of  the  Goodwood  stand;  a  picture  of 


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PRESENTATION   PICTURE.  181 

the  Goodwood  Cup  should  be  introduced,  and,  if 
it  can  be  managed,  Kitchener  walking  away  in 
the  distance,  loaded  with  a  leathern  purse,  with 
1  Goodwood  Stakes '  inscribed  upon  it. 

"  I  mean  to  employ  Mr  Abraham  Cooper  to 
paint  this  picture  for  me.  He  has  promised  to  go 
down  on  Saturday  next.  I  am  anxious  to  have 
the  picture  speedily  taken,  for  many  reasons. 
First,  I  wish  it  to  be  taken  whilst  she  continues 
in  her  present  blooming  condition,  fearing,  if  I  put 
off  the  day,  I  may  never  have  her  in  the  same 
condition,  which  happened  to  me  when  Elis  was 
painted,  who  in  consequence  appears  with  'a  pot 
belly/  which  if  he  had  had  it  when  he  ran  for  the 
St  Leger,  he  never  would  have  won  it.  Secondly, 
I  am  anxious  to  have  her  painted  during  the  bright 
summer  weather,  which  makes  such  a  difference  in 
the  colour  and  bloom  of  a  horse's  coat.  Thirdly, 
whilst  this  weather  continues  warm,  there  will  be 
little  fear  of  the  mare  catching  cold  whilst  she  is 
stripped.  Fourthly,  the  printsellers  are  anxious  to 
have  the  picture  done  as  quickly  as  possible,  in  order 
that  the  engravings  may  be  made  whilst  her  victories 
at  Goodwood  are  still  fresh  in  the  public  mind. 

"  Under  the  circumstances,  if  there  is  no  objec- 
tion, I  will  engage  Mr  Cooper  to  go  to  Goodwood 
on  Saturday  next. — I  am,  your  obedient  servant 
m   .     „  "  G.  BENTINCK. 

"  To  Mr  KENT,  Trainer." 

When  the  picture  was  completed,  and  Lord 
George  saw  it  at  my  father's  house,  he  was  so 


182  THE   GOODWOOD   STABLE   IN    1845. 

delighted  with  it  that  he  desired  Mr  Cooper  to 
paint  him  a  facsimile,  which  now  adorns  the  walls 
of  Welbeck  Abbey,  together  with  the  cap  and 
jacket  the  mare  carried,  enclosed  in  a  glass  case 
suspended  above  the  picture.  The  Goodwood  Cup 
of  1845  is  also  at  Welbeck,  together  with  others 
which  the  present  Duke  of  Portland  has  won  ;  and 
although  his  Grace  has  not  acquired  so  much 
money  by  betting  as  fell  to  Lord  George's  portion 
at  Goodwood  in  1845,  it  is  within  my  knowledge 
that  he  views  his  equine  treasures — St  Simon, 
Ayrshire,  Donovan,  and  others — with  as  keen 
appreciation  as  that  with  which  his  illustrious 
ancestor  regarded  Crucifix  and  Miss  Elis. 

Still  further  to  recognise  the  services  done  him, 
Lord  George  made  handsome  presents  to  every 
one  employed  in  the  Goodwood  stable.  For  all 
his  labourers  employed  upon  the  gallops  and  race- 
course (there  were  about  eighty  of  them  in  all), 
together  with  others  employed  on  the  Good- 
wood estate,  he  desired  a  dinner  to  be  pre- 
pared ;  but  inasmuch  as  it  was  harvest-time,  this 
part  of  the  rejoicing  was  delayed  until  the  corn 
was  carried ;  and  then  all  upon  the  estate  were 
regaled  with  a  most  sumptuous  banquet  in  the 
tennis-court,  to  which  about  two  hundred  guests 
sat  down. 

After  dinner  there  was  a  general  expression  of 
hope  that  another  Miss  Elis  might  be  found  next 
year,  and  the  only  division  of  opinion  was  as  to 
the  colours  which  the  said  successor  should  carry. 


MISS    ELIS   AND    WEATHERBIT.  183 

Some  hoped  it  might  be  "  yellow,  scarlet  cap,  and 
gold  tassel "  ;  others  inclined  to  "  blue  and  white 
cap."  At  last  it  was  carried  unanimously  that  it 
was  expedient  that  the  two  colours  be  amalga- 
mated, as  upon  the  present  occasion. 

What  was  left  of  the  feast  was  given  to  the 
wives  and  families  of  the  labourers  who  served 
the  owner  of  Miss  Elis. 

Although  Miss  Elis  had  won  the  Stakes  and 
Cup,  both  races  being  over  a  long  and  severe 
course,  Lord  George  resolved,  much  to  my  regret, 
to  pull  her  out  for  the  Chesterfield  Cup  on  the  last 
day  of  the  meeting.  Her  race  for  the  Cup  had 
been  a  very  trying  ordeal,  as  the  pace  was  tre- 
mendous, and  Weatherbit,  whom  she  beat,  was 
undoubtedly  a  good  horse.  Despite  the  7  Ib. 
extra  which  she  carried  in  the  Chesterfield  Cup, 
making  her  weight  6  stone  13  Ib.,  Miss  Elis 
started  favourite  at  3  to  1  in  a  field  of  nineteen. 
She  was  beaten  a  long  way,  and  finished .  almost 
last,  .the  Cup  being  won  by  Mr  Etwall's  -^Egis, 
who  was  seriously  disappointed  in  the  Stakes  by 
coming  into  collision  with  a  post  before  referred  to. 
From  the  effects  of  the  two  last  races  Miss  Elis 
never  really  recovered,  and  Weatherbit,  after  his 
defeat  for  the  Cup,  was  never  the  same  animal  again. 
In  the  Doncaster  St  Leger,  won  by  The  Baron,  he 
was  beaten  a  long  way,  and  next  day,  with  odds 
of  3  to  1  on  him,  was  defeated  for  the  Three-Year  - 
Old  Stakes  of  200  sovereigns  each  by  Sir  R.  W. 
Bulkeley's  Chertsey — a  very  moderate  horse. 


184  THE    GOODWOOD   STABLE   IN    1845. 

Before  concluding  this  chapter  I  wish  to  put  on 
record  a  few  words  about  the  way  in  which  Miss 
Elis  came  into  his  Lordship's  possession.  She  was 
bred  by  Mr  S.  Reed  of  York,  who  sent  her  to 
Doncaster  to  be  sold  by  auction  as  a  yearling. 
Although  very  light  in  flesh  and  rough  in  her 
coat,  she  struck  me  as  being  a  sound  racing-like 
filly,  who  would  improve  upon  good  keep.  I 
therefore  offered  Mr  Reed  forty  guineas  for  her, 
and  a  thousand  more  if  she  won  the  Oaks,  for 
which  he  had  entered  her.  He  was  anxious  that 
she  should  get  into  a  good  stable,  and  let  me  have 
her  at  that  moderate  price.  I  told  Lord  George 
what  I  had  done,  and  when  he  saw  her  he  was 
only  too  glad  to  take  her  on  the  same  terms.  Be- 
fore the  end  of  the  Houghton  Meeting  I  tried  her 
with  seven  other  yearlings,  and,  although  beaten, 
she  showed  more  form  than  I  expected  from  her, 
six  weeks  after  I  had  bought  her,  a  mere  bag  of 
bones.  Her  trial  told  me,  however,  that  she  was 
game  and  looked  like  staying,  so  that  Lord  George 
engaged  her  in  ten  races,  most  of  them  over  long 
distances  of  ground.  Stockport,  her  sire,  was  own 
brother  to  Elis  and  Epirus,  both  of  them  good 
horses ;  and  her  dam,  Varia,  was  by  Lottery  out 
of  a  Blacklock  mare.  She  stood  rather  more  than 
sixteen  hands,  and  although  of  a  very  nervous  dis- 
position, was  as  game  as  a  pebble,  and  liked  to 
make  her  own  running. 


185 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

IN  1864  Lord  Beaconsfield  remarked  to  an  old 
friend,  who  is  still  living,  and  has  repeated  the 
story  to  me,  that  Lord  George  Bentinck's  failure 
as  a  Cabinet  Minister,  or  in  other  words,  as  a 
statesman  of  the  first  class,  would  have  been  in- 
evitable, for  the  following  reasons.  "  Owing  to 
his  incapacity  for  condensing  or  compressing  what 
he  had  to  say,"  added  Lord  Beaconsfield,  "  he 
could  not  write  a  letter  on  any  subject  without 
pouring  forth  at  great  length  all  that  was  in  his 
mind,  with  the  result  that — to  quote  some  well- 
known  lines,  the  author  of  which  I  have  forgotten, 
but  which  still  linger  in  my  memory — 

'  Blenheim's  field  became  in  his  reciting 
As  long  in  telling  as  it  took  in  fighting.' " 

It  has  been  stated  to  me  by  other  friends  of  Lord 
George  Bentinck  that  he  assisted  to  break  down 
his  own  health  by  the  extraordinary  length  and 
prolixity  of  his  letters.  I  remember  that  old  John 
Bay,  the  rider  and  trainer  of  Crucifix,  once  ob- 


186    LOUD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

served  to  me  "  that  he  had  not  time  to  read  Lord 
George's  endless  yarns  about  his  race-horses  at 
Danebury."  It  must  be  remembered,  however, 
that  old  John  Day  was  not  much  of  a  scholar,  and 
that  his  own  letters  were  of  the  briefest.  I  will 
not  deny  that  my  father  and  I  sometimes  found 
it  difficult  to  answer  Lord  George's  letters  in  full, 
as  they  frequently  covered  six,  seven,  or  eight 
sheets  of  note-paper ;  but,  as  evidences  of  his 
Lordship's  astonishing  industry,  and  of  the  intense 
interest  which  he  took  in  the  minutest  details  of 
a  pursuit  to  which  his  whole  heart  and  mind  were 
given  up,  I  propose  to  print  a  few  letters  from  his 
pen  which  were  received  on  various  occasions  by 
my  father  and  myself,  as  I  am  quite  sure  that  no 
other  owner  of  race-horses  ever  wrote  to  his  trainer 
almost  every  day  of  his  life,  and  at  such  length 
as  Lord  George  frequently  found  necessary,  in  order 
to  express  his  meaning  fully. 

I  have  selected  for  my  purpose  a  few  specimens 
which  will  derive  interest  from  the  fact  that  most 
of  them  have  for  their  subject  what  I  verily  believe 
to  have  been  one  of  the  three  best  race -horses  ever 
owned  by  Lord  George — to  wit,  Gaper.  If  this 
horse  had  been  by  a  sounder  stallion  than  Bay 
Middleton — say,  for  instance,  Gladiator  or  Touch- 
stone— I  am  fully  persuaded  that  he  would  have 
won  the  Derby  as  easily  as  in  the  Criterion  Stakes 
at  Newmarket  he  beat  Cotherstone  when  both 
were  two-year-olds.  As  matters  stood,  however, 


GAPER.  187 

Gaper  could  never  take  a  strong  gallop  or  win  a 
race  without  pulling  up  more  or  less  lame,  and, 
in  addition,  he  was  very  nervous  and  excitable, 
and  Sam  Kogers's  heavy  hand  and  rough-and-ready 
style  of  riding  made  him  more  irritable.  The 
first  of  the  following  letters  was  written  from 
Newmarket  on  the  evening  of  the  day  when  Gaper 
as  a  three-year-old  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in 
beating  a  very  bad  horse  called  New  Brighton, 
after  having  won  a  sweepstakes  of  100  sovereigns 
each,  R.M.,  by  three  lengths  on  the  previous 
Tuesday,  beating  a  very  moderate  horse  of  the 
Duke  of  Grafton's,  called  Esop,  who  was  ridden 
by  John  Day.  It  will  be  seen  that  Lord  George 
was  greatly  disappointed  at  this  poor  performance 
of  a  horse  whom  he  had  heavily  backed  for  the 
Derby,  and  on  whom  he  founded  the  most  sanguine 
hopes.  I  should  premise  that  "  Philip,"  to  whom 
Lord  George  frequently  alludes,  was  Philip  New- 
man, stud  groom  at  the  Danebury  paddocks, 
adjoining  John  Day's  stables.  To  these  paddocks 
considerable  additions  were  made  by  Lord  George 
when  he  first  went  to  Danebury ;  and  on  removing 
his  horses  from  Danebury  to  Goodwood  he  re- 
tained his  paddocks  at  the  former  place,  thereby 
turning  to  account  his  heavy  investments  in  loose- 
boxes,  hovels,  paddocks,  tanks,  ponds,  and  fences, 
together  with  plantations  or  belts  of  trees  erected 
to  shelter  the  thoroughbred  stock  from  the  cold 
winds  sweeping  over  those  exposed  downs. 


188          LORD    GEORGE   AS   A   LETTER- WRITER. 
"NEWMARKET   CKAVEN   MEETING,   1843. 

Thursday,  April  20. 

Sweepstakes  of  200  sovereigns  each,  half -forfeit,  for 
three-year-olds.     D.M.     Nine  subscribers. 

Lord  George  Bentinck's  b.c.  Gaper,  8  st.  4  Ib.  (S.  Eogers),  1. 
Lord  Chesterfield's  b.c.  New  Brighton,  8  st.  7  Ib.  (Flatman),  2. 
Duke  of  Bedford's  br.c.  Jerry  Sneak,  8  st.  7  Ib.  (E.  Ed  wards),  3. 
"  Betting — 9  to  1  on  Gaper.  Won  by  a  short  neck. 
Three  lengths  between  second  and  third." 

"  NEWMARKET,  Thursday,  April  20,  1843. 

"  KENT, — I  am  sorry  to  say  all  our  hopes  are 
gone.  Gaper,  though  by  the  grace  of  the  3  Ib. 
allowed  him  he  got  in  first,  ran  a  very  moderate, 
not  to  say  a  very  bad,  horse  to-day.  Nat  and 
Sam  Rogers  being  both  ordered  to  make  play, 
they  came  away  as  hard  as  they  could,  head-to- 
head  together,  Gaper  with  the  whip-hand,  but 
never  able  to  get  away  from  New  Brighton.  He 
ran,  however,  very  game  at  last,  and,  thanks  to 
the  3  Ib.,  just  crawled  in  a  head  first  at  last. 
Before  starting,  and  during  the  race,  11  to  1  and 
12  to  1  was  taken  freely  about  him  for  the  Derby, 
but  after  the  race  1000  to  10  went  a-begging 
against  him  ! ! !  Scott  turned  New  Brighton  over 
to  Taylor  to  train,  after  trying  him  last  year  to  be 
good  for  nothing  ;  whilst  Taylor  this  year,  having 
tried  him  with  Gamecock,  thought  him  good  for 
nothing  also.  I  am  quite  beat,  and  do  not  pretend 
to  understand  it.  By  the  running  with  ftooksnest 
it  would  seem  as  though  St  Jean  d'Acre  were 


NEWMAKKET    CBAVEN    MEETING.  189 

nearly  as  good,  certainly  within  3  Ib.  or  4  Ib.  as 
good,  as  Pompey  ;  and  allowing  Cotherstone  to  be 
able  to  give  10  Ib.  to  Pompey,  if,  as  we  imagined, 
Gaper  could  give  a  stone  to  St  Jean  d'Acre,  he 
would  have  been  a  dead  heat  with  Cotherstone. 
Cotherstone  can  give  a  stone  to  St  Jean  d'Acre, 
but  I  should  say  not  21  Ib.,  and  that  is  just  what 
we  thought  to  be  Gaper's  form.  Reckoning  also 
the  Fidelity  filly  at  16  Ib.  worse  than  Conquest, 
St  Jean  d'Acre  can  give  Conquest  7  Ib.,  and 
Maccabseus  being  said  to  be  able  to  give  7  Ib. 
also,  St  Jean  d'Acre  could  have  given  7  Ib.  to 
Conquest,  and  ought  to  be  as  good  as  Maccabseus  at 
even  weights.  I  presume^  JPeeping  Tom  is  5  Ib. 
or  7  Ib.  better  than  Conquest :  this  would  bring 
Bramble  to  a  par  with  Peeping  Tom,  and  make 
him  7  Ib.  better  than  Conquest. 

"  Colonel  Peel  tells  me  Murat  can  give  17  or  19 
Ib.  to  Rooksnest. 

"  I  am  very  glad  Jerry  Sneak  started,  and  thus 
won  your  £20  for  you,  but  I  am  terribly  chapfallen 
at  this  lamentable  exposure  of  Gaper. — I  am,  yr. 
obed.  sert.,  G.  BENTINCK." 

Two  days  later  his  Lordship's  hopes  began  to 
revive  : — 

"  NEWMARKET,  Saturday  Morning,  8  A.M. 

"  KENT, — I  am  quite  satisfied  now  why  Gaper 
ran  so  badly  on  Thursday :  the  fact  is,  his  legs 
and  joints  failed.  I  thought  at  the  time  he 


190    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

walked  home  dead  lame ;  and  though  John  says 
he  was  three  times  as  lame  after  running  for  the 
Criterion,  and  that  he  has  frequently  seen  him 
quite  as  lame  after  sweating,  I  should  have  said 
of  him  that  he  was  as  lame  as  a  tree  yesterday 
morning,  and  but  for  John's  confidence  of  bringing 
him  round,  I  should  have  looked  upon  him  as  reg- 
ularly done  up,  and  given  it  up  as  a  bad  job.  We 
had  him  out  again  in  the  paddock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  he  was  better,  but  still  trotted  very  lame. 
John's  confidence  rests  upon  the  horse's  joints  and 
legs  being  nowhere  sore  when  handled,  and  to 
there  being  no  unusual  swelling  or  inflammation 
about  them.  I  take  it  the  real  truth  is  that,  his 
legs  not  being  able  to  carry  him,  he  is  anything  in 
the  world  a  better  horse  with  5  stone  5  Ib.  upon 
him  than  with  8  stone  4  Ib.  ;  and  above  all,  I  take 
him  to  be  a  stone  a  better  horse  against  a  moun- 
tain-side  like  the  hill  above  Swan's  pond  than  he 
is  upon  a  flat ;  and  down  a  hill  I  daresay  he 
would  never  gallop — certainly  not  if  the  ground 
was  hard.  I  have  not  seen  John  or  the  horse  this 
morning,  but  last  night  John  was  confident  that 
he  should  be  able  to  bring  Gaper  round  for  Bath  : 
a  fine  gentle  rain  which  has  come  this  morning 
will  be  of  great  service  to  him.  I  have  kept  him 
on  here  to  the  last  moment,  on  account  of  the 
ground  being  in  such  good  order  here  and  so  bad 
at  Bath :  besides,  the  accommodation  here  is  so 
much  better  than  at  Bath. 


A   HANDICAP. 


191 


"  I  still  think  that  if  the  ground  were  soft,  and 
at  light  weights,  5  stone  7  Ib.  each,  tried  a  mile  at 
Goodwood  up  that  steep  hill,  Gaper  would  be  an 
awkward  customer  for  all  the  horses  engaged  in 
the  Derby,  unless  it  is  '  A  British  Yeoman.' 

"  I  enclose  a  handicap  I  have  made,  which,  if 
Gaper  were  in  his  Goodwood  form,  and  the  ground 
were  soft,  and  he  could  do  with  8  stone  7  Ib.  on 
his  back  what  he  can  with  5  stone  5  Ib.,  would  not, 
I  think,  come  off  against  him. — I  am,  yr.  obed. 
servt.  G.  BENTINCK. 


"  One  Mile. 


St  Lawrence 

Discord  . 

Cotherstone 

Gaper 

Aristides 

Pompey 

Murat     . 

Queen  of  the  Gipsies 

Bramble 

St  Jean  d'Acre 

Maccabseus 

Testy      . 

Canton   . 

Sirikol    . 

Conquest 

Portumnus 

The  Brewer 

Rooksnest 

Monimia  c.          , . 

Elysium 

Cowslip 


Years. 

St. 

Ib. 

6 

9 

11 

6 

9 

7 

3 

8 

7 

3 

8 

7 

3 

8 

2 

3 

7 

11 

3 

7 

10 

3 

7 

9 

3 

7 

7 

4 

7 

7 

3 

7 

6 

3 

7 

4 

3 

7 

4 

3 

7 

4 

3 

6 

13 

3 

6 

9 

3 

6 

9 

3 

6 

9 

3 

6 

6 

3 

6 

5 

3 

6 

3 

192          LORD    GEORGE   AS   A   LETTER- WRITER. 

Years.  st.       Ib. 

Extempore         ,             ,             .             3  63 

Fidelity!            .             1             .             3  5     11 

Fiddlestring        .             .             .              3  5     11 

Fragrance1          .              .             .              3  56 

"In  handicapping  the  above,  I  have  put  the 
D.M.  Handicap  running  out  of  sight  as  alto- 
gether wrong,  my  belief  being  that  St  Jean  d'Acre 
ought  to  have  been  LAST  instead  of  second.  There 
is  no  doubt  Canton  in  private  is  FULL  10  Ib.  better 
than  Rooksnest ! " 

Gaper's  next  engagement  was  at  Bath,  whence 
Lord  George  Bentinck  wrote  the  two  following 
letters  to  my  father.  I  should  observe  that  when 
"  Kent"  is  spoken  of  or  addressed  by  his  Lordship, 
it  means  my  father ;  and  that  when  "  John "  is 
named,  it  means  myself.  These  two  letters  from 
Bath  reveal  the  industry  with  which,  in  days  when 
newspaper  reports  of  races  were  very  flimsy,  and 
almost  confined  to  '  Bell's  Life  in  London '  and  the 
'  Sunday  Times '  (both  of  which  were  published  on 
Saturday),  Lord  George  communicated  by  letter 
with  my  father,  rarely  missing  a  day,  and  giving  a 
most  exhaustive  account  of  what  had  taken  place 
on  the  race- course. 

"  BATH,  April  26,  1843. 

"  KENT, — I  had  barely  time  to  send  you  a  list 

1  According  to  her  running  in  the  Chesterfield  Stake  with  Extem- 
pore ;  but '  according  to  our  trials  with  Elysium  last  October,  Fra- 
grance's weight  ought  to  be  6  stone  5  Ib.,  and  I  incline  to  think  that 
would  be  nearer  the  mark.  Extempore  will  have  a  better  day. 


BRAMBLE.  193 

yesterday.  Bramble's  running  was  very  satis- 
factory yesterday,  as  he  not  only  showed  speed 
but  appeared  to  run  on  too  :  the  ground  was 
rather  heavy  also.  Young  John  Day,  carrying  9  st. 
1  Ib.  on  a  three-year-old,  made  strong  play — such 
strong  play  that  he  began  whipping  his  horse  before 
he  had  gone  half  a  mile ! ! !  Sam  Rogers  and 
young  John  Day  both  thought  Bramble  would  have 
beat  Kate  Kearney  colt,  at  even  weights  ;  but 
8  Ib.  and  such  riding  as  that  of  young  John  Day's 
would  make  a  mighty  difference.  However,  assum- 
ing this  to  be  the  fact,  and  that  the  Queen  of 
the  Gipsies  and  Pompey  are  where  they  were 
last  October — viz.,  a  dead  heat  at  even  weights — 
Bramble  would  give  them  a  stone,  and,  if  we  have 
made  no  mistake,  Gaper  would  give  them  two 
stone  apiece,  which  would  make  him  beat  Cother- 
stone  just  as  easy  as  he  beat  him  last  year.  Would 
to  goodness  I  could  hope  that  you  could  again 
bring  him  sound  and  right  to  the  post  !  I  am 
quite  satisfied  now  that  Gaper  was  lamed  in  the 
false  starts,  and  that  he  ran  that  race  with  New 
Brighton  on  THREE  LEGS.  Discord  being  such  a 
hard  -  pulling  horse,  and  William  Howlett  upon 
him,  it  is  impossible  there  can  have  been  any 
mistake  about  that  gallop  between  him  and  Gaper ; 
and  having  only  7  st.  5  Ib.  on  his  back,  there  can 
be  no  excuse  for  him  against  the  hill. 

"  If  I  could  Relieve  you  could  get  his  leg  right 
for  the  Derby,  I  should  fear  no  horse  in  it  except 

H 


194    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

*  A  British  Yeoman ' ;  but  I  cannot  flatter  myself 
that  you  will  be  able  to  do  so. 

"  I  find  that,  besides  the  colt  by  Slane  out  of 
Zoe,  belonging  to  Isaac  Day,  which  John  Day  has 
in  training,  and  of  which  they  were  fond,  there  is  a 
colt  by  Elis  out  of  Rosalie,  trained  by  Montgomery 
Dilly,  which  they  have  tried  to  be  smart,  and  Mr 
Greville  was  backing  last  Monday  for  the  Derby. 
I  hope,  however,  that  Bramble  may  prove  good 
enough  to  pull  me  through. 

"  The  ground  was  very  heavy,  which  may  account 
for  the  trial  of  the  two  two-year-olds  coming  off 
so  very  wrong.  They  both  got  off  well — viz.,  they 
were  the  two  first ;  whilst  Charming  Kate  lost  two 
lengths'  start,  and  appeared  to  run  slow  in  the 
early  part,  but  won  very  easy  at  last.  Pastoral  ran 
faster  than  anything  for  300  yards,  and  then  stood 
still.  She  is  a  mean,  little,  short,  runtish-looking 
animal,  with  short  quarters,  but  strong  back,  good 
shoulders,  good  legs,  and  good  feet ;  looks  like  a 
strong  hack.  To  look  at  the  lot,  it  was  4  to  1  on 
Pastoral.  Mr  Wreford's  is  said  to  be  the  worst  of 
all  John  Day's  lot,  but  Roe  was  fond  of  Midnight 
Star.  I  should  think  Abraham  never  can  have  got 
Best  Bower  out  in  your  trial :  I  think  he  ran  fast 
and  tired  in  his  race  yesterday. 

"  I  have  quite  decided  not  to  run  Gaper  to-day. 

"  I  fear  Brother  to  Harold  must  beat  Discord 
to-day.  I  suspect  he  is  much  about  the  form  of 
Peeping  Tom.  Mr  Collins,  who  is  rather  thick 


HINTS    TO    KENT.  195 

with  John  Day,  tells  me  that,  having  a  dead  line  of 
the  Queen  of  the  Gipsies,  and  being  quite  certain 
to  beat  her  in  a  canter,  which  he  did,  and  never 
dreaming  of  my  beating  him  with  Bramble,  he 
made  sure  of  winning  the  Lansdowne  with  Peep- 
ing Tom,  whilst  he  kept  the  4  Ib.  off  Brother  to 
Harold  in  the  Cup. 

"  I  understand  that  old  John  Smith,  who  had 
all  these  horses  in  training,  and  recommended 
John  Day  to  buy  the  three  he  bought,  says  that 
Brother  to  Perseus  was  a  long  way  the  best, 
Brother  to  Harold  second,  Kate  Kearney  third, 
and  Pompey  the  worst  of  the  lot.  I  suspect,  how- 
ever, that  speed  is  the  best  of  the  Brother  to 
Harold,  and  in  that  case  it  is  just  possible  he  may 
not  stay  the  distance,  but  I  have  no  notion  that 
Discord  can  get  the  distance  either :  a  mile  has 
always  been  held  to  be  his  best  course,  and  that 
he  gets  worse  and  worse  every  step  he  goes  beyond 
a  mile. 

"  I  hope  when  you  try  you  will  keep  the  weights 
down  as  much  as  possible,  and  I  presume  you 
will  try  up  to  Gaper's  form — viz.,  a  stone  under 
Discord  and  a  stone  above  St  Jean  d'Acre.  I 
suppose,  too,  you  will  put  Sam  Rogers  on  the  old 
one  to  take  care  it  is  no  humbug  pace.  However,  I 
don't  wish  to  interfere.  I  merely  throw  out  these 
as  hints,  leaving  it  to  Lord  March  to  try  the  horses 
as  he  likes,  and  make  what  use  of  any  of  my  horses 
he  thinks  proper,  except  Gaper,  who  is  lame,  and 


196     LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

Bramble,  to  whom,  considering  Gaper's  leg,  I  must 
now  look  to  carry  me  through  all  those  engage- 
ments in  which  the  two  horses  are  engaged 
together  :  besides,  having  run  two  races  here  on 
two  following  days,  he  would  be  in  no  plight  to 
try  Cornopean  on  Saturday.  —  I  am,  yr.  obed. 
servt.,  G.  BENTINCK." 

In  the  next  letter,  as  well  as  in  one  of  its 
predecessors,  it  will  be  noticed  that  "  8  A.M., 
Tuesday  morning,"  is  prefixed  to  both.  My  father 
and  I  received  scores  of  letters  from  his  Lordship 
written  at  the  same  early  hour,  which  always 
found  him  at  work  during  the  whole  of  his  racing 
career. 

"  BATH,  Tuesday  Morning ',  8  A.M., 
April  27,  1843. 

"  KENT, — The  horses  are  all  here  perfectly  well, 
and  the  course  yesterday  was  in  capital  order — 
quite  soft — to  add  to  which  it  began  to  rain  about 
half  an  hour  since,  and  has  all  the  appearance  of 
a  wet  day.  Gaper  cantered  yesterday,  and  went 
quite  sound,  and  John  thinks  his  leg  a  great  deal 
better.  I  don't  think,  however,  that  I  shall  ven- 
ture to  run  him.  John  is  not  much  alarmed  about 
his  leg  for  the  future,  if  I  save  him  here ;  but  I 
confess  I  have  no  great  hopes  of  it.  The  ailment 
is  about  two  inches  and  a  half  above  the  fetlock- 
joint,  on  the  middle  tendon  of  the  near  fore-leg  on 
the  outside  ;  there  is  a  knot  upon  the  tendon,  and 


TWO-YEAR-OLDS.  197 

I  fear  this  must  be  considered  a  bad  place.  With 
regard  to  our  two -year -olds,  I  fear  we  are  alto- 
gether in  a  hole  with  them.  We  have  no  reason 
to  think  we  have  a  two  -  year  -  old  at  all  who 
can  give  10  Ib.  to  Pastoral,  and  I  cannot  make 
him  much  above  the  form  of  Hooksnest  and  the 
Brewer,  weight  for  age.  Gaper  would  give  these 
two-year-olds  the  best  part  of  four  stone!!!  Colonel 
Peel  says  a  real  good  two -year -old  should  run 
with  Garry owen  at  21  Ib.  I  can't  have  this ;  but 
John  Day  says  a  good  two-year-old  can  just  beat 
St  Lawrence  at  three  stone,  which  is  more  conson- 
ant with  my  notions  of  a  two-year-old  at  this  time 
of  year.  If  the  Wadastra  colt  and  the  Ugly 
Buck  can  do  so,  they  have  21  Ib.  in  hand  of  the 
best  two-year-old  we  can  turn  out.  I  hear  from 
Philip  that  St  Lawrence  was  John  Day's  trial 
horse  last  year  for  his  yearlings,  and  the  two-year- 
olds  have  been  following  him  in  their  exercise  this 
year.  John  Day  asked  Colonel  Peel  how  he 
should  try  a  good  two-year-old  with  St  Lawrence. 
The  Colonel  replied, '  An  out-and-out  good  two-year- 
old  should  beat  him  at  21  Ib.'  Upon  this  John 
Day  exclaimed,  '21  Ib.,  Colonel !!!  A  two- year-old 
beat  St  Lawrence  at  21  Ib. ! ! !  Why,  I  will  run  any 
three-year-old  at  Newmarket.  I  will  run  Cother- 
stone  to-morrow  a  mile  with  St  Lawrence,  and 
give  him  21  Ib.  No,  Colonel ;  I  say  I  am  quite 
satisfied  to  see  a  two-year-old  beat  St  Lawrence 
clever  at  three  stone.1 


198    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

"  From  this  I  take  it  that  is  about  the  mark  of 
the  Wadastra  colt  and  the  Ugly  Buck. 

"  I  fear  St  Lawrence  could  give  four  stone  or 
four  stone  and  a  half  to  the  best  two-year-old  we 
can  produce.  I  enclose  a  handicap.  I  have 
assumed  that  T.Y  C.,  instead  of  half  a  mile,  York- 
shire Lady  would  give  the  two  -  year  -  olds  more 
weight,  viz.,  28  Ib. — I  am,  yr.  obed.  servt., 

"  G.  BENTINCK. 

"I  consider  21  Ib.  about  the  weight  a  three- 
year-old  should  give  a  two-year-old,  half  a  mile. 

"T.Y.C. 

Years.  st.     Ib. 

St  Lawrence        .  .  .  6  911 

Garryowen           .  .  .  6  9     11 

Discord  .             .  .  .  6  97 

Jeremy  Diddler  .  .  .  4  94 

Gaper      .              .  .  .  3  87 

Cotherstone         .  .  .  3  87 

St  Jean  d'Acre   .  .  .  4  77 

Yorkshire  Lady  .  .  4  70 

Farintosh             .  .  .  3  6     10 

Rooksnest           .  .  .  3  67 

The  Brewer         .  .367 

The  Devil-to-Pay  .  .  2  5     10 

Prince  of  Wales  .  2  56 

Pastoral.              .  .  .  2  50 

Best  Bower         .  .  .  2  50" 

The  description  of  Gaper's  Derby  was  given  in 
an  earlier  chapter.  For  myself,  I  must  avow  that 
I  have  never  been  able  to  reconcile  myself  to  his 
defeat  on  that  day  by  Cotherstone.  Without 


CORNOPEAN   AND    GAPER.  199 

entering  further,  however,  into  details  and  de- 
vising excuses,  which  is  as  useless  as  "  crying 
over  spilt  milk,"  I  come  next  to  a  letter  which 
was  written  more  than  a  month  after  Gaper's 
defeat  for  the  Derby.  It  runs  as  follows,  and 
is  very  characteristic  of  his  Lordship's  painstak- 
ing thoroughness,  and  his  practical  good  sense 
in  always  seeing  things  in  their  true  light : — 

"  HARCOURT  HOUSE,  July  1,  1843. 

"  KENT, — John  will  have  told  you,  though  he 
won  a  head  after  a  desperate  race,  how  wretchedly 
bad  Cornopean  ran  yesterday.  Whatever  we  may 
have  thought  before  the  race  yesterday,  it  is  quite 
clear  now  that  Cornopean  can  have  no  chance  at 
Winchester ;  and  the  Duke  of  Richmond  and  I, 
after  talking  the  matter  over,  think  the  best  plan 
now  will  be  to  send  Bramble  to  Winchester  to  see 
what  he  can  do  a  mile,  following  Decisive  and 
Chotornian,  and  so  keep  Gaper  and  Cornopean 
fresh  for  Liverpool.  I  then  thought  of  leaving 
Gaper  to  fight  out  the  stakes  about  the  country, 
and  giving  up  Bramble  for  the  Grand  Junction 
Stake  at  Liverpool.  I  think  Gap6r  keeps  gradually 
getting  worse  and  worse,  as  Flytrap  did ;  whilst  I 
cannot  help  thinking  that  Bramble  has  not  yet  got 
over  his  Ascot  cough.  You  hardly  ever  heard  a 
horse  blow  and  appear  so  distressed  as  he  did  after 
his  race  for  the  Stockbridge  Produce. 

"  I  have  left  Mus,  Naworth,  and  Lothario  in  the 


200    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

Liverpool  Trade  Cup,  and  struck  all  the  others 
out,  and  have  made  up  my  mind  not  to  send 
Discord  to  Liverpool  at  all ;  else  had  he  been  well, 
I  know  of  nothing  in  the  North  to  beat  him  for 
the  Croxteth  Stake,  whilst  I  fear  St  Lawrence  is 
cock-sure  to  beat  him  both  for  the  Craven  Stake 
and  Welter  Stake  at  Goodwood. 

"  I  have  left  Lothario  in  the  Trade  Cup  to  take 
the  double  chance  of  his  being  well  by  that  time, 
or  else  of  starting  him  to  get  the  5  Ib.  allowance 
in  the  Cup  at  Goodwood,  by  which  time  I  imagine, 
if  he  goes  on  well,  he  will  be  quite  up  to  the  mark 
again. 

"  There  will  be  a  great  acceptance  for  the  Trade 
Cup.  I  reckon  about  fifty  horses,  many  of  them 
of  a  good  class.  Pompey  is  first  favourite,  and 
they  take  6  to  1  about  him  :  his  running  at  Bath 
must  be  all  wrong ;  that  never  can  have  been  the 
same  form  as  that  in  which  he  ran  at  Newcastle. 

"  I  think  it  more  than  probable  I  may  go  down 
to  Goodwood  by  the  mail-train  to-morrow  night, 
and  so  spend  Monday  at  Goodwood. 

"  I  have  a  dreadful  prospect  before  me :  my 
stakes  and  forfeits  at  Goodwood  amount  to  £4900, 
I  think,  and  at  Liverpool  to  £670,  and  I  doubt 
£2000  will  scarcely  cover  those  I  shall  incur  at 
Doncaster,  Liverpool,  and  Newmarket,  besides 
those  all  over  the  country,  and  I  really  scarcely 
see  where  I  have  a  reasonable  chance  of  getting 
through  a  stake. 


UGLY   BUCK.  201 

"  Tripoli  had  better  go  over  to  Winchester.  I 
daresay  I  shall  be  able  to  get  my  stake  back  to 
run.  He  can  walk  to  Fareharn  the  day  before  the 
race,  and  thence  go  on  by  the  train. — I  am,  yr. 
obed.  servt.,  G.  BENTINCK. 

"Lord  Chesterfield  says  the  Ugly  Buck  is  the 
finest  horse  he  ever  saw.  Colonel  Anson  says  he 
is  a  very  clever  horse,  and  one  that  must  run,  but 
thinks  him  rather  small  in  the  middle-piece.  Lord 
Maidstone  thinks  him  a  clever  horse,  but  not  of 
sufficient  scale  to  please  him.  Isaac  Day  says,  to 
his  mind  he  is  just  the  size  he  would  choose  for  a 
race-horse — in  fact,  Venison  on  a  larger  scale. 

"G.  B." 

Before  quitting  the  year  1843  I  should  add  a 
few  words  about  the  year  which  preceded  it,  as 
on  many  occasions  horses  trained  at  Goodwood 
in  1842  beat  great  pots  from  Danebury,  which 
John  Day,  father  and  son,  and  their  party  backed 
heavily,  because  Lord  George's  horses  which  op- 
posed them  had  been  trained  in  1841  at  Dane- 
bury, and  their  form  was  therefore  supposed  to 
be  well  known  to  the  owners  and  masters  of  that 
great  racing  establishment.  Perhaps  *  the  most 
notable  instance  of  this  occurred  at  the  Bath 
Meeting,  of  which  I  give  the  subjoined  account, 
so  far  as  concerns  two  races  in  which  Lord 
George  defeated  the  Danebury  stable.  The  fol- 


202    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

lowing   description   is   from   '  The   Racing   Calen- 
dar '  :- 

"  BATH  AND  BRISTOL  BACES,  1842. 

Tuesday,  April  19. 
The  Somersetshire  Stakes  Handicap. 

Lord  George  Bentinck's  Tripoli,  3  yrs.,  a  feather  (Sharp),  1. 
Mr  Haley's  ch.m.  Bellissima,  aged,  7  st.  13  lb.,  2. 

"  Seven  others  started.  Betting — 6  to  4  against  Tripoli, 
7  to  2  against  Bellissima. 

"  Thursday,  April  21. 

"The  City  Cup,  of  100  sovereigns,  added  to  a  Sweep- 
stakes of  20  sovereigns  each;  half-forfeit ;  18  subscribers; 
2J  miles. 

Lord  George  Bentinck's  b.  f.  Topsail,  3  yrs.,  6  st.  5  lb.  (W. 

Hewlett),  1. 

Mr  Bigg's  ch.  c.  Eleus,  3  yrs.,  6  st.  6  lb.,  2. 
Mr  Wade's  gr.  c.  Greenham  Boy,  4  yrs.,  7  st.  12  lb.,  3. 

"  Betting — 3  to  1  on  Eleus.    Won  easily  by  two  lengths." 

I  should  mention  that  Lord  George  sent  Top- 
sail to  Bath  solely  for  the  purpose  of  meeting 
Eleus,  and  that  he  wrote  to  me  the  day  before 
the  race,  giving  me  orders  not  to  allow  Topsail 
to  run  unless  Eleus  started.  His  Lordship  gave 
a  heavy  commission  to  back  Topsail,  and  was 
rewarded  by  winning  a  very  good  stake,  about 
which  he  cared  nothing  in  comparison  with  tri- 
umphing over  the  Danebury  stable. 

I  now  come  to  a  letter  written  in  1844  from 
Bonehill,  where  his  Lordship  had  paddocks,  as 


IMPROVEMENTS  AT  BONEHILL.        203 

well  as  at  Doncaster,  and  addressed  to  myself. 
It  will  serve  to  show  what  a  fine  judge  he  was 
of  a  foal's  shape  and  make,  and  with  what 
minuteness  he  entered  into  a  detailed  descrip- 
tion of  what  he  saw.  The  first  sentences  of 
the  following  letter  refer  to  the  improvements 
which  he  was  then  engaged  in  making  in  the 
race-course  at  Goodwood  : — 

"  BONEHILL,  Nov.  21,  1844. 

"  JOHN  KENT, — Upon  reconsideration,  I  think 
three  inches  of  mould  is  too  little  to  place  under 
the  turf.  Having  decided  to  take  the  field  mould, 
which  is  to  be  had  at  so  little  expense,  and  of 
which  there  is  no  limit  in  amount,  I  am  clearly 
of  opinion  we  should  not  be  stingy  of  one  depth 
of  mould,  and  instead  of  three  inches,  as  was 
settled,  desire  Charles  Shepherd  to  put  double 
that  quantity,  viz.,  six  inches, — not,  however,  un- 
doing or  disturbing  any  work  that  is  already  done. 

"  I  have  also  bethought  myself,  as  I  am  going 
eventually  to  pick  up  that  old  road  across  the  top 
of  Molecomb  Hill,  and  to  returf  it,  if  the  old 
materials  were  to  be  picked  up  now  they  would 
serve  admirably,  being  so  close  and  handy  to 
mend  the  road  with  at  the  top  of  Charlton  Park 
between  my  field  and  the  race-course.  With  this 
fine  dry  weather  I  hope  in  the  course  of  next  week 
you  will  be  able  to  ascertain  the  real  merits  of  all 
the  rough  lot  of  yearlings. 


204    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

"I  think  I  have  upon  the  whole  rather  a  good 
lot  of  foals  here.  I  annex  an  account  of  them  on 
another  sheet. — I  am,  your  obdt.  servant, 

"  G.  BENTINCK. 

"  1.  Bay  colt  by  Bay  Middleton  -  -  Olive. 
A  slashing  fine  colt ;  great  size,  great  length, 
enormous  arms  and  legs,  stands  straight  and  well 
on  his  fore-legs,  and  with  his  hind-legs  well  under 
him.  I  cannot  span  his  leg  below  the  knee. 
Shoulders  come  right  into  the  middle  of  his  back, 
and  his  quarters  come  well  into  his  back  likewise ; 
good  loins  and  good  quarters,  and  pretty  good 
thighs  with  great  hocks ;  a  little  flat-sided,  and 
might  be  a  little  deeper  in  the  girth,  but  not  much 
fault  to  be  found  ;  plenty  of  body ;  sour,  thick, 
and  rather  lop  -  eared  but  small  head  ;  rather  a 
small,  bad  eye,  but  apparently  an  idle,  easy- 
tempered  animal ;  in  the  paddock  a  slashing, 
striding,  true  galloper,  and  I  have  set  him  down 
to  win  the  Derby  and  Leger  in  1847. 

"2.  B.  c.  by  Lanercost  —  Crucifix.  A  pretty 
good  colt ;  immense  loins,  good  quarters  and  hocks, 
and  deep  in  the  girth  ;  very  thin  through  the 
shoulders  ;  rather  flat-sided  though  deep  in  the 
body ;  ewe-necked ;  refined  head ;  good  knees, 
but  very  light  below  them ;  very  small  in  the 
fetlock-joints  and  pasterns,  and  small  feet ;  but 
his  bone  and  sinew  flat,  clean,  and  sound-looking  ; 
a  good  goer  in  the  paddock,  with  quicker  action, 


FOALS    AT   BONEHILL.  205 

but  nothing  like  the  easy  stride  of  the  Bay 
Middleton  colt.  Mr  Edmund  Peel  has  backed 
him  with  me  to  beat  the  other  in  the  Derby. 

"  3.  Ch.  c.  by  Plenipotentiary  —  Glentilt.  A 
sturdy,  sound,  muscular,  hard-constitutioned-look- 
ing  colt.  Looks  like  plating  or  winning  the  300 
sovereigns  stake  at  Goodwood,  but  a  little  slack  in 
the  loin,  and  rather  short  in  the  body ;  a  good 
true  galloper. 

"4.  Ch.  c.  by  Plenipotentiary  —  Latitude.  A 
long-legged,  thin,  narrow  caricature  of  Longitude 
and  Binnacle,  having  all  the  bad  points  of  both ; 
won't  feed,  and  looks  in  the  last  stage  of  a  con- 
sumption ;  apparently  weak  and  hardly  able  to 
walk.  Upon  taking  him  into  the  paddock,  how- 
ever, with  the  Glentilt  colt  and  with  a  filly  by 
Plenipotentiary  out  of  My  Dear,  he  proved  able 
to  gallop  past  either  of  them,  and  appears  to 
be  the  quickest  galloper  of  all  the  lot.  We 
galloped  the  three  till  the  filly  and  Glentilt  colt 
were  in  a  lather  all  over,  but,  strange  to  say, 
we  could  not  get  the  consumptive  horse  to  sweat, 
neither  did  he  blow  half  so  much  as  either  of 
the  others ;  but  they  say  they  can  neither  get 
him  to  eat  or  drink ! !  ! 

"5.  B.  c.  by  Plenipotentiary — Vacuna.  A  fair- 
sized  lengthy  colt,  but  long  and  weak  below  the 
hocks  and  knees,  and  not  a  very  good  head,  but  a 
moderate  goer. 

"6.  B.  c.  by  Plenipotentiary — Lady  Emmeline. 


206    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

A  sturdy  colt,  very  like  Plenipotentiary  in  shape, 
but  very  short  arms,  and  short  bad  action ;  no 
stride,  putting  down  his  feet  pretty  nearly  where 
he  takes  them  up. 

"  7.  Sister  to  Pug.  Very  like  Pug,  but  a  finer 
Gohanna  head,  with  enormous  nostrils,  and  in  all 
respects  mending  upon  Pug  ;  a  very  fine  galloper, 
and  a  very  likely  mare  to  win  the  Oaks. 

"  8.  Ch.  f.  by  Plenipotentiary  —  Let-us-stop-a- 
while-says-Slow.  The  favourite  HERE  of  ALL  the 
FILLIES.  No  favourite  of  mine.  A  good  galloper 
certainly,  and  a  fine  head,  but  short  in  the  body, 
and  drooping  short  Camel  quarters  ;  good  shoulders, 
and  muscular-looking. 

"  9.  B.  f.  by  Plenipotentiary  —  My  Dear.  A 
small,  smart,  racing-looking  filly ;  beautiful  head, 
neck,  shoulders,  body,  loins,  and  quarters,  with 
fine  length,  but  no  legs  below  the  knee ;  no  bone 
and  no  sinew ;  small  fetlocks,  and  straight ;  well 
put  on,  but  nasty  fleshy  -  looking  legs  —  one  of 
the  old  specimens  of  Bay  Middleton  legs ;  looks 
like  flying  half  a  mile,  but  no  further  ;  a  good- 
actioned  filly,  but  seemed  to  have  no  chance  with 
the  consumptive  one. 

"10.  B.  f.  by  Bay  Middleton  —  Chapeau 
d'Espagne.  Very  like,  but  on  a  still  less  scale 
than,  the  two-year-old  out  of  her ;  her  hock  has 
got  right,  but  she  has  a  ringbone  on  the  other 
hind-leg ;  very  pretty  hack  action,  but  no  stride. 
I  have  ordered  it  to  be  sold  for  £5  if  no  more  can 


LORD  CHESTERFIELD'S  ESTABLISHMENT.      207 

be  got  for  it.  I  have  eighteen  mares  here — six  of 
which  are  certainly  in  foal  to  Touchstone,  ten 
certainly  in  foal  to  Colwick,  Camarine's  dam  barren 
to  Colwick,  and  Armida  supposed  to  be  barren,  but 
I  think  in  foal.  G.  B." 

The  next  letter  gives  an  interesting  peep  into 
Lord  Chesterfield's  racing  establishment  at  Bretby 
Park  in  Derbyshire,  where  during  the  last  twenty 
years  of  his  Lordship's  Turf  career  his  horses  were 
trained  by  old  Tom  Taylor,  the  father  of  the  still 
living  Alec  Taylor.  Colonel  Anson  was  married  to 
a  sister  of  the  Countess  of  Chesterfield  and  of 
Colonel  Henry  Forester,  and  many  of  his  mares 
and  yearlings  were  accommodated  at  Bretby  by 
Lord  Chesterfield,  his  brother-in-law,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  following  letter : — 

"  WELBECK,  Nov.  30,  1844. 

"  JOHN  KENT, — I  am  afraid  we  have  nothing 
very  clipping.  As  you  say,  they  are  always  be- 
hind the  old  ones,  and  to  be  REALLY  GOOD  they 
ought  to  beat  such  things  as  Moonshine  and  the 
Estelle  filly  at  even  weights,  T.Y.C.  I  reckon  that 
the  Real  filly,  Ennui,  and  Vacuna  would  about  beat 
the  Estelle  filly  at  16  lb.,  for  I  think  we  may  as- 
sume that  they  can  give  the  Torch  filly  16  lb.  If 
I  am  right  in  this,  I  think  they  will  pay  their  way, 
but  not  do  any  great  things,  unless  we  find  one 
amongst  them  to  be  superior  over  a  distance  of 


208    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

ground.    We  have  four  much  too  near  together  for 
there  to  be  a  real  good  one  in  the  lot. 
"  This  is  my  handicap  : — 

"T.Y.C. 

Age.  st.        Ib. 

African          .  .  .5  97 

Cowl              .  .  .2  77 

Rose  of  Cashmere  .  .2  73 

Moonshine     .  .  .2  62 

Estelle  f .  .  .2  60 

Realf.           .  .  .1  4       12       . 

Ennui             .  .  .1  4       12 

Yacunaf.      .  .  .1  4       12 

Torch  f.         .  .  .1  3       10 

"If  I  am  right  in  this,  it  will  bring  them  up  to 
be  as  good  weight  for  age  next  year  as  Cowl 
and  Rose  of  Cashmere, — which  may  not  win  the 
Oaks,  but  will  win  a  good  many  things. 

"  I  forgot  exactly  what  was  our  best  trial  last 
year,  but  I  think  we  were  always  trying  the  old 
horses  with  their  heads  FROM  home,  and  that  last 
year  we  only  tried  half  a  mile  instead  of  three- 
quarters.  I  think  you  say,  too,  that  the  Torch 
filly  would  have  won  half  a  mile  ;  if  so,  Real  filly 
and  Ennui  would  have  been  about  winning,  carry- 
ing 5  st.  7  Ib.  half  a  mile— i.e.,  just  4  st.  under 
African.  The  question,  therefore,  is,  How  have  our 
yearlings  been  with  African  last  year  and  the  year 
before  half  a  mile  ? 

"  They  have  taken  no  taste  yet  of  their  year- 
lings at  Bretby,  but  mean  to  do  so  about  Christ- 


THE   BBETBY   PARK   YEARLINGS.  209 

mas.  Some  of  their  best — viz.,  Birkenhead,  Mar- 
text,  the  mare  by  Touchstone — Hornsea's  dam  (a 
splendid  animal),  and  the  sister  to  Euclid — are 
still  in  the  paddocks.  Spanish  Jack  (Don  John 
over  again,  but  out  of  a  mare  that  never  bred 
anything  to  run),  Ginger  (brother  to  Mango),  the 
colt  by  Camel — Gladiator's  dam,  the  colt  by  Don 
John — Scandal,  Stitch,  by  Hornsea  out  of  Industry, 
a  colt  (a  very  clever  one)  by  Jereed  out  of  Dirce, 
(Sir  Harry's  dam),  Turpin  (I  think,  next  to  Birken- 
head, Taylor's  favourite),  by  Hetman  Platoff  out 
of  Black  Bess,  and  five  others,  amongst  them  a 
great  favourite  of  mine,  Shelf ord,  by  Col  wick  out 
of  Marchesina,  are  all  up  in  the  stable,  and  have 
had  two  sweats  apiece,  but  are  nothing  like  so  for- 
ward or  fit  as  ours.  Most  of  them  have  been  singed 
all  over  like  my  cart-horses,  but  none  of  them  have 
been  tried  in  any  way.  Spanish  Jack  is  the  most 
perfect  horse  to  look  at,  but  the  dam  has  never 
bred  anything  that  could  gallop. 

"  I  think  all  Col.  Anson's  were  going  off  the  end 
of  this  week  to  Scott's.  Lord  Chesterfield  is  going 
to  train  almost  entirely  with  Taylor  at  home,  and 
means  to  make  some  great  improvements  in  his 
training-ground,  which  at  present  hardly  deserves 
the  name  of  a  training-ground. 

Take  them  altogether,  I  never  saw  such  a  lot  of 
yearlings  together,  especially  when  I  consider  how 
much  good  looks  and  running  blood  are  combined 


210     LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER. 

in  them  ;  and  they  are  all  such  sound  -  looking 
horses,  besides  plenty  of  size  without  lumber.  I 
am  glad  to  say  all  the  mares  I  sent  to  Touchstone 
are  heavy  in  foal,  Moss  Rose  included,  and  I  have 
ten  out  of  twelve  in  foal  to  Col  wick. — I  am,  yr. 
obedt.  servant,  G.  BENTINCK. 

"  I  am  very  partial  to  the  Colwicks,  and  wish 
I  had  hired  him  this  year. 

"  I  ram  sorry  to  say  I  have  only  got  three  sub- 
scriptions to  Sir  Hercules  :  I  wanted  six,  but  he  is 
full." 

From  the  above  letters  it  can  easily  be  imag- 
ined that  such  an  establishment  as  ours,  and 
such  a  correspondent  as  Lord  George,  involved 
an  immense  amount  of  letter  -  writing  on  my 
father's  and  my  part.  In  addition  to  answering 
his  Lordship's  letters,  three  of  which  sometimes 
came  by  the  same  post,  we  had  to  attend  to 
nominations,  entries,  and  declarations  of  forfeit, 
and  also  to  making  arrangements  for  travelling 
to  the  countless  race  meetings  where  horses  were 
engaged.  All  this  could  not  be  accomplished 
without  economising  time  to  the  utmost.  With 
this  end  in  view,  I  found  it  necessary  to  write 
a  vast  number  of  letters  while  travelling  by 
railway,  and  I  often  had  occasion  to  rejoice  that, 
thanks  to  his  Lordship's  kind  consideration,  I 


HIS   EXHAUSTIVENESS.  211 

was  always  instructed  to  travel  in  a  first-class 
carriage,  wherein  I  was  frequently  the  only 
passenger. 

I  will  now  bring  to  a  conclusion  a  chapter  which 
might  be  indefinitely  extended  were  I  to  include 
in  it  further  specimens  of  the  numerous  letters 
which  Lord  George  Bentinck  wrote  to  my  father 
and  myself.  It  was  his  custom  thoroughly  and 
fundamentally  to  exhaust  every  subject  and  every 
detail  upon  which  he  touched ;  and  as  a  further 
evidence  of  his  untiring  industry,  I  have  now  be- 
fore me  ever  so  many  letters  which  he  wrote  upon 
a  new  system  of  ventilation  which  he  desired  to 
apply  to  some  stables  he  was  building  at  Good- 
wood. The  perusal  of  these  and  other  letters 
from  his  active  pen  recalls  to  my  mind  a  few 
words  spoken  to  me  not  long  ago  at  Newmarket 
by  my  old  friend  the  ex-racing  Judge,  Mr  J.  F. 
Clark,  who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  Good- 
wood stable  when  in  its  prime.  "  I  do  not  think," 
exclaimed  Mr  Clark,  "  that  any  of  the  present  lot 
of  trainers  in  England  would  have  long  kept  the 
situation  of  trainer  to  Lord  George  Bentinck,  which 
would  have  worn  any  of  them  out  in  less  than  a 
year."  To  prepare  a  hundred  horses  for  their 
engagements  is  under  any  circumstances  a  labori- 
ous undertaking,  but  to  do  so  fifty  years  ago  was 
almost  more  than  one  man  could  long  sustain.  I 
am  quite  sure  that  I  should  not  be  here  now  to 


212    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  LETTER- WRITER, 

write  these  words  if  I  had  been  called  upon  to 
look  after  such  a  stable  of  horses  as  I  had  under 
my  charge  at  Goodwood ;  and  to  do  so  continu- 
ously for  such  an  indefatigable  and  exacting  master 
as  Lord  George  Bentinck  over  a  period  of  twenty 
years,  instead  of  being  in  harness  only  from  the 
end  of  1841  to  the  August  of  1848  inclusive. 


213 


CHAPTER    X. 

LATTER   HALF   OF   THE   RACING   SEASON   OF    1845. 

THREE  weeks  after  her  severe  exertions  at 
Goodwood,  Miss  Elis  ran  at  York  for  the  Great 
Yorkshire  Stakes,  when  Lord  George  Bentinck 
backed  her  again.  She  was  beaten  easily  by  Miss 
Sarah,  a  fine  slashing  filly,  who  had  run  third  to 
the  Duke  of  Richmond's  Refraction  for  the  Epsom 
Oaks,  and  was  a  daughter  of  Gladiator  (at  that 
time  one  of  the  best  stallions  in  England),  and  of 
Major  Yarburgh's  famous  mare  Easter,  by  Brutan- 
dorf.  The  ground  at  York  was  excessively  deep,  a 
large  portion  of  the  course  being  under  water.  I 
well  remember  that  Mr  Ramsay's  Malcolm,  a  very 
powerful  chestnut  two-year-old  colt,  who  won  the 
Prince  of  Wales's  Stakes  on  the  first  day,  sank 
down  into  the  mud  as  he  was  being  saddled,  and 
was  quite  unable  to  extricate  himself  until  four  or 
five  strong  men,  whose  assistance  was  invoked  by 
Tom  Dawson,  his  trainer,  applied  their  shoulders 
to  his  ribs  on  both  sides  of  his  body,  and  fairly 


214       LATTER   HALF   OF   RACING  SEASON   OF   1845. 

lifted  him  out  of  the  morass  into  which  he  was 
subsiding.  Next  morning,  when  I  took  my  horses 
out  to  exercise,  I  encountered  an  old  acquaintance 
on  the  farther  side  of  the  course  under  the  wood, 
who  thrust  his  walking-stick  into  the  spongy  soil 
up  to  its  handle,  remarking  that  "  there  was  no 
bottom  to  be  found."  A  shrewd,  hard  -  headed 
Yorkshire  labourer  who  was  engaged  in  filling  in 
the  holes  made  by  the  horses'  hoofs  on  the  previous 
day,  overheard  my  friend's  remark  and  ejaculated, 
"  You  be  mistaaken,  zur ;  there  be  a  parlous  good 
bottom,  nobut  goe  deep  enouf  doun  to  foind  it." 

Lord  George  was  at  all  times  very  sceptical  as  to 
the  soundness  of  excuses  made  for  any  of  his  horses 
which  failed  to  win  a  particular  race.  He  would 
not  listen,  therefore,  to  the  assurances  forced  upon 
him  by  some  of  his  friends,  that  Miss  Elis  had  been 
beaten  through  the  deepness  of  the  ground.  In 
addition  to  Miss  Elis,  Major  Yarburgh's  mare  had 
also  beaten  Mr  Bennett's  Hope,  who  was  second  to 
Refraction  for  the  Oaks.  With  his  usual  practical 
good  sense,  Lord  George  soon  convinced  himself 
that  Miss  Sarah  would  win  the  Doncaster  St  Leger, 
and  immediately  commenced  to  back  her  heavily 
for  that  race.  Before  long  his  Lordship's  money 
made  Miss  Sarah  first  favourite  for  the  St  Leger, 
and  when  the  flag  fell  she  started  with  odds  of 
5  to  2  against  her.  In  the  race,  for  which  she 
was  trained  by  the  late  Charles  Peck,  she  was 
beaten  rather  cleverly  by  Mr  Watts's  chestnut 


THE   BARON.  215 

colt,  The  Baron,  who  was  bred  in  Ireland,  and 
never  came  to  this  country  until  he  put  in  an 
appearance  at  the  Liverpool  July  Meeting,  to  run 
for  the  Liverpool  St  Leger.  It  was  won  by  Mr 
St  Paul's  Mentor  (a  bad  -  tempered  brute,  who 
was  said  to  have  nearly  killed  Mat  Dawson  in  his 
brother  Tom's  stables  at  Middleham),  with  Sir  R. 
Bulkeley's  Pantasa  second  and  Lord  Eglinton's 
Vaudeville  third  —  four  others  not  placed.  As 
The  Baron  was  being  led  off  the  course,  John 
Scott,  after  inspecting  him  long  and  keenly,  said 
to  Mr  Watts,  his  owner,  "  If  you  will  send  that 
horse  to  White  wall  without  delay,  he  shall  win 
the  Doncaster  Leger  for  you."  Mr  Watts  took 
the  great  Yorkshire  trainer  at  his  word,  the  re- 
sult being  known  to  all.  The  Liverpool  St  Leger 
was  run  on  July  18,  and  the  Doncaster  St  Leger 
on  September  17,  so  that  John  Scott  had  less  than 
nine  weeks  in  which  to  effect  a  transformation  in 
the  Irish  horse.  He  certainly  worked  wonders  by 
his  skilful  preparation  of  The  Baron  for  the  Don- 
caster  St  Leger  and  Cesarewitch ;  and  it  is  note- 
worthy that  after  the  latter  race,  The  Baron, 
for  whom  Mr  E.  H.  Clark,  familiarly  known  as 
"  D'Orsay  Clark,"  immediately  gave  £4000,  never 
won  again  in  the  hands  of  another  trainer. 

When  Lord  George  came,  as  usual,  to  the  Turf 
Tavern  to  look  at  his  horses  in  the  evening  after 
the  St  Leger,  he  remarked  to  me  in  a  low  voice, 
"  I  have  had  rather  a  bad  day,  as  I  backed  Miss 


216       LATTER   HALF   OF   RACING   SEASON   OF    1845. 

Sarah  for  £3500.  I  hope  you  will  get  it  back  for 
me  to-morrow  with  My  Mary  ? "  At  that  time  the 
Great  Yorkshire  Handicap  was  run  on  the  third 
day  of  the  Doncaster  September  Meeting.  With- 
out hesitation  I  replied  that  I  had  no  doubt  My 
Mary  would  win,  as  she  was  so  "  well  in,"  having 
only  5  stone  to  carry,  which  was  equivalent  to 
putting  in  Miss  Elis  at  5  st.  7  Ib.  and  Miss  Sarah 
at  6  st.  2  Ib.  When  My  Mary  was  tried  with  Miss 
Elis  for  the  Goodwood  Stakes,  the  latter  won  with 
the  greatest  difficulty,  giving  My  Mary  7  Ib.  I 
remarked,  however,  that  at  the  end  of  a  mile  and 
three-quarters  (the  exact  distance  of  the  Great 
Yorkshire  Handicap)  My  Mary  would  have  won, 
and  this  made  me  feel  great  confidence  that  she 
would  get  back  Lord  George's  St  Leger  losses,  and 
probably  a  little  more,  on  the  following  day. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  or  uninteresting 
to  my  readers  if  I  recite  here  the  circumstances 
under  which  My  Mary  came  into  Lord  George's 
hands.  She  was  bred  by  Alderman  Copeland 
(a  very  good  and  popular  sportsman)  in  1842, 
her  sire  being  Bran  by  Humphrey  Clinker,  and 
her  dam  by  Oiseau,  a  grandson  of  Hamble- 
tonian.  Bran  ran  second  to  Touchstone  for  the 
Doncaster  St  Leger  of  1834,  and  was  the  sire  of 
several  good  horses,  among  them  being  Our  Nell 
and  Meal,  who  ran  first  and  second  for  the  Oaks 
in  1842,  as  previously  recorded.  My  Mary  was 
own  sister  to  Our  Nell,  and  had  run  nine  times  as 


MY   MARY.  217 

a  two-year-old,  winning  thrice,  her  last  victory 
being  for  the  Prendergast  Stakes  at  Newmarket. 
After  that  she  was  pulled  out  by  Alderman  Cope- 
land  to  run  for  a  Selling  Plate  in  the  Houghton 
Meeting,  winner  to  be  sold  for  £350.  She  was 
beaten  by  Brother  to  Chummy,  and  no  one  claimed 
her.  I  then  advised  Lord  George  to  buy  her  from 
Alderman  Copeland,  adding  that  I  did  not  think 
the  Alderman  would  want  much  for  her.  When 
she  started  for  the  Selling  Plate  in  the  Houghton 
Meeting  I  observed  that  she  was  ridden  in  a 
tremendously  severe  curb  bridle,  and  was  led  to  the 
post  by  one  strong  man  and  followed  by  another 
with  a  cart  whip  in  his  hand.  She  was  more  like 
a  wild  animal  than  a  race-horse  in  training,  and  I 
attributed  her  fractiousness  to  a  misconception  in 
bitting  her,  and  to  want  of  patience  and  gentleness 
in  handling  her.  She  was  a  sound  pretty  little 
filly,  and  I  thought  that  she  might  be  got  through 
a  good  stake  if  trained  and  managed  with  judg- 
ment. Lord  George  got  her  with  little  difficulty 
for  £250,  her  former  owner  and  trainer  being 
equally  glad  to  get  rid  of  her. 

When  we  got  her  home  to  Goodwood,  I  began 
at  first  to  fear  that  I  had  induced  his  Lordship  to 
make  a  bad  purchase.  She  could  not  be  persuaded 
to  accompany  the  other  horses,  but  would  bolt  with 
her  rider,  running  under  the  trees,  or  anywhere 
to  get  out  of  the  way.  Her  boy  had  no  power  or 
control  over  her,  and  when  in  the  stable  she  would 


218       LATTER   HALF   OF  RACING   SEASON   OF    1845. 

tremble  and  quiver  like  an  aspen  leaf.  I  could  not 
get  her  to  touch  food ;  and  when  she  went  out,  I 
was  full  of  apprehension  that  she  would  run  against 
a  tree  and  kill  herself  or  her  rider.  In  despair  I 
resolved  at  last  to  put  a  very  steady  quiet  lad  upon 
her,  who  weighed  nine  stone,  and  had  very  light 
hands.  I  told  him  to  keep  her  out  all  day,  some- 
times riding  and  sometimes  leading  her,  first  with 
one  set  of  horses  and  then  with  another.  In  the 
afternoon  she  accompanied  the  yearlings ;  and  at 
last  I  discovered,  to  my  infinite  satisfaction,  that 
she  was  becoming  less  fractious,  and  regaining  her 
confidence.  Soon  she  began  to  feed  better,  and  I 
added  a  liberal  supply  of  flour  to  the  water  which 
she  drank.  I  then  put  her  into  the  yearling  trials, 
telling  her  lad  to  stop  her  when  she  had  galloped 
a  couple  of  furlongs,  and  to  canter  in  gently  after 
the  others. 

At  last  I  got  her  perfectly  quiet,  so  that  a  friend 
of  mine  who  had  known  her  at  Newmarket  ex- 
claimed, "  Why,  that  is  not  the  same  animal  that 
I  saw  win  the  Prendergast !  You  have  made  her 
as  round  as  an  apple  and  as  sleek  as  a  mole." 
Time,  patience,  and  gentle  treatment  had  worked 
wonders  with  her,  as  they  will  with  all  horses 
which  have  been  maltreated  and  misunderstood — 
a  very  common  occurrence  in  these  days  of  sprint- 
races,  in  which  no  starter  has  any  chance  unless 
"  quick  out  of  the  slips,"  and,  as  the  phrase  runs, 
"  always  on  his  tiptoes."  As  My  Mary  was  a 


MY   MARY.  219 

small  filly,  and  known  to  possess  speed,  I  got  her 
ready  to  run  early  in  the  spring,  and  tried  her 
half  a  mile  twice  before  Northampton  Races.  On 
each  occasion  she  won,  and  it  did  not  upset  her  in 
the  least.  I  then  tried  her  three-quarters  of  a 
mile,  and  she  won  again.  Presently  I  asked  her 
to  go  a  mile,  and  she  proved  herself  equal  to  the 
task  by  winning  easily.  It  struck  me  that,  being 
by  Bran,  she  might,  if  trained  for  it,  "  get  a 
distance,"  and  in  that  case  I  felt  persuaded  that 
she  would  win  a  good  race.  Accordingly  I  gave 
her  a  stronger  preparation,  which  she  stood  well, 
feeding  capitally  all  the  time,  and  when  ridden  in 
a  snaffle  going  as  quietly  as  a  pony.  When  the 
Goodwood  Stakes  trial  came  off,  I  put  her  in  it, 
with  the  result  recorded  above.  She  was  struck 
out  of  the  Goodwood  Stakes,  which  she  would 
easily  have  won  with  Miss  Elis  out  of  the  way. 
Lord  George  then  made  up  his  mind  to  put  her 
into  the  Great  Yorkshire  Handicap,  as  it  was  just 
the  right  distance  for  her,  and  in  those  days  a 
very  heavy  betting  race.  Six  or  seven  other  horses 
from  the  Goodwood  stable  were  entered  along 
with  My  Mary,  and  when  she  was  handicapped  at 
5  stone  Lord  George  rubbed  his  hands,  exclaiming, 
"  What  a  good  thing  ! "  On  the  day  when  the  £5 
forfeit  was  to  be  declared,  nominations  had  also  to 
be  made  for  some  other  stakes,  and  I  came  up  to 
London  to  submit  a  list  of  entries  to  his  Lordship, 
whom  I  accompanied  to  Messrs  Weatherby's  office. 


220       LATTER   HALF   OF   RACING   SEASON   OF    1845. 

We  did  not  get  back  to  Harcourt  House  until 
11  P.M.  As  none  of  our  horses  had  been  struck 
out  of  the  Great  Yorkshire  Handicap,  Mr  Charles 
Weatherby  kindly  sent  a  messenger  to  Har- 
court House  with  a  letter  asking  me  to  remind 
his  Lordship  that  he  had  several  horses  engaged 
in  that  race,  all  of  which  would  accept  unless  he 
declared  forfeit  for  some  of  them  before  midnight. 
I  wrote  back  hurriedly  to  Mr  Weatherby,  thanking 
him  in  Lord  George's  name  for  his  considerate 
attention ;  and  adding  that,  as  we  had  not  had 
time  to  look  over  the  handicap,  all  his  Lordship's 
horses  had  better  remain  in. 

When  I  was  saddling  My  Mary  I  found  that  his 
Lordship  was  unusually  anxious.  He  said  to  me, 
"  I  suppose  we  had  better  wait  with  the  mare,  as 
last  year  she  always  showed  more  speed  than 
stoutness."  I  assured  his  Lordship  that  he  would 
find  her  a  very  different  animal  to-day  from  what 
she  was  last  year,  when,  from  what  I  saw  of  her 
condition  and  excitability,  it  was  impossible  to 
train  her.  "  She  will  never  be  fitter,"  I  added, 
"  than  she  is  to-day ;  and  as  she  has  stood  a  good 
preparation,  and  could  not  be  better  in,  she  ought 
to  be  allowed  to  make  the  pace  good  if  nothing 
else  does."  His  Lordship  consented,  although  he 
did  so  silently,  and  without  much  approving  the 
policy  I  suggested.  I  felt  confident,  however, 
that,  if  the  pace  was  'good  and  true,  My  Mary 
would  win  before  they  got  to  the  Red  House, 


MY   MARY.  221 

and  my  words  were  literally  verified.  There  were 
eleven  starters,  and  My  Mary  made  most  of  the 
running  at  a  smart  pace.  As  the  field  approached 
the  Red  House,  she  had  them  all  in  difficulties, 
and  won  very  easily  by  a  length,  which  Kitchener 
might  have  made  twenty  or  thirty  had  he  cared 
to  do  so.  He  rode  her  very  steadily  in  a  snaffle 
bridle,  and  without  spurs.  Before  the  race,  some 
good  judges  who  had  often  seen  My  Mary  when 
she  was  trained  as  a  two-year-old  at  Hednesford 
laughed  at  the  idea  that  she  would  get  the  St 
Leger  course,  and  lost  their  money  accordingly. 

As  we  walked  away  from  the  course  following 
the  filly,  his  Lordship,  after  pausing  for  a  minute 
to  hear  "  All  right "  pronounced  when  Kitchener 
got  into  the  scales,  thanked  me  very  warmly  for 
winning  this  race  with  a  mare  whom  no  one  else, 
as  he  kindly  remarked,  had  ever  been  able  to  get 
to  stay  a  mile.  "  You  have  got  all  my  money  back 
for  me,"  he  added,  "  and  a  little  more  on  the  top  of 
it,  as  I  have  won  rather  more  than  £15,000." 

A  few  days  later  I  received  from  his  Lordship 
the  following  kind  and  considerate  letter  : — 

"  WELBECK,  WORKSOP,  NOTTS, 
Sept.  22,  1845. 

"  JOHN  KENT,  —  Our  Commissioner  made  poor 
work  of  it  for  us  on  the  Great  Yorkshire  Handicap, 
averaging  only  2  to  1.  However,  as  I  consider  it 
a  great  triumph  of  training  getting  My  Mary, 


222       LATTER   HALF   OF   RACING   SEASON   OF    1845. 

who  was  not  in  other  hands  able  to  get  T.  Y.  C.  to 
run  If  mile,  as  well  as  curing  her  bad  temper,  I 
shall  make  up  the  odds  you  and  your  father  stood 
with  me  to  £25  to  £200,  which  I  send  you  in  my 
cheque. 

"  I  am  obliged  to  be  in  London  on  Thursday  for 
a  meeting  on  Friday.  If  any  trial  of  interest  were 
to  take  place  on  Saturday  or  Monday,  I  could  be 
at  Goodwood  for  it.  We  ought  not  to  try  till  we 
can  trust  Miss  Elis  to  have  got  over  her  two  races, 
as  she  must  be  considered  now  the  key  to  all  the 
Cesarewitch  horses. 

"  I  cannot  estimate  her  nearer  than  9  Ib.  under 
Miss  Sarah,  and  I  suppose,  as  The  Baron  actually 
gave  Miss  Sarah  5  Ib.,  lost  start,  and  beat  her  a 
length,  we  must  estimate  him  at  least  8  Ib.  better 
than  Miss  Sarah.  This  makes  17  Ib.  We  must 
therefore  find  something,  which  I  fear  we  shall 
not  do,  that  can  beat  Miss  Elis,  assuming  her  to  be 
in  the  Cesarewitch  at  6  stone  8  Ib.,  and  in  the 
Cambridgeshire  at  6  stone  4  Ib.  Discord  and 
Refraction  are  the  only  chances  we  have  in  the 
Cesarewitch  of  finding  one  to  do  it. 

"  Lothario  and  Croton  Oil  are  our  only  chances  in 
the  Cambridgeshire,  but  I  cannot  help  suspecting 
that  Kitchener  never  got  My  Mary  out  the  first 
day  we  tried  her  with  Croton  Oil.  We  ought  to 
try  My  Mary,  Clumsy,  Croton  Oil,  Miss  Elis, 
Refraction,  and  Lothario  together  before  the 
Cambridgeshire  Stakes  :  if  the  last  two  are  not 


BACKING   THE    BARON.  223 

prepared,  I  think  Clumsy,  Croton  Oil,  Miss  Elis, 
and  My  Mary  should  be  tried  over  again,  to 
enable  me  to  decide  whether  or  not  I  should  let 
those  foreigners  have  Croton  Oil. — I  am,  your 
obedient  servant,  G.  BENTINCK." 

Before  I  left  Doncaster  to  return  to  Goodwood, 
Lord  George  remarked  to  me  with  characteristic 
foresight,  "  I  think  The  Baron  cannot  lose  the 
Cesarewitch,  although  I  am  told  that  Colonel 
Anson  and  John  Scott  think  he  has  no  chance  at 
the  weight  he  has  to  carry — 7  stone  9  Ib.  Never- 
theless, I  shall  back  him  and  take  my  chance,  as 
he  is  as  well  in  as  Miss  Elis  would  be  at  6  stone 
6  Ib.  or  My  Mary  at  5  stone  12  Ib.  Surely  my 
two  fillies  would  be  bad  to  beat  at  those  weights  ?  " 
With  his  usual  courage,  and  in  total  disregard  of 
what  he  knew  to  be  the  conviction  of  John  Scott's 
powerful  stable,  his  Lordship  threw  a  lot  of  money 
on  the  market  to  back  The  Baron,  which  he  in- 
creased as  the  day  approached,  upon  learning  that 
in  my  Cesarewitch  trial  Miss  Elis  and  My  Mary 
finished  first  and  second,  beating  the  old  horses  at 
very  little  difference  of  weight.  His  Lordship's 
money  soon  made  The  Baron  first  favourite,  and 
he  told  Colonel  Anson  what  he  had  done,  offering 
to  give  up  some  of  his  bets  to  the  stable  if  they 
liked  to  share  with  him.  He  then  added  that  he 
had  retained  Flatman  to  ride  for  him  in  the  Ces- 
arewitch, but  that  having  no  horse  he  fancied,  he 


224       LATTER   HALF   OF   RACING   SEASON    OF    1845. 

would  surrender  Flatman  to  ride  The  Baron. 
Both  offers  were  gladly  accepted,  and  when  the 
flag  fell  The  Baron  was  a  great  favourite  at  9  to  2 
— odds  which  could  hardly  be  obtained.  The  pace 
was  moderate,  and  at  the  Bushes  Flatman  took 
the  lead,  winning  at  last  cleverly  by  a  length. 
About  that  time  Flatman  was  riding  with  great 
nerve  and  skill,  and,  above  all  other  jockeys  that 
I  ever  had  to  do  with,  he  invariably  obeyed  the 
instructions  he  received  to  the  very  letter.  In 
addition  to  winning  the  Cesarewitch  upon  The 
Baron,  he  also  won  the  Cambridgeshire  upon  Mr 
Greville's  Alarm — the  best  three -year -old  of  his 
year,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  Sweetmeat. 
In  the  Cambridgeshire,  Alarm,  carrying  7  stone 
9  lb.,  beat  The  Baron  carrying  7  stone  8  Ib.  by 
several  lengths,  owing  to  the  latter  having  been 
"  messed  about "  in  his  work  :  yet,  ridden  by 
Bumby,  he  started  at  4  to  1,  and  Alarm  at  9  to  1. 
The  pace  in  the  Cambridgeshire  was  as  good  as  it 
had  been  bad  in  the  Cesarewitch. 


225 


CHAPTEE    XL 


LORD  GEORGE'S  GAINS  IN  1844  AND  1845, 


MR  CHARLES  GREVILLE,  in  his  remarks  upon  the 
character  of  Lord  George  Bentinck  and  his  un- 
timely death,  which  extend  over  nearly  thirteen 
closely  printed  pages  of  his  '  Diary/  employs  the 
following  words  : — 

"  I  have  always  thought  that  his  [Lord  George's] 
conduct  in  selling  his  stud  all  at  one  swoop,  and  at 
once  giving  up  the  Turf,  to  which  he  had  just 
before  seemed  so  devoted,  was  never  sufficiently 
appreciated  and  praised.  It  was  a  great  sacrifice 
both  of  pleasure  and  profit,  and  it  was  made  to 
what  he  had  persuaded  himself  was  a  great  public 
duty.  It  is  true  that  he  had  taken  up  his  new 
vocation  with  an  ardour  and  a  zeal  which  absorbed 
his  old  one ;  but  still  it  was  a  very  fine  act,  and 
very  creditable  to  him.  He  never  did  anything  by 
halves,  and  having  accepted  the  responsible  post 
of  leader  of  his  party,  he  resolved  to  devote  him- 


226  GAINS   IN    1844   AND    1845. 

self  to  their  service,  and  did  so  without  stint  or 


reserve." 


That  Lord  George's  determination  to  sell  his 
stud  at  one  swoop  was,  as  Mr  Greville  says,  "  a 
very  fine  act,"  will  be  denied  by  none  who  know 
what  were  his  Lordship's  gains  upon  the  Turf  in 
1845,  and  also  that  in  Surplice  and  Loadstone  he 
possessed,  and  knew  that  he  possessed,  in  1846, 
the  two  most  promising  yearlings  that  ever  called 
him  master.  From  the  details  recorded  in  the  last 
two  chapters  my  readers  will  not  be  surprised  to 
learn  that,  to  the  best  of  my  belief,  Lord  George's 
winnings  by  betting  during  the  year  1845  must 
have  amounted  to  close  upon  £100,000.  It  was 
seldom  his  Lordship's  habit  to  speak  of  money  mat- 
ters, about  which,  as  about  all  his  business  trans- 
actions, he  was  one  of  the  most  reticent  of  men. 
His  avowal,  for  instance,  after  the  Great  Yorkshire 
Handicap,  that  he  won  more  than  £15,000  on  that 
race,  was  almost  the  only  statement  of  the  kind 
that  he  ever  vouchsafed  to  my  father  or  myself. 
Nevertheless,  the  amount  of  his  outlay  on  a  race 
was  in  every  instance  approximately  disclosed  by 
the  statement  of  the  quoted  odds  when  the  flag 
fell ;  and  on  such  subjects  popular  rumour,  eman- 
ating from  well-informed  racing  and  betting  men, 
is  seldom  far  from  the  mark.  In  this  manner  I 
could  not  help  being  made  aware  what  were  the 
races  upon  which  his  Lordship  had  staked  most 


COUP   UPON    LOTHARIO.  227 

money ;  and  in  addition  to  the  Goodwood  Stakes 
and  Cup  won  by  Miss  Elis,  and  to  the  Great 
Yorkshire  Handicap  won  by  My  Mary,  it  came 
to  my  knowledge  that  his  two  best  races  in 
1845  were  the  Liverpool  Cup,  won  by  the  Duke 
of  Richmond's  Lothario,  and  the  CesarewTitch, 
won  by  Mr  Watts's  The  Baron.  Upon  these 
five  races  his  Lordship  must  have  landed  in  bets 
not  less  than  from  £60,000  to  £70,000,  and  this 
large  sum  was  augmented  when  the  Duke  of 
Richmond's  Red  Deer  won  the  Port  Stakes  at 
Newmarket,  Picnic  won  the  One  Thousand  Guineas, 
and  Refraction  the  Oaks.  In  the  last-named  race 
Lord  George  had  three  mares  of  his  own — Miss 
Elis,  Rose  of  Cashmere,  and  Longitude — engaged, 
all  of  which  started,  as  they  had  shown  some  form. 
None  of  them  had  been  tried  with  the  Duke  of 
Richmond's  Refraction,  and  therefore  his  Lordship 
confined  himself  to  backing  "  Kent's  lot "  for  a 
large  sum,  whereby  he  showed  more  judgment  than 
by  taking  8  to  1  about  Miss  Elis,  while  Refraction's 
starting  price  was  25  to  1. 

But,  as  I  have  already  said,  one  of  his  biggest 
coups  in  connection  with  that  fortunate  year  was 
upon  the  five-year-old  Lothario,  when  he  won  the 
Liverpool  Cup,  for  which  he  started  first  favourite 
in  a  strong  field  at  4  to  1,  to  which  price  he  was 
brought  by  Lord  George's  money.  Among  the 
eighteen  starters  were  reckoned  some  fairly  good 
old  horses,  such  as  Corinna  (who  subsequently  won 


228  GAINS   IN    1844   AND    1845. 

the  Chester  Cup),  Winesour,  and  Rowena,  and  one 
good  three-year-old,  the  Ironmaster,  who  belonged 
to  the  almost  invincible  Mr  A.  W.  Hill,  the  owner 
of  Sweetmeat,  the  Libel,  Salopian,  Alonzo,  and 
Burlesque.  The  previous  career  of  Lothario  shows 
(if  that  were  necessary)  what  the  uncertainty  of 
horse  -  racing  is.  At  Epsom  Summer  Meeting 
Lothario  ran  for  the  Surrey  Cup,  which  Lord 
George's  Croton  Oil  won,  although  Lothario, 
who  ran  very  badly,  and  was  beaten  a  long 
way,  was  much  better  than  Croton  Oil  at  the 
weights.  A  day  or  two  after  Lothario  appeared 
very  dull,  and  was  off  his  feed  —  the  result 
of  a  chill  which  he  caught  at  Epsom.  I  was 
therefore  obliged  to  ease  him  in  his  work,  and 
between  Epsom  and  Ascot  he  was  limited  to  an 
occasional  canter.  In  this  condition  he  ran  for 
the  Ascot  Stakes— a  race  of  which  the  Duke  of 
Richmond  was  very  fond — although  I  had  not  the 
slightest  expectation  that,  over  the  severest  course 
in  England,  Lothario  would  win  it,  and  he  was 
not  backed  for  a  shilling  by  the  stable.  To  my 
intense  astonishment,  however,  Lothario  fairly 
wore  down  Mr  Meiklam's  five  -  year  -  old  mare, 
Inheritress,  who  started  first  favourite  at  3  to  1, 
and  was  backed  for  a  heap  of  money.  For  this 
race  Lothario's  only  backer  was,  so  far  as  I  know, 
the  Marquis  of  Exeter,  who  trusted  him  with  a 
"  pony,"  as  he  had  vowed,  after  Lothario  beat 


LOTHARIO.  229 

his  own  horse  Phlegon  for  the  Port  Stakes  in 
1844,  that  Lothario  should  never  run  again  with- 
out carrying  some  of  his  Lordship's  money. 

When  the  weights  appeared  for  the  Liverpool 
July  Cup,  Lothario  was  handicapped  according  to 
his  Ascot  Stakes  form,  which  Thomas  Dawson,  the 
trainer  of  Inheritress,  made  sure  that  he  could 
beat  with  Mr  A.  Johnstone's  Rowena,  4  years, 
7  st.  2  Ib.  All  this  Lord  George,  who  knew 
everything  that  was  going  on,  repeated  to  me 
when  he  came  to  Goodwood,  adding  that  Mr 
Meiklam  made  light  of  Lothario's  chance.  I 
replied  that  if  between  the  10th  of  June  and  the 
17th  of  July  I  could  not  improve  Lothario  from  7 
to  10  Ib.,  there  was  no  use  in  exercise,  vigilance, 
and  training.  The  Duke  of  Richmond  was  never 
fond  of  trying  his  horses  when  he  believed  them 
to  be  well  and  fit,  and  therefore  Lothario  was  not 
"put  through  the  mill"  before  the  Liverpool  Cup, 
which  he  undoubtedly  would  have  been  if  Lord 
George's  property.  The  horse  gave  me  entire 
satisfaction,  however,  and  went  through  a  good 
preparation,  becoming,  so  far  as  I  could  judge 
without  taking  off  his  clothes,  as  fit  as  possible. 
Lord  George  trusted  him  with  a  very  big  stake,  as 
was  proved  by  his  starting  first  favourite  in  the 
teeth  of  the  heavy  sums  laid  out  by  the  northern 
division  on  Tom  Dawson's  lot,  as  well  as  on  Mr 
Bell's  Winesour  and  Mr  Mostyn's  Milton.  The 


230  GAINS   IN    1844   AND    1845. 

race  was  run  at  a  capital  pace,  and  Flatman  on 
Lothario  won  cleverly  by  a  length,  with  Tommy 
Lye  on  Rowena  second. 

His  Lordship  also  won  a  good  deal  of  money  by 
backing  three  of  his  own  two-year-olds,  Cherokee, 
Princess  Alice,  and  Ennui.  The  first  won  the 
Althorp  Park  at  Northampton,  the  Woodcote  at 
Epsom,  the  Fern  Hill  at  Ascot,  and  walked  over 
for  the  Theatre  Stakes  at  Wolverhampton.  The 
second  (Princess  Alice)  won  the  Weston  Stakes  at 
Bath,  the  Two- Year-Old  Sweepstakes  at  Chester 
(beating  a  large  field),  the  200  Sovereigns  Sweep- 
stakes for  fillies  at  Goodwood,  the  Champagne  at 
Doricaster,  and  the  Prendergast  at  Newmarket. 
The  third  (Ennui)  came  out  for  the  first  time  at 
Doncaster  to  run  against  Lord  Maidstone's  Tom 
Tulloch  in  a  match,  nominally  for  500  sovereigns, 
but  really  for  1500  sovereigns  each.  Upon  this 
match  J  shall  have  something  further  to  say 
presently,  when  I  have  related  that,  after  Princess 
Alice's  victory  in  the  Champagne  Stakes,  I  men- 
tioned that  it  was  customary  for  the  winner  to 
give  six  dozen  of  that  wine  to  the  guests  who 
dined  at  the  Turf  Tavern  after  the  races.  His 
Lordship  therefore  instructed  me  to  give  the 
necessary  orders,  adding  that  he  hoped  in  this 
way  to  confer  some  slight  benefit  upon  the  hostess, 
Mrs  Bowe,  who  was  the  widow  of  Mr  John  Bowe, 
in  whose  name  some  of  his  Lordship's  horses  had 
previously  run  and  won,  most  notably  Grey  Momus, 


DRINKING    THE    CHAMPAGNE   STAKES.  231 

when  he  won  the  Two  Thousand  in  1838.  "Let 
the  supply  of  champagne  be  ample,  so  that  all  may 
enjoy  themselves,"  were  his  Lordship's  concluding 
words  to  me,  as  he  left  the  course  to  return  to 
Welbeck. 

The  Turf  Tavern  was  the  abode  during  the  Don- 
caster  race  week  of  a  jovial  crew,  including  Mr 
Dawson  (himself  the  most  hospitable  and  generous 
of  men),  and  his  employers,  Mr  William  Hope 
Johnstone,  Mr  Meiklam,  and  Mr  O'Brien.  In 
addition,  I  invited  John  and  Bill  Scott  to  dinner, 
and  any  friends  whom  they  might  like  to  bring 
with  them  from  The  Salutation,  where  John  Scott's 
horses  always  stood.  In  point  of  fact,  the  Turf 
Tavern  that  night  was  open  to  all  who  liked  to 
enter  its  doors,  and  champagne  flowed  like  water 
for  many  hours.  At  the  dinner -table  the  mirth 
was  fast  and  furious,  as  can  easily  be  imagined 
when  such  guests  as  Mr  Orde  of  Nunnykirk,  owner 
of  the  famous  Beeswing,  Mr  Pedley,  Mr  Wyndham 
Smith,  better  known  as  "  The  Assassin,"  and  many 
other  choice  spirits,  were  also  present. 

When  Lord  George  drove  over  next  morning 
from  Welbeck  to  Doncaster — there  was  no  Great 
Northern  Eailway  in  those  days — his  first  question 
to  me  was,  "  How  did  the  dinner  at  .the  Turf 
Tavern  go  off?"  I  replied  that  everybody  had 
enjoyed  himself  more  than  I  could  describe,  but 
that  I  feared  the  expense  would  exceed  his  Lord- 
ship's anticipations,  as  the  bill  for  wine,  almost 


232  GAINS   IN   1844   AND   1845. 

entirely  champagne,  amounted  to  about  £75,  show- 
ing that  the  traditional  six  dozen  had  been  greatly 
exceeded.  "  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it,"  rejoined  his 
Lordship.  "  We  do  not  win  the  Champagne  Stakes 
every  day,  and  I  hope  it  will  do  Mrs  Bowe  a  little 
good.  I  shall  be  only  too  glad  to  pay  the  same  bill 
for  wine  over  again  under  similar  circumstances." 
This  very  liberal  expenditure  on  his  Lordship's 
part  was  not  solely  due  to  Princess  Alice's  victory 
in  the  Champagne  Stakes,  but  was  also  prompted 
by  Ennui's  match.  I  have  already  mentioned  that 
his  Lordship  was  much  struck  by  Tom  Tulloch's 
good  looks  when  John  Scott  brought  him  as  a 
yearling  to  Doncaster  to  be  put  up  at  auction.  It 
was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  I  dissuaded 
his  Lordship  from  bidding  more  for  Tom  Tulloch 
than  1200  guineas,  seeing  that  he  was  a  colt  with 
heavy  shoulders,  roguish  eyes,  and  a  clubby  foot. 
Tom  Tulloch  was  knocked  down  to  Lord  Maidstone 
at  1500  guineas,  and  the  match  previously  alluded 
to  was  ratified.  John  Scott  thought  so  highly  of 
Tom  Tulloch  that  he  encouraged  Lord  Maidstone 
to  back  him  for  the  Two  Thousand  and  Derby  of 
1846  before  his  form  was  exposed  at  Doncaster, 
where  he  was  expected  to  show  his  heels  without 
difficulty  to  Ennui.  Tom  Tulloch  had  been  tried 
greatly  superior  to  Colonel  Anson's  lago,  who  ran 
second  to  Princess  Alice  for  the  Champagne,  and 
it  never  occurred  to  John  Scott  and  Frank  Butler 
that  a  little  scratching  filly  like  Ennui  could  beat 


TOM   TULLOCH.  233 

that  form.  As  I  was  saddling  Ennui,  and  giving 
Flatman  orders  to  come  right  through  with  her,  he 
said  to  me,  "  Give  what  orders  you  may,  you  are 
sure  to  be  beaten,  as  I  am  told  you  are  going 
to  meet  a  great  horse."  Lord  George,  however, 
was  not  in  a  mood  to  be  daunted,  as  he  knew 
there  was  not  much  between  Ennui  and  Prin- 
cess Alice,  by  the  latter  of  whom  he  had  won 
largely.  So  freely  did  his  Lordship  back  his  filly, 
that,  despite  the  great  reputation  of  John  Scott  on 
a  Yorkshire  race-course,  and  the  confidence  gene- 
rally reposed  in  his  judgment,  the  odds  were  never 
more  than  6  to  5  on  Tom  Tulloch.  When  the 
signal  was  given,  Flatman  made  running  as  hard 
as  his  filly  could  lay  legs  to  ground,  and,  to  the 
dismay  of  John  Scott  and  his  powerful  stable, 
Tom  Tulloch  showed  the  white  feather  before  the 
distance  was  reached,  and  Ennui  won  in  a  canter 
by  four  lengths.  I  then  ventured  to  remind  his 
Lordship  that  making  a  match  against  Tom 
Tulloch  was  more  profitable  than  buying  him, 
with  which  he  heartily  concurred.  Another  race 
which  brought  grist  to  his  Lordship's  mill  earlier 
in  that  same  year  was  the  Great  Ascot  Produce 
Stakes  of  100  sovereigns  each,  with  200  sovereigns 
added,  for  three -year -olds,  which  was  won  by 
Cowl,  who  beat  Mr  Wreford's  Winchelsea,  a  great 
Danebury  "pot."  The  betting  was  very  heavy, 
but  in  the  end  weight  of  money  told,  and  the 
odds  on  Cowl  were  3  to  1,  which  he  landed  in 


234  GAINS   IN    1844   AND    1845. 

a  canter  by  two  lengths.  Upon  a  number  of  small 
races  secured  by  the  Goodwood  stable  in  1845 
his  Lordship  won  considerable  sums,  and,  as  a 
rule,  he  had  the  market  all  to  himself.  I  re- 
member a  curious  race  at  Goodwood  in  which 
Lord  George,  always  fond  of  novelty,  had  recourse 
to  an  experiment  which  turned  out  entirely  to  his 
satisfaction,  when  Farthing  Candle,  a  two-year-old 
belonging  to  him,  won  the  Innkeepers'  Plate  in 
heats.  The  conditions  of  the  race  were  as  follows  : 
"  The  Innkeepers'  Plate  of  50  sovereigns  added  to 
a  sweepstakes  of  5  sovereigns  each,  for  two-year- 
olds,  a  feather ;  three,  7  stone  4  Ib.  ;  four,  8  stone  ; 
five,  8  stone  7  Ib.  ;  six  and  aged,  8  stone  10  Ib., 
the  winner  to  be  sold  for  £50  ;  heats,  T.  Y.  C." 
There  were  seven  starters,  and  the  betting  was  6  to 
4  against  Farthing  Candle,  7  to  2  against  the  Mus 
Colt,  and  4  to  1  against  Sister  to  Pompey.  The 
first  heat,  in  which  Farthing  Candle  cantered 
almost  at  the  tail  of  the  field  without  trying  for 
it,  was  won  by  Auricula,  who  immediately  became 
favourite  for  the  second  heat,  and  gave  Lord 
George  an  opportunity  of  investing  more  money  at 
a  good  price  upon  Farthing  Candle,  who  won  the 
second  and  third  heats  easily,  and  was  then  claimed 
by  Mr  Shelley.  It  must  be  confessed  that  in  this 
and  many  other  races  the  light  weight,  fine  judg- 
ment, and  good  horsemanship  of  Kitchener  were 
of  great  service  to  his  Lordship,  who  appreciated 
the  lad's  good  qualities  greatly — without  spoiling 


LORD  GEORGE'S  EXPENSES.  235 

him,  however,  as  is  now  the  fashion,  by  extrava- 
gant presents  and  undue  familiarity. 

It  was  not  without  heavy  expenditure  and 
strict  attention  to  business  that  Lord  George  was 
able  in  1845  to  win  58  races,  amounting  collectively 
in  value  to  between  £17,000  and  £18,000.  That 
year  his  Lordship  had  sixty  horses  in  training, 
thirty-six  of  which  started  in  1 9  5  races.  The  ac- 
counts sent  in  by  my  father  for  the  first  half  of 
the  year  were  £4358,  13s.  lljd.,  and  £5586,  5s.  6d. 
for  the  second  half,  making  together  an  aggregate 
of  £9944,  19s.  5Jd.  To  this  must  be  added 
jockey's  fees,  about  £800  ;  stakes,  £5970  ;  forfeits, 
£4420.  Nor  must  I  omit  to  include  his  Lordship's 
breeding-studs  at  Doncaster,  Bonehill,  and  Dane- 
bury, among  which  three  stallions,  sixty  brood- 
mares, and  from  forty  to  fifty  yearlings,  together 
with  about  the  same  number  of  foals,  were  dis- 
tributed. Taken  altogether,  his  Lordship's  ex- 
penses could  not  have  been  less  than  £40,000  in 
1845  —  a  large  sum  to  recover  before  anything 
could  be  put  to  the  profit  side.  His  Lordship 
was  well  aware — it  was,  indeed,  an  accepted  axiom 
in  those  days — that  without  heavy  and  successful 
betting  no  man  could  make  a  large  stud  pay  ;  and 
also,  that  without  the  closest  attention  to  details, 
trials,  and  the  public  running  of  his  own  and  of 
other  horses,  it  was  impossible  for  any  man  to 
win  by  betting.  There  can  be  no  question  that 
the  increasing  demands  of  his  Lordship's  parlia- 


236  GAINS   IN    1844   AND    1845. 

mentary  duties  towards  the  close  of  1845  and  at 
the  beginning  of  1846  made  it  difficult  for  him  to 
give  as  much  attention  to  his  stud  as  he  had  be- 
stowed upon  it  during  many  previous  years.  Mr 
Greville  truly  said  of  Lord  George  that  "  he  did 
nothing  by  halves/'  and  the  necessity  of  main- 
taining the  position  which  he  had  taken  up  in 
the  House  of  Commons  and  in  the  country  weighed 
heavily  upon  his  mind.  Among  the  few  books 
written  by  friends  and  contemporaries  of  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  there  is  none,  within  my  limited 
knowledge,  which  affords  a  clearer  insight  into 
his  Lordship's  character  than  the  '  Correspondence 
and  Diaries  of  the  Right  Honourable  John  Wilson 
Croker,'  which  appeared  in  1884.  From  it  I 
venture  to  quote  the  following  letter  : — 

"Lord  George  Bentinck  to  Mr  Croker. 

"  WELBECK,  near  WORKSOP,  NOTTS, 
October  5,  1847. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR  CROKER, — My  services,  such  as 
they  are,  shall  always  be  at  the  command  of  any 
one  like  yourself  who  can  put  the  facts  which  I 
am  able  to  collect  with  more  force  and  in  a  more 
striking  light  before  the  world. 

"  Virtually  an  uneducated  man,  never  intended 
or  attracted  by  taste  for  political  life,  in  the  House 
of  Commons  only  by  a  pure  accident,  indeed  by  an 
inevitable  and  undesired  chance,  I  am  well  aware 


LETTER   TO    ME,   CKOKER,  237 

of  my  own  incapacity  properly  to  fill  the  station 
into  which  I  have  been  thrust.  My  sole  ambition 
was  to  rally  the  broken  and  dispirited  forces  of  a 
betrayed  and  insulted  party,  and  to  avenge  the 
country  gentlemen  and  landed  aristocracy  of  Eng- 
land upon  the  Minister  who,  presuming  upon  their 
weakness,  falsely  flattered  himself  that  they  could 
be  trampled  upon  with  impunity. 

"  I  did  deceive  myself,  I  own,  with  false  hopes 
that  the  old  English  spirit  would  have  been 
roused,  and  that  it  was  only  necessary  to  keep  the 
dismantled  ship  floating  and  fighting  under  jury- 
masts  till  she  went  through  the  repairs  of  a  new 
election,  and  then  that  scores  of  better  men  than 
myself  would  have  come  to  her  rescue. 

"  I  own  I  am  bitterly  disappointed  and  broken- 
hearted that  England  has  proved  so  degenerate 
that,  in  face  of  an  emergency,  she  has  produced,  as 
far  as  I  can  see,  no  new  leader  to  take  my  place. 

"  When  their  rents  are  not  paid,  and  their  mort- 
gages are  called  in,  the  country  gentlemen  will 
exert  themselves,  and  so  will  the  farmers  when 
wheat  falls  under  45s.  per  quarter,  but  not  before. 

"  Nothing  but  pinching  adversity  will  bring  such 
men  to  a  proper  sense  of  their  duty. 

"  As  regards  the  gentlemen,  the  entire  fund  sub- 
scribed for  the  general  election  did  not,  I  believe, 
exceed  £8000,  and  of  this  King  Hudson  subscribed 
£6000. 

"  Till  the  landed  interest  and  the  colonial  and 


238  GAINS   IN    1844   AND    1845. 

shipping  interests  all  together  feel  intolerable  dis- 
tress, we  shall  do  no  good ;  but  in  my  conscience 
I  believe  if  the  Navigation  Laws  are  repealed, 
which  I  scarcely  doubt,  this  will  happen  within 
two  years. — Always  yours  most  sincerely, 

"G.  BENTINCK." 

It  will  not  seem  surprising  to  those  who  read 
this  and  other  letters,  addressed  about  the  same 
time  by  Lord  George  to  Mr  Croker,  that  his  Lord- 
ship should  have  found  it  impossible  to  conduct 
such  a  correspondence,  to  work  for  fifteen  or  six- 
teen hours  a-day,  and  simultaneously  to  manage 
a  stud  comprising  altogether  more  than  two  hun- 
dred head  of  thoroughbred  horses.  Long  before 
the  sale  "  of  everything,  from  little  Kitchener  to 
old  Bay  Middleton,"  I  saw  plainly  what  was  about 
to  happen.  For  the  present,  it  only  remains  for 
me  to  conclude  this  chapter  by  stating  that,  stim- 
ulated by  his  great  success  in  1845,  his  Lordship 
engaged  his  brood-mares  in  Produce  Stakes,  and 
his  yearlings  and  foals  at  the  end  of  that  year, 
to  an  extent  which  has,  I  believe,  never  been 
equalled  in  the  history  of  the  Turf  by  a  single 
individual.  He  began  by  entering  eighteen  colts 
in  the  Derby  and  eight  fillies  in  the  Oaks.  Five 
yearlings  or  foals  he  entered  in  Two  Hundred 
Sovereigns  and  Three  Hundred  Sovereigns  Stakes 
p.  p. ;  seventeen  brood-mares  in  Produce  Stakes 
of  one  hundred  sovereigns  each.  When  I  ap- 


ZENITH  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  CAREER.     239 

preached  his  Lordship  with  a  list  of  suggested 
engagements  for  stakes  which  closed  on  the  1st 
of  January  1846,  he  glanced  at  it  and  exclaimed, 
"  Surely  I  have  more  animals  which  ought  to  be 
put  into  these  important  stakes,"  meaning  the 
Two  Hundred  Sovereigns  and  Three  Hundred 
Sovereigns  races  at  Goodwood,  to  which  there  was 
no  forfeit.  In  the  end,  his  Lordship's  stakes  for 
1846  amounted  to  £35,115,  and  his  forfeits  to 
£22,110,  the  total  number  of  engagements  being 
479. 

The  point  in  his  Lordship's  racing  career  at 
which  I  have  now  arrived  was  its  zenith.  Had 
he  not  been  called  away  by  the  imperious  claims 
upon  him  made  by  what  he  considered  a  para- 
mount duty  to  his  country,  it  is  impossible  to 
say  to  what  magnitude  his  stud  and  his  engage- 
ments might  have  ascended.  Upon  two  of  his 
Derby  horses  since  he  came  to  Goodwood  in  1841, 
Gaper  and  Chatham,  I  had  known  him  stand  in 
each  case  to  win  between  £100,000  and  £150,000. 
Who  can  doubt  that  if  he  had  kept  Surplice 
and  Loadstone  in  his  own  hands,  he  would  have 
won  such  sums  upon  the  Two  Thousand,  Derby, 
and  St  Leger  of  1848  as  have  never  been  landed 
before  or  since  ?  I  have  known  other  rich  men 
who  could  not  stand  to  win  even  a  small  sum 
on  a  horse  without  betraying  the  most  painful 
excitement.  Lord  George,  on  the  contrary,  was 
perfectly  calm  ;  his  pulse  "  made  healthful  music  " 


240  GAINS   IN    1844   AND    1845. 

when  he  stood  to  win  more  than  £100,000  upon  a 
horse  like  Gaper,  whose  chance  he  thought  as  good 
if  not  better  than  that  of  Cotherstone,  the  first 
favourite  and  winner.  Under  every  test  to  which 
nerve  and  courage  could  be  put,  whether  at  two 
o'clock  P.M.  or  two  o'clock  A.M.,  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck,  who,  as  Mr  Greville  said  of  him,  "  was  afraid 
of  110  man,"  never  quailed,  and  was  never  found 
wanting. 


241 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 


IN  the  early  part  of  1846  Lord  George  Bentinck 
often  expressed  to  me  his  deep  regret  that,  by 
reason  of  the  severe  pressure  of  his  parliamentary 
duties,  he  found  himself  unable  to  devote  as  much 
time  as  he  could  wish  to  managing,  engaging, 
and  watching  the  running  of  his  race-horses  in 
training.  The  inevitable  consequence  of  this  pre- 
occupation was,  that  the  great  pleasure  which  his 
extraordinary  devotion  to  the  Turf  had  afforded 
him  was  now  at  an  end.  It  so  happened  that  on 
the  evening  of  the  third  day's  racing  at  Good- 
wood in  1846,  after  the  Cup  had  been  won  by  Mr 
O'Brien's  Grimston,  some  of  the  guests  assembled 
round  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  table  fell  to  discuss- 
ing the  magnitude  of  Lord  George's  racing  estab- 
lishments, and  the  large  number  of  horses  that  he 
had  in  training.  Suddenly  his  Lordship,  who  ap- 
peared to  be  more  than  half  asleep,  struck  into 
the  conversation  with  the  question,  "  Will  any  of 

Q 


242       SALE  OF  LOUD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

you  give  me  £10,000  for  all  my  lot,  beginning 
with  old  Bay  Middleton  and  ending  with  little 
Kitchener,  and  take  them  with  all  their  engage- 
ments and  responsibilities  off  my  hands  ? "  Mr 
George  Payne  immediately  replied,  "  If  you  will 
give  me  till  to-morrow  at  noon,  Bentinck,  to  con- 
sider the  matter,  I  will  either  accept  your  offer 
or  will  pay  you  down  £300  if  I  decline  it." 
"  Agreed,"  said  Lord  George,  quietly ;  and  upon 
that  Mr  Payne  sat  down  by  his  Lordship's  side, 
and  they  entered  into  a  long  sotto  voce  conversa- 
tion with  each  other.  Mr  Payne  remarked  that 
his  own  trainer,  Montgomery  Dilly,  was  not  equal 
to  the  task  of  training  so  many  horses,  and  presid- 
ing over  such  a  monster  establishment,  and  there- 
fore he  asked  Lord  George  to  advise  him  what  to 
do  in  case  a  bargain  was  concluded  between  them. 
His  Lordship  was  pleased  to  advise  Mr  Payne  to 
engage  me  to  train  the  horses  and  to  manage  the 
stud ;  adding  that,  from  my  long  experience  in 
connection  with  the  Goodwood  stable,  I  knew  the 
horses  and  their  dispositions  thoroughly,  and  was 
better  qualified  than  any  other  man  to  undertake 
the  business.  Thereupon  Mr  Payne  sent  for  me 
immediately,  and  from  him  I  learned  for  the  first 
time  that  Lord  George  had  resolved  to  quit  the 
Turf.  Knowing  his  Lordship's  inflexibility  and 
the  iron  firmness  of  his  character,  I  was  well 
aware  that  it  was  useless  for  me,  or  for  any  one 
else,  to  attempt  to  turn  him  from  his  purpose. 


MR    GEORGE    PAYNE'S    OFFER.  243 

The  announcement  was,  however,  a  great  blow  to 
me,  although  his  Lordship's  repeated  intimations 
that  he  could  no  longer  carry  on  his  racing  and 
his  political  careers  simultaneously  should  have 
prepared  me  for  his  decision.  Even  at  that  early 
date  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  his  Lord- 
ship had,  in  Surplice  and  Loadstone,  the  two 
best  yearlings  that  he  ever  owned ;  and  none  of 
the  friends  with  whom  I  was  intimate  could  have 
failed  to  understand  what  inexpressible  pleasure  it 
would  have  given  me  to  win  the  Derby  for  my 
beloved  and  honoured  master,  with  a  horse  bred 
by  himself — a  son  of  his  old  favourite,  the  peerless 
Crucifix. 

Scarely  had  I  found  myself  alone  with  Mr 
Payne  before  he  announced  his  intention  of  leasing 
Michel  Grove,  near  Worthing  (which  was  then  to 
be  let),  if  I  would  consent  to  take  charge  of  all 
the  horses.  Mr  Payne  added  that  if  I  would 
become  his  private  trainer,  he  would  give  me  £500 
a-year  beyond  what  I  was  in  receipt  of  from  the 
Duke  of  Richmond  and  Lord  George.  Although 
much  distressed  at  the  prospect  of  losing  such  a 
master  as  Lord  George,  I  thanked  Mr  Payne  as 
best  I  could  for  his  flattering  and  generous  offer, 
and  for  the  confidence  which  he  was  pleased  to 
repose  in  me.  I  added,  however,  that  it  was 
impossible  for  me  to  close  with  him  until  I  had 
ascertained  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  wishes  upon 
the  subject,  as  his  Grace  was  also  my  master,  and 


244       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

had  been  so  long  before  Lord  George  joined  the 
Goodwood  Stable.  At  this  moment  a  note  was 
brought  in  and  handed  to  me,  with  a  verbal  request 
that  I  would  read  it  at  once.  Having  obtained 
Mr  Payne's  permission,  I  opened  it,  and  found  that 
it  contained  a  request  from  the  Duchess  of 
Richmond  that  I  would  go  and  see  her  Grace 
before  I  returned  to  my  own  house. 

Immediately  upon  leaving  Mr  Payne,  to  whom  I 
respectfully  refused  to  bind  myself,  one  way  or  the 
other,  until  the  evening  of  the  next  day,  I  was 
ushered  into  the  Duchess's  boudoir,  where  I  found 
her  Grace,  accompanied  by  two  or  three  younger 
members  of  her  family.  I  shall  never  forget  the 
scene.  Her  Grace's  kindness  and  sympathetic 
nature  were  well  known  to  all  her  friends  and 
dependants,  and  of  these  inestimable  qualities  I 
had  already  received  from  her  a  thousand  proofs. 
When,  therefore,  she  inquired  with  unrepressed 
emotion,  "  John,  is  it  true  that  you  are  about  to 
leave  us  and  to  train  for  Mr  Payne  ?  "  I  felt  as  if 
I  was  going  to  break  down  completely,  and  it  was 
with  no  little  difficulty  that  I  could  find  voice  to 
reply,  "  Your  Grace,  it  appears  that  Lord  George 
has  offered  Mr  Payne  his  stud  at  a  ridiculously 
low  figure,  and  has  recommended  me  to  Mr  Payne 
as  better  able  to  train  and  manage  them  than  any 
one  else.  I  have  already  told  Mr  Payne,  however, 
that  I  can  enter  into  no  arrangement  with  him 
until  I  have  ascertained  the  pleasure  of  his  Grace." 


•)  &  €, 


MR   PAYNE    PAYS    FORFEIT.  245 

"  John,"  rejoined  her  Grace,  "  if  you  leave  Good- 
wood, there  will  be  an  end  to  the  delight  and 
pride  which  we  have  all  taken  in  the  horses.  As 
long  as  his  Grace  lives  he  will  always  keep  horses, 
and  so  long  there  will  be  a  comfortable  home  for 
you."  Without  a  moment's  hesitation  I  answered, 
"If  it  be  his  Grace's  wish  and  your  own  that  I 
should  continue  at  Goodwood,  I  will  not  leave 
it  until  you  wish  me  to  do  so." 

I  did  not  see  Mr  Payne  again  that  night,  but 
what  I  had  said  to  her  Grace  was  quickly  com- 
municated to  him.  Next  morning  at  breakfast  he 
pulled  out  his  pocket-book,  and  without  a  word 
handed  £300  to  Lord  George,  who,  I  have  no 
doubt,  was  sorry  under  the  circumstances  to 
receive  the  forfeit.  Upon  reaching  the  race- 
course, I  found  that  every  one  knew  what  had 
transpired  on  the  previous  evening,  and  that 
morning  at  Goodwood  House,  and  that  the  desire 
to  purchase  Lord  George's  magnificent  stud  for 
what  one  gentleman  described  as  "a  crust  of 
bread"  was  almost  universal.  Among  others,  a 
group  consisting  partly  of  gentlemen  and  partly  of 
bookmakers,  with  Mr  Henry  Padwick  of  Horsham 
—  commonly  called  "  The  Sussex  Lawyer  "  —  at 
their  head,  were  conspicuously  busy  in  making  pre- 
parations, until  their  further  negotiations  were 
summarily  arrested  by  Lord  George's  declaration 
to  me  that  "  nothing  would  induce  him  to  sell  to 
a  set  of  bookmakers."  He  added  that  unless  some 


246       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

nobleman,  or  gentleman  of  position,  or  two  or 
three  of  them  in  combination,  should  arrange  to 
purchase  the  stud,  and  to  accept  the  grave 
responsibilities  involved  in  forfeits  amounting  to 
about  £18,000,  he  would  not  sell  at  all. 

It  so  happened  that  the  Hon.  Edward  Mostyn 
Lloyd  Mostyn,  who  was  then  forty  years  of  age, 
and  who  became  second  Baron  Mostyn  on  the 
death  of  his  father  in  1854,  was  at  that  time 
on  intimate  terms  with  Lord  George  Bentinck, 
who  had  taken  great  interest  in  his  splendid 
Velocipede  mare,  Queen  of  Trumps,  after  she 
defeated  Preserve  in  the  Oaks.  Lord  George's 
judicious  advice  had  powerfully  contributed  to 
Queen  of  Trumps  winning  the  St  Leger,  upon 
which,  as  before  explained,  Lord  George  was 
a  large  winner.  After  conferring  with  his 
cousin,  Mr  Cynric  Lloyd,  who  was  an  ardent 
devotee  of  the  Turf,  Mr  Mostyn  resolved  to 
approach  Lord  George  and  to  make  him  an  offer 
for  the  whole  stud,  on  the  understanding  that  the 
horses  then  in  training  at  Goodwood  might  remain 
there  so  long  as  he  and  Mr  Lloyd  should  desire. 
The  bargain  was  soon  concluded,  and  in  this 
manner  208  thoroughbreds — viz.,  3  stallions,  50 
horses  in  training,  70  brood-mares,  40  yearlings, 
and  45  foals — passed  into  Mr  Mostyn 's  hands. 
The  following  letter  from  Lord  George  apprised 
me  of  the  unwelcome  intelligence  that  I  should 
probably  never  see  his  colours — light-blue  jacket 


A*wCT 

LJ 


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«~ 


-C/K 


IJLJJL 


BOUGHT   BY   THE    HON.    MR   MOSTYN.  247 

with  white  cap — on  a  race-course  again,  although 
it  was  destined  that  Slander  should  carry  them  to 
victory  at  York  for  the  last  time,  albeit  the  Prince 
of  Wales's  Stakes,  which  Slander  won  in  the  old 
jacket,  went  to  Mr  Mostyn's  credit.  Lord 
George's  letter,  which  Mr  Cynric  Lloyd  brought 
to  me  at  the  York  August  Meeting  in  question, 
was  in  these  words  : — 

"HARCOURT  HOUSE, 

August  18,  1846,  7  P.M. 

"  JOHN  KENT, — Mr  Mostyn  has  purchased  my 
stud.  Mr  C.  Lloyd,  his  cousin,  is  the  bearer  to 
you  of  this  letter,  and  from  this  time  Mr  Mostyn 
stands  in  my  shoes.  Carts,  cart-horses,  saddling, 
and  horse-clothes  are  all  included  in  the  sale. 

"  You  will  therefore,  as  regards  my  horses,  from 
this  time  receive  your  instructions  from  Mr  Mostyn 
or  Mr  Lloyd,  as  may  be  settled  between  them.' — I 
am,  your  obedient  servant,  G.  BENTINCK. 

"  To  Mr  JOHN  KENT,  Junr." 

Mr  Lloyd  handed  me  Lord  George's  letter  just 
before  the  races  commenced  on  the  first  day  of  the 
York  Meeting.  I  had  prepared  his  Lordship's  two- 
year-old  filly  Slander,  by  Pantaloon. out  of  Pasqui- 
nade, to  run  for  the  Prince  of  Wales's  Stakes.  She 
was  own  sister  to  Mr  A.  W.  Hill's  celebrated  horse 
The  Libel,  and,  like  him,  was  bred  by  the  Marquis 
of  Westminster,  who  was  at  that  time  the  owner 
of  Touchstone  and  Pantaloon,  probably  the  two 


248  SALE   OF   LORD    GEOKGE's    STUD. 

best  stallions  in  the  world.  Previous  to  her  York 
engagement,  Slander  had  already  won  the  New 
Stakes  at  Ascot. 

There  was  no  time  to  substitute  Mr  Mostyn's 
colours,  yellow  jacket  and  black  cap,  for  Lord 
George's,  and  with  a  heavy  heart  I  saddled  the 
last  animal  that  I  thought  would  ever  run  in  that 
familiar  jacket,  w^hich  in  the  last  three  years  I  had 
so  often  seen  carried  to  victory.  I  have  ever  since 
taken  a  pride  in  reflecting  that  on  the  very  last 
appearance  of  Lord  George's  colours  they  occupied 
their  accustomed  place  in  the  van.  There  were 
twenty-one  starters  for  the  Prince  of  Wales's  Stakes 
— a  larger  field  than  is  commonly  seen  at  the  post 
in  these  days.  Mr  Mostyn  had  another  filly  en- 
gaged, called  Twysoges,  by  Picaroon  out  of  Her 
Highness,  who  could  run  a  little ;  and  in  addition, 
there  was  Mr  Payne's  Clementina,  by  Venison  out 
of  Bay  Middleton's  dam,  who  was  very  smart,  and 
started  first  favourite.  The  race  ended  thus  : — 

Mr  Mostyn's  b.  f.  Slander  (Abdale),  1. 

Mr  Payne's  b.  f.  Clementina  (Flatman),  2. 

Mr  Mostyn's  b.  f.  Twysoges  (Bumby),  3. 

Mr  Mostyn's  c.  Vice-Consul  (H.  Bell),  4. 

Seventeen  others  unplaced.     Won  cleverly  by  a  length. 

The  fourth  horse,  Vice-Consul,  was  Lord  George's 
second  string,  whom  1  brought  to  York  in  case 
Slander  should  go  amiss  or  get  disappointed  in  the 
race.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  very  first  race 
in  which  Lord  George's  horses  ran  as  Mr  Mostyn's 


MB  MOSTYN'S  ARRANGEMENTS.  249 

property,  the  latter  gentleman  was  first,  third,  and 
fourth,  the  winner  being  one  of  Lord  George's  lot. 
Scarcely  was  the  race  over  before  Mr  Payne 
remarked  to  me,  with  his  usual  bonhomie,  "  So  you 
have  beaten  me  the  first  time  you  ran  against  me 
after  refusing  to  become  my  trainer  ! "  Mr  Lloyd 
was  much  elated  at  winning  such  a  race  the  first 
time  of  asking,  and  all  the  more  so  because,  by  my 
advice,  he  backed  Slander.  Upon  the  Monday 
following  York  Eaces  Mr  Mostyn  and  Mr  Lloyd 
came  to  Goodwood  to  inspect  the  stud  they  had 
purchased,  and  to  make  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments for  the  future.  Naturally  their  first  and 
greatest  desire  was  to  reduce  the  number  of 
animals  feeding  at  Mr  Mostyn's  expense,  and  to 
limit  the  outgoings  as  soon  as  possible.  Their  first 
design,  and  that  wrhich  seemed  to  be  the  most 
prudent  plan  under  the  circumstances,  was  to  offer 
the  whole  of  Lord  George  Bentinck's  stud  for  sale 
by  auction,  and  to  buy  in  what  they  wished  to 
keep ;  but  this  did  not  appear  to  me  at  all  the  best 
course.  In  the  first  place,  I  entertained  strong 
doubts  whether  it  would  be  agreeable  to  the  Duke 
of  Richmond  to  have  a  monster  sale  of  this  kind  at 
Goodwood.  If  his  Grace  objected  —  and  I  felt 
pretty  sure  that  he  would — to  such  a  proceeding, 
I  considered  that  it  would  be  a  great  risk  to  send 
heavily  engaged  horses  by  railway  to  London,  to 
thread  their  way  in  large  numbers  through 
crowded  thoroughfares  to  Tattersall's.  *It  will 


250       SALE  OF  LOUD  GEORGE' S  STUD. 

be  remembered  that  in  1846  railways  were  in 
their  infancy,  and  that  the  skill  and  safety  with 
which  race-horses  are  now  boxed  and  despatched 
on  a  long*  journey  were  then  unknown.  Besides, 
it  was  certain  that  bidders  would  fight  shy  as  soon 
as  they  found  that  the  sale  was  not  "  without 
reserve."  It  therefore  seemed  to  me  that  by  far 
the  best  plan  would  be  for  Mr  Mostyn  and  Mr 
Lloyd  to  select  the  animals  which  they  wished  to 
retain,  and  to  send  the  rest  by  instalments  to 
Tattersall's.  The  public,  I  argued,  were  naturally 
prepared  to  learn  that  Mr  Mostyn  intended  to 
largely  reduce  the  enormous  expenses  attaching  to 
such  a  stud,  and  were  expecting  a  bond  fide  sale 
of  a  considerable  portion  of  it. 

To  these  views  Mr  Mostyn  assented,  and  on 
September  7,  1846,  a  huge  draft  was  sold  at 
Hyde  Park  Corner,  and,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  drew  a  large  attendance.  Thirty  lots 
were  put  up — viz.,  nineteen  brood-mares  (by  no 
means  the  cream  of  the  stud),  three  yearlings,  and 
eight  horses  in  training.  All  sold  well,  Princess 
Alice  fetching  the  top  price.  This  day's  sale 
realised  3195  guineas.  On  Tuesday  the  two-year- 
olds,  seventeen  in  number  (Tattered-and-Torn 
having  been  presented  to  one  of  the  Duke  of 
Richmond's  daughters  and  thrown  up),  which  had 
been  inspected  at  Goodwood  by  breeders  from  all 
quarters,  were  put  up,  but  to  very  little  purpose, 
only  two  being  sold — viz.,  Blackcock  (engaged  in 


SALE   AT   TATTERS  ALL'S.  251 

the  Champagne  at  Doncaster,  in  the  Criterion  and 
Clearwell  at  Newmarket,  and  the  Drawing-room 
Stakes  at  Goodwood)  for  250  guineas,  and  Growl 
(in  the  Oaks,  Gratwicke,  and  a  50-Guinea  Stake 
at  Newmarket)  for  70  guineas,  with  their  engage- 
ments. Master  Butler  (engaged  in  the  Drawing- 
room  and  St  Leger,  1847,  and  the  300  Sovereigns 
Stakes  at  Goodwood,  1848)  was  privately  sold, 
with  his  engagements,  for  £30.  Particulars  of 
the  first  day's  sale  are  subjoined  :— 

Brood-Mares. 

Guineas. 

The  Maid  of  Orleans,  ch.  m.,  4  yrs.,  by  Jereed  out  of 

Anchorite's  dam,  &c. ;  covered  by  Slane  .  .  200 
Charlotte,  b.  m.,  5  yrs.,  by  Liverpool  out  of  Brocade ; 

covered  by  Slane .  100 

Charming  Kate,  sister  to  Coronation,  5  yrs. ;  covered 

by  Slane 90 

Mora,  4  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Malvina ; 

covered  by  Slane  .  .  .  .  .  70 

Souvenance,  b.  m.,  7  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of 

Souvenir ;  covered  by  Emilius  .  .  .  .  62 
Ratifia,  b.  m.,  4  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Cama- 

rine's  dam ;  covered  by  Emilius  .  .  • .  .  60 
Papilio,  b.  m.,  5  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Bob 

Peel's  dam ;  covered  by  Emilius  .  .  .  .56 
Yawn,  sister  to  Gaper,  5  yrs. ;  covered  by  Emilius  .  54 
My  Dear,  b.  m.,  5  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Miss 

Letty ;  covered  by  Emilius  .  .  ,  .  .  54 
Supine,  b.  m.,  4  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Mar- 
rowfat;  covered  by  Slane  .  .  .  .  .  52 
All-round-my-Hat,  br.  m.,  5  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton 

out  of  Chapeau  d'Espagne     .         ;  -      * '•+'.'  .'       .         50 


252  SALE    OF   LORD    GEORGE'S    STUD. 

Guineas. 

Nightcap,  4  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Chapeau 

d'Espagne ;  covered  by  Slane  .  .  »  •  49 

Pulce,  b.  m.,  4  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Puce ; 

covered  by  Emilius 41 

Kitten,  4  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Pussy  ; 

covered  by  Emilius 40 

Skill,  br.  m.,  5  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Skilful ; 

covered  by  Emilius 39 

The  Dutch  Girl,  b.  m.,  3  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out 

of  Flamande ;  covered  by  Emilius  .  .  .  30 
Clink,  b.  m.,  5  yrs.,  by  Glaucus  out  of  Jingle ;  covered 

by  Emilius 30 

Alva,  5  yrs.,  sister  to  Mora ;  covered  by  Emilius  .  26 
Phantasima,  by  Phantom ;  covered  by  Emilius  .  15 

Horses  in  Training. 

Princess  Alice,  3  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Her 

Majesty 600 

Blackbird,  3  yrs.,  by  Plenipo  out  of  Volage       .         .  320 
Comrade,  4  yrs.,  by  Bentley ;  dam  by  Picton    .         .  300 
Marquis  of  Conyngham,  3  yrs.,  by  Slane  out  of  Volup- 
tuary      260 

Discord,  aged,  by  Mulatto  out  of  Melody  .         .         .165 

Clumsy,  4  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Skilful       .  150 

Pug,  4  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Barbiche          .  110 

A  bay  yearling  colt,  by  Elis  out  of  Miss  Petworth    .  300 

A  bay  yearling  colt,  by  Col  wick  out  of  Skilful  .  100 
Sombrero,  3  yrs.,  by  Bay  Middleton  out  of  Chapeau 

d'Espagne 55 

A  chestnut  yearling  colt,  by  Bran  out  of  Katherine  .  17 

On  Tuesday,  Dean  Swift,  The  Merry  Monarch, 
and  Playful  were  put  up,  and  the  latter  sold  for 
30  guineas.  The  Merry  Monarch  was  bought  in 
for  88  guineas.  Total  produce  of  the  two  days' 


SALE    OF   SURPLUS    STOCK.  253 

sale,  £3720,  15s.  What  a  contrast  to  the  prices 
realised  by  blood-stock  since  !  Princess  Alice  was 
bought  by  Mr  B.  Green,  and  went  into  H.  Steb- 
bing's  stable  at  Hambleton. 

Soon  after  this  sale  Mr  Mostyn  was  offered 
£5000  for  the  two-year-olds  Planet  and  Slander, 
which  he  refused.  Simultaneously  £7000  were 
offered  for  Crucifix,  and  for  the  two  yearlings  Sur- 
plice and  Loadstone,  which  offer  was  also  refused. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  what  a  phenomenal  bargain 
Mr  Mostyn  had  made  in  buying  208  thoroughbreds 
—to  say  nothing  of  cart-horses,  clothing,  bridles, 
saddles,  buckets,  brushes,  rubbers,  and  all  other 
paraphernalia  of  a  racing-stable  in  full  blast — for 
£10,000,  when  he  was  able  in  a  couple  of  months 
to  refuse  £12,000  for  four  animals  amongst  this 
splendid  lot.  As  it  turned  out,  neither  Planet  nor 
Slander  were  very  fortunate  as  race-horses.  At 
Goodwood,  Planet  in  1846  won  the  Molecomb 
Stakes,  value  £650.  At  Doncaster,  he  ran  second 
to  Van  Tromp  for  the  Champagne  Stakes ;  but 
later  in  the  year  he  won  the  Glasgow  Stakes  at 
Newmarket,  value  £800.  Next  year  he  won  as 
a  three-year-old  a  Sweepstakes,  value  £800,  at 
the  Craven  Meeting ;  ran  second  for  the  Two 
Thousand  to  Sir  Robert  Pigot's  Conyngham,  who 
was  ridden  by  Jem  Robinson ;  won  the  Racing 
Stakes  at  Goodwood,  value  1150  sovereigns, 
ridden  by  F.  Butler ;  was  beaten  for  the  Derby, 
won  by  Mr  Pedley's  ch.  c.  Cossack,  by  Hetman 


254       SALE  OF  LOUD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

Platoff  (War  Eagle  being  second  and  Van  Tromp 
third),  ridden  by  Flatman ;  was  beaten  in  the 
Doncaster  St  Leger  by  Lord  Eglinton's  Van 
Tromp,  Cossack  being  second  and  Lord  Eglinton's 
Eryx  third. 

As  regards  Slander,  she  was  beaten  at  Doncaster 
by  Mr  Pedley's  Foreclosure  for  the  Two-year-old 
Stakes  in  1846  :  later  in  the  year  she  won  the 
Eutland  Stakes  at  Newmarket,  value  £270  ;  broke 
a  blood-vessel  after  passing  the  Judge's  chair,  and 
never  won  again.  She  ran  second  to  Mr  Payne's 
Clementina  for  the  One  Thousand  in  1847,  and 
second  to  the  same  filly  for  the  Nassau  Stakes 
at  Goodwood.  In  the  Oaks  she  was  ridden 
by  Bartholomew,  and  started  at  11  to  2,  but  was 
beaten  out  of  place  by  Sir  Joseph  Hawley's  Miami, 
Mr  Payne's  Clementina  being  second  and  Captain 
Harcourt's  Ellerdale  third,  Slander  finishing  sixth 
in  a  field  of  twenty-three.  In  the  Park  Hill 
Stakes,  Doncaster,  she  ran  second  to  Ellerdale. 
At  the  Stud,  Slander,  despite  her  splendid  breed- 
ing— by  Pantaloon  from  an  own  sister  to  Touch- 
stone— was  even  more  unsuccessful  than  upon  the 
race-course.  Between  1850  and  1858  she  pro- 
duced nothing  worth  training  for  her  then  owner, 
Lord  Clifden,  at  whose  sale  in  1859  Lord  Fal- 
mouth  purchased  her ;  but  she  produced  six  very 
moderate  foals,  and  after  being  barren  for  two 
years  was  destroyed  in  1866,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two. 


SURPLICE   AND    LOADSTONE.  255 

If,  however,  the  later  careers  of  Planet  and 
Slander  were  destined  "  to  unbeseem  the  promise 
of  their  spring,"  very  different  was  the  case  with 
Surplice  and  Loadstone.  I  have  already  stated 
that  each  of  them,  when  tried  as  yearlings,  per- 
formed so  well  that  the  brightest  auguries  were 
formed  for  their  future.  As  a  yearling,  Surplice, 
who  was  named  by  Lord  George  Bentinck,  showed 
considerable  speed,  which  is  not  always  concomi- 
tant with  great  size  and  an  extremely  lazy  dis- 
position. Moreover,  his  action  appeared  to  me 
to  be  that  of  a  stayer.  In  addition  to  all  Lord 
George's  other  yearlings,  Surplice  beat  some  speedy 
old  horses  very  easily  indeed ;  and,  being  the  son 
of  Touchstone  and  of  Crucifix,  it  was  natural  that 
great  hopes  should  be  built  upon  him  after  he  had 
won  his  trial  in  such  grand  style.  It  was  at  once 
determined  to  reserve  him  for  the  Derby,  and  to 
make  no  more  two-year-old  engagements  for  him 
than  those  in  which  he  was  already  entered. 
Loadstone,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  smaller 
horse ;  and,  being  possessed  of  capital  speed,  was 
engaged  in  a  great  many  two-year-old  stakes,  in- 
cluding the  Champagne,  and  the  Two-year-old 
Stakes  at  Doncaster,  and  the  Clearwell,  Prender- 
gast,  and  Criterion  at  Newmarket. 

Although  Lord  George  had  ceased  to  be  the 
owner  of  Surplice  and  Loadstone,  his  interest  in 
them  seemed  to  revive  when  he  heard  from  Mr 
Mostyn  that  they  had  been  favourably  tried  as 


256       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

yearlings.  He  was  .very  anxious  that  they  should 
not  leave  Goodwood,  for  which  beautiful  domain 
his  affection  was  undiminished  to  the  last  hour  of 
his  life.  On  Christmas  Day  1846  he  wrote  a 
letter  from  Welbeck  Abbey,  which  showed  that 
politics  had  not  quenched  his  ardent  spirit.  It 
was  couched  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  WELBECK,  near  WORKSOP,  NOTTS, 
Dec.  25,  1846. 

"  JOHN  KENT, — I  am  very  glad  to  hear  Mr 
Mostyn  has  a  good  promise  in  the  yearlings,  and 
trust  that  between  this  and  next  Goodwood  Races 
everything  will  be  made  pleasant  and  right,  so 
that  the  horses  may  permanently  continue  at 
Goodwood.  I  hope  your  father  will  lose  no  op- 
portunity of  getting  the  Duke's  permission  to  this 
effect. 

"  Let  the  Duke  once  take  an  interest  in  any  of 
Mr  Mostyn's  horses  as  a  Derby  horse,  and  he  will 
be  as  anxious  about  him  as  if  he  were  his  own, 
and  as  unwilling  as  I  should  be  to  see  him  leave 
Goodwood. 

"  I,  who  stood  to  win  above  £100,000  on  Gaper, 
was  scarcely  more  interested  in  him  than  the  Duke 
was  before  the  Derby  of  1843.  I  believe  Mr 
Mostyn  never  bets  a  shilling. — I  am,  your  obedient 
servt.,  G.  BENTINCK." 

No  one  was  more  gratified  than  his  Lordship 
when  he  heard  that  Surplice's  merit  as  a  yearling* 


SURPLICE  AS  A  YEARLING.         257 

had  been  ascertained  to  my  entire  satisfaction. 
A  commission  was  given  by  his  Lordship,  with 
Mr  Mostyn's  consent  and  approval,  to  back  Sur- 
plice for  the  Derby,  and  in  it  the  late  Duke  of 
Richmond  and  every  member  of  the  Goodwood 
family  participated,  obtaining  liberal  odds.  When 
Surplice  made  his  debut  for  the  Ham  Stakes,  at 
Goodwood,  in  1847,  he  was  ridden  by  Flatman, 
who  received  orders  to  make  a  good  pace,  and  to 
keep  him  going,  as  he  was  a  very  idle  horse.  I 
impressed  upon  Flatman  also  the  necessity  of  not 
easing  or  checking  his  mount  if  he  found  himself 
(as  I  expected  he  would)  to  be  winning  easily. 
He  told  me  after  the  race  that  he  had  won  before 
half  the  distance  was  run,  but  that  he  let  him 
stride  along  at  three-parts  speed,  winning  in  a 
common  canter.  The  betting  was  7  to  4  on  Sur- 
plice, "who,"  according  to  the  'Racing  Calendar/ 
"  took  the  lead,  kept  it,  and  won  very  easily  by 
two  lengths." 

It  was  natural  that  such  a  fine,  upstanding, 
good  -  looking  colt,  the  son  of  Touchstone  and 
Crucifix,  should  attract  very  general  attention 
and  admiration,  with  the  result  that,  after  his  easy 
victory  in  the  Ham,  Surplice  was  freely  backed 
for  the  Derby  at  comparatively  short  odds.  The 
Ham  was  run  for  as  usual  on  the  first  day ;  and 
upon  the  last  day  of  the  meeting  Surplice  and 
Loadstone  were  engaged  in  a  200  Sovereign 
Two-year-old  Stakes,  with  eight  subscribers.  I 

E, 


258       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

advised  Mr  Mostyn  to  run  them  both,  and  to 
declare  to  win  with  Surplice,  whose  idleness,  I 
thought,  would  make  him  appear  to  win  with  some 
difficulty.  Loadstone,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
such  a  free  runner  that  spectators  might  easily 
imagine  that  he  could  have  beaten  Surplice  but 
for  the  declaration  to  win  with  the  latter.  I 
little  anticipated,  however,  that  the  rider  of  Load- 
stone would  be  deceived  as  to  the  comparative 
merits  of  the  two.  Flatman,  who  rode  Surplice, 
had  orders  to  make  running,  and  to  win  after 
making  the  best  semblance  that  he  could  of  a  race. 
Loadstone  was  ridden  by  Frank  Butler,  whom  I 
told  to  wait  upon  Mr  Dixon's  Hope  (a  Danebury 
filly  upon  whom  her  party  were  rather  sweet),  and 
to  beat  her  if  he  could  in  the  event  of  her  having 
the  foot  of  Surplice.  As  the  race  came  off,  Surplice 
made  the  pace  so  good  that  Hope  was  soon  beaten, 
and  the  former  won  in  a  canter  by  three  lengths. 
Immediately  after  the  race  I  asked  Frank  Butler 
how  Loadstone  had  carried  him.  "  Very  well 
indeed,"  he  replied,  with  a  broad  grin ;  "I  could 
have  won  far  enough  had  I  been  wanted  ! " 

When  he  left  me  Frank  Butler  joined  his  first 
master  and  great  friend,  Colonel  Anson,  and  told 
him  that  Loadstone  would  have  won  easily  "had 
his  head  been  loose."  This  intimation,  coinciding 
with  what  the  public  observed  as  to  the  running  of 
the  lazy  horse  and  that  of  his  free  stable  com- 
panion, soon  had  the  effect  of  making  Surplice 


SURPLICE   AS   A   TWO-YEAR-OLD.  259 

recede  in  the  Derby  betting.  Lord  Enfield  (after- 
wards Earl  of  Strafford)  had  executed  the  stable 
commission  about  Surplice  for  the  Derby  before 
he  won  the  Ham,  and  he  was  requested  by  the 
Goodwood  party  to  continue  backing  him,  if  the 
odds  increased.  The  opportunity  was  not  long  in 
coming.  That  night,  after  dinner  at  Goodwood 
House,  Colonel  Anson  offered  £15,000  to  £2000 
against  Surplice  for  the  Derby,  which  was  accepted 
by  Lord  Enfield.  It  subsequently  transpired 
that  the  Hon.  Francis  Villiers,  youngest  son  of  the 
fifth  Earl  of  Jersey  (the  owner  of  Middleton, 
Cobweb,  Bay  Middleton,  Glencoe,  and  many  other 
great  race-horses),  stood  half  of  the  bet  laid  by 
Colonel  Anson. 

As  a  two-year-old  Surplice  ran  only  once  after 
his  two  races  at  Goodwood,  in  the  Municipal 
Stakes  at  Doncaster,  200  sovereigns  each,  where  he 
met  Sir  Richard  Bulkeley's  Miss  Orbell,  whom  he 
beat  "  hands  down,"  with  odds  of  10  to  1  laid  freely 
on  him.  I  remember  that  Admiral  (then  Captain) 
Rous  laid  Mr  William  Whitfield  (who  is  still 
living)  £100  to  £10  on  Surplice.  The  Admiral 
was  fond  of  laying  long  odds  on  a  "  certainty," 
and  in  this  case  he  had  no  occasion  for  anxiety. 
Finally,  Surplice  walked  over  at  Newmarket  for 
the  Buckenham  Stakes,  300  sovereigns,  half-forfeit, 
and  then  went  into  winter  quarters  with  an  un- 
beaten record. 

Simultaneously  Loadstone,  upon  whom  Colonel 


260       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

Anson  and  Mr  Francis  Villiers  built  the  highest 
expectations,  ran  several  times.  He  was  beaten 
by  a  neck  at  Doncaster  by  Mr  B.  Green's  Assault 
(another  Touchstone  colt,  out  of  Ghuznee,  winner 
of  the  Oaks),  after  meeting  with  a  great  disap- 
pointment in  the  race,  the  general  opinion  being 
that  Loadstone  ought  to  have  won.  Next  day 
he  won  the  Produce  Stakes  in  a  canter,  beating 
Colonel  Anson' s  Contessa.  At  Newmarket  he  ran 
for  the  Prendergast,  which  he  won  easily  by  two 
lengths,  beating  Lord  Albemarle's  Kangaroo,  Lord 
Exeter's  Tisiphone,  Sir  J.  B.  Mill's  Deerstalker, 
and  Field-Marshal  Grosvenor's  Sir  Oliver.  At  the 
Houghton  Meeting  he  won  the  Criterion  Stakes, 
cleverly  carrying  6  Ib.  extra  and  beating  Lord 
Exeter's  Tisiphone,  Mr  B.  Green's  State  Anchor, 
Mr  Pedley's  Lady  Mary,  Duke  of  Rutland's 
Palamine,  and  Mr  Hargreaves's  Sunnyside.  Later 
in  the  same  week  he  won  the  Glasgow  Stakes,  in  a 
canter,  by  four  lengths. 

Into  the  running  of  these  two  fine  colts  I  have 
entered  more  fully  than  I  should  otherwise  have 
done,  because  of  the  extraordinary  occurrences  in 
connection  with  them  which  the  coming  winter 
and  spring  were  destined  to  bring  to  pass,  affecting 
Lord  George  Bentinck,  Mr  Francis  Villiers,  Colonel 
Anson,  and  the  noble  family  at  Goodwood,  and  in 
a  humbler  degree  myself,  most  materially.  Here  I 
may  add  that,  disregarding  Admiral  Rous's  opinion 
expressed  before  the  House  of  Commons'  Select 


MR   FRANCIS    VILLIERS.  261 

Committee  on  Gaming  in  1844,  Mr  Francis 
Villiers  was  accustomed  to  put  many  questions 
to  the  jockeys  in  whom  he  reposed  confidence, 
and  especially  to  Jem  Robinson  and  Frank  Butler, 
and  to  pay  the  greatest  attention  to  what  they 
told  him.  Admiral  Rous's  avowed  opinion  was, 
that  any  one  who  followed  the  advice  of  his  jockey 
would  be  ruined ;  and  in  this  case  his  warning 
words  were  prophetically  correct.  I  have  already 
stated  what  Frank  Butler  reported  about  the 
comparative  merits  of  Surplice  and  Loadstone, 
after  riding  the  latter  at  Goodwood.  A  few 
months  later  Mr  Villiers  brought  Robinson  down 
to  Goodwood  to  ride  Surplice  and  Loadstone  in 
their  gallops,  and,  as  will  be  seen  presently,  his 
verdict  was  the  same  as  that  of  Frank  Butler.  Yet 
it  would  be  impossible  to  conceive  two  finer  jockeys 
than  Robinson  and  Butler  ;  and  the  latter  was,  as  a 
rule,  a  very  excellent  judge  of  racing,  and  especially 
so,  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  of  "  a  horse  which 
he  had  once  had  between  his  thighs."  In  what 
scrapes  Mr  Villiers,  and,  in  a  lesser  degree,  Colonel 
Anson  (who  was  more  adroit  than  his  obstinate 
and  self-opinionated  colleague),  were  entangled  by 
following  the  advice  of  Robinson  and  Butler  will 
be  shown  directly. 

Colonel  Anson  and  Mr  Villiers  had  (again  by 
Frank  Butler's  advice)  given  3000  guineas — then 
considered  to  be  a  very  big  figure — for  Blaze,  a 
beautiful  dark  chestnut  Irish  colt,  by  Launcelot 


262       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE' S  STUD. 

(brother  to  Touchstone).  With  Blaze  they  won 
the  Hopeful  Stakes  at  Newmarket,  but  with  3  to 
1  betted  upon  him  he  was  beaten  for  the  Clearwell 
by  Mr  Payne's  Glendower.  During  the  winter  Mr 
Villiers,  who  found  no  difficulty  in  discovering 
plenty  of  excuses  for  Blaze's  defeat  in  the  Clear- 
well,  backed  him  very  heavily  for  the  Two  Thou- 
sand. Blaze  was  trained  at  Whitewall  by  John 
Scott,  and  was  thought  to  be  the  best  colt  in  his 
powerful  lot.  Simultaneously  the  two  confederates 
backed  Loadstone  very  heavily  for  the  Derby  ;  and 
in  order  to  control  the  latter  horse,  Mr  Villiers  pre- 
vailed upon  the  late  Lord  Clifden  to  purchase  a 
moiety  of  Mr  Mostyn's  stud.  When  this  sale  was 
concluded,  on  March  28, 1 848, 1  had  got  Loadstone 
forward  in  condition  to  run  for  the  Two  Thousand, 
and  had  induced  Mr  Mostyn  to  keep  Surplice  for 
the  Derby.  The  Two  Thousand  was  to  be  run  on 
April  25,  so  that  there  was  only  an  interval  of  four 
weeks  before  the  race  took  place.  When  Surplice 
and  Loadstone  became  the  property  of  Lord  Clif- 
den, my  plans  and  arrangements  for  the  future 
were  all  upset.  It  was  determined  not  to  pull  out 
either  horse  for  the  Two  Thousand,  but  to  keep 
them  out  of  Blaze's  way.  Never  was  a  young 
nobleman  more  glaringly  deprived  of  a  good  stake, 
which  should  have  been  his  legitimate  property, 
than  Lord  Clifden,  when  he  was  induced  to  strike 
Loadstone  and  Surplice  out  of  the  Two  Thousand, 
which  either  of  them  would  have  won  in  a  canter. 


MR   VILLIERS'S    TACTICS.  263 

Unfortunately  all  this  manoeuvring  and  wire- 
pulling ended  in  a  terrible  fiasco.  Blaze  was  beaten 
easily  for  the  Two  Thousand,  finishing  a  bad  third 
to  Flatcatcher  and  Glendow^er.  This  was  a  sad 
disappointment  and  heavy  blow  to  Mr  Yilliers  ; 
and  in  the  ensuing  week  he  came  down  to  Good- 
wood, not  in  a  very  amiable  temper,  bringing  Jem 
Robinson  with  him,  to  try  Surplice  and  Loadstone. 
As  the  former  was  not  fit  to  be  tried,  and  as  Mr 
Mostyn  and  the  Goodwood  family  had  certain 
contingent  interests  in  the  horses,  I  objected 
strenuously  to  trying  Surplice,  who,  in  addition 
to  being  a  very  big  horse,  went  with  rather  a 
straight  knee,  and  was  by  no  means  a  light  goer. 
Mr  Villiers  was  greatly  irritated  by  my  opposi- 
tion to  his  wishes,  but  in  it  I  had  made  up  my 
mind  to  persist.  He  then  expressed  a  desire  that 
Robinson  might  be  allowed  to  ride  Surplice  a 
gallop  in  his  clothes,  to  which  I  gladly  consented. 
Led  by  an  old  horse,  Surplice  and  Loadstone 
galloped  side  by  side,  three  -  quarters  speed,  for 
a  mile  and  a  quarter.  When  they  pulled  up 
Robinson  shook  his  head,  and  curiously  eyed 
Loadstone,  who  had  galloped  freely  and  well  by 
Surplice's  side. 

In  view  of  coming  events  "  which  cast  their 
shadows  before,"  I  took  the  opportunity  of  point- 
ing out  to  Mr  Villiers  and  to  Robinson  what, 
from  sure  experience,  I  knew  to  be  the  fact — viz., 
that  they  must  not  take  any  notice  of  the  way 


264       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

Surplice  went  in  his  clothes,  as  he  was  one  of  the 
laziest  and  most  deceptive  goers  that  in  a  long 
experience  I  had  ever  seen.  I  added  that,  when 
stripped  and  roused,  Surplice  could  give  Loadstone 
a  lump  of  weight  and  beat  him  over  any  distance. 
Upon  this  Mr  Yilliers  indulged  in  a  sneering  laugh, 
and  ejaculated,  "  Nonsense !  I  know  much  more 
about  these  two  horses  than  you  do.  Loadstone 
is  the  best  of  the  two,  and  so  I  always  thought." 
I  immediately  replied,  "  If  that  be  your  opinion, 
Mr  Villiers,  of  me  and  of  my  judgment,  and  if  these 
horses  were  yours,  I  would  not  train  them  for 
another  day.  There  are  others,  however,  who  have 
an  interest  in  them,  whom  it  is  my  duty  to  serve 
to  the  best  of  my  ability."  "  Do  you  mean  to  tell 
me,"  he  rejoined,  "  that  a  jockey  like  Robinson 
does  not  know  how  a  horse  carries  him  ?  "  "  He 
most  certainly  does  not,  sir,"  I  answered,  "if  he 
believes  Loadstone  to  be  better  than  Surplice." 
Mr  Villiers  turned  his  back  upon  me  with  an  ex- 
pression of  contempt  on  his  face  which  I  shall 
never  forget. 

The  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Richmond,  and  other 
members  of  the  family,  were  then  at  Goodwood 
House,  and  Mr  Villiers  lunched  with  them.  He 
did  not  fail  to  relate,  in  his  own  way,  what  had 
happened  that  morning,  and  endeavoured  to  pre- 
judice my  dear  old  master  the  Duke,  and  the  rest 
of  the  family,  against  me.  He  stated  that  had  the 
horses  been  under  the  charge  of  some  trainer  more 


ME,   FRANCIS    VILLIERS.  265 

skilful  than  myself,  the  Duke  and  his  family  would 
not  have  been  in  the  unfortunate  position  into 
which  I  had  plunged  them  by  advising  them  to 
back  Surplice  for  the  Derby.  Next  morning  the 
Duchess  of  Richmond  sent  for  me,  and  told  me, 
with  her  usual  frankness  and  kind  consideration, 
all  that  Mr  Villiers  had  said  at  luncheon  on  the 
previous  day.  Her  Grace  then  added,  "  Do  not 
heed  what  Mr  Villiers  may  have  said,  John,  as  it 
will  take  some  one  with  much  more  influence  than 
he  possesses  to  prejudice  us  against  you."  Her 
Grace's  kind  and  trusting  assurances  of  her  un- 
shaken confidence  and  support  brought  balm  and 
healing  to  my  wounded  self-respect.  Before  long 
the  Duke  of  Richmond  came  to  the  stables  and 
remarked  to  me,  "  Mr  Yilliers  is  still  quite  a  young 
man,  and  perhaps  does  not  know  quite  as  much  as 
he  thinks  he  does." 

Upon  Mr  Villiers's  return  to  London,  he  con- 
tinued, with  his  habitual  confidence  in  his  own 
judgment,  to  back  Loadstone  for  the  Derby,  and 
soon  made  him  first  favourite,  which  caused  Lord 
George  Bentinck  and  Lord  Henry  Gordon  Lennox 
to  feel  very  uneasy.  Lord  George  wrote  to  me 
saying  that  he  had  received  a  remarkable  letter 
from  Mr  Villiers  which  he  could  not  understand, 
and  he  wanted  to  know  what  it  meant.  His 
Lordship  inquired,  further,  whether  I  was  still  of 
the  same  opinion  as  to  the  merits  of  the  two 
horses  as  when  he  last  saw  me.  My  reply  was 


266       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

that  both  horses  were  going  on  as  well  as  possible, 
and  that  I  was  more  than  ever  confident  as  to  the 
correctness  of  my  opinion  that  Surplice  was  far 
and  away  the  better  of  the  two.  His  Lordship 
was  good  enough  to  write  me  a  most  encouraging 
letter,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  was  perfectly 
satisfied  with  what  I  had  told  him,  as  he  had 
never  known  me  to  be  mistaken  in  an  opinion 
which  I  had  formed  after  deep  consideration.  Lord 
Henry  Lennox  could  not  support  the  strain,  but 
brought  me  his  betting-book,  which  he  left  in  my 
hands,  with  the  avowal  that  he  was  going  abroad 
until  the  Derby  was  over,  as  he  was  too  nervous 
and  agitated  to  remain  in  England  any  longer. 
He  told  me  to  do  the  best  for  him  that  I  could, 
and  as  I  had  induced  him.  to  back  Surplice,  to  get 
him  out  of  the  difficulty  by  hedging  the  money,  if 
it  could  possibly  be  done. 

Naturally,  my  position  was  far  from  being  an 
enviable  one.  I  knew  that  if  I  attempted  to  save 
the  money  Lord  Henry  had  invested  on  Surplice, 
those  who  had  laid  him  the  odds  would  not  hedge, 
in  face  of  the  false  market  established  by  Mr 
Villiers,  except  upon  terms  very  disadvantageous 
to  Lord  Henry.  At  that  moment  Surplice  was 
very  much  out  of  favour,  and  no  wonder,  when  it 
is  remembered  that,  not  satisfied  with  backing 
Loadstone  for  very  large  sums,  Mr  Villiers  had 
several  commissioners  at  work  laying  against 
Surplice.  In  my  dilemma  I  sought  the  advice  of 


DIFFICULTY   WITH   MR   VILLIERS.  267 

the  Duke  of  Richmond,  and  unbosomed  myself  to 
him.  His  Grace  received  me  with  his  usual  kind- 
ness, and  asked  me  what  I  myself  considered  the 
best  course  to  pursue.  "  Wait,  your  Grace,  until 
the  two  horses  have  been  fairly  and  regularly 
tried  over  the  distance,  and,  my  word  for  it,  there 
will  not  be  much  difficulty  about  deciding  what  to 
do  then."  The  Duke  assured  me  that  he  was  en- 
tirely satisfied  ;  and  although  my  anxiety  and  sense 
of  responsibility  were,  of  course,  very  great,  I  con- 
tinued to  train  both  horses  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  and  to  await  the  issue. 

About  a  fortnight  before  the  Derby,  Mr  Villiers 
and  Colonel  Anson  prevailed  upon  the  Earl  of 
Chesterfield,  with  whom  they  were  very  intimate, 
to  lend  them  his  five-year-old  mare,  Lady  Wildair, 
in  order  to  try  Loadstone  and  Surplice  with  her. 
Lady  Wildair  was  known  to  be  a  very  true  run- 
ner, and  not  long  before  she  had  won  the  North- 
amptonshire Stakes  (2  miles),  carrying  8  st.  5  lb., 
giving  Mr  B.  Green's  Sylvan  (3  years)  2  st.  11  lb. 
Mr  Villiers  had  ascertained  through  Mr  Harry  Hill 
the  relative  merits  of  Sylvan  and  his  stable  com- 
panion, Flatcatcher,  who  had  won  the  Two  Thou- 
sand. He  therefore  regarded  Lady  Wildair  as  a 
very  valuable  trial  horse,  and  through  her  he  felt 
sure  that  he  should  be  able  to  ascertain  whether 
Surplice  or  Loadstone,  or  either  of  the  two,  could 
have  won  the  Two  Thousand.  In  addition,  I  put 
Mr  Mostyn's  Sagacity,  4  years,  in  the  trial,  making 


268       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE^  STUD. 

Surplice  give  her  a  year  and  12  lb.,  and  Loadstone 
a  year  and  10  lb.  Not  long  before  Sagacity 
had  won  a  handicap  (distance  1^  mile)  at  North- 
ampton. It  was  my  intention  that  Sagacity, 
availing  herself  of  her  light  weight,  should  make 
running,  but  this  Surplice  never  allowed  her  to  do. 
My  first  proposal  was  that  Surplice  should  give 
Loadstone  10  lb.,  but  at  this  Mr  Villiers  jeered, 
saying  that  Loadstone  would  win  in  a  canter, 
and  then  it  would  be  impossible  to  form  an  idea  of 
the  true  form  of  the  two  horses.  Very  reluctantly, 
therefore,  I  consented  to  putting  Loadstone  into 
the  trial  at  2  lb.  less  than  Surplice,  knowing  full 
well  what  the  result  would  be. 

The  trial  came  off  over  a  mile-and-a-half  course, 
on  May  13,  1848,  and  ended  as  follows  : — 

Surplice,  3  yrs.,  8  st.  8  lb.  (Eobinson),  1. 
Sagacity,  4  yrs.,  7  st.  10  lb.  (Green),  2. 
Lady  Wildair,  5  yrs.,  9  st.  4  lb.  (Flatman),  3. 
Loadstone,  3  yrs.,  8  st.  6  lb.  (Kitchener),  4. 

Surplice  won  with  consummate  ease  by  four 
lengths ;  Sagacity  beat  Lady  Wildair  by  half  a 
length ;  and  Loadstone  was  at  least  ten  lengths 
behind  Lady  Wildair. 

Then  followed  a  scene  which,  "while  memory 
holds  her  seat,"  I  shall  never  forget.  Mr  Villiers 
had  witnessed  the  trial  on  foot,  standing  about 
half  a  distance  from  the  winning-post.  When  I 
rode  up  to  him  he  threw  both  his  arms  into  the  air, 
and  exclaimed  in  a  frantic  state  of  excitement, 


THE   TKIAL   RACE.  269 

and  with  ghastly  pallor  upon  his  countenance,  "  I 
am  a  ruined  man  !  I  am  a  ruined  man  !  What  on 
earth  am  I  to  do  ?  "  "  Whose  fault,  sir,  is  it  ? "  I 
could  not  help  replying.  "  Whom  have  you  to 
blame  but  yourself  ? "  Wringing  his  hands,  and 
in  accents  of  despair  which  moved  me  to  pity  even 
in  the  midst  of  my  natural  resentment,  he  kept  on 
talking  to  himself  more  than  to  me  :  "  If  I  back 
Surplice  for  large  sums  for  the  Derby,  it  will  be 
odds  on  him  before  I  am  half-way  out  of  my 
difficulties."  After  waiting  a  little  until  he  had 
partially  recovered  from  his  overpowering  agita- 
tion, I  ventured  to  say  to  him,  "  Mr  Villiers,  the 
Derby  and  St  Leger  have  been  won  only  once  by 
the  same  horse  :  if  you  back  Surplice  to  win  them 
both,  the  bookmakers  will  lay  you  long  odds,  and 
before  four  months  have  elapsed  you  can  win  as 
much  money  as  you  like." 

This  advice  I  have  good  reason  to  know  that  he 
subsequently  followed,  and  thus  avoided  the  total 
ruin  which  otherwise  must  have  befallen  him, 
although  he  never  had  the  generosity  to  acknow- 
ledge it  to  me.  When  Robinson  dismounted,  he 
remarked  to  me  that  it  seemed  to  him  almost 
impossible  to  believe  that  Surplice  was  the  same 
horse  that  he  had  ridden  three  weeks  before.  This 
memorable  trial  made  me  aware  how  much  more 
sensible  and  practical  Lord  George  was  in  man- 
aging a  stud  than  his  friend  Mr  Francis  Villiers. 
The  latter  indulged  in  fancies  based  upon  his  own 


270       SALE  OF  LORD  GEORGE'S  STUD. 

estimate  of  the  way  in  which  horses  galloped  in 
their  clothes ;  the  former  was  never  carried  away 
by  predilections  or  prepossessions,  and  nothing 
could  induce  him  to  back  a  horse  until  after  one 
or  more  genuine  trials. 

It  was  upon  the  Saturday  before  Bath  Races  that 
Surplice  and  Loadstone  were  tried,  and  when  the 
betting  -  ring  was  formed  in  front  of  the  Grand 
Stand  on  Lansdown,  the  anxiety  to  back  Surplice 
was  so  great  that  business  was  altogether  im- 
possible, until  Davies,  "  the  Leviathan,"  laid  £1000 
to  £700  against  him  several  times.  Most  of  these 
bets  were  taken  by  Mr  Justice,  acting  for  Harry 
Hill,  who  was  acting  for  Mr  Villiers.  As  was 
usually  the  case  about  forty  or  fifty  years  ago 
when  a  horse  became  a  great  favourite  for  the 
Derby,  there  were  plenty  of  rumours  in  circula- 
tion that  Surplice  would  be  "  made  safe  "  :  that,  in 
the  teeth  of  the  immense  sums  laid  against  him, 
"  he  would  win  no  Derby  "  —and  much  more  of  the 
same  sort.  Mr  Cynric  Lloyd,  in  particular,  who 
had  backed  Surplice  steadily  ever  since  he  won 
the  Ham  Stakes  at  two  years  old,  was  seriously 
alarmed,  and  came  to  me  in  great  agitation  about 
what  he  had  heard.  Of  course  my  anxiety  was 
great,  and  all  the  more  so  because  the  family  at 
Goodwood  House  had  backed  Surplice,  and  never 
allowed  themselves  to  be  shaken  by  anything  that 
Mr  Villiers  said.  Under  these  circumstances  I 
pursued  my  usual  plan  when  in  perplexity,  and 


C/5 

w 


Q 
O 
O 


O 
O 


PRECAUTIONS    ABOUT    SURPLICE.  27 1 

consulted  rny  kind  and  trusted  master,  the  Duke 
of  Richmond.  His  Grace  observed  to  me,  "  You 
cannot  always  be  watching  the  horse  and  his  boy, 
as  he  stands  in  the  top  stable  along  with  seven 
other  horses."  I  suggested  to  his  Grace  that  the 
safest  plan  would  be  to  move  Surplice  and  Load- 
stone from  the  Goodwood  racing-stable  into  that 
at  the  Kennels,  where  two  good  loose-boxes  stood 
side  by  side,  and  a  stall  by  the  side  of  each  loose- 
box,  in  which  my  father's  and  my  hacks  were 
accommodated.  This  stable  was  close  to  our 
house,  and  into  it  Surplice  and  Loadstone  were 
moved,  much  to  Mr  Cynric  Lloyd's  relief.  I 
assured  him  that  unless  I  myself  were  laid  by  the 
heels,  Surplice  should  not  be  got  at,  for  I  would 
never  let  him  go  out  of  my  sight  except  when  he 
was  under  lock  and  key,  with  the  key  in  my 
pocket.  I  added  that  every  feed  of  corn,  and 
every  bucket  of  water,  should  be  given  to  him  by 
my  own  hands. 


272 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE     DERBY    OF     1848. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  the  ceaseless  vigilance  exercised 
by  all  to  whom  the  care  of  watching  and  guarding 
Surplice  was  intrusted  after  he  had  been  tried, 
rumours  that  attempts  would  be  made  by  fair 
means  or  foul  to  ensure  his  defeat  for  the  Derby 
were  freely  circulated  on  all  sides.  Such  rumours 
were  naturally  to  be  expected  in  view  of  the  enor- 
mous sums  of  money  laid  against  him  during  the 
winter  of  1847-48.  Under  these  circumstances  his 
transportation  from  Goodwood  to  Epsom  became 
to  me  a  cause  of  the  deepest  anxiety,  and  endless 
were  the  suggestions  made  as  to  the  best  method 
of  effecting  it  in  safety.  One  of  these  suggestions 
was,  that  I  should  allow  the  horse  to  travel  to 
Epsom  under  the  charge  of  two  of  my  most  trusted 
men,  supervised  by  a  policeman,  who  was  to  be 
specially  called  in  for  that  purpose.  This  proposi- 
tion I  met  with  a  decided  negative.  Having 
undertaken  the  responsibility  of  guarding  the  horse 


SURPLICE'S  DEPARTURE  FROM  GOODWOOD.     273 

myself,  of  feeding  and  giving  him  his  water  with 
my  own  hands,  of  taking  care  that  neither  his 
food  nor  his  drink  should  be  doctored  in  any  way, 
and,  finally,  of  never  allowing  him  to  be  out  of  my 
sight  except  when  he  was  locked  up  and  the  key 
was  in  my  pocket,  I  did  not  feel  inclined  to  permit 
a  stranger,  even  though  he  were  a  policeman,  to 
take  my  place.  Knowing  that  many  who  placed 
confidence  in  me  had  backed  Surplice  heavily  from 
what  I  thought  of  him  long  before  his  trial,  I  felt, 
as  the  Derby  Day  drew  nearer  and  nearer,  and  the 
rumours  of  intended  foul  practices  grew  louder  and 
more  sustained,  that  my  responsibility  was  almost 
more  than  I  could  bear. 

At  last  the  anxious  day — Monday  the  22d  of 
May  1848 — arrived,  upon  which  Surplice  was  to 
take  his  departure  from  Goodwood.  I  placed  him, 
accompanied  by  his  provender,  in  a  single  van, 
which  I  had  carefully  prepared  for  his  reception. 
Locking  the  door  of  this  van,  and  putting  the  key 
in  my  pocket,  I  proceeded  next  to  ensconce  Load- 
stone and  Sagacity  safely  in  a  double  van.  In 
addition  to  the  vans,  three  or  four  horses  made 
their  way  on  foot  to  the  Drayton  railway  station. 
The  cavalcade  was  headed  by  my  father,  by  Lead- 
better  (the  detective  officer  from  Bow  Street), 
and  by  some  of  the  Goodwood  stablemen.  The 
vans  and  horses  came  to  the  end  of  their  railway 
journey  at  the  Beigate  and  Bed  Hill  station, 
whence  the  vans  were  drawn  by  post-horses  to 

s 


274  THE   DERBY    OF    1848. 

Headley,  distant  about  seven  miles  from  Red  Hill. 
The  other  race-horses  followed  on  foot,  and,  about 
four  in  the  afternoon,  I  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing1  Surplice,  Loadstone,  Sagacity,  and  their 
companions  safely  lodged  in  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck's  stables  at  Headley,  which  his  Lordship  re- 
tained for  the  use  of  the  Goodwood  stable  when 
he  sold  his  stud,  and  which  were  never  more  use- 
ful than  on  this  momentous  occasion. 

As  my  father  was  in  charge  of  the  travelling 
party,  I  gave  myself  a  little  rest  in  the  van  with 
Surplice ;  but  on  arriving  at  Headley,  my  labours 
recommenced.  I  led  Surplice  out  of  the  van  into 
his  loose-box,  and  gave  him  a  feed  of  corn  which  I 
had  brought  from  Goodwood.  Then  I  locked  the 
stable-door  and  went  with  Surplice's  lad  and  our 
own  blacksmith  to  procure  some  water  at  the 
spring  upon  "  Oyster  Hill,"  from  which  many  a 
good  race-horse  has  been  watered  before  and  since 
that  day.  Close  to  the  spring  there  are  some  cot- 
tages, from  one  of  which  I  obtained  hot  water  to 
take  off  the  chill  of  the  cold  spring.  When  I 
returned  to  the  stable,  Leadbetter  was  a  little  put 
out,  exclaiming,  "  Surely  you  could  have  trusted 
me  for  a  few  minutes  with  the  horse,  especially  as 
he  would  probably  be  a  bit  restless  in  a  new  box ! " 
"  A  bit  restless,  indeed  ! "  I  rejoined,  laughing  ;  "  he 
is  too  docile  and  quiet  to  be  alarmed  at  anything." 
On  unlocking  the  door  and  entering  the  box,  I 
found  that  he  had  emptied  his  manger,  which  was 


RUMOURS   ABOUT    SURPLICE.  275 

a  great  satisfaction  to  me,  although  I  fully  ex- 
pected it,  as  there  never  was  a  better  "  doer  "  than 
Surplice. 

As  the  Derby  approached,  everybody,  and  espe- 
cially the  "  sharps,"  had  it  that  my  horse  was  "  a 
safe  un."  Out  at  exercise  on  Tuesday  morning, 
every  acquaintance  that  I  met  kept  on  asking 
me,  "  What's  the  matter  with  Surplice  ?  He's  up 
and  down  in  the  market  in  a  very  queer  way."  To 
add  to  my  anxiety,  Mr  Payne  refused  to  give  up 
Flatman,  believing  that  he  had  a  very  good  chance 
of  winning  with  Glendower.  It  was  then  arranged 
that  James  Robinson  should  ride  Surplice,  as  there 
seemed  no  probability  that  any  of  his  masters  would 
need  his  services.  At  the  last  moment,  however, 
the  Duke  of  Rutland  claimed  Robinson  to  ride 
The  Fiddler,  and  the  difficulty  of  getting  a  good 
jockey  for  Surplice  seemed  almost  insurmountable. 
At  this  critical  moment,  Mr  Harry  Hill,  whose 
interest  in  the  horse,  for  Lord  George's  sake,  re- 
mained unabated,  and  who  had  backed  him  heavily, 
recommended,  for  private  reasons,  which  he  stated 
to  Mr  Mostyn  and  Mr  Lloyd,  that  Sim  Templeman 
should  be  put  on  Surplice's  back. 

It  was,  of  course,  a  great  relief  to  me  when  this 
was  settled,  although  I  did  not  think  Templeman 
the  best  jockey  to  do  justice  to  a  big  lazy  horse 
like  Surplice,  who  would  make  a  race  with  a 
donkey,  and  deceived  everybody  who  rode  him  for 
the  first  time.  Sim  Templeman  formed  the  same 


276  THE   DERBY   OF    1848. 

unfavourable  opinion  of  his  mount,  after  riding 
Surplice  over  the  course  the  day  before  the  Derby, 
that  Jem  Robinson  had  conceived  when  he  rode 
him  in  a  gallop  at  Goodwood.  What  increased 
Templeman's  dislike  to  Surplice  was,  that  the  horse 
refused  to  cross  the  tan  road  when  ridden  at  a 
foot's-pace  down  the  course,  on  his  way  to  the 
starting-post.  All  these  difficulties  and  gloomy 
prognostications  tended,  of  course,  to  increase  my 
anxiety,  and  made  it  difficult  for  me  to  fulfil  my 
engagement  never  to  let  Surplice  out  of  my 
sight,  unless  he  was  locked  up  in  his  loose-box. 
My  favourite  old  pony,  with  whom  Surplice  was 
well  acquainted,  enabled  me,  however,  to  keep  close 
to  him  when  walking  at  exercise.  The  curiosity 
and  excitement  of  the  crowd  were  so  great,  that  it 
was  extremely  difficult  for  Surplice  to  make  his 
way  through  them,  so  closely  was  he  mobbed.  I 
found  Leadbetter  and  the  Goodwood  stable  lads  of 
great  assistance  in  this  emergency ;  but  it  was  for- 
tunate that  Surplice  was  naturally  unexcitable  and 
quiet,  as  he  was  followed  to  his  stable-door  by  a 
large  host  of  gentlemen  on  horseback,  who  would 
have  driven  a  nervous  horse  of  Bay  Middleton's 
type  wild  with  irritability.  In  those  days  there 
was  on  the  Sunday,  Monday,  and  Tuesday  preced- 
ing the  Derby,  a  vast  concourse  of  people  assembled 
at  Epsom  to  see  the  Derby  horses  gallop.  Never, 
however,  did  I  witness  such  a  sensational  scene,  or 
such  intense  curiosity  as  was  manifested  to  catch  a 


SURPLICE'S  UNPOPULARITY.  277 

glimpse  of  Surplice.  In  the  midst  of  the  crowds 
by  which  he  was  always  surrounded  he  bore  him- 
self with  an  unruffled  calmness  and  tranquillity 
which,  despite  my  intimate  acquaintance  with  his 
disposition  and  temperament,  fairly  surprised  and 
delighted  me.  I  endeavoured  to  form  Leadbetter 
and  a  small  brigade  of  boys  under  his  charge  into 
a  ring  around  my  horse.  These  human  guards 
quickly  lost  their  tempers,  and  became  violently 
agitated,  but  the  horse  never  turned  a  hair.  The 
same  difficulty  and  disappointment  arose  when  I 
placed  Surplice  in  the  midst  of  a  group  of  horses, 
including  Loadstone,  'Sagacity,  and  other  stable 
companions.  Hemmed  in  by  a  mob  of  horsemen, 
these  outposts  were  always  on  their  hind-legs  and 
dancing  about,  while  Surplice  walked  sleepily  along, 
as  quiet  as  an  old  cow.  On  the  night  before  the 
Derby  a  number  of  roughs  surrounded  the  paddock 
in  the  middle  of  which  Lord  George's  stable  stood, 
and  kept  watch  until  midnight — not  from  any  desire 
to  do  mischief,  I  verily  believe,  but  from  simple 
curiosity.  In  the  morning  a  fresh  lot  of  touts  and 
runners  emerged  from  the  Cock  Inn  and  kept 
watch  until  Surplice  left  his  stable  and  walked  on 
to  the  course,  to  start  for  the  Derby. 

A  great  favourite  is  generally  unpopular,  but 
never  was  there  one  more  so  than  Surplice.  All 
through  the  winter  he  had  been  regarded  as  a 
"  dead  un,"  thanks  to  Mr  Francis  Villiers's  in- 
fatuation, and  to  his  reputation  for  possessing  ex- 


278  THE   DERBY   OF    1848. 

traordinary  talents.  Everybody  was  aware  that 
Mr  Villiers  had  given  a  never-ceasing  commission 
to  lay  against  Surplice,  and,  with  few  exceptions, 
little  backers  had  staked  their  money  on  Loadstone. 
In  an  instant  Surplice's  great  trial  shattered  all 
their  hopes,  and  he  became  such  a  favourite  that  it 
was  almost  impossible  to  back  him.  All  this  tended 
to  make  Surplice  more  disliked  than  great  favour- 
ites usually  are.  This  was  shown  by  the  hootings 
and  hisses  with  which  I  was  more  than  once  as- 
sailed as  I  walked  or  rode  by  the  horse's  side,  or 
when,  accompanied  by  boys  to  carry  the  bucket,  I 
proceeded  to  the  spring  on  "  Oyster  Hill "  to  bring 
Surplice  his  water.  I  invariably  repaired  to  some 
cottage  for  a  little  hot  water  to  take  off  the  chill, 
always  going  to  a  different  cottage.  The  fee  which 
I  gave  for  any  small  service  rendered  to  me  was 
more  than  the  poor  cottagers  expected,  and  I  was 
pressingly  urged  by  them  to  come  again  for  any- 
thing that  I  wanted.  Although  betting  men  great 
and  small  would  have  rejoiced  almost  without  ex- 
ception to  hear  that  Surplice  had  broken  his  leg,  I 
feel  assured  that  the  humble  residents  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Headley  sincerely  wished  him  well. 

I  have  entered  into  all  these  minute  details  at 
the  risk  of  being  wearisome,  because  Surplice's 
Derby  happened  at  a  time  when  it  was  more  com- 
mon to  poison  or  lame  horses  than  is  now  the  case, 
and  because  the  circumstances  preceding  his  attain- 
ment of  the  position  of  first  favourite  were  of  a 


SUSPICIONS.  279 

most  peculiar  and  exceptional  kind.  Forty  or  fifty 
years  ago  the  sums  of  money  betted  upon  the 
Derby  were  so  large,  and  the  excitement  so  great, 
that  it  is  difficult  for  a  younger  generation  of  race- 
goers to  understand  or  realise  the  anxiety  and 
sense  of  responsibility  of  a  trainer  who  was  in 
charge  of  such  a  favourite  as  Surplice  was  in  1848. 
I  was  not  unaware  that  tempting  overtures  had 
been  made  surreptitiously  to  more  than  one  em- 
ployee in  the  Goodwood  stable  to  lame  Surplice  ; 
and  if  he  had  run  badly  in  the  race,  suspicion 
would  doubtless  have  attached  to  many  innocent 
persons  who  were  as  eager  to  see  him  win  as  my 
father  and  I  were.  It  will  easily  be  imagined, 
therefore,  with  what  feelings  I  saw  the  dawn  of 
the  Derby  Day  break. 

My  father  and  I  rode  by  the  horse's  side  from 
Headley  to  the  course.  I  then  dismounted  and 
led  Surplice,  while  his  regular  lad  rode  him,  and 
two  police  officers  walked  immediately  in  his  rear. 
On  nearing  the  stand,  my  father  went  off  to  see 
Templeman  weighed,  and  returned  to  inform  me 
that  even  at  the  eleventh  hour  Mr  Francis  Villiers 
had  not  given  up  all  hope  that  Loadstone  would 
prove  himself  the  better  horse,  and,  in  order  to  give 
Loadstone  every  chance,  had  made  some  consid- 
erable pecuniary  sacrifice  in  order  to  secure  Job 
Marson  (one  of  Mr  Villiers's  favourite  jockeys)  to 
ride  him.  It  was  not  long  before  Mr  Villiers  was 
undeceived.  The  following  seventeen  horses  came 


280  THE   DERBY   OF    1848. 

to  the  post,  with  the  result  given  below,  which  I 
have  taken  from  the  '  Racing  Calendar '  :— 

EPSOM. 
Wednesday,  May  24,  1848. 

The  Derby  Stakes  of  50  so  vs.  each,  h.  ft.,  for  three-year- 
old  colts,  8  st.  7  lb.;  fillies,  8  st.  2  Ib.  The  new  Derby 
course ;  a  mile  and  a  half. 

Lord  Clifden's  b.  c.  Surplice,  by  Touchstone — Crucifix,  by 

Priam  (Templeman),  1. 
Mr  Bowes's  b.  c.  Springy  Jack,  by  Hetman  Platoff — Oblivion, 

by  Jerry  (F.  Butler),  2. 
Mr  B.  Green's  bl.  c.  Shylock,  by  Simoom — The  Queen,  by 

Sir  Hercules  (S.  Mann),  3. 
Mr  Payne's  b.  c.  Glendower,  by  Slane— Sister  to  Glencoe, 

by  Sultan  (Flatman),  4. 
Mr  J.  B.  Day's  b.  c.  Nil  Desperandum,  by  Venison — Grace 

Darling,  by  Defence  (A.  Day). 
Mr  Nunn's  b.  c.  The  Fowler,  by  Irish  Birdcatcher — Zillah, 

by  Blacklock  (J.  Holmes). 
Mr  Lillie's  br.  c.  Great  Western,  by  Hetman  Platoff — Miss 

Frill,  by  Actseon  (Hewlett). 
Lord  Clifden's  b.  c.  Loadstone,  by  Touchstone — Latitude, 

by  Langar  (J.  Marson). 

Mr  Baker's  br.  c.  Oscar,  by  Charles  XII. — Morsel,  by  Mu- 
latto (Bumby). 
Duke  of  Butland's  b.  c.  The  Fiddler,  by  Charles   XII.— 

Liberty,  by  Langar  (Eobinson). 
Mr  E.  E.  Clark's  b.  c.  Weathercock,  by  Emilius — Variation, 

by  Buzzard  (Tant). 
Mr  T.  Parr's  b.  c.  Sponge,   by  Ascot — Languid,  by  Cain 

(Owner). 
Sir  J.  B.  Mill's  b.  c.  Deerstalker,  by  Venison — Virginia,  by 

Figaro  (Donaldson). 


THE   RACE.  281 

Mr    Eolls's   b.   c.    Comet,   by  Auckland  —  Miniature,    by 

Teniers  (Pettit). 
Lord  Eglinton's  b.  c.  Eagle's  Plume,  by  Lanercost — Blue 

Bonnet,  by  Touchstone  (Marlow). 
Major  Pitt's  b.  c.  Fern,  by  Venison — Puce,  by  Eowton  (E. 

Edwards). 
Mr  Osbaldeston's  ch.  c.  Fugleman,  by  the  Saddler — Camp 

Follower,  by  The  Colonel  (S.  Kogers). 

Betting — Even  on  Surplice,  4  to  1  each  v.  Glendower 
and  Nil  Desperandum,  14  to  1  v.  Shylock,  15  to  1  v. 
Springy  Jack,  20  to  1  v.  Loadstone,  40  to  1  v.  Great 
Western,  The  Fiddler,  and  Fugleman;  50  to  1  v.  The 
Fowler;  1000  to  15  each  v.  Fern  and  Eagle's  Plume;  1000 
to  10  v.  Deerstalker. 

Won  by  a  neck ;  length  between  second  and  third. 

The  following  description  of  the  race  appeared  in 
'  Bell's  Life.' 

"  Precisely  at  the  time  named  on  the  card  the  horses  were 
at  the  starting-post,  and  we  must  do  the  starter,  Mr  Hibberd, 
the  justice  to  say  that  a  finer  start  was  never  seen  on  this  or 
any  other  course.  The  Fowler  jumped  off  with  the  lead ; 
but  either  from  not  being  ambitious,  or  from  inability  to 
keep  it,  he  fell  back  in  half-a-dozen  strides,  and  Great 
Western  went  on  with  the  running,  followed  by  Loadstone 
and  Fugleman,  Nil  Desperandum  being  fourth  on  the  inside. 
Behind  him  came  Surplice,  Fern,  and  The  Fowler,  with  The 
Fiddler  and  Springy  Jack  in  their  wake.  The  Fowler  kept 
his  place  till  near  the  Craven  post,  where  he  fell  astern  of 
The  Fiddler.  About  the  same  time  Nil  Desperandum 
sprained  his  off  knee,  and  in  the  next  hundred  yards  from 
being  fourth  became  the  last  horse  in  the  race.  Great 
Western  maintained  his  position  until  close  to  the  top  of 
the  hill,  when  he  was  passed  by  Loadstone,  and  immediately 
afterwards  gave  way  altogether,  leaving  Fugleman  second 
to  Loadstone,  Surplice  following  Fugleman,  with  Fern, 


282  THE   DERBY   OF    1848. 

Glendower,  Springy  Jack,  and  Shylock  running  in  a  group 
close  behind.  Half-way  between  the  road  and  the  distance- 
post  Loadstone  declined,  and  Fern  also  had  had  enough  of 
it.  A  new  formation  ensued,  Surplice  taking  a  decided  lead, 
followed  by  Fugleman  with  Shylock  third  and  Springy  Jack 
by  his  side.  Just  inside  the  distance  Fugleman  was  beaten 
and  dropped  behind  Shylock  and  Springy  Jack.  The  race 
at  this  moment  was  very  interesting.  To  all  appearances 
the  'crack'  was  going  very  uncomfortably,  and  Shylock 
looked  so  well  that  '  The  favourite's  beat ! '  escaped  from  a 
thousand  lips.  Nor  was  it  until  they  were  half-way  up  the 
distance  that  '  the  Jew '  was  fairly  disposed  of.  Springy 
Jack  now  began  to  look  dangerous,  as  he  got  to  the 
favourite's  quarters,  and  came  with  a  tremendous  rush  in 
the  last  three  or  four  strides,  and  almost  got  up.  But  it 
was  only  '  almost,'  as  Surplice  was  never  quite  reached, 
and  won  by  a  neck." 

Sim  Templeman  assured  me  after  the  race  that 
had  I  not  cautioned  him  so  strongly  about  Sur- 
plice's laziness,  he  might  have  been  beaten,  as  his 
horse  began  to  stop  directly  he  steadied  him,  and 
would  have  pulled  up  altogether  had  he  not  kept 
him  going.  I  had  warned  him  emphatically  that 
directly  he  ceased  to  ride  him  Surplice  would  cease 
to  run.  Had  Mr  Yilliers  consented  to  order  Mar- 
son  to  jump  off  with  Loadstone,  and  to  make 
strong  running  for  half  or  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
(which  Loadstone  was  well  qualified  to  do),  there 
would  have  been  no  danger  of  Surplice  being  beaten, 
or  hard  run,  as  he  was  as  fit  as  he  could  be  made. 
So  obstinate,  however,  was  Mr  Villiers  in  his  own 
opinion,  that  he  would  not  hear  of  Loadstone  being 


u 

I-H 


SURPLICE'S  VICTORY.  283 

sacrificed  for  Surplice.  The  result  was  that,  when 
Loadstone  declined,  Surplice  had  to  take  his  own 
part,  and  Templeman  said  that  it  was  all  over  as 
soon  as  Surplice  took  up  the  running. 

When  Loadstone  showed  a  bold  front,  until  the 
distance -post  was  almost  reached,  Mr  Villiers,  I 
heard  subsequently,  was  in  ecstasies ;  but  when 
Surplice  took  up  the  running  Mr  Villiers's  face 
darkened  and  fell.  The  pace  must  have  been 
very  moderate  for  Loadstone  to  have  lasted  so 
long,  and  if  Surplice  had  not  possessed  good  speed 
as  well  as  stoutness,  the  Derby  might  have  been 
thrown  away  from  want  of  a  strong  -  run  race. 
Many  a  good  horse,  in  perfect  condition,  have  I 
seen  beaten  under  similar  circumstances,  after  the 
administration  of  severe  punishment  during  the 
last  half-mile,  which  he  would  have  altogether 
escaped  .by  winning  easily  had  the  race  been  run 
from  end  to  end.  It  is  a  fatal  mistake  not  to 
win  your  race  as  early  as  you  can,  if  you  have 
got  a  good  horse  fit  to  run.  I  can  remember 
sixty-five  races  for  the  Epsom  Derby,  and  I  have 
seen  it  lost  in  some  instances,  and  very  nearly  so 
in  others,  from  failing  to  make  use  of  a  good 
horse.  Three  superior  horses  I  can  mention — Sur- 
plice, The  Flying  Dutchman,  and  Cremorne — all  of 
whom  narrowly  escaped  defeat  for  want  of  a  strong- 
run  race. 

One  other  extract  I  am  tempted  to  make  from 
'Bell's  Life'  of  Saturday,  May  27,  1848. 


284  THE   DERBY   OF    1848. 

"  The  Derby  nags  assembled  in  the  paddock  in  charge  of 
their  respective  trainers  and  grooms,  Loadstone  and  Surplice 
being  foremost  in  the  throng,  attended  by  the  elder  Kent, 
Leadbetter,  and  Thackwell  —  the  former  having  been  in 
charge  of  the  horse  for  some  nights  before  the  race,  with  a 
view  of  defeating  any  of  those  sinister  intentions  which 
former  experience  led  to  a  suspicion  might  again  be  put 
into  practice :  in  fact,  every  possible  care  had  been  taken 
to  protect  Surplice  from  being  got  at,  much  to  the  morti- 
fication, it  was  said,  of  many  who  would  have  been  far  from 
displeased  to  hear  that  he  had  had  a  '  bad  night.'  Both 
horses  looked  remarkably  well,  especially  Surplice,  of  whom 
it  was  said  by  a  competent  judge  of  looks  that  he  was  sure 
to  win,  as  an  animal  in  more  splendid  condition  was  never 
witnessed.  In  the  early  part  of  the  day  as  much  as  6  to  5 
was  laid  on  Surplice,  but  a  perceptible  change  took  place. 
Ml  Desperandum  advanced  in  favour,  and  was  backed  at 
5  to  1,  and  by  some  parties  at  3  to  1,  while  Surplice  went 
back  to  5  and  even  6  to  4 — the  latter  odds  being  in  some 
instances  laid  by  those  who  were  well  on  him,  and  whose 
confidence  was  somewhat  shaken  at  the  last  moment.  This 
change,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  was  effected  by  a  ruse 
got  up  among  a  party  who  were  opposed  to  him,  and  who, 
by  apparently  laying  odds  against  him,  induced  apprehen- 
sion in  the  public  mind  of  which  they  themselves  took 
advantage,  thereby  getting  on  at  a  better  price,  and  saving 
some  £4000  or  £5000.  The  crush  to  get  a  position  whence 
a  view  of  the  course  could  be  obtained  was  terrific. 

"  We  have  given  a  description  of  the  race  in  its  usual 
place,  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  it  was  keenly  con- 
tested by  Surplice,  Springy  Jack,  and  Shylock.  Surplice 
was  spurred,  although  the  whip  was  not  used  ;  and  it  was 
remarked  that  had  the  pace  been  good  he  would  have  won 
more  cleverly,  being  such  a  sluggish  horse  and  requiring 
a  good  deal  of  riding — evidence  of  which  was  afforded  in 
his  trial,  for  when  he  was  nearing  the  winning-post  and 


CONGRATULATIONS.  285 

experienced  the  effect  of  the  '  persuaders,'  he  shot  out  like 
a  dart,  and  won  with  consummate  ease.  These  are,  how- 
ever, matters  of  speculation  with  which  we  must  leave  the 
cognoscenti  to  deal.  The  winners  had  their  turn  of  joyous 
cheering,  and  the  congratulations  offered  to  the  Duke  of 
Eichmond  and  to  his  family,  who,  we  are  glad  to  hear, 
are  large  gainers  by  the  result,  were  loud  and  vociferous 
beyond  description,  —  congratulations  which  were  given 
with  equal  goodwill  to  Lord  Clifderi  and  to  Mr  Lloyd,  co- 
proprietors  of  the  winner;  both  of  whom,  we  also  learn, 
have  realised  a  good  profit  independent  of  the  stakes,  which 
are  worth  £5500. 

Thus  terminated  this  ever-memorable  Derby — 
memorable  not  only  to  me,  but  also  to  others  who 
are  still  living,  and  were  vitally  interested  in  it.  I 
perfectly  well  remember,  when  I  was  leading  Sur- 
plice back  to  the  weighing-place  after  the  race, 
that  a  gentleman  congratulated  me,  and  added, 
"  You  have  now  given  them  the  lie  direct !  "  At 
the  time  I  could  not  understand  what  he  meant ; 
but  from  what  transpired  subsequently,  I  have  no 
doubt  that  he  congratulated  me  upon  defeating  the 
vile  efforts  to  prevent  Surplice  from  winning  the 
Derby,  which  were  deemed  likely  to  be  successfully 
accomplished  by  some  of  the  knaves  who  were 
heavy  losers  by  him. 

Lord  Enfield,  afterwards  Earl  of  Strafford,  being 
a  brother-in-law  to  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  exe- 
cuted some  of  the  stable  commission  about  Sur- 
plice, and,  having  backed  him  very  early,  obtained 
good  odds,  which  he  was  enabled  to  hedge  after 


286  THE   DERBY   OF    1848. 

the  trial  at  great  advantage,  so  that  he  and  all  the 
members  of  the  Goodwood  family,  together  with 
Mr  Lloyd,  had  the  satisfaction  of  winning  good 
stakes  after  hedging  their  money.  Lord  George 
Bentinck  himself  won  about  £11,000.  Had  his 
Lordship  not  disposed  of  his  stud,  it  is  im- 
possible to  conjecture  what  he  might  have  won 
upon  such  a  horse.  His  mind  and  heart  seemed, 
however,  to  be  entirely  concentrated  upon  politics 
after  he  had  parted  with  his  race-horses.  Racing, 
to  which  he  was  formerly  so  devoted,  passed  en- 
tirely out  of  his  head,  and  his  betting  soon  became 
extremely  limited. 

I  cannot  remember  a  single  instance  of  his  en- 
deavouring to  obtain  information  from  Mr  Lloyd 
or  from  myself  about  any  of  the  animals  which  he 
had  sold  to  Mr  Mostyn.  Having  occasion  to  write 
to  Lord  George  about  Christmas  time,  in  1846,  I 
mentioned,  with  Mr  Mostyn' s  permission,  what  I 
thought  of  Surplice,  from  the  form  he  displayed  in 
his  trials  as  a  yearling,  knowing  how  interested  he 
would  be,  as  Surplice  had  been  thought  likely  to 
go  wrong  in  his  wind — an  infirmity  which  he  might 
have  inherited  from  Camel,  his  grandsire,  who  was 
a  bad  roarer.  Every  opportunity  was  therefore 
afforded  to  enable  him  to  be  trained  for  the  Derby. 
His  great  size  and  physical  conformation  required 
that  he  should  not  be  hurried,  and  fortunately  he 
inherited  some  of  the  stoutness  of  Priam,  and  the 
good  constitution  of  Emilius.  It  was  averred  by 


DEPARTURE  OF  THE  STUD  FROM  GOODWOOD.   287 

some  influential  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  that  had 
not  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  at  the  intercession  of 
Lord  George,  stipulated  with  Mr  Mostyn  that  the 
horses  in  training  should  remain  at  Goodwood  till 
after  the  Derby,  Surplice,  after  Lord  Clifden  had 
purchased  an  interest  in  the  stud,  might  not  have 
been  allowed  to  run  for  that  race,  any  more  than 
for  the  Two  Thousand,  but  have  been  withdrawn 
in  favour  of  Loadstone.  Such  would  certainly  have 
been  the  case  had  Mr  Villiers's  baneful  influence 
prevailed  with  Lord  Clifden  and  Mr  Mostyn. 

After  the  Derby  the  Duke  of  Richmond  gave 
his  consent  to  the  horses  remaining  under  my 
charge  until  the  Goodwood  Races  were  over.  Lord 
Clifden  immediately  purchased  the  remainder  of 
Mr  Mostyn' s  interest  in  the  stud,  and  everything 
went  well  with  the  horses  until  the  deep  ground 
at  Goodwood  interfered  with  Surplice's  long  stride, 
and  made  him  quite  helpless  in  the  mud.  I  can 
scarcely  doubt  that  my  old  and  honoured  master 
the  Duke  of  Richmond  was  not  sorry  when  the 
time  came  for  this  large  stud  of  horses  to  leave 
Goodwood.  Although  his  Grace  was  on  friendly 
terms  with  Mr  Mostyn  and  Mr  Lloyd,  and  also 
with  Lord  Clifden  and  Mr  Villiers,  he  was  not  so 
much  at  his  ease  with  any  of  them  as  he  had  been 
with  Lord  George  Bentinck  between  1841  and 
1846.  The  Duke  enjoyed  beyond  measure  his 
almost  daily  visit  to  the  Goodwood  stable,  when 
it  was  filled  with  his  own  and  with  Lord  George's 


288  THE   DERBY   OF    1848. 

horses.  It  was  disagreeable  to  him,  however,  to 
go  round  the  stables  when  the  remotest  suspicion 
might  arise  that  he  was  trying  to  pry  into  the 
secrets  of  others. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  my  readers  if  I  succinctly 
recount  the  performances  of  Surplice  after  he  won 
the  Derby  of  1848.  First  come  his  two  Goodwood 
defeats.  On  July  25th  he  ran  for  the  Gratwicke 
Stakes  of  100  sovereigns  each,  half- forfeit,  one  mile 
and  a  half,  50  subscribers.  The  race  came  off  as 
follows : — 

Lord  Chesterfield's  b.  f.  Distaffina  (Flatman),  1. 
Lord  Clifden's  b.  c.  Surplice  (Kobinson),  2. 
Duke  of  Kichmond's  br.  f.  Hornpipe  (Templeman),  3. 
Mr  Bowes's  ch.  f.  Wiasma  (J.  Holmes),  4. 
The  betting  was  5  to  2  on  Surplice,  3  to  1  agst.  Wiasma. 
Won  easily  by  a  length ;  a  neck  between  second  and  third. 

This  was  a  most  extraordinary  race,  and  to  this 
day  I  am  quite  unable  to  explain  it.  Surplice 
(who  was  perfectly  well)  could  always  give  Horn- 
pipe two  stone  and  a  beating,  and  in  this  race  she 
ran  him  to  a  neck  at  even  weights.  Lord  Chester- 
field told  me  that  his  mare,  Distaffina,  was  at  least 
two  stone  worse  than  Surplice,  and  yet  she  beat 
him  at  even  weights ! 

Two  days  later  Surplice  ran  again  for  the  Racing 
Stakes  of  50  sovs.  each,  New  Mile,  17  subscribers. 
The  race  ended  as  follows  :— 

Mr  Payne's  b.  c.  Glen  dower  (Flatman),  1. 

Colonel  Anson's  b.  c.  Corsican  (F.  Butler),  2. 

Lord  Clifden's  b.  c.  Surplice  (Kobinson),  3. 


SURPLICE'S  AFTER  CAREER.  289 

Betting — 13  to  8  on  Surplice,  5  to  2  agst.  Glendower, 
7  to  2  agst.  Corsican.  Won  by  a  length.  From  the  very 
commencement  Surplice  ran  a  beaten  horse,  and  took  no 
part  in  the  race. 

On  August  14,  1848  (a  fortnight  after  Goodwood 
Races),  all  Lord  Clifden's  horses  left  the  stable 
where  they  had  so  long  been  trained,  and  were 
transferred  to  his  Lordship's  private  racing  es- 
tablishment at  Newmarket,  over  which  Robert 
Stephenson  presided.  The  lot  included  Planet, 
Projectile,  Fallow  Deer,  King  of  Morveri,  Crozier, 
Tiresome,  Czarina,  Mustard  filly,  Slander,  Tama- 
rind, Sagacity,  Archness,  Surplice,  Loadstone, 
Honeycomb,  Cucullus,  and  the  Flycatcher  filly. 
It  was  arranged  that  Surplice  should  be  kept  for 
the  Doncaster  St  Leger,  and  should  receive  a 
special  preparation  for  that  event.  The  St  Leger 
was  fixed  for  the  13th  of  September,  and  in  the 
four  and  a  half  weeks  which  intervened  between 
Surplice's  departure  from  Goodwood  and  the  St 
Leger  day  he  fluctuated  strangely  in  the  betting. 

At  last  the  St  Leger  day  arrived,  and  the 
following  horses  started  for  the  race  :— 

Lord  Olif den's  b.  c.  Surplice  (Flatman),  1. 
Lord  Stanley's  br.  f.  Canezou  (F.  Butler),  2. 
Mr  B.  Green's  b.  c.  Flatcatcher  (Eobinson),  3. 
Duke  of  Bedford's  b.  c.  Justice  to  Ireland  (Templeman). 
Mr  B.  Green's  b.  c.  Assault  (Winteringham). 
Mr  T.  Parr's  b.  c.  Sponge  (Whitehouse). 
Mr  Humphries's  b.  c.  Escape  (J.  Holmes). 
Mr  Pedley's  br.  c.  Bessborough  (J.  Marson). 

T 


290  THE   DERBY   OF    1848. 

Lord  Stanley's  gr.  c.  Cannibal,  (Marlow),  also  started  and 

were  not  placed. 

Betting — 7  to  4  v.  Canezou,  2  to  1  v.  Surplice,  7  to  2 
v.  Flatcatcher,  9  to  2  v.  Justice  to  Ireland.  Won  by  a  neck : 
Flatcatcher  beaten  three  lengths. 

The  '  Racing  Calendar '  adds  : — 

"  There  was  one  false  start,  and  all  the  riders  were  fined 
5  sovs.  each  for  starting  without  orders,  except  Marson, 
who  pulled  up  his  horse  immediately,  and  was  fined  3  sovs. 
only.  The  fines  were  subsequently  mitigated  to  3  sovs. 
and  1  sov.  with  an  intimation  to  the  jockeys  that  if  they 
offended  again  in  the  same  manner,  the  highest  penalty 
would  be  enforced," 

"This  mishap,"  says  'Bell's  Life,'  "was  all  the  more 
unlucky  because  the  horses  got  off  capitally  on  the  first 
occasion — better,  indeed,  than  on  the  second.  When  the 
flag  fell,  they  dashed  off  at  full  speed,  and  Flatcatcher, 
followed  by  Assault,  at  once  rushed  to  the  front,  the  for- 
mer leading  by  a  few  strides,  and  then  giving  way  to 
Assault  who  made  running  at  the  top  of  his  speed,  Surplice 
and  Justice  to  Ireland  following  just  behind  Flatcatcher, 
Canezou  lying  up  with  them,  Sponge  next,  and  Cannibal 
and  Escape  in  the  rear.  Assault  led  the  van  to  the  rise 
of  the  hill,  and  then  resigned  in  toto,  his  stable  companion 
Flatcatcher  taking  up  the  running.  At  the  Eed  House 
Surplice  took  second  place,  with  Canezou  at  his  quarters, 
Flatcatcher  still  leading.  Just  before  the  distance -post 
Flatcatcher  was  passed  by  Surplice  and  Canezou.  The 
mare  then  took  the  lead  by  half  a  length,  and  up  to  the 
stand  appeared  to  have  the  best  of  it.  At  this  point, 
however,  Surplice  got  to  her  head,  and  after  one  of  the 
most  exciting  races  ever  witnessed,  won  in  the  last  two 
or  three  strides  by  a  neck,  steel  and  whipcord  having  been 
vigorously  plied  to  land  him.  Flatcatcher  was  three  lengths 
behind  the  pair,  and  the  rest  beaten  a  very  long  way  off. 


SURPLICE   AT   THE    ST    LEGER.  291 

"  It  was  one  of  the  most  desperate  struggles  ever  seen — 
Surplice  proving  himself  as  game  and  honest  a  horse  as 
ever  breathed,  to  the  great  discomfiture  of  those  who  did 
not  hesitate  to  proclaim  after  the  Derby  that  he  was  a 
cur.  Lord  George  Bentinck  was  not  a  little  gratified  at 
witnessing  the  success  of  the  produce  of  his  favourite 
mare. 

"There  was  a  great  deal  of  private  gossip  about  the 
substitution  of  Nat  for  Robinson  on  Surplice's  back,  and 
it  was  remotely  hinted  that  suspicions  had  been  excited, 
first  from  Robinson  having  been  seen  in  conversation  with 
Messrs  Green  and  Stebbings  on  the  race-course  on  Tuesday 
morning,  and  next  from  his  having  hedged  the  bet  which 
Lord  Clifden  had  laid  him — £1000  to  £50  against  Surplice. 
We  are  quite  satisfied,  however,  that  such  circumstances 
would  have  no  weight  with  Lord  Clifden  and  his  friends, 
as  the  first  was  a  mere  commonplace  occurrence,  and  the 
second  was  a  course  which  any  prudent  man  would  adopt, 
according  to  the  well-known  racing  principle,  '  No  bet  is  a 
good  bet  until  hedged.' " 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  motive  which 
caused  Nat  to  be  substituted  for  Bobinson,  I  am 
in  a  position  to  state  that  it  was  done  solely  by 
the  advice,  and  at  the  instance,  of  Mr  Harry  Hill. 
It  is  a  satisfaction,  however,  to  me  to  reflect  that 
such  an  occurrence  never  took  place  in  the  Good- 
wood establishment  during  the  thirty  years  of  my 
connection  with  it. 

The  chicanery  practised  over  this  St  Leger  with 
regard  to  Surplice  was  strongly  commented  upon 
by  numerous  supporters  of  the  Turf;  and  had  he 
not  been  the  superior  horse  he  was,  possessing 
great  speed  with  stoutness,  he  would  in  all  prob- 


292  THE   DERBY   OF   1848. 

ability  have  been  beaten.  Had  Robinson,  after 
making  such  a  desperate  pace  with  Flatcatcher, 
in  strict  accordance  with  his  orders,  been  able  to 
steady  him  when  Canezou  and  Surplice  headed 
him,  and  to  keep  an  effort  left  in  his  horse,  the 
race  might  have  ended  as  did  the  second  heat  for 
the  Derby  of  1828,  in  which  Cadland  just  beat  the 
Colonel.  Evidently  it  was  Robinson's  hope  that 
he  might  win  by  riding.  Otherwise  he  would  not 
have  made  so  much  use  of  Flatcatcher,  when  he 
knew  the  merits  of  Surplice  as  well  as  he  did. 

It  was  a  fortunate  victory  for  Mr  Villiers,  as  I 
know  from  the  most  unquestionable  authority  that 
he  won  largely,  chiefly  by  some  double  event  bets, 
one  of  which,  £10,000  to  £100,  came  to  my  know- 
ledge, as  well  as  others  which  were  reported  to 
me,  but  not  by  Mr  Villiers.  Nor  was  my  advice 
to  him  after  the  Derby  trial  acknowledged  in  any 
way.  I  received,  however,  a  far  greater  reward 
than  any  Mr  Villiers  could  bestow  upon  me ;  to 
wit,  from  my  old  master,  Lord  George  Bentinck, 
who  expressed  his  desire  that  I  should  serve  him 
again.  Any  acknowledgments  which  Mr  Villiers 
might  have  been  pleased  to  make  to  me  could  not 
have  produced  so  much  gratification  as  I  felt  when 
I  found  that  the  confidence  placed  in  me  by  Lord 
George  Bentinck  was  unchanged. 

Two  days  after  the  St  Leger,  Surplice  walked 
over  for  the  North  of  England  Produce  Stakes. 
At  Newmarket  First  October  Meeting  he  met  his 


SURPLICE   AT    NEWMARKET.  293 

old   antagonist,   Flatcatcher,  in  the  Grand  Duke 
Michael  Stakes,  A.F.,  with  the  following  result : — 

Lord  Clif den's  Surplice  (Eobinson),  1. 

Mr  B.  Green's  Flatcatcher  (Flatman),  2. 

11  to  4  on  Surplice.     Won  by  half  a  length. 

In  the  Second  October  Meeting,  Newmarket, 
Surplice  started  for  the  Cesarewitch  Stakes.  The 
race  came  off  as  follows  : — 

Mr  W.   S.    Crawford's    ch.   g.   The    Cur,    6    years,   8.3 

(S.  Eogers),  1. 

Colonel  Peel's  ch.  f.  Dacia,  3  years,  4.13,  (Collins)  2. 
Captain   Harcourt's    br.   f.   Ellerdale,   4  years,   8.5    (J. 

Marson),  3. 
Colonel   Peel's .  b.   f.   Palma,   4   years,    carried   5.3   (G-. 

Browne),  4. 
Mr  Meiklam's  Inheritress,  aged,  8.8  (Templeman) ;  Lord 

Clifden's  Surplice,  3  years,  8.5,  including  12  Ib.  extra 

(Eobinson) ;  and  26  others  ran. 

Betting— 3  to  1  v.  Surplice,  5  to  1  v.  The  Cur,  12  to  1 
v.  Dacia,  12  to  1  v.  Inheritress.  Won  by  a  length.  Surplice 
was  beaten  a  long  way. 

Next  year,  in  1849,  in  the  First  Spring  Meeting 
at  Newmarket,  Lord  Exeter's  b.  m.  Tophana,  6 
years,  received  forfeit  from  Lord  Clifden's  Surplice, 
4  years,  T.  M.  M.,  500  sovs.  h.  ft. 

At  Goodwood  Surplice  ran  for  the  Chesterfield 
Cup  (mile  and  a  quarter),  which  was  won  by — 

Mr  F.  Nicoll's  ch.  c.  Woolwich,  3  years,  6  st.  (Hiett),  1. 
Mr  Payne's  Crucible,  3  years,  5.7  (Charlton),  2. 
Lord  Exeter's  Medea,  3  years,  4.10  (Barker),  3. 


294  THE   DERBY   OF   1848. 

Mr  Eolt's  Collingwood,  6  years,  9.8  (F.  Butler);  Lord 
Clifden's  Surplice,  4  years,  9  st.  (Eobinson) ;  and  seven 
others  were  not  placed. 

Betting — 6  to  4  on  Surplice,  5  to  1  v.  Collingwood,  8  to 
1  v.  Crucible.  Won  by  a  length;  half  a  length  between 
second  and  third. 

Surplice  was  beaten  a  long  way,  not  displaying  much 
improvement  upon  his  3-year  old  form  when  tried  with 
Lady  Wildair  and  Sagacity. 

At  Newmarket  Second  October  Meeting  Surplice, 
8  st.  5  lb.,  walked  over  for  a  Sweepstakes  of  1000 
sovs.,  each,  400  ft.,  A.F.  (3  subscribers).  In  the 
Houghton  Meeting,  Collingwood,  9  st.  2  lb.,  was 
matched  against  Surplice,  8  st.,  A.F.,  200  h.  ft. 
Collingwood  walked  over. 

In  1850  Surplice  ran  but  once — viz.,  in  the  First 
Spring  Meeting  at  Newmarket  in  the  following 
match  :— 

Duke  of  Bedford's  b.  f.  St  Eosalia,  7  st.  5  lb.  (Pettit), 
beat  Lord  Clifden's  Surplice,  8  st.  10  lb.  (Pearl),  T.  Y.  C., 
300,  50  ft. 

Betting — 6  to  4  on  Surplice,  who  was  beaten  easily  by 
two  lengths. 

Thus  terminated  the  racing  career  of  one  of  the 
most  sensational  horses  of  the  century.  After 
having  accomplished  the  great  feat  of  winning  the 
Derby  and  St  Leger,  beating  some  really  good 
horses,  Surplice  failed  to  win  any  other  race  of  im- 
portance, losing  his  speed  and  form  altogether.  It 
was  rather  a  remarkable  coincidence  that  he  should 
have  won  the  Derby  and  St  Leger  each  by  the 


END  or  SURPLICE'S  CAREER.  295 

same  distance — a  neck,  and  that  F.  Butler  should 
have  ridden  the  runner-up  on  each  occasion.  To 
show  how  naturally  sluggish  Surplice  was,  I  may 
mention  that  Springy  Jack,  who  was  second  to  him 
for  the  Derby,  was  believed  by  John  Scott  and  F. 
Butler  to  be  a  stone  worse  than  Canezou,  who  was 
second  for  the  St  Leger.  Yet  he  beat  each  of 
them  by  a  neck,  although  most  assuredly  as  good 
a  horse  on  the  Derby  Day  as  he  was  on  that  of  the 
St  Leger. 


296 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  TURF  REFORMER. 

LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK'S  name  will  endure  while 
horse-racing  forms  the  favourite  pastime  of  the 
British  nation,  as  that  of  the  greatest  Turf  reformer 
ever  known.  By  his  stringent  code  of  laws,  pro- 
mulgated in  1844,  he  purged  the  race-courses  of 
defaulters,  established  punctuality  in  starting  for 
each  race  by  fining  the  clerk  of  the  course  10s. 
for  every  minute  behind  time,  and  insisted  that 
each  horse  should  be  numbered  on  the  card,  a  cor- 
responding number  being  exhibited  on  the  tele- 
graph frame.  He  required  also  that  the  names 
of  the  jockeys  should  be  recorded  on  the  board 
and  card,  and  that  the  jockey  should  be  properly 
dressed  in  a  silk,  velvet,  or  satin  jacket,  and  in 
boots  and  breeches,  as  it  was  by  no  means  unusual 
to  see  jockeys  riding  in  trousers  or  gaiters,  with 
jackets  and  caps  of  the  roughest  and  most  grotesque 
description.  The  saddling  of  the  horses  at  a  given 
place,  and  their  walking  and  cantering  before  the 


TURF   REFORMS.  297 

stand,  were  likewise  enforced  by  him,  together  with 
their  starting  by  the  aid  of  flags.  More  necessary 
improvements  than  the  latter  two  there  could  not 
possibly  be,  as  it  had  long  been  difficult  for  jockeys 
to  find  the  horses  they  were  about  to  ride  when 
saddling- time  arrived,  and  the  consequent  delay  in 
starting  was  most  vexatious  and  annoying.  At  no 
place  were  these  improvements  hailed  with  greater 
satisfaction  than  at  Epsom,  as  the  Derby  candi- 
dates were  so  surrounded  by  gentlemen  and  others 
on  horseback  that  jockeys  could  not  find  their 
mounts.  When  Lord  George  suggested  these  rules 
and  conditions  for  Epsom,  the  late  Mr  Dorling,  the 
clerk  of  the  course  (to  whom  Lord  George  lent 
the  sum  of  £5000,  thus  proving  the  stepping-stone 
to  that  official's  successful  career),  stated  that  he 
thought  they  could  not  be  enforced.  Lord  George, 
who  was  Steward,  replied,  "  If  the  conditions  are 
that  the  horses  must  be  saddled  in  Epsom  town, 
never  fear  but  I  will  enforce  them."  His  first 
attempt  to  start  the  horses  by  the  flag  system  was 
with  one  flag  upon  a  very  long  pole,  with  which 
he  marshalled  the  horses  to  the  post,  walking  a 
little  in  front  of  them,  and  soundly  rating  any 
jockey  wrho  attempted  to  advance  beyond  the  line 
prescribed  by  the  starter.  The  objection  to  the 
one-flag  system  was  soon  shown,  as  the  jockeys 
watched  its  gradual  lowering  and  attempted  to 
jump  off  before  it  had  actually  fallen.  His  Lord- 
ship then  instituted  the  advance-flag  ;  and  was 


298    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  TURF  REFORMER. 

also  very  strict  about  the  weighing  of  the  jockeys, 
as  it  was  notoriously  impossible  to  weigh  some  of 
them  accurately,  so  expert  and  quick  were  they 
with  their  toes  and  heels,  which  enabled  certain 
jockeys  to  ride  some  pounds  over  their  proper 
weight.  There  was  one  jockey  in  particular  whom 
Lord  George  suspected  of  this  imposition.  He 
related  his  suspicions  to  me,  and  desired  me  to 
arrange  a  trial  a  few  hours  before  a  race  in  which 
this  jockey  had  to  ride  8  stone,  though  not  on  one 
of  our  horses.  I  did  so,  and  with  a  light  saddle 
he  scaled  nearly  seven  pounds  over  that  weight. 
After  the  race  it  was  discovered  that  several 
pounds  of  lead  had  been  nailed  upon  the  under 
part  of  the  scale. 

In  the  report  given  of  Doncaster  Races  in  1843, 
it  was  stated  that  "  the  Corporation  had  been 
brought  to  a  just  sense  of  their  duties  by  the 
indefatigable  Lord  George  Bentinck,  who  may 
with  the  utmost  propriety  be  styled  the  greatest 
reformer  of  all  abuses  connected  with  the  Turf. 
The  same  admirable  rule  respecting  defaulters, 
which  worked  so  well  at  Goodwood,  is  to  be  put 
into  force  here."  In  connection  with  the  Second 
October  Meeting  of  1843,  the  following  remarks 
were  written  :  "  Honest  men  have  to  thank  Lord 
George  Bentinck  for  this  valuable  reform  of  the 
Turf;  for  if  that  nobleman  had  not  persevered  to 
the  utmost,  even  his  powerful  influence  would 
have  been  blighted,  and  a  host  of  rotten  sheep  left 


STUDIES    THE   PUBLIC    CONVENIENCE.  299 

to  infect  the  constitution  of  the  remaining  flock. 
We  are  left  without  sufficient  words  of  praise  to 
the  noble  Lord  for  his  indefatigable  exertions." 

Not  only  for  the  general  interest  of  the  Turf 
did  his  Lordship  employ  his  active  mind,  but  also 
for  the  safety  and  pleasure  of  the  public — alleging 
that  if  comfort,  convenience,  and  accommodation 
were  provided  for  them,  to  enable  them  to  enjoy 
more  fully  the  pleasures  they  sought,  they  would 
not  object  to  pay  for  them.  Hence  his  Lordship's 
proposition  to  form  an  enclosure  round  the  Stand 
at  Goodwood,  Liverpool,  and  Epsom,  to  which  the 
outside  public  at  first  raised  great  objections  ;  but 
his  Lordship's  observation  and  forethought  soon 
enabled  him  rightly  to  estimate  the  advantage  of 
such  a  step,  and  before  long  he  greatly  extended 
the  enclosure  at  Goodwood  till  it  encompassed  the 
beautiful  trees,  which  now  afford  the  greatest  enjoy- 
ment to  those  who  partake  of  luxurious  luncheons 
under  their  shade.  Like  other  reforms  and  im- 
provements originally  established  at  Goodwood, 
these  enclosures  have  been  adopted  at  all  the 
fashionable  race  meetings  of  the  United  Kingdom 
and  throughout  the  world.  Goodwood  race -course 
being  private  property,  and  owned  by  a  nobleman 
who  delighted  in  the  noble  sport,  it  was  always 
the  Duke  of  Richmond's  desire  to  make  the 
meeting  as  perfect  as  possible,  which,  with  Lord 
George's  energetic  and  judicious  assistance,  his 
Grace  succeeded  in  accomplishing.  A  sporting 


300    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  TURF  REFORMER. 

writer  on  "  Glorious  Goodwood  "  in  1844  remarked  : 
"  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Richmond  and  Lord 
George  Bent  in  ck  are  unwearied  in  their  efforts  to 
do  away  with  the  few  faults  and  imperfections 
which  still  remain/'  The  comfort  and  convenience 
of  the  public  were  always  well  considered  by  these 
generous  and  considerate  noblemen.  It  was  Lord 
George  who  discovered  that  the  public  would 
readily  pay  for  value  received  ;  and  that  in  these 
receipts  there  existed  a  large  supplementary  and 
potential  source  of  income  which  should  be  applied, 
and  revert  to,  the  public  convenience  and  enjoy- 
ment. At  that  time  the  added  money  to  the 
various  races  at  Goodwood  was  almost  nominal, 
amounting  to  no  more  than  £1050 ;  while  the 
collective  value  of  all  the  stakes  run  for  was 
£32,589,  for  which  242  horses  started.  In  the  four 
days  there  were  forty-three  races — viz.,  thirteen 
the  first  day,  nine  the  second,  eleven  the  third, 
and  ten  the  fourth,  of  which  the  Goodwood  stable 
sent  seventy-five  to  the  post.  As  may  be  imagined, 
his  Lordship  and  all  connected  with  the  stable 
were  thoroughly  tired,  out ;  yet  after  dinner  his 
Lordship  was  always  eager  to  add  interest  to  the 
next  day's  racing,  and  was  never  too  weary  to 
make  matches  and  bets.  Four  glasses  of  wine  were 
all  he  allowed  himself,  and  the  fatigue  of  the  day 
often  caused  him  to  fall  asleep  after  dinner ; 
nevertheless,  he  would  rouse  up  when  any  remark 
was  made  which  -interested  him,  particularly  when 


REFORMS    IN   JUDGING.  301 

any  one  offered  to  make  matches  or  bets.  He 
never  smoked,  and  appeared  to  doze  when  others 
were  smoking.  But,  asleep  or  awake,  he  was 
always  perfectly  self-possessed ;  and  sleeping  or 
waking,  no  one  ever  heard  from  him  an  indiscretion 
or  an  unmasking  disclosure.  "  All  the  world  and 
his  wife  know  full  well  how  quiet  Lord  George 
Bentinck  is  when  he  has  a  good  thing."  Such 
was  the  remark  of  a  writer  who  had  watched  him 
closely  and  knew  him  well. 

The  primitive  arrangements  for  conducting  most 
of  the  provincial  race  meetings,  previous  to  the 
time  when  Lord  George's  attention  was  drawn  to 
them,  undoubtedly  demanded  reform,  as  among 
other  anomalies  it  was  customary  for  a  private 
gentleman  to  officiate  in  the  capacity  of  judge, 
and  also  in  that  of  starter.  The  consequence  was 
that  gross  errors  occurred  in  the  awards  of  many 
races ;  while  the  disappointments  and  unsatis- 
factory scenes  witnessed  at  the  starting-post  were 
disgraceful  in  the  extreme.  Two  very  flagrant 
errors  in  the  decision  of  races  affecting  the  Good- 
wood Stable  came  under  my  observation, — one  in 
1824,  when  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  mare  Dandi- 
zette  ran  for  the  Goodwood  Stakes,  and  passed 
the  winning-post  first ;  but  the  race  was  given  by 
Mr  Greville,  who  acted  as  judge,  to  Lord  Veru- 
lam's  Vitellina.  At  that  time  the  judge's  box  was 
perched  aloft,  considerably  above  the  level  of  the 
race-track.  Dandizette  finished  close  to  the  rails, 


302    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  TURF  REFORMER. 

and  passed  right  under  the  judge's  chair  without 
attracting  Mr  Greville's  observation,  which  was 
concentrated  on  Vitellina  and  The  Ghost  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  course — the  latter  hanging  so 
much  upon  the  former  that  she  was  in  great 
danger  of  being  forced  against  the  rails.  The 
jostling  race  between  these  two  animals  absorbed 
Mr  Greville's  field  of  vision,  and  he  saw  nothing  of 
Dandizette  ;  but  the  oversight  was  so  apparent 
that  Lord  Verulam  offered  the  stakes  to  the  Duke 
of  Richmond,  stating  he  was  quite  convinced  that 
Dandizette  had  won  easily  enough.  His  Grace 
thanked  Lord  Verulam  for  his  honourable  proposal, 
but  declined  to  receive  the  stakes,  stating  that, 
whatever  his  own  private  opinion  and  that  of 
others  might  be,  the  judge's  decision  was  irrevo- 
cable, and  must  be  obeyed.  The  Earl  of  Burling- 
ton was  also  present  on  this  occasion,  it  being  the 
only  race  meeting  at  Goodwood  that  his  Lordship 
was  ever  known  to  attend.  He  said  to  the  Duke, 
"  So  you  have  won  the  race ;  but  it  has  been 
given  against  you  by  a  judge  who  is  above  all 
things  a  Newmarket  man  ! "  Again,  in  the  year 
1837,  the  Duke  of  Richmond's  Skilly golee,  three 
years  old,  ran  for  the  Gold  Cup  at  Southampton, 
which  he  won  easily  enough  the  first  time ;  but 
the  judge  gave  it  a  dead  heat  between  him  and 
Mr  Sidney  Herbert's  Bulbridge,  three  years  old. 
It  was  so  glaring  an  error  that  I  felt  compelled  to 
remonstrate  with  the  judge,  whose  reply  was,  "  I 


IMPROVEMENTS    IN   STARTING.  303 

hope  you  are  not  offended,  but  we  wanted  to 
make  all  the  sport  we  could "  !  The  next  heat  I 
told  Reeves  (the  jockey  who  rode  Skilly golee)  not 
to  have  another  dead  heat,  and  he  won  by  four 
or  five  lengths.  As  I  rode  past  the  winning-post 
I  asked  the  judge  how  far  the  horse  won  this  time. 
He  replied,  "  By  a  length."  "  No  bad  length, 
either,"  I  rejoined. 

Occurrences  of  this  sort  were  by  no  means  un- 
common in  those  days.  The  starting  of  the  horses 
was  generally  performed  by  the  clerk  of  the 
course,  or  some  other  official  quite  unused  to  the 
work,  and  the  jockeys  took  every  advantage  of 
him.  Jockeys  then,  as  now,  would  use  every 
device  in  their  power  to  obtain  an  advantageous 
start,  and  to  this  end  some  would  deliberately 
cause  false  starts  until  they  attained  their  object. 
Sometimes  a  favourite  would  be  kept  at  the  start- 
ing-post for  an  hour  in  a  state  of  frenzy  until  he 
was  more  than  half  exhausted  before  the  flag  fell. 
As  the  horses  were  started  by  word  of  command— 
the  single  word  "  Go  "  being  their  nunc  dimittis— 
the  jockeys  were  often  unable  to  understand  what 
the  starter  meant,  and  sometimes  ran  the  race 
right  through  when  it  was  no  start.  The  person 
deputed  to  start  the  horses  at  Goodwood  in  1830 
had  an  impediment  in  his  speech,  and  when  he 
became  excited  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that 
he  could  articulate  a  word.  For  the  Duke  of 
Richmond's  Plate  that  year  there  were  a  number 


304    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  TURF  REFORMER. 

of  false  starts,  which  delayed  the  actual  start  for 
a  very  long  time.  After  the  race,  William  Arnull, 
the  oldest  jockey  who  took  part  in  it,  and  one 
upon  whose  word  full  reliance  could  be  placed, . 
was  summoned  by  the  stewards  to  explain  the 
cause  of  the  long  delay.  He  replied,  "  Some  of 
the  horses  were  no  doubt  restive,  but  in  my 
opinion  the  fault  lay  chiefly  with  the  starter. 
He  is  just  like  an  old  firelock  which  fizzles  ever 
so  long  in  the  pan  before  it  goes  off,  and  when  he 
did  get  the  word  out,  there  was  no  knowing 
whether  he  said  '  Go '  or  '  No '  !  " 

One  of  the  most  flagrant  attempts  on  the  part 
of  jockeys,  and  of  others  behind  the  scenes  who 
bribed  them,  to  defeat  a  great  favourite,  was 
practised  at  Doncaster  in  1827,  when  Mameluke, 
who  won  the  Derby,  was  brought  out  to  run  for 
the  St  Leger.  There  were  twenty-six  starters, 
some  of  them  having  been  sent  to  the  post  for 
the  express  purpose  of  impeding  and  delaying  the 
start,  and  upsetting  Mameluke's  temper.  Re- 
peated false  starts  followed  each  other,  in  some 
of  which  three  or  four  horses  ran  a  considerable 
distance  before  they  could  be  stopped  and  brought 
back.  All  these  delays  and  checks  had  the  natural 
effect  of  irritating  Mameluke  greatly,  so  that  he 
fretted,  kicked,  and  plunged  with  such  violence 
that  Sam  Chifney  the  younger,  who  was  upon 
his  back,  had  the  greatest  trouble  to  induce  him 
to  approach  the  starter  at  all.  After  a  monstrous 


JOCKEY'S  TRICKS.  305 

loss  of  time  a  start  was  at  last  effected,  but  in 
most  irregular  fashion,  as  Matilda  and  Translation 
got  off  several  lengths  ahead  of  the  rest  of  the 
field.  When  the  flag  fell  Mameluke's  head  was 
turned  the  other  way,  which  caused  him  to  lose  at 
least  one  hundred  yards.  Although  Jem  Hobinson, 
on  Matilda,  made  every  use  that  he  could  of  his 
advantageous  start  by  forcing  the  pace,  Mameluke 
gradually  made  up  his  lost  ground,  and  got  on 
terms  with  Mr  Petre's  filly ;  but  in  the  end  Robin- 
son's splendid  riding  was  not  to  be  denied,  as  he 
nursed  his  mare  for  a  final  effort,  and  won  the  race 
by  a  short  half-length.  There  are  many  living, 
besides  myself,  who  remember  the  race,  and  the 
rumours  about  it,  which  were  on  every  tongue. 
Some  blamed  the  starter,  who,  I  believe,  was 
shortly  afterwards  dismissed  from  his  situation. 
At  that  time  the  jealousies  between  the  north- 
country  and  south -country  jockeys  were  in  full 
blast,  and  deep  were  the  ill  -  feeling  and  malice 
existing  between  them.  Nor  were  these  evil 
practices  confined  to  the  jockeys.  There  were 
speculators  on  the  Turf  who  were  always  ready 
to  purchase  horses  engaged  in  a  great  race,  with 
a  view  of  sending  them  to  the  post  solely  to 
create  difficulties  at  the  start,  and  thus  facilitate 
the  victory  of  an  outsider.  For  instance,  when 
Priam,  who  was  a  great  favourite,  w^on  the  Derby 
in  1830,  there  were  fourteen  false  starts,  all  of 
which  took  place  in  a  heavy  downpour  of  rain. 

u 


306    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  TURF  REFORMER. 

Fortunately  Priam  was  a  most  docile  and  trac- 
table colt,  and  nothing  could  exasperate  him  or 
ruffle  his  perfect  temper.  In  the  end  he  won 
easily,  beating  twenty  -  two  opponents,  some  of 
which  were  sent  to  the  post  without  the  remotest 
possibility  of  being  able  to  run  into  a  place.  I 
have  seen  all  the  best  horses  that  have  flourished 
and  had  their  day  for  more  than  sixty  years  past, 
and  I  now  repeat  my  well-considered  opinion  that 
Priam  was  the  most  perfect  race-horse  I  ever  saw. 
His  constitution  was  magnificently  sound ;  his 
temperament  and  nervous  system  beautifully  at- 
tuned ;  his  shape,  make,  and  action  were  fault- 
less. No  weight  known  to  the  '  Racing  Calendar ' 
could  crush  his  spirit.  All  courses  came  alike  to 
him.  I  well  remember  how  frequently  I  rode  him 
at  exercise  when,  in  1831,  he  came  to  our  stables 
to  run  for  the  Goodwood  Cup  of  that  year,  which 
as  a  four-year-old  he  won  in  a  canter,  carrying  9 
st.  5  Ib.  two  miles  and  a  half.  That  was  sixty-one 
years  ago,  and  I  question  whether  there  is  any 
other  man  still  living  who  ever  crossed  the  back 
of  that  "  bright  particular  star  "  among  horses,  the 
beautiful  and  incomparable  Priam  —  the  peer  of 
Flying  Childers  and  Eclipse — the  "  horse  of  the 
nineteenth  century  ! " 

Lord  George  Bentinck's  connection  with  Priam 
is  somewhat  remarkable,  as  it  was  through  his 
Lordship's  instrumentality  that  in  1831  he  was 
sent  to  Goodwood,  after  the  Ascot  Meeting,  to  be 


PRIAM.  307 

trained  for  the  Goodwood  Cup.  He  was  then  the 
property  of  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  whose  horses 
were  trained  by  Richard  Prince  at  Newmarket. 
Prince  also  trained  for  the  Duke  of  Portland  and 
Mr  Charles  Greville,  with  each  of  whom,  as  son  to 
the  first  and  cousin  to  the  second,  Lord  George 
was  intimately  connected.  Being  so  favourably 
impressed  with  the  advantages  of  Goodwood  as  a 
training-ground,  Lord  George  persuaded  Lord  Ches- 
terfield (then  a  young  man  of  twenty-six)  to  send 
Priam  there  from  Ascot,  instead  of  allowing  him  to 
travel  on  foot  to  Newmarket,  and  thence  to  walk  to 
Goodwood.  It  was  Lord  George's  admiration  for 
Priam  which  induced  him  to  purchase  at  Tatter- 
sail's,  as  a  foal,  the  most  extraordinary  animal 
that  he  ever  possessed.  I  well  remember  that  when 
Octaviana  and  her  filly  foal  by  Priam  were  put  up 
for  sale  in  1837,  the  foal  was  as  weak,  narrow, 
and  puny  a  thing  as  could  well  be  seen.  But 
in  her  veins  there  coursed  the  blood  of  Priam, 
Emilius,  and  Orville  on  the  father's  side,  and  of 
Octavian,  Shuttle,  Delpini,  and  King  Fergus  on 
the  mother's.  Always  a  firm  believer  in  good 
blood,  Lord  George  purchased  Octaviana  when  she 
was  twenty-two  years  old,  because  by  her  side  there 
ran  a  filly  foal  got  by  Priam.  The  price  he  paid 
for  the  pair  was  65  guineas.  It  was  in  this  man- 
ner that  he  became  the  owner  of  the  celebrated 
Crucifix. 

Let  me  conclude  with  two  other  instances  of  Lord 


308    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  TURF  REFORMER. 

George's  zeal,  energy,  and  acumen  as  a  Turf  refor- 
mer, to  follow  which  vocation  he  was  additionally 
impelled  by  the  fact  that  he  was  often  the  victim 
of  abuses  which  then  existed.  In  the  year  1834, 
when  Preserve  won  the  Clearwell  at  Newmarket, 
the  horses  were  at  the  post  an  hour  before  the  start 
took  place,  although  there  were  but  nine  runners. 
Preserve  was  a  great  favourite  at  6  to  4,  and  there 
was  evidently  a  concerted  endeavour  to  defeat  her 
by  irritating  and  wearying  her  as  much  as  possible. 
This  foul  design  was  repeated  when  Preserve  won 
the  Criterion  at  the  Houghton  Meeting,  the  betting 
being  13  to  8  on  her.  Although  there  were  four- 
teen false  starts,  the  Emilius  blood,  as  in  the  case 
of  her  half-brother  Priarn,  was  too  stout  to  be 
exhausted  and  defeated  by  manoeuvres  of  this 
rascally  kind. 

Again,  when  his  Lordship  brought  out  his  extra- 
ordinary filly,  Crucifix,  he  became  the  target  at 
which  the  shafts  of  envy,  hatred,  and  malice  were 
relentlessly  aimed.  An  attempt  was  made  to  defeat 
her  for  the  Chesterfield  Stakes  at  Newmarket, 
through  the  usual  agency  of  countless  false  starts. 
In  one  of  these  all  the  horses  engaged  ran  the 
course  through,  and  Lord  Albemarle's  chestnut  filly 
Iris  came  in  first,  defeating  Crucifix  by  half  a 
length.  Crucifix  was  carrying  9  Ib.  extra  for 
winning  the  July  Stakes,  and  lost  fifty  lengths  at 
the  starting-post.  It  transpired,  however,  that 


ATTEMPT   TO   DEFEAT    CRUCIFIX.  309 

the  signal  had  never  been  given,  and  it  was  de- 
clared "  no  start."  To  run  another  heat  with  9  Ib. 
extra  was  undoubtedly  a  severe  tax  upon  an  over- 
grown, light -framed,  leggy,  and  half-furnished  filly 
of  a  most  irritable  and  impetuous  temperament — 
a  defect  which  she  inherited  from  her  dam ;  but 
such  was  her  superiority  that  she  was  equal  to  the 
task,  and  won  the  actual  race  in  a  canter  by  two 
lengths,  Iris  second.  It  was  7  to  4  on  her  before 
the  first  heat  and  2  to  1  against  her  for  the  second. 
When  she  ran  for  the  Criterion  in  the  Houghton 
Meeting,  it  was  3  to  1  on  her,  although  she  again 
had  9  Ib.  extra  to  carry.  The  usual  false  starts 
were  resorted  to,  maddening  Crucifix  so  much  that 
she  ran  a  dead  heat  with  General  Yates's  Gibraltar. 
The  stakes  were  then  divided,  which  was  to  the 
advantage  of  both ;  as  Crucifix,  although  pretty 
certain  to  have  won  the  second  heat,  might  have 
been  overtasked,  to  her  own  permanent  injury. 
In  the  following  year  (1840),  when  Crucifix,  after 
winning  the  Two  Thousand  and  One  Thousand 
Guineas,  ran  for  the  Oaks,  the  betting  was  3  to  1 
on  her.  There  were  fifteen  runners,  and  more 
than  an  hour  was  cut  to  waste  before  the  horses 
got  off.  Although  Crucifix  won  by  half  a  length, 
it  was  her  ruin,  as  she  had  become  so  fretful  that 
in  one  of  the  innumerable  false  starts  she  hit  her 
leg  and  never  ran  again.  She  was  beyond  all 
question  a  victim  to  the  rascally  policy  pursued 


310    LORD  GEORGE  AS  A  TURF  REFORMER. 

by  her  envious  and  unscrupulous  opponents,  after 
making  the  utmost  possible  allowance  for  her  im- 
petuous temper. 

Having  witnessed  and  suffered  from  these  unjust 
and  iniquitous  efforts  to  defeat  favourites,  Lord 
George  resolved  that  he  would  introduce  reforms 
to  frustrate  as  far  as  possible  the  machinations  of 
the  promoters  of  all  this  mischief. 


311 


CHAPTEE    XV. 

PERSONAL    HABITS    OF    LOUD    GEORGE    BENTINCK. 

LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK  was  the  beau  ideal  of  an 
English  nobleman.  He  stood  over  six  feet  in 
height ;  his  figure  was,  beyond  that  of  any  other 
man  of  my  acquaintance,  stately  and  elegant  ;  his 
features  were  extremely  handsome  and  refined,  his 
hands  and  feet  small  and  beautifully  shaped,  and 
his  whole  appearance  most  commanding.  He  was 
invariably  dressed  in  a  long  black  frock-coat,  a 
black  or  very  dark  blue,  double-breasted,  velvet 
waistcoat,  and  dark  trousers,  having  (in  the  fashion 
of  that  day)  straps  attached,  which  passed  under 
his  boots.  Over  his  waistcoat  he  wore  a  fine,  long, 
gold  chain,  which  went  round  his  neck,  and  was 
clasped  together  on  his  breast  by  a  gold  loop,  in 
which  was  set  a  large  and  very  conspicuous  tur- 
quoise, which  I  always  regarded  as  symbolising 
his  sky-blue  racing  jacket.  Round  his  neck  he 
wore  a  costly  cream-coloured  satin  scarf  of  great 
length,  knotted  under  his  chin,  and  with  a  gold 


312     HABITS  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

pin  stuck  in  it.  This  gold  pin  (he  had  two  or 
more  of  them)  contained  either  a  big  ruby  or  a 
pearl.  On  his  head  he  invariably  wore  a  tall,  new, 
beaver  hat.  In  this  costume,  including  frock-coat 
and  tall  hat,  Lord  George  was  always  dressed  when 
he  went  round  the  stables  at  Goodwood,  or  pro- 
ceeded to  the  exercise-grounds  on  foot  to  see  his 
horses  gallop.  On  the  race-course  he  usually  wore 
a  green  cutaway  coat,  buckskin  breeches,  and  top- 
boots.  I  must  revert  for  a  moment  to  his  scarfs, 
in  order  to  say  that,  although  they  cost  nearly  a 
pound  apiece,  nothing  would  induce  him  to  wear 
them  more  than  once.  They  were  then  put  away, 
and  many  drawers  were  full  of  them  when  he  died. 
After  his  death  I  purchased  from  Gardner,  his 
valet,  the  scarf  which  he  had  on  when  his  body 
was  found,  and  half-a-dozen  others,  which  I  still 
keep  as  mementoes  of  my  honoured  master. 

Lord  George  was  never  known  to  suffer  any  of 
those  whom  he  employed  as  commissioners  to  take 
the  slightest  liberty  with  him.  In  speaking  with 
them  he  never  laughed,  and  his  look,  when  serious, 
was  somewhat  stern.  He  never  sat  down,  or  per- 
mitted them  to  sit  down,  in  his  presence,  but  would 
stand  before  the  fireplace  while  talking  to  them, 
with  the  palms  of  his  hands  planted  just  behind 
his  hips.  I  have  heard  two  of  his  most  trusted 
commissioners  say  that,  without  asking  questions 
or  pumping  them  in  any  way,  Lord  George  always 
elicited  from  them  all  the  racing  information  that 


CORONATION.  313 

they  knew.  In  Coronation's  year  Lord  George 
had  a  large  round  book  on  the  Derby,  and  was  at 
all  times  prepared  to  lay  £10,000  to  £2 00  against 
any  outsiders,  not  in  John  Scott's  or  John  Day's 
stables,  whose  name  he  heard  for  the  first  time. 
One  day,  at  Tattersall's,  Isaac  Day  asked  his  Lord- 
ship to  lay  him  £10,000  to  £200  against  a  Sir  Her- 
cules colt,  born  in  1838,  the  year  of  her  Majesty's 
Coronation,  from  which  event  he  took  his  name. 
This  colt  was  trained  in  a  small  private  stable. 
Before  Lord  George  could  lay  the  bet  he  was 
touched  on  the  elbow  by  Mr  Joseph  Bond,  whom 
he  often  employed  to  do  commissions  for  him.  Mr 
Bond  shook  his  head,  and  the  bet  was  not  laid. 
Having  thus  escaped  being  caught  for  the  long 
odds,  Lord  George  never  laid  against  Coronation  at 
all,  and  won  his  whole  book.  The  only  explana- 
tion that  he  subsequently  vouchsafed  to  his  friends 
was,  "  I  followed  Mr  Bond,"  to  the  great  gratifi- 
cation of  the  latter. 

To  me  his  Lordship  was  always  very  unreserved 
and  communicative,  as  he  knew  from  experience 
that  I  should  never  abuse  his  confidence.  My 
positive  instructions  were  never  to  come  to  London 
without  seeing  him,  let  the  hour  be  w^hat  it  might. 
Frequently  I  arrived  at  Harcourt  House  very  early 
in  the  morning  by  the  mail  train,  and  the  hall- 
porter  would  immediately  call  his  Lordship's  valet 
to  announce  my  advent.  Lord  George  would  sum- 
mon me  without  a  moment's  delay  to  his  bedside, 


314     HABITS  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

and  after  I  had  talked  to  him  for  one  or  two  hours, 
would  order  breakfast  to  be  prepared  for  me  before 
I  left.  At  that  early  hour  it  often  took  so  much 
time  to  provide  this  meal  that  I  was  scarcely  able 
to  do  justice  to  it,  although  I  felt  bound  to  eat  as 
much  as  I  could,  as  his  Lordship  would  invariably 
inquire  of  me  before  we  parted  whether  I  had 
enjoyed  my  breakfast.  I  often  begged  him  to 
allow  me  to -get  what  little  I  wanted  at  some 
refreshment  -  room,  but  to  this  he  would  never 
consent. 

When  I  arrived  in  London  late  in  the  evening, 
Lord  George  was  often  at  the  House  of  Commons, 
or  at  White's  Club  at  dinner.  Wherever  he  might 
be,  it  was  my  duty  to  find  him  with  the  least 
possible  delay ;  and  if  not  at  White's  Club,  I 
sometimes  remained  there,  hearing  that  he  was 
expected  at  eleven  o'clock,  as  he  had  ordered 
dinner  then.  He  would  keep  me  talking  till  long 
after  midnight ;  and  upon  one  occasion  desired  me 
to  meet  him  next  week  at  the  Winchester  station, 
upon  the  arrival  of  the  first  train  from  London, 
about  11  A.M.,  which  necessitated  my  leaving  home 
about  5  A.M.  to  post  to  Fareham  (a  distance  of 
twenty  -  two  miles)  to  catch  the  train  for  Win- 
chester. Thence  we  posted  to  Danebury  paddocks, 
to  inspect  the  stud  previous  to  the  closing  of  the 
stakes  on  that  day  (the  1st  of  January).  After 
minutely  inspecting  the  stud,  Lord  George  found 
that  it  had  not  occupied  as  much  time  as  he 


PERSONAL    KINDNESS.  315 

expected,  and  said  he  thought  we  had  better  go 
straight  back  to  London,  instead  of  proceeding  to 
Winchester  to  dine,  as  he  had  arranged,  having 
ordered  dinner  at  the  George  Hotel.  Arriving  in 
London  at  Nine  Elms  station  about  7.30  P.M.,  his 
Lordship,  being  unable  to  find  his  luggage  as 
quickly  as  he  wished,  said,  "  I  will  drive  on  to 
Harcourt  House  to  order  you  some  dinner,  if  you 
will  get  another  cab  and  bring  my  luggage  with 
you."  When  I  got  to  Harcourt  House  about  9 
P.M.,  Mrs  Jones,  the  housekeeper,  came  to  inquire 
what  I  would  like  for  dinner,  as  his  Lordship  had 
desired  her  to  provide  the  best  she  was  able,  and 
to  get  fish,  game — in  fact,  whatever  I  could  enjoy. 
My  reply  was,  "  A  mutton  -  chop  with  some  tea, 
if  you  please,"  as  I  had  had  nothing  since  five 
o'clock  that  morning.  "  I  must  provide  more  than 
that,  or  I  feel  sure  his  Lordship  will  not  be  satis- 
fied," exclaimed  Mrs  Jones.  Feeling  faint  and 
tired,  I  was  not  in  a  mood  to  wait  long,  and  was 
therefore  allowed  to  have  what  I  asked  for  without 
delay.  As  I  was  eating,  Gardner,  his  Lordship's 
valet,  came  to  me  and  desired  me,  when  I  had 
dined,  to  go  to  White's  Club,  where  I  found  Lord 
George  at  dinner  about  eleven  o'clock.  "  I  hope 
you  enjoyed  your  meal  ?  What  did  Mrs  Jones  get 
for  you  ? "  were  his  first  questions.  I  told  him 
that  I  had  had  a  mutton-chop  and  some  tea.  "  Is 
that  all  she  provided  for  you  ! "  he  answered.  I 
stated  that  I  preferred  it  to  anything  else,  as  it 


316     HABITS  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

was  so  late,  and  so  many  hours  had  elapsed  since  I 
had  breakfasted.  "  So  long  as  you  have  had  what 
you  wished,  I  am  satisfied,"  he  rejoined. 

As  a  vast  number  of  stakes  closed  that  day  at 
midnight,  the  forfeits  for  which  would  amount  to 
thousands  of  pounds,  I  reminded  his  Lordship  of 
the  time,  as  he  did  not  appear  to  consider  it.  A 
cab  was  at  once  ordered,  and  we  arrived  at 
Weatherby's  office  about  11.40  P.M.  Mr  Wea- 
therby  was  afraid  that  something  serious  had 
occurred  to  prevent  his  Lordship  naming  for  the 
various  stakes  to  which  he  was  a  subscriber.  "  I 
am  in  plenty  of  time ;  Kent  has  all  the  nomina- 
tions made  out,"  observed  his  Lordship,  looking 
over  the  various  stakes  to  see  how  they  had  filled, 
until  two  o'clock,  when  he  drove  to  Harcourt 
House,  and  there  kept  me  talking  over  various 
matters  till  nearly  five.  Then  he  rang  for  his 
servant  to  order  some  breakfast  at  six  o'clock  for 
me,  as  he  wished  me  to  see  some  yearlings  Mr 
Tattersall  had  for  sale  at  Willesden  before  I  re- 
turned home  by  the  coach  from  Piccadilly  at 
8.45  A.M.  His  Lordship  never  made  any  allowance 
for  fatigue,  either  in  himself  or  in  others.  The 
exertion  and  labour  he  underwent  were  prodigious, 
and  the  strain  imposed  upon  his  mind  must,  in- 
deed, have  been  great,  as  it  was  incessantly  at 
work  both  night  and  day.  After  being  upon  a 
race-course  all  day,  he  would  invariably  return  to 
London  by  a  late  train,  and  often  desired  me  to 


ENDURANCE    OF   FATIGUE.  317 

return  with  him.  Giving  the  guard  10s.  or  a 
sovereign,  according  to  the  distance,  he  would 
desire  him  to  keep  a  coupee  locked,  and  he  insisted 
that  I  should  travel  with  him,  when  every  detail 
connected  with  his  enormous  racing  establishment 
was  discussed.  After  that,  he  would  talk  upon 
various  subjects,  many  of  a  private  and  family 
nature,  upon  which  I  could  hardly  have  expected 
him  to  speak  to  me.  He  would  relate  anecdotes 
about  his  father  and  brothers,  their  pursuits, 
habits,  and  peculiarities.  Of  his  mother  and 
sisters  he  always  spoke  in  the  most  affectionate 
terms  ;  and  when  any  question  of  expense  arose  he 
would  often  remark,  "  Never  mind  the  money ; 
my  mother  will  let  me  have  any  amount." 

His  prediction  as  to  the  great  revolution  the 
construction  of  railways  would  effect  in  racing  and 
other  interests  has  been  fully  realised,  and  he 
encouraged  railways  in  every  way.  He  was  a 
considerable  shareholder  in  the  London  and  Bir- 
mingham line,  as  he  informed  me  once  when 
travelling  upon  it ;  at  the  same  time  expatiating 
upon  the  immense  advantages  that  railways  had 
conferred  on  mankind,  and  upon  the  addition  to 
the  lives .  of  individuals  made  by  them,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  having  shortened  the  hours  of 
travel. 

When  the  Chichester  Old  Bank  stopped  pay- 
ment in  1842,  my  father  was  a  creditor  for  the 
amount  of  £3600,  which  was  not  only  a  very 


318     HABITS  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

serious  loss  to  him  but  also  a  great  inconvenience, 
as  it  crippled  him  in  the  conduct  of  his  business. 
A  few  days  after  the  occurrence  Lord  George  came 
to  Goodwood,  and  was  apprised  of  it.  He  sym- 
pathised warmly  with  my  father,  and  immediately 
placed  £2000  to  his  account  at  another  bank. 
The  consumption  of  oats  in  the  Goodwood  stable 
was  about  1500  quarters  per  annum,  and  they 
were  obtained  twice  a-year  in  consignments  of 
700  or  800  quarters  at  a  time.  They  came 
generally  from  Scotland  or  from  Wisbech.  A  few 
months  after  the  stoppage  of  the  bank,  the  usual 
half-yearly  supply  of  oats  had  to  be  ordered,  and, 
with  his  usual  considerate  kindness,  Lord  George 
said  to  my  father,  "  Kent,  I  am  sure  that  you 
must  need  a  further  advance  to  enable  you  to 
meet  all  your  requirements ;  here  is  another  cheque 
for  £2500."  Neither  of  these  sums  would  Lord 
George  allow  my  father  to  deduct  from  his  account 
until  July  1845,  so  that  he  had  the  use  of  £4500 
for  three  years  without  paying  a  shilling  of  interest 
upon  it.  The  July  (1845)  account  amounted  to 
£4704,  16s.  Id.,  which  sum  appears  in  my  father's 
ledger  with  "  Deduction  of  £4500  received  on 
account,"  written  under  it.  This  will  be  admitted 
by  all  to  have  been  a  generous  and  considerate  act 
on  Lord  George's  part. 

At  Harcourt  House  Lord  George  kept  about 
half-a-dozen  harness  -  horses,  and  a  couple  of 
travelling  carriages,  one  of  which  he  made  use  of 


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HIS    HUNTERS.  319 

when  journeying  down  to  Danebury,  or  Goodwood, 
or  Welbeck.  As  railways  began  to  extend  over 
all  the  kingdom,  these  travelling  carriages  were 
less  and  less  used  every  year,  until  discontinued 
altogether.  At  Welbeck  his  Lordship  kept  some 
first-class  hunters  in  order  to  go  out  with  the 
Rufford  hounds ;  but  when  in  the  south  he  greatly 
preferred  to  hunt  with  Mr  Assheton  Smith,  whose 
pack  brought  him  more  nearly  into  contact  with 
Danebury  and  Goodwood.  It  was  one  of  his 
favourite  fancies  to  have  all  his  horses  (including 
racers,  hunters,  and  cart-horses)  singed,  and  he 
always  insisted  that  the  hunters  and  cart-horses 
should  have  their  manes  cut  off.  Indeed  in  some 
cases  it  was  Lord  George's  wish  that  a  heavy- 
coated  horse  should  be  shaved,  although  it  was 
by  no  means  easy  to  get  a  barber  to  undertake 
the  job.  So  much  impressed  was  he  with  the 
advantages  to  condition  resulting  from  depriving 
all  horses  of  their  long  coats  when  employed  in 
any  description  of  hard  work,  that  he  gave  orders 
to  have  all  the  cart-horses  singed,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  black  mare,  who  had  an  unusually 
thick  coat,  and  was  a  very  free  worker.  Con- 
sequently she  was  always  in  a  sweat,  and  very 
irritable.  The  carter  who  attended  her  thought 
that,  if  singed,  she  would  be  more  irritable  than 
ever,  which  might  bring  on  some  dangerous  disease. 
When  Lord  George  heard  the  man's  objection,  he 
replied,  "  If  she  dies,  she  will  die  my  property,  and 


320     HABITS  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

not  yours.  I  insist,  therefore,  that  you  have  her 
singed  without  delay."  Lord  George  was  quite 
right  in  his  anticipation ;  for  instead  of  becoming 
more  nervous  and  irritable  after  losing  her  coat, 
she  became  perfectly  quiet  in  her  work,  and  soon 
put  on  a  lot  of  flesh,  of  which  she  stood  greatly 
in  need. 

Although  very  severe  upon  his  race-horses  in 
training,  and  resolved  to  try  them  constantly,  and 
to  run  them  in  as  many  races  as  possible,  some- 
times twice  in  the  same  day,  he  greatly  disliked 
to  see  them  punished  and  abused  by  jockeys.  In 
the  stable  he  would  go  up  to  them  in  their  stalls, 
and  fondle  and  caress  them  as  if  they  were  his 
own  children.  To  show  how  much  he  hated  to 
see  a  horse  (however  sorry  a  nag  it  might  be) 
cruelly  treated,  I  remember  being  with  him  very 
early  one  morning  upon  Epsom  race-course  during 
the  Derby  week.  In  the  furze-bushes  at  the  top 
of  the  hill  a  gipsy  was  ill-using  and  beating  his 
horse  unmercifully,  and  Lord  George  called  out  to 
him  to  desist.  The  gipsy  paid  no  attention  to  the 
remonstrance,  and  Lord  George  jumped  off  his 
horse  and  threw  the  rein  to  me,  bidding  me  to 
remain  there  until  he  had  given  "  that  brute "  a 
sound  hiding.  I  implored  him  not  to  do  so, 
reminding  him  that  there  were  a  lot  of  other 
gipsies  and  roughs  close  by,  who  would  be  sure  to 
interfere  on  behalf  of  their  friend  and  comrade, 
and  might  do  him  some  injury.  Observing  my 


HIS    HATRED    OF   DISHONESTY.  321 

earnestness,  and  acknowledging  the  justice  of 
my  remarks,  his  Lordship  remounted  his  horse, 
adding,  "  You  have  disappointed  me  in  giving  that 
scoundrel  a  good  thrashing ;  but  perhaps  you  are 
right." 

All  those  in  Lord  George's  service  who  did  their 
duty  with  zeal  and  fidelity  were  sure  to  be  hand- 
somely rewarded.  Although  not  prone  to  suspicion, 
he  was  indefatigable  in  his  exertions  to  unmask 
dishonesty,  and  to  bring  those  guilty  of  it  to  well- 
merited  punishment.  In  1844,  for  instance,  when 
Red  Deer  and  other  horses  were  being  prepared 
for  the  Chester  Cup,  my  letters  to  Lord  George, 
addressed  to  Harcourt  House,  were  opened  by 
some  miscreant  connected  with  the  Post  Office 
in  London.  By  a  clever  device  the  paper  was 
cut  just  outside  of  the  seal — there  were  no  envel- 
opes in  those  days — and  after  the  contents  had 
been  read,  it  was  again  closed  by  a  hot  iron  ap- 
plied to  the  edge  of  the  sealing-wax,  which  was 
made  to  extend  over  the  cut.  Occasionally  a  little 
additional  wax  was  employed.  Upon  one  occasion 
the  letter  had  not  been  effectually  reclosed,  and 
Lord  George  discovered  the  fraud.  He  then  ex- 
amined other  letters  which  he  had  received  from 
me,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  detecting  the  treachery 
of  which  he  had  been  made  the  object.  His  first 
step  was  to  warn  me  to  seal  my  letters  with  a 
wafer,  and  then  to  cover  the  wafer  with  wax.  He 
remarked  that  moisture  would  not  act  upon  the 

x 


322  HABITS    OF    LORD    GEORGE   BENTINCK. 

wax  or  heat  upon  the  wafer,  and  that  between  the 
two  no  one  would  be  able  to  tamper  with  my 
letters.  He  then  communicated  with  the  Post 
Office  authorities,  who  soon  discovered  that  the 
delinquents  were  two  sorters  named  Saunders  and 
Tapson,  who  were  dismissed  the  service.  It  was 
the  opinion  of  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown  that 
these  men,  having  opened  but  not  having  stolen 
the  letters,  could  not  be  further  punished.  If 
such  an  outrage  were  to  be  perpetrated  now,  the 
offenders  would  probably  find  themselves  much 
more  severely  dealt  with  than  their  predecessors 
were  in  1844. 

About  the  same  time  a  well-known  pugilist  who 
kept  a  tavern  not  far  from  the  Haymarket  was 
found  to  be  implicated  in  the  conspiracy  with 
these  rascally  Post  Office  employees.  When  Red 
Deer  won  the  Chester  Cup  the  pugilist  in  question 
landed  a  large  stake,  and  gave  a  sumptuous  dinner 
to  his  friends,  at  the  close  of  which  he  produced 
some  wonderfully  fine  old  port  and  brandy,  which 
turned  out  (as  he  anticipated)  to  be  a  capital  ad- 
vertisement, for  the  same  brand  of  port  and  of 
cognac  proved  to  be  as  inexhaustible  as  the  widow's 
cruse  of  oil  in  Scripture.  To  prevent  treachery 
among  the  numerous  lads  and  servants  employed 
in  such  an  immense  stable,  many  of  whom  were,  of 
course,  exposed  to  all  sorts  of  temptations  when 
attending  race  meetings,  was  found  to  be  almost 
impossible.  In  one  instance  I  succeeded,  however, 


A    CASE    OF   TREACHERY.  323 

in  detecting  a  culprit.  Towards  the  close  of  the 
racing  season  of  1845  I  had  reason  to  believe  that 
the  results  of  our  trials  were  communicated  to  a 
party  in  London.  I  set  to  work,  therefore,  in  earn- 
est to  discover  the  traitor,  who,  I  was  convinced, 
must  be  one  of  the  lads  riding  in  the  trials.  I 
therefore  arranged  some  trials  with  a  view  to 
gaining  the  information  that  I  desired,  and  at  last 
I  succeeded  in  getting  possession  of  a  letter  which 
fully  revealed  to  me  who  the  traitor  was.  This 
letter,  which  gave  full  particulars  of  several  trials 
and  of  other  stable  secrets,  was  in  the  handwriting 
of  a  boy  who  acted  as  amanuensis  to  another  boy 
who  could  not  read  or  write,  but  who  rode  in  every 
trial.  He  therefore  employed  a  quick,  intelligent 
lad  to  write  for  him,  and  to  read  to  him  such  let- 
ters as  arrived  at  Goodwood.  Before  long  I  got 
the  amanuensis  entirely  into  my  confidence,  and 
by  him  I  was  placed  in  possession  of  all  the  ras- 
calities which  were  going  on,  and  of  the  names 
of  the  parties  in  London  who  were  implicated  in 
the  plot. 

Knowing  that  I  had  behind  me  such  a  master  as 
Lord  George  Bentinck,  who  would  grudge  no  ex- 
pense so  long  as  he  was  able  to  find  out  the  villain 
who  was  betraying  us  both,  I  had  at  my  command 
all  the  resources  necessary  for  getting  to  the  bot- 
tom of  the  conspiracy.  Upon  reporting  progress 
to  Lord  George,  I  received  from  him  the  following 
encouraging  letter  : — 


324  HABITS    OF   LORD    GEORGE   BENTINCK. 

"  HARCOURT  HOUSE,  January  31,  1846. 

"  JOHN  KENT, — You  deserve  and  I  give  you 
the  very  greatest  credit  for  the  zeal,  skill,  and 
ability  with  which  you  have  detected  the  traitor 
in  our  stable. 

"  Now  we  have  found  him,  we  shall  be  fools 
indeed  if  we  cannot  ruin  him  and  all  his  gang. 

"  Of  course  we  must  continue  to  sham  the  ut- 
most confidence  in  him,  and  then  we  must  take 
good  care  to  put  him  wrong  in  everything  of  any 
importance. 

"It  is  too  late  to  put  him  on  the  wrong  scent  as 
regards  Best  Bower  in  connection  with  the  Chester 
Cup,  unless  we  can  manage  it  by  making  Miss 
Elis  win  the  trials  a  long  way.  It  will  be  too  late, 
also,  to  attempt  setting  him  wrong  as  to  Blackbird 
and  the  Voluptuary  colt ;  but  I  think  with  Nereus 
and  Hose  of  Cashmere  we  might  have  fine  game 
with  B.  and  E.  They  must  both  have  a  ride  or 
two  on  Nereus  when  half  trained,  so  that  he  may 
be  beaten  a  long  way  in  all  his  trials.  Neither 
will  it  be  too  late  to  deceive  him  about  Planet. 
However,  I  must  leave  all  this  to  you,  as  I  see  you 
are  now  quite  master  of  the  situation. — I  am,  your 
obedient  servt.,  G.  BENTINCK." 

To  this  letter  I  replied  by  suggesting  some 
slight  alterations  in  the  programme,  and  begged 
his  Lordship  to  let  me  know  what  was  the  amount 
of  the  reward  which  he  proposed  to  give  to  the  lad 


DEFEATING    TREACHERY.  325 

who  had  been  useful  and  faithful  to  me  as  an 
informant  and  confidant.  I  received  from  his 
Lordship  the  accompanying  reply  by  return  of 
post : — 

"  HARCOURT  HOUSE,  Feb.  6,  1846. 

"  JOHN   KENT,  —  Nothing    can   be    more    able, 
clever,    and   skilful   than    the    manner    in   which 

you  have  discovered  the  misdoings  of  ;   but 

it  is  absolutely  necessary  we  should  keep  him  on 
without  allowing  him  to  suspect  that  we  have 
found  him  out,  and  then  we  will  make  him  the 
most  efficient  tool  that  could  be  for  our  own  pur- 
poses.   is  the  very  man  of  whom  I  spoke  to 

you  some  time  ago  as  having  always  got  the  cream 

of  the  betting  out  of  our  stable.     must  not 

on  any  account  be  discharged,  but  the  boy  who 
tells  you  must  be  well  rewarded.  I  therefore 
authorise  you  to  pay  him  anything  you  think 

right.     must  be  kept  right  in  ALL  MATTERS 

of  SMALL  importance ;  but  where  we  mean  to  do 
great  things,  such  as  with  Nereus,  Rose  of  Cash- 
mere, and  Planet,  he  and  B must  be  put  quite 

in  the  HOLE.     I  shall  have  no  scruple  in  dismissing 

at    any  moment,  when   I  find    it  will   best 

answer  my  purpose  to  do  so.     Do  you  think 

stands  quite  clear  about  the  watch  ?  It  seems  an 
odd  thing  to  do — to  send  a  watch  to  York  to  be 
repaired  !  Is  it  quite  certain  the  watch  was  not  a 
present  and  a  bribe  from  some  betting  man  at  York  ? 
— I  am,  your  obedient  servant,  G.  BENTINCK. 


326     HABITS  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

"  P.S. — The  way  Colonel  Anson  and  John  Scott 
saved  first  Attila  and  then  Cotherstone  from  being 
poisoned  was  by  sending  the  head  lad  in  the  one 
case  and  the  boy  in  the  other,  who  were  to  do 
the  job,  suddenly  away  to  fetch  a  horse  from 
Malton,  so  that  no  suspicion  that  the  conspiracy 
had  been  discovered  was  excited.  The  conse- 
quence was  that  in  both  cases  the  whole  gang  of 
conspirators  were  entirely  ruined.  In  like  manner 

we  must  make  excuses   for  getting  out   of 

the  way  when  occasion  requires  it.  Sometimes  we 
can  do  so  by  ordering  him  to  ride  some  weight 
we  know  he  cannot  ride,  and  then  taking  him  off 
at  the  last  moment.  G.  B." 

Liberally  as  his  Lordship  paid  all  his  servants, 
and  great  as  was  the  trust  he  reposed  in  them,  it 
must  have  been  a  source  of  great  annoyance  to 
him  to  find  he  had  been  betrayed  by  one  who  had 
in  every  way  been  encouraged  to  do  his  duty.  In 
addition  to  his  wages  the  culprit  was  earning  £20 
to  £25  per  annum  by  riding  trials,  and  frequently 
was  in  receipt  of  presents  when  a  horse  won  with 
which  he  had  been  in  any  way  connected.  It  was 
one  of  his  Lordship's  best  traits  that  he  dealt  with 
and  treated  everything  and  everybody  strictly 
upon  their  merits.  The  fidelity  and  loyalty  of  my 
confidant  in  the  above  matter  were  above  all 
praise,  as  the  traitor  had  not  the  slightest  sus- 
picion that  he  was  mistrusted,  but  continued  to 


STABLE   PRECAUTIONS.  327 

ride  trials  with  the  utmost  confidence,  as  I  knew 
by  the  letters  which  he  persisted  in  dictating, 
some  of  which  were  not  very  correct  as  to  the 
merits  of  the  animals  upon  which  he  gave  an 
opinion.  For  instance,  he  made  great  mistakes  as 
to  the  weights  carried  by  horses  in  many  of  the 
trials. 

I  soon  found  that  some  change  of  tactics  in 
weighing  the  lads  was  essential.  I  also  had  to 
employ  various  descriptions  of  saddles  and  saddle- 
cloths to  attain  my  object.  The  traitor  considered 
himself  so  very  clever  that  in  one  of  his  letters  he 
stated,  "  My  master  may  think  he  is  deep  enough 
to  deceive  us  in  the  weights,  but  he  cannot 
deceive  me  with  his  loaded  saddle-cloths.  Such 
and  such  a  horse  must  have  had  a  lot  of  weight  to 
carry,  and  then  won  easily."  It  so  happened  that 
he  was  not  within  2  J  stones  of  the  right  estimate, 
as  the  lead  in  the  saddle-cloths  had  been  replaced 
by  pieces  of  pine-wood  of  the  same  shape.  All 
this  was  very  gratifying  to  Lord  George,  as  it 
afforded  him  an  opportunity  of  making  a  distinc- 
tion between  a  faithful  servant  and  a  scoundrel. 
It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  traitor,  after  he  had 
been  turned  into  a  dupe  and  had  served  his  pur- 
pose, was  summarily  dismissed,  while  those  who 
had  bribed  him  suffered  great  losses.  The  faithful 
servant  was  liberally  rewarded,  and  eventually  had 
a  good  situation  obtained  for  him. 

Lord  George  was  so  frequently  at  Goodwood, 


328     HABITS  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

and  spent  so  much  of  his  time  there,  inspecting  his 
horses  and  entering  into  the  minutest  details,  that 
it  was  hardly  possible  for  my  father  or  myself  to 
pay  him  as  much  attention  as  we  could  have 
wished.  We  had  many  other  pressing  duties  to 
discharge,  and  were  constantly  compelled  to  apolo- 
gise to  him  for  our  frequent  absences.  He  always 
replied,  "  Do  not  mind  me  ;  I  can  amuse  and  occupy 
myself  in  a  dozen  ways."  Sometimes  he  would 
remain  a  great  length  of  time  in  the  box  with  some 
favourite  horse,  watching  every  movement,  and 
ending  by  patting  and  caressing  him  or  her.  If  he 
happened  to  be  present  at  feeding- time,  he  would 
take  the  greatest  interest  in  their  various  appetites, 
and  loved  to  see  them  enjoying  their  food.  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  pleasure  taken  by  Lord  George  in 
his  extensive  racing  establishment ;  and  although 
he  frequently  passed  hours  in  and  about  the  stable 
unattended  by  my  father  or  myself,  it  never  came 
to  our  knowledge  that  he  applied  to  a  servant  or  a 
lad  for  information  on  any  subject.  I  cannot  say 
as  much  for  some  other  professed  gentlemen  whom 
I  knew  too  well. 

It  is  impossible  that  any  one  could  ever  have 
cared  less  for  money  than  Lord  George  did.  At 
the  same  time,  he  was  far  too  clear-sighted  and 
too  practical  to  allow  any  one  to  wrong  him  long. 
In  these  matters  Lord  George  realised  the  descrip- 
tion given  of  him  by  Mr  Disraeli,  when  he  says  : 
"  Lord  George  valued  the  acquisition  of  money  on 


HIS    DISREGARD    OF   MONEY.  329 

the  Turf  because  there  it  was  the  test  of  success. 
He  counted  his  thousands  after  a  great  race  as 
a  victorious  general  counts  his  cannon  and  his 
prisoners."  Mr  Disraeli  adds  in  another  passage 
of  his  '  Political  Biography  of  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck,'  that  if  certain  letters  written  by  the  lat- 
ter, which  Mr  Disraeli  had  seen,  were  to  meet 
the  public  eye,  they  would  cause  their  author  to 
be  regarded  as  a  far  more  amiable  and  tender 
character  than  those  who  knew  him  but  slightly 
gave  him  credit  for  being.  "  Not,"  says  Mr  Dis- 
raeli, "  that  it  must  for  one  moment  be  supposed 
that  Lord  George  was  blind  to  what  was  occur- 
ring on  all  sides.  He  was  the  most  sensitive 
as  well  as  the  proudest  of  men." 

When  Mr  Disraeli  called  at  Harcourt  House  just 
before  the  Christmas  holidays  in  1846,  his  Lord- 
ship remarked  to  him  with  great  emotion,  "  In  this 
cause  I  have  greatly  shaken  my  health,  shattered 
my  constitution,  and  shortened  my  days,  but  in  it 
I  will  succeed  or  die."  The  words  were  prophetic, 
and  to  me  it  will  ever  be  a  painful  thought  that 
my  dear  and  honoured  master  wore  himself  out 
while  still  in  the  very  prime  of  life  for  politicians 
who  were  too  selfish  to  bear  any  portion  of  the 
immense  burden  which  he  voluntarily  took  upon 
his  own  shoulders.  That  he  was  aware  of  this 
would,  I  feel  sure,  have  been  made  apparent  if  his 
political  correspondence  had  been  preserved.  But 
in  a  note  appended  to  Mr  Louis  J.  Jennings's 


330  HABITS    OE    LORD    GEORGE   BENTINCK. 

'  Correspondence  and  Diaries  of  the  Right  Hon- 
ourable John  Wilson  Croker,'  I  find  the  following 
words  :  "  The  editor  has  made  diligent  inquiry  for 
Lord  George  Bentinck's  political  correspondence, 
and  has  been  informed  by  Viscountess  Ossington, 
his  Lordship's  sister,  that  the  whole  of  it  was 
probably  destroyed  by  the  fourth  Duke  of  Port- 
land, his  father." 

But  although  all  the  letters  addressed  to  Lord 
George  by  Mr  Disraeli,  Mr  Croker,  Lord  Stanley 
(afterwards  Earl  of  Derby),  and  others,  have 
perished,  some  of  those  written  by  Lord  George 
himself  are  still  extant.  Knowing  him  as  well  as 
I  did,  I  can  well  conceive  the  feelings  with  which 
he  must  have  penned  the  following  passage  to  Mr 
Croker  from  Welbeck  on  October  8,  1847: — 

» 

"  When  I  accepted  the  lead  of  what  was  left  of 
the  old  Conservative  party,  I  did  deceive  myself 
with  false  hopes  that  the  old  English  spirit  would 
have  been  roused,  and  that  it  was  only  necessary 
to  keep  the  dismantled  ship  floating,  or  fighting 
under  jury-masts,  till  she  went  through  the 
thorough  repair  of  a  new  election.  I  own  that  I 
am  bitterly  disappointed  and  broken-hearted  that 
England  has  proved  to  be  so  degenerate  that,  in 
face  of  a  tremendous  emergency,  she  has  produced 
no  new  leader  to  take  my  place.  Nothing  but 
pinching  adversity  will  bring  such  men  to  a  proper 
sense  of  their  duty.  As  regards  the  gentlemen, 


HIS    CONFIDENCE.  331 

the  entire  fund  subscribed  for  the  election  did  not 
exceed  £8000,  and  of  this  King  Hudson  subscribed 
£6000." 

When  it  is  remembered  that  Lord  George's 
own  expenditure  upon  political  and  parliamentary 
objects  was  as  unstinted  as  it  had  formerly  been 
upon  horse-racing,  I  can  well  understand  his  dis- 
appointment upon  finding  that  others  were  not  so 
ready  as  he  was  to  pay  in  purse  and  person.  Mr 
Disraeli,  who  speaks  of  Lord  George  Bentinck  as 
"  the  most  generous  of  men,"  was  well  aware  how 
much  money  he  spent  upon  politics,  although  he 
never  permitted  Mr  Disraeli  nor  anybody  else  to 
allude  to  it.  This  trait  it  was,  I  imagine,  which 
made  Mr  Disraeli  term  him  "  the  proudest  of  men." 
So  far  as  I  was  myself  concerned,  Lord  George 
never  showed  any  pride  or  hauteur  in  dealing  with 
my  father  or  me.  Where  he  gave  his  confidence, 
he  was  not  only  condescending  but  confiding ;  and 
I  was  often  astonished  at  the  unreserved  freedom 
with  which  he  used  to  speak  to  me  about  matters 
with  which  I  had  no  concern.  Lord  George 
was  a  Mason,  and  in  one  essential  qualification, 
reticence,  was  well  fitted  to  belong  to  a  secret 
society.  I  never  heard,  however,  that  he  took 
any  step  to  make  himself  a  distinguished  member 
of  the  craft. 


332 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE    FIFTH    DUKE   OF    RICHMOND,    K.G. 

FIFTEEN  chapters  of  this  work  have  thus  far  been 
mainly  devoted  to  the  racing  career  of  Lord  George 
Bentinck,  and  to  its  bearings  upon  his  social,  polit- 
ical, and  sporting  character.  It  will  now  be  my 
duty  to  offer  to  readers  who  have  had  the  patience 
to  follow  me  thus  far,  a  few  reminiscences  of  Lord 
George's  racing  confederate,  the  fifth  Duke  of 
Richmond. 

My  father  and  I  had  the  honour  to  serve  his 
Grace — and  never  was  there  a  better  or  a  kinder 
master  —  before  Lord  George  ever  entered  the 
Goodwood  stable  as  an  owner  of  race-horses  trained 
therein,  and  long  after  he  had  left  it.  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  asserting  that  some  of  the  Duke's 
most  valuable  qualities  were  not  without  their 
influence  upon  Lord  George,  who  never  showed 
himself  greater  than  in  1848,  when  Surplice, 
whom  he  had  bred,  won  the  Derby  for  Lord 
Clifden.  From  many  things  that  I  have  seen 


THE   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND.  333 

and  heard,  I  feel  persuaded  that  the  Duke  of 
Richmond  was  not  only  Lord  George's  safest 
guide  and  most  judicious  friend,  but  also  that 
insensibly  he  was  to  no  slight  degree  a  pattern  for 
his  Lordship  between  1841  and  1848. 

In  one  of  his  numerous  letters  to  the  '  Times/ 
Admiral  Rous  states  that  during  the  whole  of  his 
long  experience  of  the  Turf,  he  had  come  across 
only  two  owners  of  horses — the  fourth  Duke  of 
Portland,  and  the  fifth  Earl  of  Glasgow  —  who 
raced  solely  for  honour,  without  one  mercenary 
thought  in  their  minds.  I  cannot  understand 
why  Admiral  Rous  excluded  the  fifth  Duke  of 
Richmond  from  the  above-named  category.  How- 
ever honourably  and  unselfishly  the  Duke  of 
Portland  and  Lord  Glasgow  may  have  conducted 
their  racing  operations,  it  is  impossible  that  in 
this  respect  they  should  have  surpassed  my  old 
master,  the  Duke  of  Richmond.  It  is  because  I 
believe  such  noblemen  as  the  three  just  men- 
tioned ought  to  be  held  up  to  the  admiration 
and  the  possible  imitation  of  their  successors  in 
all  future  ages,  that  I  now  take  delight  in  supply- 
ing the  following  details  respecting  his  Grace's 
racing  career  and  high-souled  disposition. 

He  was  born  on  the  3d  August  1791,  and  suc- 
ceeded to  the  title  and  estates  of  his  ancestors 
upon  the  death,  in  Canada,  of  his  father,  the 
fourth  Duke,  in  August  1819.  At  an  early  age 
his  Grace  was  sent  to  Mr  Howe's  school  at  Chis- 


334        THE   FIFTH   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

wick,  where  he  remained  until,  a  few  months 
later,  he  was  moved  to  Westminster  School.  I 
have  it  on  the  authority  of  some  of  his  contem- 
poraries at  Westminster,  especially  the  late  Lord 
Stradbroke,  that  he  was  most  attentive  to  his 
studies.  In  addition,  he  had  all  the  inherent 
courage  of  his  race,  and  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  had  he  been  sent  to  either  of  the  Univer- 
sities, he  would  have  become  a  fairly  good  scholar. 
Quick  of  perception,  and  gifted  with  a  retentive 
memory,  he  was  one  of  the  most  assiduous  and 
persevering  of  men. 

Even  in  boyhood  the  love  of  discipline,  for 
which  he  was  celebrated  in  the  Peninsula,  was 
very  marked.  But  his  most  noticeable  and  lov- 
able quality  was  his  hatred  of  oppression,  which 
led  him  to  interpose  on  behalf  of  the  weak  when- 
ever threatened  or  attacked  by  a  bully  or  tyrant. 
At  school,  for  instance,  it  signified  nothing  that 
the  aggressor  was  several  inches  taller  and  a  stone 
heavier  than  himself;  for  in  more  than  one  of  the 
fights  in  which  his  Grace,  then  Mr  Lennox,  was 
engaged,  he  held  his  own  successfully  against 
older  and  bigger  boys  than  himself.  It  was  a 
fighting  era,  as  may  be  seen  from  Sir  Denis  Le 
Marchant's  '  Life  of  Viscount  Althorp,'  and  Mrs 
Henry  Baring's  '  Autobiography  of  the  Hight 
Honourable  William  Windham.'  In  fact  every 
record  of  our  great  public  schools  between  1780 
and  1840  shows  that  fights  between  boys  were 


HIS    SERVICES    IN   THE   PENINSULA.  335 

much  more  frequent   and  determined   than  they 
have  been  since  the  latter  date.    Few  men  through- 

o 

out  life  had  more  disputes  referred  to  them  for 
arbitration  than  his  Grace,  and  the  spirit  of  fair- 
ness which  he  brought  to  his  task  was  so  well 
known  that  his  decisions  were  never  appealed 
against  even  by  those  who  were  losers  thereby. 
The  Duke,  or  rather  Mr  Lennox,  entered  the 
army  at  a  very  early  age,  and  was  at  once  gazetted 
to  the  13th  Light  Dragoons,  then  in  the  Penin- 
sula. In  the  summer  of  1810,  being  then  in  his 
nineteenth  year,  he  embarked  from  Portsmouth  for 
Lisbon,  where  he  met  upon  his  arrival  with  a  most 
cordial  reception  from  Vice- Admiral  Berkeley,  whose 
wife  was  his  aunt,  and  who  invited  him  to  share 
his  quarters  until  his  guest  had  recovered  from 
the  fatigues  of  his  voyage.  Neither  the  Admiral's 
pressing  invitation,  however,  to  regard  his  house 
as  a  home,  nor  the  gaieties  of  Lisbon,  could  induce 
Mr  Lennox,  who  had  now  become  Lord  March, 
to  absent  himself  from  his  regimental  duties  for 
a  single  day.  Without  losing  a  moment  he  made 
his  way  on  horseback  to  the  headquarters  of  the 
army,  and  reported  himself  to  Sir  Arthur  Welles- 
ley,  Commander  -  in  -  Chief,  who  immediately  ap- 
pointed him  to  his  personal  staff,  which  consisted 
of  the  first  Lord  Raglan,  then  Lord  Fitzroy 
Somerset ;  of  the  latter's  nephew,  the  seventh  Duke 
of  Beaufort,  then  Marquis  of  Worcester ;  of  Lord 
George  Lennox,  Lord  William  Russell.  Lord 


336         THE    FIFTH   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

Charles  Manners,  and  Lord  Clinton ;  of  the 
Honourable  Fitzroy  Stanhope,  the  Honourable 
Henry  Percy,  Major  the  Honourable  Sir  Alex- 
ander Gordon ;  Captain  Colin  Campbell,  Major 
Canning,  "  Jack "  Fremantle,  and  the  Prince  of 
Orange.  We  learn  from  '  A  Memoir  of  Charles 
Gordon  Lennox,  fifth  Duke  of  Richmond,'  pub- 
lished anonymously  in  1862,  that  "the  hunting- 
field  in  England  had  made  many  of  the  above- 
named  officers  competent  for  an  important  branch 
of  their  duty — that  of  conveying  orders  to  distant 
posts — a  duty  which,  in  a  savage,  mountainous 
country,  with  an  ever  -  vigilant  enemy  in  front, 
required  no  slight  energy,  courage,  and  quickness 
of  eye." 

Scarcely  had  Lord  March  attained  this  proud 
position  before  his  regiment,  the  13th  Light 
Dragoons,  was  detailed  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy's 
movements.  Lord  March  heard  of  this  order  with 
unfeigned  regret,  as  his  position  on  the  head- 
quarters staff  forbade  his  going  to  the  front  with 
his  regiment.  He  soon  recovered  from  his  disap- 
pointment on  learning  that  a  general  engagement 
was  imminent, — an  anticipation  which  was  speedily 
verified.  On  the  morning  of  July  27,  1810,  the 
French,  under  Massena,  made  two  desperate  attacks 
on  the  English  position  (a  very  strong  one)  at 
Busaco.  The  action  lasted  the  whole  day  before 
the  enemy  was  finally  repulsed,  leaving  nearly 
3000  killed  and  wounded  on  the  field.  Lord 


IN   THE   PENINSULA.  337 

March  had  taken  out  with  him  to  the  Peninsula 
three  clever  chargers ;  one  of  them — a  chestnut 
thoroughbred — which  carried  him  at  Busaco,  was 
named  after  the  battle.  When  Lord  March  retired 
from  active  service  at  the  close  of  the  war,  he 
brought  Busaco  home  with  him.  I  have  often 
seen  the  horse,  and  he  bore  about  him  the  marks 
of  many  gunshot  wounds.  In  addition,  his  head 
and  neck  were  scarred  by  heavy  sabre-cuts,  which 
the  noble  animal  probably  diverted  from  his  rider 
by  accidentally  raising  his  head.  Upon  his  return 
to  England  Busaco  was  turned  out  for  life  in  Hal- 
naker  Park,  where  he  lived  some  years,  until,  be- 
coming very  old,  he  was  killed,  and  buried  in 
the  home  park  close  to  the  ice-house,  and  a  tree 
was  planted  over  his  remains,  which  has  now 
grown  into  a  noble  specimen.  Between  the  battles 
of  Busaco  and  Orthez,  at  the  latter  of  which  he 
was  severely  wounded,  Lord  March  suffered  greatly 
from  ill  health,  being  unable  to  stand  the  excessive 
exertion  and  exposure  to  bad  weather  which  his 
staff  duties  necessitated.  It  is  not  generally 
known  that  all  through  the  Peninsular  War  the 
English  troops,  including  officers  as  well  as  pri- 
vates, served  without  tents,  sleeping  out  by  night 
in  the  open  air.  The  French  had,  as  usual,  their 
tentes  d'abri. 

Under  these  circumstances  Lord  March  was  sent 
down  by  Wellington,  in  October  1811,  to  Lisbon, 
where  he  fell  in  with  his  first  cousin,  Charles  James 

Y 


338         THE    FIFTH   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

Napier,  through  whose  jaw  a  bullet  had  passed. 
After  inquiring  into  the  circumstances  of  Lord 
March's  ill  health,  Captain  Charles  Napier  wrote 
to  his  mother,  Lady  Sarah  Napier  (with  whom, 
when  Lady  Sarah  Lennox,  George  III.  was 
notoriously  in  love),  in  the  following  terms  : — 

LISBON,  Nov.  1,  1811. 

Lord  March  has  just  been  here,  and  tells  me  that  you 
have  had  your  eyes  done,  and  can  see  a  little.  Oh!  my 
beloved  mother,  is  this  blessed  news  true  ?  Heaven  grant 
that  it  may  be !  March  has  been  very  ill,  and  will  require 
at  least  two  months'  rest  and  care  before  he  can  hope  to 
resume  his  headquarter  duties.  CHARLES  NAPIER. 

Soon  rejoining  the  Commander -in -Chief,  Lord 
March  was  present  at  the  siege  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo. 
"  He  entered  the  breach,"  writes  his  biographer, 
"  with  the  storming -party  of  the  52d,  his  com- 
panions being  the  Prince  of  Orange  and  Lord 
Fitzroy  Somerset.  The  Commander -in -Chief  re- 
buked them  for  exposing  their  lives  in  a  service 
which,  as  officers  of  the  staff,  they  were  not  called 
upon  to  undertake."  In  this  connection  Colonel 
Gurwood  tells  a  good  story  of  Lord  March.  When 
the  former  was  about  to  return  the  sword  of  the 
French  governor  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo,  Lord  March 
plucked  his  superior  officer  by  the  sleeve,  whisper- 
ing in  his  ear,  "  Don't  be  such  a  fool  as  to  give 
him  back  his  weapon "  !  In  the  attack  on  this 
fortress  Captain  George  Napier  (brother  to  Charles 
Napier)  was  severely  wounded,  upon  which  occa- 


RETURN    FROM    SPAIN.  339 

sion  Lord  March  addressed  the  following  letter  to 
Lady  Sarah,  the  mother  of  these  two  young  heroes  : 

GALLEGOS,  Jan.  21,  1812. 

I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  George  has  had  his  arm  am- 
putated, in  consequence  of  a  musket-shot  he  received  at  the 
top  of  the  breach.  It  has  been  cut  off  just  above  the  elbow 
of  the  right  arm.  He  suffers  very  little  pain,  and  is  in 
high  spirits.  He  volunteered  to  lead  300  as  fine  fellows 
as  ever  marched,  from  the  Light  Division,  and  with  them 
stormed  the  small  breach.  Everybody  in  the  army  admires 
his  gallantry,  and  they  cannot  refuse,  I  trust,  to  make  him 
a  Lieut.-Colonel.  I  will  let  you  know  how  he  is  by  the  next 
mail,  and  I  am  convinced  it  will  be  a  favourable  account. 
He  wanted  to  write  to  you,  but  I  told  him  I  would.  He  is 
coming  to  my  quarters,  and  I  will  take  every  care  of  him, 
— Believe  me,  dear  Lady  Sarah,  ever  yours  affectionately, 

MARCH. 

After  the  battle  of  Salamanca,  Lord  March  was 
sent  to  England  with  despatches,  and  started  for 
Corunna,  where  he  embarked  for  Portsmouth.  He 
had  been  present  at  three  battles  and  two  sieges,  at 
skirmishes  and  brushes  innumerable ;  but  in  those 
days  special  war  -  correspondents  were  unknown, 
and  few  details,  except  those  conveyed  in  head- 
quarter despatches  and  in  private  letters,  were 
sent  home. 

Lord  March  returned  to  Spain  just  before  the 
Christmas  of  1812.  At  that  time  his  father  was 
Viceroy  of  Ireland,  and  Wellington  wrote  to  him 
that  Lord  March  and  his  brother  George,  both  of 
them  A.D.C.'s  on  the  headquarter  staff,  were  in 


340         THE    FIFTH    DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

excellent  health.  Both  were  present  at  all  the 
engagements  of  1813,  including  Vittoria.  Lord 
March  had  been  anxious  to  witness  the  conduct 
in  battle  of  the  52d  Light  Infantry,  and  to  obtain 
a  practical  knowledge  of  regimental  duty  in  the 
field.  He  sought  permission,  therefore,  to  leave 
the  headquarter  staff  for  a  while,  and  to  join  the 
1st  battalion  of  that  gallant  regiment  as  Captain 
in  the  52d.  Lord  March  led  his  company  to 
attack  the  enemy's  right  at  the  battle  of  Orthez. 
On  the  crest  of  the  hill  he  was  struck  in  the  chest 
by  a  musket-ball,  which  was  never  extracted,  and 
which,  forty -eight  years  later,  he  carried  with 
him  to  the  grave.  The  wound  was  at  first  pro- 
nounced to  be  mortal ;  but  Surgeon  Hair  of  the 
52d  attended  him  with  such  fidelity  and  skill, 
that  Lord  Wellington,  on  coming  to  see  him, 
found  him  sleeping  tranquilly.  In  his  surgeon's 
opinion  he  had  already  surmounted  the  dangerous 
crisis.  Youth  and  a  good  constitution  soon 
enabled  him  to  recover  and  to  rejoin  the  Duke 
of  Wellington  at  the  battle  of  Toulouse.  Speak- 
ing of  Orthez,  Sir  William  Napier,  in  his  '  History 
of  the  Peninsular  War,'  remarks  that  "  the  loss  of 
the  allied  army  was  2300  ;  among  the  wounded 
being  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  slightly,  and  the 
Duke  of  Richmond  (then  Lord  March),  very 
severely.  The  latter  had  served  on  Wellington's 
personal  staff  throughout  the  war  without  a  hurt ; 
but  being  made  a  captain  in  the  52d,  he  joined 


ACCIDENT   IN   THE   HUNTING-FIELD.  341 

his  regiment  like  a  good  soldier  before  the  battle. 
He  was  shot  through  the  lungs  during  the  battle ; 
thus  learning  by  experience  the  difference  between 
the  dangers  to  which  staff  and  regimental  officers 
are  exposed,  which  are  generally  in  an  inverse 
ratio  to  their  promotion." 

I  have  entered  into  the  details  of  his  Grace's 
military  life  at  a  length  which  to  some  may  seem 
inconsistent  with  what  I  must  necessarily  say 
about  his  racing  career,  because  it  was  from  his 
Peninsular  experiences  that  he  acquired  his  great 
love  for  horses,  and  especially  for  thorough- 
breds, which,  as  he  had  practically  ascertained, 
make  the  bravest  and  most  enduring  chargers  in 
the  world.  Upon  the  restoration  of  peace  Lord 
March  returned  to  Goodwood  House,  and  devoted 
himself  with  great  ardour  to  hunting.  It  is  prob- 
able indeed  that  he  would  have  re-established 
the  far-famed  "  Goodwood  Hunt "  but  for  an  acci- 
dent which  befell  him  when  out  with  the  Earl  of 
Egremont's  hounds.  As  he  was  galloping  down 
one  of  the  steep  hills  near  Goodwood,  his  horse 
fell  and  trod  upon  his  chest,  injuring  him  severely. 
For  some  days  his  life  was  in  imminent  danger, 
and  the  surgeon  in  charge  believed  that  the  bullet 
which  Lord  March  had  received  at  Orthez  was 
displaced  by  the  fall.  Be  this  as  it  may,  he  was 
advised  to  give  up  hunting,  and  most  reluctantly 
but  with  sound  judgment  he  accepted  the  fiat  of  the 
doctors. 


342        THE    FIFTH    DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

It  is  possible  that,  but  for  his  banishment 
from  the  hunting-field,  Lord  March  would  never 
have  taken  to  horse-racing.  In  1817,  however,  we 
find  him  running  two  horses  at  Goodwood — to  wit, 
Hermes,  aged  four  years,  and  Princess,  aged  three 
years,  by  Gohanna,  the  Earl  of  Egremont's  cele- 
brated stallion.  With  the  former  Lord  March  won 
his  first  race — a  match  for  fifty  sovereigns  a  side, 
half  a  mile,  against  Lord  Apsley's  nameless  bay 
gelding  (catch  weights).  In  1818,  Lord  March 
ran  two  horses  at  Goodwood,  Roncesvalles  and  Gas, 
winning  with  the  former  a  sweepstakes  of  ten 
guineas  each.  In  1819,  Roncesvalles  won  a  match 
for  fifty  guineas  at  Brighton  against  Mr  Ball's 
Lustre.  Again,  on  August  17,  1819,  Roncesvalles 
won  a  sweepstakes  at  Brighton,  which  was  the  last 
race  won  by  Lord  March  in  that  name.  Eleven 
days  later  his  Lordship  succeeded  to  the  title  as 
fifth  Duke  of  Richmond,  and  shortly  afterwards 
his  racing  career — that  is  to  say,  the  portion  of  it 
conducted  on  a  large  scale — may  be  said  to  have 
commenced. 

In  1823  his  Grace  resolved  greatly  to  extend  his 
stud,  and  engaged  my  father  to  assume  the  duties 
of  his  private  trainer.  My  father  was  recommended 
to  his  Grace  by  the  then  Lord  Dunwich,  who  sub- 
sequently became  second  Earl  of  Stradbroke,  and 
was,  more  or  less,  a  racing  confederate  of  the  Duke. 
Lord  Dunwich,  like  his  brother  Henry,  who  after- 
wards became  Admiral  Rous,  was  an  excellent 


THE   GOODWOOD    STABLE.  343 

judge  of  racing,  and  advised  his  Grace  to  purchase 
Hampden  from  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  and  Dandi- 
zette  from  Mr  Walker.  Hampden  proved  to  be  a 
bad-tempered  horse,  and  had  evidently  lost  his 
form  prior  to  the  Duke  of  Grafton's  selling  him. 
He  turned  out  a  very  bad  purchase,  and  Lord 
Dunwich  was  greatly  annoyed,  as  he  imagined  that 
some  misrepresentations  had  been  made  to  him 
about  the  horse,  who  was  five  years  old  when  he 
purchased  him  for  the  Duke  of  Richmond.  Hamp- 
den was  taken  out  of  training,  and  being  a  son  of 
Rubens,  was  put  to  the  stud,  where,  again,  he  was 
very  unsuccessful,  as  he  generally  imparted  his  own 
vicious  temper  to  his  progeny.  With  Dandizette, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  Duke  was  very  successful. 

In  1825  his  Grace  purchased  a  yearling  filly,  by 
Smolensko  out  of  Medora,  whom  he  named  Gul- 
nare,  and  with  whom  he  won  the  Oaks  at  Epsom  in 
1827,  together  with  some  other  good  races.  In 
fact,  she  won  eight  times  as  a  three-year-old  with- 
out* ever  sustaining  defeat.  His  Grace  was  greatly 
encouraged  by  Gulnare's  success,  and  thencefor- 
ward he  entered  more  fully  into  racing  engage- 
ments. The  Goodwood  stable  was  also  reinforced, 
after  1828,  by  horses  belonging  to  the  Earl  of 
Stradbroke,  the  Earl  of  Uxbridge,  Colonel  Peel, 
Captain  Byng  (afterwards  Lord  Enfield,  and  finally 
second  Earl  of  Straiford),  Sir  James  Graham,  and 
others.  Among  the  new  supporters  of  the  stable 
were  included  Mr  Charles  Greville,  Mr  Houlds- 


344        THE    FIFTH   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

worth,  and  Lord  George  Bentinck.  My  father 
has  often  told  me  that  he  never  knew  a  lot  of 
noblemen  and  gentlemen,  all  of  them  owners  of 
horses,  who  acted  together  more  harmoniously 
for  a  considerable  time  than  the  above  -  named 
group.  Their  concord  and  good-fellowship  were 
not  a  little  promoted  by  the  delightful  surround- 
ings which  they  found  at  Goodwood.  Many  of 
them  spent  a  large  portion  of  their  time  at  Good- 
wood House,  and  found  in  his  Grace  the  most 
cordial  and  hospitable  of  hosts.  After  breakfast 
the  whole  party,  often  accompanied  by  the  ladies, 
came  en  masse  to  the  stables,  round  which  they 
were  escorted  by  my  father.  His  Grace  had  spent 
a  good  deal  of  money  in  making  new  paddocks, 
supplied  with  excellent  hovels,  and  with  every- 
thing necessary  for  a  select  breeding  stud.  Among 
the  horses  inspected  was  Moses,  winner  of  the 
Derby  in  1822,  whom  the  Duke  of  Richmond  pur- 
chased on  the  dispersal  of  the  Duke  of  York's  stud, 
after  the  death  of  his  Royal  Highness  in  1827.  In 
the  previous  year,  the  Duke  of  Richmond  also  pur- 
chased three  very  valuable  mares  from  Mr  Lambton 
—viz.,  Leopoldine,  Loo,  and  the  Duchess,  the  latter 
having  won  the  Doncaster  St  Leger  for  Sir  Belling- 
ham  Graham  in  1816. 

Upon  the  return  of  each  successive  race  meeting 
at  Goodwood,  the  noble  owner  of  that  enchanting 
domain  greeted  the  advent  of  "The  Races"  with 
the  greatest  zest  and  delight.  Nothing  afforded 


THE    GOODWOOD    MEETING.  345 

him  greater  pleasure  than  to  invite  the  most  dis- 
tinguished patrons  of  the  Turf  to  his  beautiful  home, 
where  they  were  entertained  for  many  days  in 
princely  fashion.  The  carriages  pulling  up  at  the 
front  door  for  three  or  four  days  previous  to  the 
races  generally  numbered  forty  or  more.  Many 
had  four  horses  attached  to  them,  and  the  amount 
of  luggage  that  they  carried  was  simply  enormous. 
The  landlords  of  the  two  great  hotels  at  Godalming 
and  Kingston  were  brothers  named  Moon.  The 
landlord  of  "  The  King's  Arms,"  Godalming,  who 
was  a  very  keen  sportsman,  was  called  "  Full 
Moon,"  to  distinguish  him  from  his  brother  at 
Kingston,  who  was  called  "  Half  Moon."  Each 
of  these  posting-houses  habitually  kept  from  ninety 
to  one  hundred  pair  of  post-horses  for  the  use  of 
their  customers.  Despite  the  vastness  of  these 
numbers,  the  demand  for  post-horses"  before  the 
Goodwood  Meeting  often  exceeded  the  supply. 
During  the  meeting  the  big  stable-yard  at  Good- 
wood, which  was  of  immense  size,  was  completely 
blocked  up  with  carriages.  To  every  detail  con- 
nected with  the  accommodation  of  his  guests,  their 
servants,  and  their  carriages,  the  Duke  himself 
paid  the  minutest  attention  when  the  recurrence 
of  each  meeting  drew  near. 

In  those  comparatively  primitive  times  there 
was,  in  my  opinion,  much  more  genuine  enjoy- 
ment of  pleasures  and  amusements  than  exists  in 
these  more  luxurious  and  civilised  days.  I  feel 


346        THE   FIFTH   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,   K.G. 

certain  that  his  Grace  would  not  have  enjoyed 
the  Goodwood  Meeting  of  to-day  half  so  much  as 
he  did  those  which  came  to  pass  between  .1830 
and  1860.  I  have  already  stated  that,  through 
the  joint  exertions  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond  and 
Lord  George  Bentinck,  Goodwood  soon  rose  to  be 
the  best  and  most  fashionable  meeting  in  the 
world.  The  training-grounds  on  which  the  race- 
horses of  the  two  noble  confederates  were  pre- 
pared for  their  engagements  were  as  perfect  as 
money  and  ingenuity  could  make  them.  I  re- 
member the  time  when  Goodwood  Park,  in  front 
of  the  house,  and  in  other  parts,  was  studded  with 
innumerable  ant-hills,  which  were  pared  down  and 
burnt,  producing  many  hundreds  of  cart-loads  of 
ashes.  The  Duke  soon  became  so  enthusiastically 
attached  to  the  Turf  that  he  determined  to  get 
hold  of  a  domicile  at  Newmarket.  With  this  ob- 
ject in  view,  he  purchased,  in  1828,  a  house  and 
stables  on  "  The  Terrace  "  at  Newmarket,  which  had 
been  the  property  of  the  Hon.  Charles  Wyndham, 
whose  death  took  place  in  that  year.  This  house 
his  Grace  put  under  the  charge  of  his  old  and 
faithful  servant,  Peter  Soar,1  who  had  been  coach- 
man, while  his  wife  had  been  cook,  to  the  fourth 
Duke,  who  was  father  to  the  subject  of  the  pres- 
ent memoir.  It  was  the  fourth  Duke  who  was 
residing  at  Brussels  when  the  battle  of  Waterloo 

1  Peter  Soar  drove  his  master,  the  fourth  Duke  of  Richmond,  over 
the  field  of  Waterloo  the  morning  after  the  battle. 


HIS    LETTERS.  347 

took  place,  and  his  name,  together  with  that  of 
his  wife,  will  live  for  ever  in  connection  with  the 
famous  ball  given  by  them  on  the  night  preced- 
ing the  battle  of  Quatre  Bras — an  event  which 
afforded  Lord  Byron  a  theme  for  one  of  his  most 
magnificent  passages  in  verse,  and  which  was  also 
selected  by  Thackeray  as  a  key  to  his  interesting 
novel,  '  Vanity  Fair/  No  one  had  more  anecdotes 
to  tell  about  that  "  king -making  victory "  than 
the  fourth  Duke  and  his  accomplished  wife,  the 
daughter  of  Alexander,  fourth  Duke  of  Gordon. 
The  fourth  Duchess  of  Richmond  brought  that 
noble  Scottish  property,  Gordon  Castle,  together 
with  the  deer-forest  of  Glenfiddich,  and  many 
miles  of  the  Spey,  a  magnificent  salmon  river, 
into  the  possession  of  the  Lennox  family.  Gor- 
don Castle  has  for  many  years  been  the  autumn 
retreat  of  the  late  and  the  present  Dukes  of 
Richmond,  who  resorted  to  it  every  year  with 
increasing  delight.  It  was  not  until  the  death 
in  1836  of  his  maternal  uncle,  George,  fifth  Duke 
of  Gordon,  that  the  fifth  Duke  of  Richmond  as- 
sumed the  additional  name  of  Gordon.  From  the 
same  uncle  he  also  succeeded  to  the  hereditary 
constableship  of  Inverness  Castle. 

As  a  racing  man,  the  Duke  of  Richmond  dif- 
ered  in  many  respects  from  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck.  The  former  was  as  concise  as  the  latter 
was  voluminous  in  his  private  letters.  His  Grace 
regarded  five  or  six  lines  as  a  long  letter  for  him 


348        THE   FIFTH    DUKE    OF    RICHMOND,    K.O. 

to  write  :  I  have  often  received  as  many  closely 
written  sheets  of  note-paper  from  Lord  George. 
My  father  once  showed  me  a  letter  from  the  Duke 
containing  the  single  word  "  Yes."  This  letter 
became  the  subject  of  a  bet  between  my  father 
and  Mr  Rusbridger,  the  land-agent  at  Goodwood. 
The  latter  received  a  communication  from  his 
Grace  which  contained  two  words.  On  the  strength 
of  this  he  betted  my  father  that  he  could  produce 
the  shortest  letter  in  existence  from  him.  His 
chagrin  may  be  imagined  when,  on  investigation, 
he  was  beaten  as  it  were  by  a  head. 

Although  the  Duke  never  possessed  a  very 
superior  animal, — probably  Ghillie  Callum  was  his 
best  in  point  of  merit,  and  Red  Hart  in  point  of 
success, — yet  his  Grace  won  the  Oaks  twice — viz., 
with  Gulnare  and  Refraction.  The  One  Thousand 
Guineas  Stakes  at  Newmarket  he  won  with  Picnic  ; 
the  Goodwood  Cup  twice — viz.,  with  Linkboy  and 
Miss  Craven ;  the  Goodwood  Stakes  thrice ;  the 
Chester  Cup  once ;  the  Ascot  Stakes  thrice ;  and 
some  valuable  stakes  with  the  following, — viz., 
Red  Hart,  Officious,  Cuckoo,  Red  Hind,  Harbinger, 
Pharos,  Homebrewed,  Dagobert,  and  others.  Dur- 
ing the  time  his  Grace  kept  race- horses  he  won  in 
stakes  about  £112,000. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  William  IV. 
had  little  taste  for  the  Turf,  in  connection  with 
which  his  brother,  George  IV.,  had  sustained 
great  pecuniary  losses.  Such,  however,  was  the 


KING   WILLIAM    IV.    AND    THE    DUKE.  349 

attachment  felt  by  the  "  Sail  or  -King "  for  the 
fifth  Duke  of  Richmond,  that  his  Majesty  was 
induced  to  bestow  his  patronage  upon  horse-rac- 
ing, and  to  retain  the  Royal  stud  at  Hampton 
Court,  which  is  now  one  of  the  most  successful 
and  best  conducted  establishments  of  its  kind  in 
the  world.  King  William  IV.  was  often  heard 
to  declare  that  his  friend,  to  whose  meritorious 
career  this  chapter  is  dedicated,  was,  as  a  noble- 
man, sans  peur  et  sans  reproche;  that  is  to  say, 
with  no  other  object  in  view  than  the  good  of  his 
country,  the  maintenance  of  his  own  fair  fame, 
and  the  education  of  his  family,  so  that  they 
might  grow  up  good  men  and  good  women.  It 
was  at  the  instance  of  the  fifth  Duke  that  William 
IV.  gave  a  grand  dinner  to  the  Jockey  Club  on 
May  28,  1833,  of  which  a  full  account  will  be  found 
in  Mr  Greville's  *  Diaries.' 

In  a  book  entitled  '  Horse-Racing  :  its  History ; 
with  Early  Records  of  Principal  and  other  Race 
Meetings,'  published  anonymously  by  Messrs 
Saunders  &  Otley,  of  Brook  Street,  London,  in 
1863,  I  find  the  following  passage:  "There  were 
but  two  noteworthy  events  connected  with  the 
Turf  in  the  year  1836.  The  first  was  the  speech 
of  King  William  IV.  at  Egham  races,  to  which 
further  allusion  will  presently  be  made  ;  the 
second  has  reference  to  a  dinner  given  by  the 
same  monarch  to  the  Jockey  Club  at  St  James's 
Palace  on  June  9.  It  would  appear  that  at  this 


350        THE   FIFTH    DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

dinner  a  good  deal  of  sport  was  embarked  upon  in 
connection  with  the  ensuing  Ascot  Meeting,  and 
that  in  the  course  of  conversation  the  Marquis  of 
Westminster  was  boasting  of  his  celebrated  horse 
Touchstone,  and  offering  to  back  him  for  a  large 
sum  against  anything  that  could  be  named  in  the 
Ascot  Cup  field.  The  King  immediately  caught 
at  the  offer,  and  exclaimed,  '  I  accept  the  chal- 
lenge, and  will  name  one  to  beat  him  by  a  neck.' 
The  wager  was  at  once  concluded,  and  his 
Majesty,  amidst  a  roar  of  laughter,  named  '  The 
Giraffe'!" 

The  speech  adverted  to  above,  which  William 
IV.  delivered  at  Egham  races  in  August  1836,  was 
in  response  to  an  address  of  thanks  presented  to 
him  for  giving  "  A  Royal  Purse  of  One  hundred 
guineas" — or,  in  other  words,  a  King's  Plate — to 
be  run  there  annually  in  future.  His  Majesty 
observed  in  reply,  "  That  he  most  deeply  felt  the 
dutiful  attention  which  led  to  this  acknowledg- 
ment of  an  act,  prompted  on  his  part  by  desire 
to  show  that  he  was  sensible  of  the  munificence 
of  a  people  which  had  not  only  enabled  him  to 
reside  in  the  ancient  and  splendid  castle  at  Wind- 
sor,— the  pride  of  Englishmen  and  the  envy  of 
foreigners, — but  also  to  follow  the  dictates  of  his 
heart  in  furthering  the  happiness  of  every  class 
of  his  subjects.  He  considered  horse-racing  to  be 
a  national  sport,  becoming  to  a  free  and  noble 
people.  It  was  with  no  slight  pride  that  he  found 


HIS    MARRIAGE.  351 

himself  in  a  position  to  encourage  sports  and  pas- 
times of  a  nature  to  suit  the  habits  and  feelings 
of  a  free  country." 

But  for  the  encouragement  to  patronise  horse- 
racing  instilled  into  his  Majesty  by  my  honoured 
master,  the  fifth  Duke  of  Richmond,  this  very 
seemly  speech,  which  was  received  with  storms 
of  applause,  would  never  have  been  uttered. 

It  remains  for  me  to  add  that,  on  the  signature 
of  the  general  peace  which  followed  Waterloo, 
Lord  March  contracted  a  marriage,  in  April  1816, 
with  Lady  Caroline  Paget,  eldest  daughter  of  the 
famous  Marquis  of  Anglesey.  The  '  Memoir  of 
the  Fifth  Duke  of  Richmond/  from  which  I  have 
already  quoted,  comments  upon  this  marriage  in 
the  following  words  :  "In  every  respect  the 
union  was  a  most  fortunate  one,  for  the  Countess 
of  March  possessed  every  quality  that  could  grace 
the  female  character,  added  to  a  beauty  that 
could  find  no  compeer.  As  a  tender  and  devoted 
mother,  as  an  affectionate  wife,  and  as  a  kind- 
hearted  and  generous  friend,  her  Grace  ever  shone 
forth  pre-eminently  great.  It  was  said  by  one 
who  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  her  acquaintance 
after  the  death  of  her  husband,  that  '  the  vanities 
of  worldly  pleasures  nestled  not  in  her  heart,  as 
the  remembrance  of  her  departed  husband,  and 
the  care  of  her  home,  her  children,  and  her  grand- 
children, engrossed  her  whole  attention.' ' 

During   his   father's   lifetime,    Lord   and   Lady 


352         THE   FIFTH   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

March  occupied  Molecomb — a  very  beautiful  villa 
situated  at  the  head  of  a  delightful  valley,  and 
within  a  few  minutes'  walk  of  Goodwood  House. 
Backed  by  the  Southdowns,  with  a  gentle  acclivity 
sloping  down  on  either  side,  and  the  woods  above 
it  richly  clothed  with  luxuriant  evergreens  and 
stately  oaks,  Molecomb  and  its  pretty  garden, 
from  which  a  distant  view  of  the  glistening  sea 
can  be  obtained,  is  one  of  the  most  attractive 
spots  in  the  beautiful  county  of  Sussex.  Their 
Serene  Highnesses  Prince  and  Princess  Edward  of 
Saxe- Weimar, — the  latter  being  well  remembered 
by  me,  and  by  many  others  who  now  offer  her 
through  me  the  respectful  tribute  of  their  grati- 
tude and  love  for  the  countless  kindnesses  they 
have  received  at  her  hands, — were  the  occupants 
of  Molecomb  for  many  years.  It  is  now  the  abode 
of  the  present  Lord  March,  who  is  Master  of  the 
Goodwood  Hunt,  and  also  one  of  the  most  popular 
and  respected  members  of  the  Jockey  Club. 

I  have  said  that  Ghillie  Callum  was  probably  the 
best  horse  ever  owned  by  the  fifth  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond, and  he  was  one  of  the  speediest  animals 
that  I  ever  tried.  Being,  moreover,  a  son  of  that 
stout  sire,  Gladiator,  I  have  no  doubt  that  he 
would  greatly  have  troubled  Voltigeur — indeed  I 
think  he  would  have  beaten  him — in  the  Derby  of 
1850,  if  he  had  come  to  the  post  in  as  good  con- 
dition as  the  winner.  What  makes  me  think  so 
highly  of  Ghillie  Callum  is,  that  he  was  of  the  same 


GHTLLIE   CALLUM.  353 

age  as  Officious,  a  flying  filly  belonging  to  his 
Grace,  who  won  eight  times  as  a  two-year-old 
without  sustaining  defeat.  In  more  than  one  trial 
in  1849  Ghillie  Callum  gave  Officious  10  Ib.  and  an 
easy  beating.  He  ran  twice  as  a  two-year-old, — 
once  at  Goodwood,  and  once  for  the  Rutland  Stakes 
at  Newmarket, — and  won  each  time  without  being 
extended.  Next  year,  when  they  were  both  three- 
year-olds,  and  when  Officious  had  won  twice  at 
Newmarket,  I  tried  them  again,  making  the  horse 
give  the  mare  12  Ib.,  and  again  he  won  in  a  canter. 
A  commission  was  then  given  to  back  him  for  the 
Derby,  but  unfortunately  his  near  fore-leg  gave 
way  about  three  weeks  before  the  race.  I  was 
compelled  to  restrict  him  to  walking  and  cantering 
exercise.  Even  in  this  condition  he  ran  very  well 
in  the  Derby,  and  the  place  occupied  in  that  race 
by  Mr  Gratwicke's  Nigger,  to  whom  Ghillie  could 
give  a  lot  of  weight,  makes  me  think  that  Voltigeur 
would  have  had  his  work  cut  out  for  him  had  he 
met  the  Duke's  horse  when  at  his  best.  Certainly 
the  Nigger  got  closer  to  Voltigeur  than  he  ever 
could  get  to  Ghillie  Callum  when  the  last  two  were 
fit.  It  was  a  great  disappointment  to  us  all,  but 
as  usual  the  Duke  bore  it  with  the  greatest  equan- 
imity, and  did  his  utmost  to  console  those  who  had 
done  their  best  to  bring  his  representative  well  to 
the  post.  In  fact,  whenever  a  horse  belonging  to 
his  Grace  was  expected  to  win  and  got  beaten,  he 
would  invariably  say — without  attempting  to  make 


354        THE    FIFTH    DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

out,  as  so  many  do,  that  the  race  had  been  lost 
by  the  jockey,  or  by  wrong  orders,  or  because  of 
something  wrong  in  the  state  of  the  ground — "  I 
suppose  we  met  a  better  horse." 

Red  Hart,  who  was  his  Grace's  most  successful 
race -horse,  was  a  big  overgrown  yearling,  and 
evidently  needed  time  to  develop  him,  which,  by 
turning  him  out  and  letting  him  run  about  as  a 
two-year-old  until  the  month  of  October,  his  noble 
owner  took  care  that  he  should  not  want.  The 
result  was  that,  in  1847,  he  won  eight  races  as  a 
three-year-old,  including  the  Welcome  Stakes  at 
Ascot,  in  which  he  beat  Sir  Joseph  Hawley's 
Miami,  who  had  won  the  Oaks ;  the  Gratwicke 
Stakes  at  Goodwood ;  the  Grand  Duke  Michael 
Stakes  at  Newmarket,  in  which  he  beat  Sir 
Robert  Pigot's  Conyngham,  who  had  won  the  Two 
Thousand  ;  and  the  Royal  Stakes  at  Newmarket. 
Altogether  Red  Hart  won  £6405  in  stakes  in  1847. 
The  Duke  greatly  preferred  to  breed  his  own  race- 
horses, having  a  great  objection  to  purchasing  (as 
happened  to  him  more  than  once)  "  an  orange 
which,"  as  he  phrased  it,  "  some  one  else  had 
already  squeezed."  Among  the  animals  that  he 
bred,  and  took  the  greatest  delight  in,  were  Refrac- 
tion, Picnic,  Red  Hart,  Red  Deer,  Officious,  Cuckoo, 
Red  Hind,  Ghillie  Gallum,  Harbinger,  Pharos,  and 
Homebrewed.  Most  of  the  above-named  horses 
won  races  at  Goodwood,  which  meeting  his  Grace 
always  moved  heaven  and  earth  to  make  more 


HIS    HEART   IN    GOODWOOD.  355 

attractive.  From  other  race-meetings  he  was  often 
absent,  and  it  was  never  much  of  a  disappointment 
to  him  if  he  was  prevented  from  going  to  Epsom, 
Newmarket,  or  Ascot.  But  his  whole  heart  was 
enlisted  in  the  support  and  enjoyment  of  Goodwood, 
and  I  never  saw  any  one  more  delighted  than  he 
was  when  his  favourite  old  horse,  Mus,  won  the 
Orleans  Cup  at  Goodwood  in  1841,  giving  13  Ib. 
and  a  beating  to  Mr  Lichtwald's  Hyllus,  5  years 
old,  who  on  the  previous  day  had  run  second  for 
the  Goodwood  Cup  to  Mr  A.  Johnstone's  Charles 
XII.  Before  the  Orleans  Cup  they  laid  3  to  1  on 
Hyllus,  and  his  Grace's  exultation  (which  he  was 
too  guileless  and  transparent  a  character  to  attempt 
to  conceal)  was  proportionately  great. 

When  I  think  on  the  great  and  palmy  days  of 
the  Goodwood  Cup,  and  what  it  was  when  such 
superb  animals  as  Fleur-de-Lis,  Priam,  Glencoe, 
Hornsea,  Harkaway,  Charles  XII. ,  Alice  Haw- 
thorne, The  Hero,  Van  Tromp,  and  Canezou  car- 
ried it  off,  I  cannot  resist  the  impression  that  there 
are  no  such  champion  thoroughbreds  now  to  be 
found  on  the  British  Turf,  or  conceal  my  appre- 
hension that  the  modern  system  of  ceaseless  short 
races,  most  of  them  for  two-year-olds,  will  inevit- 
ably produce  the  most  pernicious  results  before 
many  years  have  passed  away.  When,  in  1838, 
Mr  Ferguson's  magnificent  chestnut  colt,  Hark- 
away,  won  the  Goodwood  Cup,  there  were  forty 
subscribers  and  eight  starters  for  it.  Scarcely  had 


356         THE    FIFTH    DUKE    OF    KICHMOND,   K.G. 

that  grand  representative  of  Erin's  Isle  passed  the 
winning-post  before  his  gallant  owner,  with  the 
warmth  and  generosity  of  heart  for  which  his 
compatriots  are  renowned,  approached  the  Duke 
of  Richmond,  and  begged  his  Grace  to  permit  him 
to  lay  the  valuable  trophy  which  Harkaway  had 
just  won  as  an  oblation  at  the  feet  of  the  Duchess. 
The  latter  was  much  gratified  at  Mr  Ferguson's 
princely  offer,  but,  after  consultation  with  the 
Duke,  came  to  the  wise  conclusion  that  it  behoved 
her  to  decline  it,  from  fear  of  establishing  a  pre- 
cedent which  might  be  found  productive  of  incon- 
venient consequences. 

If,  however,  the  Duke  of  Richmond  was,  as  a 
thousand  acts  well  known  to  me  proved,  the 
kindliest  and  most  considerate  of  men,  there  were 
occasions  when  the  manliness  and  independence  of 
his  character  stood  out  in  bold  relief.  It  will  be 
remembered  by  many  that  for  a  long  time  Mr 
Gratwicke — who  was  a  Sussex  neighbour  of  the 
Duke's  family — had  his  horses  trained  by  per- 
mission in  the  Goodwood  stable.  Mr  Gratwicke 
was  rather  apt  to  be  suspicious,  and  too  ready  to 
imagine  that  his  horses  were  managed  in  the  in- 
terest of  other  parties  in  the  stable — than  which 
nothing  could  be  further  from  the  truth.  His  com- 
plaints, made,  not  to  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  but 
privately  to  friends  of  his  own,  reached  his  Grace's 
ears,  and  drew  from  him  the  remark,  spoken  in  the 
hearing  of  many  independent  listeners,  "  If  Mr 


MR   GRATWICKE.  357 

Gratwicke  is  dissatisfied  with  the  management  of 
the  Goodwood  stable,  and  thinks  his  horses  can  be 
better  trained  and  better  managed  elsewhere,  by 
all  means  let  him  make  the  experiment  at  once, 
and  take  them  away.  We  can  do  very  well 
without  them."  It  was  once  remarked  to  me  by 
a  great  friend  of  his  Grace,  "  The  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond is  always  the  Duke  and  never  the  Duke." 
The  slightest  intentional  liberty  or  indignity  offered 
to  him  was  resented  at  once ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  was  his  natural  impulse  to  wound  no  one, 
and  to  abound  in  considerate  and  thoughtful  kind- 
ness to  all,  and  especially  to  the  humblest. 

The  result  of  what  I  have  just  stated  was  that 
Mr  Gratwicke  soon  removed  his  stud  from  Good- 
wood to  Newmarket,  leasing  his  horses  to  the 
Duke  of  Bedford,  upon  terms  suggested  by  Admiral 
Rous,  who  managed  the  Duke  of  Bedford's  stable, 
and  exercised  great  influence  upon  Mr  Gratwicke's 
rather  weak  nature.  Next  year  the  Duke  of 
Richmond's  Pharos  and  Mr  Gratwicke's  Sitting- 
bourne  met  as  two -year-olds  at  Goodwood  in  the 
Bentinck  Memorial  Stakes.  Admiral  Rous  backed 
Sittingbourne  for  £100 — the  largest  sum  that  he 
ever  staked  upon  a  horse — and  to  his  great  amaze- 
ment, and  also  to  that  of  William  Butler  the 
trainer,  and  of  his  brother  Frank  Butler,  the  famous 
jockey,  Pharos  won  very  cleverly.  A  few  weeks 
later  Sittingbourne  won  the  Convivial  Stakes  at 
York,  beating  fourteen  others,  and  wound  up  at 


358         THE   FIFTH   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

the  end  of  the  year  by  carrying  off  the  Prendergast 
Stakes  at  Newmarket.  Next  year  Sittingbourne 
ran  second  in  the  Two  Thousand,  and  second  in 
the  Derby,  both  to  West  Australian,  and  was  one 
of  the  best  three-year-olds  in  England.  In  fact,  if 
he  had  not  met  such  a  paragon  as  West  Australian, 
he  would  have  been  inscribed  on  the  roll  of  fame 
as  winner  of  the  Two  Thousand,  Derby,  and  St 
Leger.  What  happened  to  him  in  the  latter  race 
formed  the  subject  of  one  of  the  late  Mr  F. 
Swindell's  most  amusing  stories ;  but  I  cannot 
venture  to  describe  what  that  famous  raconteur 
used  to  unfold,  or  his  admirable  mimicry  of  Mr 
Gratwicke's  look,  gestures,  and  ejaculations  when 
the  race  ended  without  Sittingbourne  getting  a 
place.  It  often  happens  that  a  couple  of  two- 
year-olds  meet  on  a  T.Y.C.  course,  and  that  the 
smaller  is  the  better  of  the  two.  Twelve  addi- 
tional months  reverse  their  relations  of  form,  and 
the  big  colt,  having  had  time  to  grow  and  furnish, 
becomes  the  superior  when  both  are  three  years 
old.  This  was  what  happened  in  the  case  of 
Pharos  and  Sittingbourne. 

I  have  often  made  mention  in  this  volume  and 
elsewhere  of  the  wisdom,  nay  the  necessity,  of 
making  use  of  a  good  horse  when  he  is  well  and  fit 
to  run.  Never  was  this  truth  more  forcibly  exem- 
plified than  when  Mr  Gratwicke  had  Landgrave 
engaged  in  1850  in  the  Four-year-old  Triennial 
(First  October  Meeting  at  Newmarket),  the  Cesare- 


LANDGRAVE.  359 

witch,  and  Cambridgeshire.  This  fine  horse,  a 
gelding  got  by  Sir  Hercules  out  of  the  Landgravine, 
was  handicapped  for  the  Cesare witch  at  6  st.  13 
lb.,  and  was  rather  freely  backed  by  the  stable,  in 
whose  interest  £15,000  to  £100  was  taken  that  he 
won  the  three  events — despite  the  fact  that  in  the 
first  he  had  to  meet  two  good  horses,  Lord  Eglin- 
ton's  Elthiron  and  Sir  Joseph  Hawley's  Vatican. 
When  I  saddled  Landgrave  for  the  Triennial,  run 
from  the  Ditchin,  Flatman  asked  how  he  should 
ride  him.  I  said,  "  Take  hold  of  his  head,  and 
come  truly  through  till  you  reach  the  Turn  of  the 
Lands.  Then  steady  him  against  the  hill,  and,  take 
my  word  for  it,  your  two  opponents  will  have  had 
enough  of  it  before  you  get  to  the  Duke's  stand." 
My  words  were  literally  fulfilled,  for  Landgrave's 
tremendous  stride  (he  stood  16  hands  1^  inch 
high)  told  so  effectually  that  in  the  end  he  won 
hands  down,  and  became  instantly  a  great  favourite 
for  the  Cesarewitch,  for  which  Fobert,  the  trainer 
of  Elthiron,  asserted  that  he  was  as  well  in  as  the 
Flying  Dutchman  would  be  at  7  st.  7  lb. 

The  next  difficulty  was  to  find  a  trustworthy 
jockey  able  to  ride  him  at  6  st.  13  lb.  At  last  Lord 
Enfield  secured  old  Sam  Mann,  who,  by  reducing 
himself  to  the  utmost,  promised  to  get  down  to  the 
weight.  Unfortunately  in  the  process  he  made 
himself  so  weak  that  before  half  the  distance  was 
run  he  could  hardly  keep  his  seat,  and  Landgrave, 
who  required  holding  together,  was  sprawling  all 


360        THE   FIFTH   DUKE   OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

over  the  course.  In  the  end  he  was  beaten  half  a 
length  by  Chappie  upon  Mr  Payne's  Glauca,  a  mare 
to  whom  he  could  have  given  a  stone,  and  who  gave 
him  five  pounds  and  a  beating.  Everybody  saw 
that  it  was  Sam  Mann,  not  Landgrave,  who  lost  the 
race,  and  the  latter  was  installed  first  favourite  for 
the  Cambridgeshire  at  6  st.  11  Ib.  Jemmy  Chappie 
was  engaged  to  ride  him,  and  was  told  to  come 
through ;  but  instead  of  obeying  orders  he  never 
got  near  the  front  until  the  last  few  yards,  when 
he  came  and  won  by  a  head.  My  firm  conviction 
is  that  if  Flatman  had  ridden  Landgrave  in  the 
Cesarewitch  and  Cambridgeshire  at  7  st.  8  Ib.  (his 
lowest  weight),  he  would  have  won  both  as  easily 
as  he  did  the  Four-year-old  Triennial.  It  was 
perhaps  the  best  thing  that,  in  my  long  experience, 
I  ever  sent  forth  from  the  Goodwood  stables,  and 
the  result  proved  how  often  horse  and  trainer  are 
undeservedly  baffled  by  the  weakness  or  incom- 
petency  of  a  jockey. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  brief  memoir  without 
mentioning  that  the  fifth  Duke  of  Richmond  was, 
throughout  life,  a  devoted  and  enthusiastic  patron 
of  agriculture,  and  took  the  greatest  interest  in 
his  farms,  cattle,  and  sheep.  Never  within  my 
memory  has  there  been  a  moment  at  which  Good- 
wood Park  and  Downs  were  without  a  superb 
flock  of  Southdown  sheep  which  called  the  reign- 
ing Duke  their  master.  No  expense  or  trouble 
have  been  spared  in  obtaining  the  best  sheep  that 


HIS    CHARACTER.  361 

money  could  buy,  and  countless  were  the  gold  and 
silver  medals  at  the  Smithfield  Cattle  Shows 
gained  by  Goodwood  sheep.  In  the  midst  of  a 
host  of  sheep  -  breeders,  including  the  late  Mr 
Ellman  of  Glynde,  Mr  Grantham,  and  Mr  Jonas 
Webbe,  his  Grace  was  always  prominent,  and  his 
flock  was  in  request,  not  only  among  English,  but 
also  among  French,  Prussian,  Austrian,  Russian, 
and  American  connoisseurs. 

With  a  quotation  from  the  same  source  which 
has  already  furnished  me  with  more  than  one 
passage,  I  draw  near  to  the  close  of  this  humble 
tribute  of  grateful  and  respectful  duty  and  affec- 
tion, laid  on  the  tomb  of  my  beloved  master  : 
"  The  Duke  of  Richmond  in  domestic  life  realised 
truly  the  character  of  a  Christian  parent.  He 
possessed  a  singleness  of  purpose  which  made  his 
home  the  perfection  of  happiness ;  his  children 
looked  upon  their  father  as  their  most  sincere  and 
loving  friend.  Their  childish  sports  were  never 
interrupted,  and  if  they  paused  in  their  innocent 
games  when  their  father  entered  the  room,  it  was 
to  welcome  him  with  that  outpouring  of  the  heart 
which  loving  children  can  alone  offer." 

The  only  additional  remark  which  I  have  to 
offer  is,  that  his  Grace's  political  career  was  on 
a  par  with  his  social  life  at  Goodwood  and  at 
Gordon  Castle,  and  with  the  courage,  loyalty,  and 
fidelity  with  which  he  discharged  a  soldier's  duties 
in  the  Peninsular  war.  It  is  notorious  that  the 


362        THE   FIFTH   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

great  Duke  of  Wellington  entertained  the  great- 
est objection  to  military  medals  and  decorations, 
which,  in  common  with  many  other  great  captains 
of  the  past,  he  regarded  as  likely  to  induce 
ambitious  young  officers  to  indulge  in  ostentatious 
exhibitions  of  daring,  which  were  of  little  or  no 
benefit  to  the  cause  for  which  they  fought,  but,  as 
the  Iron  Duke  believed,  were  often  undertaken  in 
order  to  attract  special  notice  to  their  perpetrators. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  medals  for  the  Pen- 
insula and  Waterloo  were  not  presented  to  the 
gallant  soldiers  who  had  so  richly  merited  them, 
for  more  than  thirty  years  after  Waterloo  wTas 
fought.  At  last  the  Duke  of  Richmond  deter- 
mined to  strike  in  on  behalf  of  those  of  his 
humble  comrades  whom  in  1847  time  had  still 
spared.  Rising  in  his  place  in  the  House  of 
Lords  in  May  1847,  the  Duke  indignantly  re- 
plied to  a  sneering  remark  made  by  the  Marquis 
of  Londonderry,  who  deprecated  "  the  prostitu- 
tion of  rewards  which  had  recently  been  squeezed 
out  of  the  Government."  Nothing  could  have 
been  more  dignified  and  characteristic  than  the 
Duke  of  Richmond's  reply.  "  After  the  attack," 
he  commenced,  "  which  has  been  made  by  the 
noble  and  gallant  Marquis,  who  has  the  audacity 
to  speak  of  these  medals  and  rewards  as  being 
prostituted,  I  claim  your  Lordships'  kind  indul- 
gence while  I  attempt  to  reply  to  those  insulting 
words.  He  says  that  these  rewards  are  prosti- 


THE   DUKE   AND    THE    PENINSULAR   MEDALS.       363 

tuted  when  given  to  soldiers  who  fought  and  won 
those  numerous  battles  in  the  Peninsula  which 
are  the  pride  of  our  country ;  the  men  who  took 
part  in  the  forlorn-hopes  of  Badajoz,  Ciudad  Rod- 
rigo,  and  San  Sebastian,  and  who  gained  for  the 
noble  Marquis  the  Peninsula  medals  with  which  he 
is  now  decorated." 

Continuing  in  the  same  vein,  the  noble  Duke 
produced  such  an  effect  upon  both  Houses  of  Par- 
liament, and  upon  the  country  at  large,  that  the 
tardy  act  of  justice  to  some  of  the  noblest  soldiers 
that  ever  faced  wounds  and  death  with  indomitable 
fortitude  could  no  longer  be  withheld.  At  last  the 
Peninsula  warriors  were  crowned  with  their  well- 
earned  laurels,  and  every  soldier  in  the  British 
army  knew  that  but  for  the  Duke  of  Richmond 
this  debt  of  gratitude  would  never  have  been  paid. 
The  much- coveted  trophies  were  served  out  to  the 
survivors  in  1849,  and  after  the  Duke's  victory 
in  the  House  of  Lords  came  his  own  well-merited 
reward.  It  was  proposed  "  that  his  Grace  the 
Duke  of  Richmond,  K.G.,  be  presented  with  a 
testimonial  for  his  exertions  on  behalf  of  the 
Peninsular  heroes."  A  committee  was  instantly 
formed,  with  the  gallant  Lord  Saltoun  for  chair- 
man. It  was  composed  of  officers  of  every  grade, 
and  in  each  of  the  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish 
counties,  sub-committees  were  appointed  to  carry 
out  the  desired  object.  Subscriptions  were  con- 
fined to  those  who  had  received  the  medals, 


364        THE    FIFTH   DUKE    OF   RICHMOND,    K.G. 

ranging  from  5s.  to  £1  for  officers,  while  Id.  was 
all  the  privates  were  called  on  to  pay.  The  testi- 
monial was  presented  to  the  Duke  of  Richmond 
at  a  banquet  in  Willis's  Rooms,  with  Lord  Saltoun 
in  the  chair.  It  was  of  the  following  description  : 
"On  the  summit  of  a  quadrangular  pedestal  stood 
an  allegorical  group,  representing  the  Duke  of 
Richmond  directing  the  attention  of  Britannia  to 
the  merits  of  her  military  and  naval  forces.  In 
the  centre  stands  his  Grace,  robed  in  the  costume 
of  a  Peer,  holding  in  his  left  hand  a  memorial  to 
her  Majesty,  while  with  his  right  he  points  to  the 
figures  of  Mars  and  Neptune.  In  the  hand  of 
Britannia  is  the  war  medal  she  is  about  to  distri- 
bute." A  panel  at  the  base  contained  the  follow- 
ing inscription  :  "  Presented  on  the  thirty-eighth 
anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Vittoria,  to  his  Grace 
the  Duke  of  Richmond,  K.G.,  by  the  recipients 
of  the  war  medal,  in  grateful  remembrance  of  his 
long  and  unwearied  exertions  on  their  behalf." 

With  this  crowning  and  complimentary  tribute 
to  a  gallant  and  most  estimable  nobleman,  I  now 
bring  this  chapter  to  a  close,  briefly  adding  that, 
for  many  years  before  his  death,  his  Grace  was 
subject  to  frequent  attacks  of  gout  and  other 
maladies,  which  in  time  undermined  a  not  very 
robust  constitution,  somewhat  impaired  by  priva- 
tions and  hardships  endured  in  the  Peninsula,  in 
France,  and  in  Belgium,  and  most  of  all  by  reason 
of  the  severe  wound  received  at  Orthez.  At  the 


HIS   DEATH.  365 

Goodwood  Meeting  in  1860  he  was  far  from  well, 
and  unable  to  attend  the  races  or  to  welcome  his 
numerous  guests  with  his  customary  hospitality. 
On  the  afternoon  of  the  Cup  day  he  was  wheeled 
in  his  garden -chair  to  the  lawn  in  front  of  the 
conservatory,  and  received  his  friends  on  their 
return  from  the  course. 

From  Goodwood  he  proceeded  to  Gordon  Castle 
by  easy  stages,  where  for  a  short  time  the  High- 
land air  produced  such  a  favourable  effect  upon 
his  debilitated  frame  that  the  anxiety  of  his 
devoted  wife  was  greatly  diminished.  Soon,  how- 
ever, a  change  for  the  worse  ensued,  and  Sir 
James  Clarke  advised  an  immediate  return  to 
London.  In  a  state  of  deplorable  weakness  his 
Grace,  attended  by  Dr  Hair,  arrived  at  his  town 
house  in  Portland  Place,  where,  at  a  quarter 
before  two  P.M.  on  Sunday,  21st  October  1860, 
he  breathed  his  last,  in  his  seventieth  year. 

"  Only  the  actions  of  the  just 
Smell  sweet,  and  blossom  in  the  dust." 


366 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

RACING    CAREER   OF   THE    LATE   RIGHT    HON. 
SIR   WILLIAM    H.    GREGORY. 

By  the  Editor. 

THIS  work  was  about  to  assume  its  final  "  form 
and  pressure,"  previous  to  publication,  when  the 
death  of  Sir  William  H.  Gregory,  K.C.M.G.,  on 
Sunday,  March  6,  1892,  led  me  to  address  myself 
forthwith  to  the  task — in  this  instance  it  is  a 
labour  of  love — of  writing  down  what  I  know  of 
my  old  friend's  racing  career.  Sir  William  was 
born  at  Coole  Park,  County  Galway,  in  1817, 
and  in  1839  was  present  at  the  Epsom  Derby  for 
the  first  time.  Although  no  more  than  twenty- 
two  years  old  when  he  saw  his  first  Derby  and 
bought  his  first  race-horse,  he  was  at  once  ad- 
mitted to  the  best  society  in  the  United  King- 
dom, and  soon  became  a  prominent  pillar  of  the 
English  Turf.  From  about  the  year  1840  until 
the  autumn  of  1846,  when  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck  sold  the  whole  of  his  racing  stud  to  Mr 


SIR   W.    H.    GREGORY.  367 

Mostyn,  Sir  William  Gregory  was  on  the  most 
intimate  terms  of  friendship  with  the  noble  owner 
of  Crucifix,  Miss  Elis,  and  Gaper.  It  seems,  there- 
fore, in  the  highest  degree  desirable  and  opportune 
that  I  should  avail  myself  of  the  permission  which 
on  many  occasions  he  accorded  to  me,  authorising 
me,  if  I  outlived  him,  to  make  what  use  I  liked 
(when  he  had  passed  away)  of  the  numerous  letters 
which  I  had  received  from  him,  and  of  our  still 
more  numerous  conversations  on  racing  and  polit- 
ical subjects.  During  his  lifetime  Sir  William 
was  averse  from  printed  allusion  to  the  Turf  career 
which  he  had  pursued  with  so  much  zeal  and 
energy  in  his  stirring  youth.  He  had  followed 
racing — and  to  a  man  who  carries  it  on  as  he  did, 
it  seldom  fails  to  become  an  all-absorbing  and 
engrossing  profession — with  more  courage  than  dis- 
.cretion.  About  that  time  Irish  property  had  begun 
to  decline  so  rapidly  in  value,  that  Sir  William 
Gregory's  Gal  way  estates  brought  him  in  next  to 
nothing.  Nevertheless  he  remained  on  the  Turf, 
always  sticking  to  the  same  trainer  -  -  William 
Treen  of  Beckhampton,  in  Wiltshire — in  the  hope 
that  another  Clermont  or  another  Loupgarou 
might  arise  to  retrieve  his  shattered  fortunes. 
It  was  not  destined,  however,  that  such  a  horse 
should  again  be  vouchsafed  to  him,  and  his  subse- 
quent career,  first  as  a  member  of  Parliament  from 
1857  to  1872,  and  secondly,  as  Governor  of  Ceylon 
from  1872  to  1877,  proved  beyond  all  doubt 


368       RACING   CAREER    OF    SIR   W.    H.    GREGORY. 

that  when,  in  1855,  he  broke  down  financially, 
and  quitted  the  Turf  for  ever,  it  was  the  most 
fortunate  circumstance  that  ever  happened  to  him 
in  a  long  and  distinguished  life. 

A  few  words  are  all  that  I  need  devote  to  Sir 
William's  parentage  and  station  in  life.  Those 
who  desire  to  read  his  early  political  experiences, 
as  revealed  by  his  own  hand,  have  but  to  turn  to  the 
April,  1889,  number  of  '  The  Nineteenth  Century,' 
where  they  will  find  an  article  from  his  pen, 
headed,  "  A  Few  more  Words  on  Daniel  O'Connell." 
In  the  autumn  of  the  previous  year  there  had  ap- 
peared a  work  in  two  volumes  entitled  '  The  Cor- 
respondence of  Daniel  O'Connell,  the  Liberator : 
edited,  with  Notices  of  his  Life  and  Times,  by  W.  J. 
Fitzpatrick,  F.S.  A.'  There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
the  two  volumes  in  question  constitute  the  most 
remarkable  work  on  Irish  politics  and  history  that 
has  seen  the  light  since  the  publication  in  1859  of 
1  The  Correspondence  of  Charles,  First  Marquis 
Cornwallis,'  edited  by  Mr  Charles  Ross.  These 
two  books  seem  to  have  had  a  greater  effect  than 
any  others  upon  the  sensitive  mind  of  Mr  Glad- 
stone, in  inducing  him  to  attempt  to  bestow  Home 
Rule  upon  Ireland.  What  Mr  Gladstone  thought 
of  '  The  Correspondence  of  Daniel  O'Connell '  may 
be  gathered  from  his  striking  article  in  the  January, 
1889,  number  of  'The  Nineteenth  Century.'  One 
passage  from  it  I  will  permit  myself  to  quote : 
"  There  cannot  but  be  many,"  writes  Mr  Glad- 


HIS    GRANDFATHER.  369 

stone,  "  in  whose  eyes  O'Connell  seems  the  greatest 
Irishman  that  ever  lived.  Neither  Swift  nor 
Grattan  can  be  placed  in  the  scale  against  him. 
If  there  were  competition  among  the  dead  heroes 
of  Irish  history,  I  suppose  Burke  and  the  Duke 
of  Wellington  would  be  the  two  most  formidable 
competitors.  But  the  great  Duke  is,  in  mathemati- 
cal phrase,  incommensurable  with  O'Connell.  There 
are  no  known  terms  which  will  enable  us  to  pit 
the  military  faculty  against  the  genius  of  civil 
affairs.  If  we  take  that  genius  alone  into  view,  it 
can  hardly  be  doubted  that  O'Connell  is  the  greater 
man.  With  respect  to  Burke,  it  seems  safe  to  say 
that,  if  far  greater  than  O'Connell  in  the  world 
of  thought,  he  was  far  inferior  to  him  in  the  world 
of  action." 

It  is  time,  however,  that  I  should  turn  to  the 
article  in  the  same  magazine  from  Sir  William* 
Gregory's  pen,  which  appeared  three  months  later 
than  that  of  Mr  Gladstone  from  which  I  have  just 
quoted.  Sir  William  begins  by  telling  us  that  he 
was  brought  up  from  a  child  in  the  society  of 
Dublin  Castle,  in  which  his  grandfather,  also 
named  Sir  William  Gregory,  was  one  of  the  most 
prominent  and  quite  the  most  durable  of  officials. 
"  He  was  Under  Secretary  for  Ireland,"  writes  his 
grandson,  "from  1813  to  1831,  when  he  retired 
with  a  pension  and  with  the  distinction  of  Privy 
Councillor."  During  that  long  period  he  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  all  the  Chief  Secretaries  and  Lord 

2  A 


370      RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

Lieutenants  who  ruled  Ireland  in  succession  ;  and 
his  great  experience  of  the  country  gave  him 
unusual  influence.  "  It  was  said  of  him,  and  with 
truth,  that  '  Gregory  was  the  dry-nurse  of  young- 
English  statesmen.'  Although  I  was  but  a  small 
boy  at  the  time  to  which  I  now  refer,  I  well  re- 
member many  of  the  guests  who  frequented  my 
grandfather's  dinner  -  table,  for  his  house  was 
hospitable  and  his  Sneyd's  claret  of  the  best.  I 
have  the  liveliest  recollection  of  the  style  of  con- 
versation, of  the  profound  distrust  and  hatred  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  and  of  the  chorus  of 
invective  against  O'Connell,  whom  I  was  taught 
to  regard  as  an  incarnation  of  the  principle  of 
evil/' 

In  1842  Mr  West,  the  Conservative  member  for 
Dublin,  died  suddenly,  and  young  Mr  William 
'Gregory,  whose  father,  Mr  Robert  Gregory,  was 
then  dead,  was  invited  to  stand  in  opposition  to 
Lord  Morpeth,  who  was  vigorously  supported  by 
O'Connell.  It  would  have  been  difficult  for  a 
young  man  not  yet  twenty-five  to  encounter  a 
more  formidable  opponent.  Lord  Morpeth  had 
recently  been  Chief  Secretary  for  Ireland,  and  a 
more  amiable*,  blameless,  and  respected  statesman 
it  would  have  been  impossible  to  name.  He  was 
travelling  in  America  when  Mr  West  died,  and 
had  lost  his  seat  for  the  West  Hiding  not  long 
before.  His  absence  from  the  House  of  Commons 
was  universally  regarded  as  a  national  loss.  More- 


HIS    CONTEST   FOB,   DUBLIN.  371 

over,  the  seat  for  Dublin  was  of  no  slight  im- 
portance, and  the  Whigs  were  extremely  eager  to 
wrest  it  from  the  Tories. 

The  description  of  the  contest  is  given  in  Sir 
William  Gregory's  best  manner.  "  At  last,"  he 
writes,  "  came  the  nomination  day — one  of  deep  ap- 
prehension to  me ;  for  I  had  to  meet  the  greatest 
orator  of  his  time.  O'Connell  was  then  Lord 
Mayor  of  Dublin,  and  by  him  Lord  Morpeth  was 
seconded.  The  Liberator's  speech,  though  severe 
on  me  as  a  Protestant,  was  by  no  means  abusive." 
Sir  William  replied  in  what  he  calls  "  the  best 
speech  of  his  life."  He  indignantly  denied  that 
his  voice  had  ever  mingled  in  the  cry,  "To  hell 
with  the  Pope  ! "  or  that  he  had  any  sympathy 
with  that  sentiment.  When  he  sat  down,  O'Con- 
nell was  so  pleased  with  the  plucky  way  in  which 
his  youthful  antagonist  had  stood  up  to  him  that 
he  exclaimed,  "  Young  man,  may  I  shake  you  by 
the  hand  ?  Your  speech  has  so  gratified  me  that 
if  you  will  but  whisper  '  Repeal ' — only  whisper  it, 
mind  you — Daniel  O'Connell  will  be  the  first  man 
at  the  polling  booth  to  vote  for  you  to-morrow." 
The  mystic  word  was  not  whispered  or  uttered,  but 
from  that  time  forward  O'Connell  and  Sir  William 
were  always  the  best  of  friends,  though  divided  in 
age  by  forty-two  years,  as  O'Connell  was  born  in 
1775  and  Sir  William  in  1817.  Sir  William  was 
returned  by  a  triumphant  majority,  and  after  the 
close  of  the  first  day's  poll  he  received  the  follow- 


372       RACING    CAREER    OF    SIR  W.   H.    GREGORY. 

ing  letter,  addressed  to  him  at  Dublin,  from  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  who,  even  at  that  early  stage, 
did  not  hesitate  to  add  "M.P."  to  his  friend's 
name  :— 

"  To  W.  H.  GREGORY,  Esq.,  M.P. 

"  WELBECK,  nr.  WORKSOP,  NOTTS, 
Jan.  29,  1842. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR, — The  news  of  your  majority  on 
the  first  day's  poll  gave  every  English  Conserva- 
tive, and  me  especially,  the  greatest  pleasure.  I 
sincerely  congratulate  you  upon  it,  but  still  more 
upon  the  distinguished  fight  you  made  upon  the 
hustings  against  the  great  O'Connell.  Even  the 
Whigs  here  have  had  to  acknowledge  their  ad- 
miration of  your  speech. 

"  I  need  not  say  that  I  anticipate  no  reverse  on 
the  poll.  I  doubt  not  that  you  will  maintain, 
and  even  improve,  the  strong  lead  you  have  taken  ; 
but  should  it  be  otherwise,  I  cannot  but  con- 
gratulate you  on  the  compleat  [sic]  triumph  of 
tallents  [sic]  evinced  in  your  first  day's  battle  on 
the  hustings.  Verily  if  the  horse  Auckland  can 
do  as  much  with  the  old  ones  in  private  as  '  the 
tipsy  boy  from  the  Curragh '  has  done  with  the 
great  Agitator  in  publick,  he  will  win  the  Derby 
in  a  canter. 

"  With  sincerest  wishes  for  your  continued  suc- 
cess, believe  me,  always  yours  very  truly, 

"  G.  BENTINCK." 


FRIENDSHIP  WITH  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK.   373 

Commenting  upon  this  letter,  which  Sir  Wil- 
liam sent  to  me  on  January  12,  1892,  he  writes 
thus  : — 

"3  ST  GEORGE'S  PLACE, 

HYDE  PARK  CORNER,  S.W. 

"  I  was  looking  over  some  stray  papers  here 
lately,  and  found  the  enclosed  from  Lord  George 
Bentinck.  It  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  his  letters 
to  me.  and  refers  to  the  Dublin  election  of  1842. 
Before  long  we  became  intimate  and  attached 
friends.  In  those  days  I  was  constantly  at  Har- 
court  House,  and,  I  may  say,  enjoyed  Lord 
George's  entire  confidence,  which  was  of  course 
broken  up  by  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  when 
I  followed  Sir  Robert  Peel.  Mark  the  old-fash- 
ioned spelling  of  Lord  George's  letter — just  like 
that  of  Dr  Johnson  and  Mr  Pitt — e.g.,  'publick,' 
'  compleat/  '  tallents,'  &c.  He  used  always  to 
speak  of  '  a  dish  of  tea,'  and  pronounced  Home 
'  Room/  wonder  'woonder,'  and  golden  'goulden.' 

"  The  allusion  to  f  the  tipsy  boy  from  the 
Curragh'  was  quoted  from  a  Dublin  paper,  and 
referred  to  a  great  dinner  at  which  I  and  my 
supporters  had  as  much  on  board  as-  we  could 
carry,  but  did  nothing  untoward.  At  that  time 
I  had  never  seen  the  Curragh  in  my  life." 

It  will  readily  be  understood  that  the  political 
harmony  between  Lord  George  and  Sir  William 
Gregory  was  cemented  and  intensified  by  their 


374      RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

common  passion  for  the  Turf.     Lord  George  was 
fifteen  years  older  than  his  Irish  friend,  and  both 
had  commenced  their  racing  careers  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment.    Sir  William  was  not  yet  twenty- 
two,  as  I  have  already  said,  when,  accompanied 
by  the  late  Earl  of  Winchilsea  and  other  under- 
graduates, he  rode,  in  1839,  on  a  series  of  hacks, 
strewn   along   the   road,  from  Christ    Church    to 
Epsom  and  back,   to  see  the  Derby  won  by  Mr 
William  Ridsdale's  Bloomsbury,  an  outsider  who 
started  at  30  to  1.     Sir  William's  own  fancy  for 
the   race   was  in  favour   of  Mr   Fulwer  Craven's 
Deception,    by   Defence — a   beautiful  mare,   who 
started  at  12  to  1,  and  was  brought  to  the  post 
in  first-rate  condition  by  William  Treen,  who  rode 
and  trained  her.      The  "  tip  "  to  back  Deception 
was  given  to  Sir  William  by  his  old  friend,  the 
late   Mr    Jeremiah   Robert    Ives,    whom   all   who 
were  well  acquainted  with  him  agreed  in  regarding 
as  the  cleverest  judge  of  racing  and  of  its  human 
supporters  that  they  had   known  in  their  time. 
For  many  years  Mr  Ives  wrote  the  sporting  letters 
which  appeared  above  the  name  of  "Judex"  in 
6  The  Morning  Post ' ;  and  the  late  Earl  of  Straf- 
ford,  who  knew  him  intimately,  used  to  aver  that, 
had  Mr  Ives  entered  Parliament  as  a  young  man, 
he  would  inevitably  have  been  selected  to  fill  the 
post  of  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  before  he  was 
fifty  years  old. 

The   result    of  Sir   William's    hurried   visit   to 


HIS    FIRST    PURCHASES.  375 

Epsom  in  1839  was  that  he  forthwith  gave  in- 
structions to  Treen  to  purchase  for  him  some 
yearlings,  one  of  which — Barricade,  by  Defence- 
started  a  good  favourite  for  the  Oaks,  and  ran 
third.  It  may  not  be  an  inappropriate  moment 
to  quote  the  following  letter,  which  I  received 
from  Sir  William  on  the  death  of  his  old  trainer, 
William  Treen,  which  took  place  in  January 
1879  :- 

"  COOLE  PARK,  GORT, 
Co.  GALWAY,  Jan.  13,  1879. 

"  I  shall  be  in  London  on  Thursday  next,  and 
will  then  tell  you  more  about  old  Treen.  He 
hailed  from  Devonshire,  and  was  brought  up  at 
Danebury.  At  first  he  trained  a  few  horses  for 
local  races  in  Devonshire,  and  then  took  the  Beck- 
hampton  Inn  on  the  road  between  Marlborough 
and  Devizes,  where  he  trained  Fulwer  Craven's 
celebrated  mare  Deception,  who  soon  brought  him 
into  notice.  Lord  George  Bentinck  thought  that 
Treen's  bad  riding  on  Deception  lost  her  the  Derby  ; 
but  good  as  she  was,  public  opinion  at  the  time 
favoured  the  belief  that  Bloomsbury  had  a  year 
in  hand. 

"  This  was  the  first  race  I  ever  saw,  having 
ridden  from  Oxford  by  relays  of  hacks  to  see  it, 
and  I  was  back  long  before  the  closing  of  '  Tom 
Gate '  at  Christ  Church.  So  pleased  was  I  with 
Treen  that  I  bought  the  following  horses  and  sent 
them  to  him  to  train  —  viz.,  FitzRoy  and  Fitz- 


376       RACING    CAREER    OF    SIR  W.    H.   GREGORY. 

ambo  ;  Barricade,  the  best  two  -  year  -  old  that  I 
ever  saw  tried,  and  about  the  worst  three-year- 
old  ;  Yitellius,  a  first  -  class  horse,  who  won  the 
Northamptonshire  Stakes  in  a  canter,  and  beat 
St  Lawrence  next  day  for  the  Queen's  Plate  with 
equal  ease.  Soon  after  came  Rhesus,  a  most  un- 
fortunate horse,  who  resembled  General  Chasse', 
seeing  that  neither  of  them  could  be  ridden  or 
done  justice  to  by  a  boy.  Rhesus,  however,  was 
the  best  three-year-old  ever  trained  by  Treen,  and 
twelve  pounds  better  than  Loupgarou.  Clermont 
was  pretty  good,  and,  as  you  know,  a  lucky  horse 
to  me.  In  1855  I  sold  all  my  horses,  and  Treen's 
luck  left  him.  At  a  later  date  he  won  the  Cesare- 
witch  with  Hartington,  and,  I  think,  the  Chester 
Cup  for  Fred  Swindell  with  that  very  good  horse 
Leamington,  who  has  done  so  much  good  to  the 
American  Turf.  Being  owed  a  great  deal  of  money 
by  some  of  his  recent  masters,  poor  Treen  was 
ruined,  and  went  out  to  Bangalore  on  my  recom- 
mendation to  take  charge  of  the  stud  of  thorough- 
breds belonging  to  Mr  Downall,  a  Devonshire 
gentleman,  who  had  made  a  large  fortune  as  a 
coffee-planter  in  Ceylon. 

"  It  was  a  fortunate  connection  for  Treen,  al- 
though his  health  suffered  not  a  little  from  the 
climate  of  India,  whence  he  returned  to  England 
before  his  new  master,  who,  however,  did  not 
forget  him.  Upon  arriving  in  England,  Treen 
again  took  to  training,  but  accomplished  nothing 


TREEN    THE    TRAINER.  377 

worthy  of  special  notice.  When  Mr  Downall 
came  back  from  Ceylon,  and  made  his  home  per- 
manently in  England,  he  kindly  provided  a 
harbour  of.  refuge  for  Treen,  where  the  old  man, 
whose  experience  had  been  longer  and  more 
diversified  than  that  of  most  of  his  training 
brethren,  settled  down  quietly  with  sufficient 
employment  to  amuse  him  in  looking  after  Mr 
Downall's  hunting  stud.  To  the  last,  not  un- 
mindful of  Vitellius,  Clermont,  Loupgarou,  and 
Windischgratz,  he  did  not  despair  of  bringing  off 
another  coup.  Fate,  however,  decreed  otherwise, 
as  he  died  last  week  after  a  few  hours'  illness. 
He  was  a  remarkably  well  -  conducted  and  civil 
man,  who  never  got  drunk,  never  swore,  and 
never  took  liberties  with  his  employers.  Few  of 
his  craft  have  gone  before  him  to  the  silent  land 
with  a  more  satisfactory  record." 

I  have  often  regretted  that  Sir  William  Gregory, 
who  knew  the  Turf  and  all  its  intricacies  as  well 
as  Sir  Walter  Scott's  "William  of  Deloraine" 
knew  the  passes  and  fords  of  the  Scottish  Border, 
could  never  be  prevailed  upon  to  write  a  history 
of  the  "  Sport  of  Kings,"  to  which  he  was  as 
attached  in  theory  during  his  declining  years  as 
he  had  been  in  practice  during  his  vigorous  youth. 
He  was  the  only  man  of  my  acquaintance  possessed 
of  the  literary  ability,  and  also  of  the  keen  insight 
into  character,  requisite  to  enable  him  to  draw  cor- 


378      RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

rect  pen-portraits  of  heroes  of  the  Turf  who  to  the 
present  generation  are  mere  nominis  umbrce.  Such 
patrons  of  horse-racing  as  Lord  George  Bentinck, 
John  Bowes,  Fulwer  Craven,  Squire  Osbaldeston, 
Sir  William  Massey-Stanley,  the  fourth  Duke  of 
Grafton,  the  old  Duke  of  Rutland,  Mr  Sloane 
Stanley,  and  others,  who  were  prominent  at  New- 
market shortly  after  her  Majesty's  accession  to  the 
throne,  would  now  be  alive  and  "  palpitating  with 
actuality  "  if  Sir  William  Gregory  could  have  been 
induced  to  trace  their  histories.  During  the  last 
thirty  years  of  his  life,  however,  politics,  literature, 
and  art,  engaged  his  attention  to  such  a  degree 
that,  beyond  writing  a  private  autobiography  for 
the  amusement  and  instruction  of  his  own  family, 
he  had  no  time  or  inclination  for  composing  a  work 
de  longue  haleine  on  the  pursuits  of  his  youth. 
Sir  William  had  also  remarked  that. writers  who 
undertake  to  recall  the  past  are  often  accused, 
and  nearly  always  falsely,  of  a  secret  desire  to 
blacken  contemporaries  and  friends  who  have 
passed  away.  Be  this,  however,  as  it  may,  he 
died  and  left  no  sign.  All  that  remains,  there- 
fore, is  to  "  put  together  a  thing  of  shreds  and 
patches  "  from  the  letters  which  he  has  left  behind, 
and  from  memories  of  conversations  to  which  he 
contributed  the  larger  share.  Few  men  ever  lived 
whose  experience  was  more  diversified.  Like 
his  Irish  compatriots,  he  was  a  man  of  quick 
and  ready  sympathies,  to  whom  quicquid  agunt 


HIS   REMINISCENCES.  379 

homines  was  full  of  interest.  He  had  known 
everybody,  both  male  and  female,  who  was  any- 
body for  the  last  fifty-five  or  sixty  years  ;  for  even 
as  a  Harrow  boy  he  was  intimate  with  illustrious 
Harrovians  like  Sir  Robert  Peel,  Lord?-  Palmers  ton, 
Lord  Aberdeen,  and  Sir  James  Graham.  In  the 
belief  that  a  few  extracts  from  his  letters,  and 
from  notes  of  his  conversations  made  at  the  time 
of  their  occurrence,  will  place  him  before  his 
contemporaries  in  a  truer  position  than,  from  his 
tendency  to  shrink  modestly  into  private  life,  he 
now  occupies,  I  am  tempted,  with  Sir  William's 
own  concurrence,  to  add  these  two  chapters  to  a 
work  of  which  Lord  George  Bentinck  is  the  hero 
—a  work  of  which  Sir  William  was  cognisant, 
and  upon  which,  so  far  as  he  was  acquainted 
with  it,  he  was  so  good  as  to  bestow  his  approval. 
Let  me  begin  by  quoting  the  following  descrip- 
tion from  his  pen  of  the  universally  popular  Earl 
of  Eglinton  (the  owner  of  Van  Tromp  and  the 
Flying  Dutchman),  whom  Sir  William  and  his 
still  living  friend  and  contemporary,  Chief-Justice 
Morris,  regarded  as  the  best  Irish  Viceroy  that 
they  had  ever  known. 

THE  THIRTEENTH  EARL  OF  EGLINTON. 

"  When  first  I  visited  Eglinton  Castle,  not  long 
after  the  celebrated  tournament,  which  was  com- 
pletely marred  by  incessant  torrents  of  rain,  the 


380      RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

parties  assembled  there  were  more  renowned  for 
freedom  of  manners  than  for  feast  of  reason  and 
flow  of  soul.  Lord  Eglinton  never  drank  any  wine 
except  champagne,  which  he  consumed  in  abund- 
ance ab  ovo  usque  ad  mala — that  is  to  say,  from 
the  beginning  of  the  first  course  at  dinner  until 
the  end  of  dessert.  I  remember  to  have  been 
present  at  dinner  one  evening  at  the  Jockey  Club 
Rooms  at  Newmarket,  and  to  have  heard  Lord 
Eglinton  declare  that  he  could  drink  more  cham- 
pagne without  inconvenience  than  any  other  man 
in  the  United  Kingdom.  General  Peel,  always 
full  of  fun  and  ready  for  every  kind  of  frolic, 
avowed  that  he  knew  a  novice  whom  he  would 
produce  next  day  at  dinner,  and  would  back  for  a 
pony  to  drink  more  champagne  than  the  Scotch 
Earl,  if  the  latter  would  accept  the  challenge. 
Nothing  loath,  Lord  Eglinton  took  up  the  glove, 
and  next  day  at  7.30  P.M.  in  walked  General  Peel, 
accompanied  by  a  tall,  thin,  wiry,  long-legged 
customer,  who  looked  for  all  the  world  like  a 
pair  of  elongated  tongs.  '  Let  me  introduce  you 
to  my  brother-in-law,  Sir  David  Baird,'  exclaimed 
the  General.  Most  of  the  guests,  who  were  about 
to  dine,  did  not  know  Sir  David  by  sight ;  others 
had  heard  of  his  feats  across  country,  and  some 
two  or  three  were  aware  of  his  prowess  at  the 
dinner-table.  Few,  however,  anticipated  that  the 
owner  of  the  invincible  Dutchman  would  have  to 
lower  his  colours  that  night  to  his  brother  Scot. 


BOTTLE    FOR   BOTTLE.  381 

The  match  was  to  be  bottle  against  bottle — that 
is  to  say,  when  one  man's  bottle  was  empty,  the 
other  was  required  to  finish  his,  and  then  each 
had  to  begin  a  new  one.  Lord  Eglinton  took  the 
lead  at  a  tremendous  pace,  hoping  to  choke  his 
antagonist  before  the  first  three  bottles  were  con- 
sumed. Simultaneously  he  kept  on  chatting  mer- 
rily, and  laughing,  as  was  his  wont,  while  the 
novice  held  his  peace,  but  stuck  steadfastly  to  his 
task.  Soon  the  ominous  silence  preserved  by  the 
latter,  and  the  perfect  ease  with  which  he  held  his 
own,  l  without  turning  a  hair,'  began  to  tell  upon 
his  more  loquacious  antagonist,  who  was  evidently 
going  in  difficulty. 

"  At  last  Lord  Eglinton  turned  as  pale  as  death, 
and  rose  slowly  from  his  chair,  exclaiming,  '  I  can 
do  no  more.'  The  struggle  was  at  an  end,  and  the 
defeated  champion  retired  to  bed,  while  the  novice 
played  billiards  with  Osbaldeston,  winning  two 
games  out  of  three  against  that  accomplished 
player.  Next  morning  I  had  occasion  to  be  out 
early  on  horseback  in  order  to  see  one  of  my  two- 
year  -  olds  gallop.  The  first  sight  that  met  my 
eyes  on  the  Heath  was  Sir  David  Baird,  with  a 
short  black  pipe  full  of  cavendish  between  his 
lips,  cantering  about  the  course  on  a  hard-pull- 
ing hack,  with  his  face  as  stolid  as  usual,  and 
with  obviously  unclouded  brow.  Meantime,  the 
unhappy  Eglinton  was  walking  about  in  front 
of  The  Rooms  without  his  hat,  which  he  con- 


382       RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

fessed  was  too  heavy  for  his  poor  head.  Let 
no  one  suppose,  however,  that  Lord  Eglmton 
was  merely  a  guzzler  of  champagne,  and  an  idle 
man  of  pleasure.  In  general,  he  was  a  man 
who  gave  way  to  no  excesses.  Not  endowed 
with  brilliant  talents,  he  was  gifted  with  strong 
natural  good  sense  and  good- humour,  and  was  a 
first-rate  man  of  business ;  as  true  as  steel  to  his 
friends  and  dependants,  and  of  unimpeachable 
honour.  When  he  became  Lord  Lieutenant  of 
Ireland,  endless  were  the  sneers  of  his  political 
opponents  that  the  business  of  the  Emerald  Isle 
would  be  conducted  mainly  on  the  Curragh  of 
Kildare,  and  that  his  privy  councillors  would  be 
horse-trainers.  Never  was  there  a  greater  mistake. 
Lord  Eglinton  came  to  Ireland  with  heavy  odds 
against  him.  To  begin  with,  he  was  a  Scotsman ; 
secondly,  he  was  a  Tory,  and  supposed  to  entertain 
the  most  hostile  and  uncongenial  views  about  the 
Roman  Catholic  religion.  In  an  incredibly  short 
time  these  erroneous  impressions  were  dispelled. 
Turning  his  eyes  away  from  abstract  politics,  he 
devoted  his  attention  earnestly  to  the  material 
improvement  of  Ireland.  Moreover,  it  soon  became 
known  that  he  was  animated  by  the  most  generous 
and  kindly  feelings  towards  the  distressful  country 
which  he  had  been  sent  to  govern,  and  towards 
its  warm-hearted  inhabitants ;  and  that  he  would 
never  rest  until  he  could  make  his  views  prevail 
with  the  masters  of  the  English  Treasury.  He 


RECOLLECTIONS    OF   NEWMARKET.  383 

took  up  the  postal  contract  between  Galway  and 
America,  and  used  all  his  influence  to  make  that 
ill-omened  undertaking  a  success.  Unfortunately, 
it  never  had  a  chance,  having  always  been  under 
the  control  of  needy  adventurers.  Still,  Lord 
Eglinton's  action  in  this  and  in  other  matters  was 
never  forgotten  in  Ireland,  and  he  undoubtedly 
left  that  country  the  most  popular  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant that  any  Irishman  could  remember,  while 
in  Galway  he  was  simply  worshipped.  Had  he 
lived,  he  would,  in  my  opinion,  have  risen  to  no 
ordinary  eminence  in  the  Conservative  party." 

My  next  extract  is  from  a  letter  dated  "  Athe- 
naeum Club,  Pall  Mall,"  bearing  the  date  June  7th 
1885.  I  had  asked  Sir  William  for  some  details 
of  Newmarket  in  his  early  days,  and  he  replied  in 
the  following  terms  : — 

"  If  ever  you  have  occasion  to  deal  with  Nat, 
or  Captain  Tommy  Gardnor,  pray  remember  that 
they,  General  Peel,  and  I  formed  a  band  of  devoted 
rat-hunters,  who  betook  themselves,  after  the  races, 
to  their  favourite  pastime  on  a  fine  evening  during 
the  July  or  First  October  meetings.  Our  champ 
de  bataille  was  generally  some  oat-stacks  scattered 
here  and  there  just  outside  the  little  town,  on  the 
Cheveley  estate,  which  belonged  to  the  Duke  of 
Rutland.  As  evening  began  to  fall,  Nat,  the 
famous  jockey,  would  ride  up  to  Peel,  and  touch- 


384      RACING   CAREER    OF    SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

ing  his  cap,  would  remark,  '  We  shall  have  a  sure 
find  to-night,  Colonel,  if  convenient  to  you  to 
come.'  Not  much  difficulty  was  generally  expe- 
rienced about  getting  '  the  Colonel '  and  all  of  us 
to  acquiesce.  Accompanied  by  a  professional  rat- 
catcher, plentifully  supplied  with  ferrets,  and  with 
several  terriers  at  his  heels,  Nat  led  the  way. 
Scarcely  were  the  ferrets  turned  into  the  ricks 
before  the  rats  came  tumbling  out,  and  men  and 
dogs  were  soon  engaged  in  hot  pursuit.  One 
afternoon  Tommy  Gardnor  was  standing  under- 
neath the  rick  with  his  mouth  wide  open,  when 
a  huge  rat  jumped  down,  and  fell  upon  the  gaping 
orifice.  '  Bless  my  soul,  Captain,'  exclaimed  Nat, 
'  I  thought  it  was  old  Squire  Thornhill  jumping 
down  your  throat ! '  After  dinner  we  used  to 
recount  our  exploits  to  the  old  Duke  of  Rutland, 
whom  Colonel  Peel  treated  with  a  mock  gravity 
which  it  was  impossible  to  witness  without  a 
painful  effort  to  repress  one's  own  laughter.  His 
Grace  took  much  interest  in  our  sport,  exclaiming, 
1 1  am  deeply  indebted  to  you,  gentlemen,  and  to 
Flatman,  your  fugleman,  for  extirpating  the  rats, 
which  were  destroying  my  ricks/  He  would  not, 
probably,  have  been  so  grateful  had  he  been  aware 
that  one  day  I  asked  Nat  how  he  found  out  the 
stacks  which  were  most  infested  with  vermin. 
'  Between  you  and  me,  sir/  he  replied,  '  there  is 
not  much  difficulty  about  it.  After  the  Second 
Spring  Meeting  I  turn  down  a  few  rats  to  stock 


LORD  HOWTH'S  HORSES.  385 

a  rick  with,  and  by  the  First  October,  if  not  by 
the  July  Meeting,  they  are  quite  ready  to  be 
drawn/ ' 

When  Sir  William  Gregory  was  in  his  prime, 
one  of  the  most  successful  racing  men  of  the  day, 
and  certainly  one  of  the  finest  judges  of  the  noble 
animal,  was  his  compatriot  the  late  Earl  of  Howth. 
The  latter  trained  with  the  Days  at  Danebury, 
and  was  always  on  the  look-out  for  Irish  horses, 
which  he  bought  for,  or  shared  with,  his  trusted 
advisers  in  racing  matters,  Messrs  Gully  and 
Harry  Hill.  In  this  way  Danebury  became  pos- 
sessed of  St  Lawrence,  Peep -o'- Day  Boy,  and 
Mincepie,  who  won  the  Oaks.  Speaking  of  Lord 
Howth's  race-horses,  Sir  William  remarks  : — 

"  I  cannot  remember  anything  of  much  import- 
ance except  the  stupor  and  surprise  of  Danebury 
when  my  horse,  Vitellius  bought  by  me  as  a  three- 
year-old  for  £250,  ran  away  as  a  four-year-old  from 
St  Lawrence,  then  one  of  the  best  horses  in  Eng- 
land, for  the  Queen's  Plate  at  Northampton.  The 
betting  opened  at  4  to  1  on  St  Lawrence,  and 
ended  by  my  taking  2  to  1  to  all  the  money  that  I 
could  get  on.  This  was  the  great  performance  of 
'Treen's  ugly  customer/  as  Vitellius  was  called, 
because  of  his  fiddle-head,  lop  ears,  and  ewe-neck. 
Well  do  I  remember  the  caricature  of  old  Drinkald 
riding  St  Lawrence  for  the  Chester  Cup  against 

2  B 


386       RACING    CAREER    OF    SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

Gully  on  the  back  of  Mendicant.  The  latter  ex- 
claims, with  his  arms  and  legs  hard  at  work — '  It's 
all  over,  mend  I  can't ! '  As  he  speaks,  Drinky's 
horse  forges  ahead,  and  keeps  sturdily  in  front. 
In  connection  with  Howth,  and  his  beautiful  home, 
Howth  Castle,  I  shall  never  forget  the  delightful 
dinners  there,  at  which  I  met  the  pleasantest  men 
in  Ireland  :  Sir  Philip  Crampton,  Chief-Justice 
Doherty,  Corry  Connellan,  Lord  Clanricarde,  and 
his  son,  Lord  Dunkellin.  The  dining-room  was 
quite  unique,  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  the  most 
charming  in  the  world.  It  was  lined  with  polished 
oak,  quite  black  with  age,  while  the  vast  fireplace 
yawned  like  Virgil's  gateway  of  Erebus ;  and  the 
brazen  dogs,  across  which  logs  of  Irish  bog-wood 
were  stretched,  would  have  wrung  tears  of  joy 
from  Sir  Walter  Scott.  The  claret,  for  which,  ever 
since  the  days  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots,  Ireland  and 
her  sister  realm  of  Scotland  have  been  famous,  was 
unparalleled  in  smoothness  and  flavour.  You  have 
doubtless  heard  the  legend  which  connects  the 
celebrated  Graria  Uile,  or  Grannwail,  better  known 
as  '  Grace  O'Malley,'  with  Howth  Castle.  This 
Irish  queen  lived  at  a  castle  near  Renvyle,  in 
Co.  Galway,  the  ruins  of  which  are  still  tolerably 
well  preserved.  She  invited  her  sister  queen, 
Elizabeth  of  England,  to  pay  her  a  •  visit  at 
her  Irish  home.  The  proud  daughter  of  Henry 
VIII.  and  Anne  Boleyn  was,  however,  an  ex- 
tremely bad  sailor,  and  had  the  greatest  dread 


TURF   ROBBERIES.  387 

of  physical  pain.  She  declined  to  cross  the  ocean, 
and  Grana  Uile  was  constrained  to  visit  England, 
and  repair  to  Windsor.  On  her  return  to  Ireland, 
she  landed  at  the  base  of  Howth  Castle,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  the  gates  thereof,  which  she  found  closed, 
as  was  the  family  custom  at  dinner-time.  In- 
dignant at  the  want  of  hospitality,  she  seized  the 
young  heir  of  the  St  Lawrence  family,  who  was 
playing  outside  the  castle  gates,  and  embarking  on 
board  her  ship,  carried  him  prisoner  to  her  castle 
in  Galway.  He  was  not  released  until  after  long 
negotiation,  and  only  on  condition  that,  for  all 
future  time,  the  castle  gates  at  Howth  should 
be  kept  open  when  the  family  went  to  dinner,  and 
that  a  cover  should  be  laid  for  any  stranger  who 
might  chance  to  arrive.  The  custom  was  still 
observed  when  I  was  last  at  Howth." 

Sir  William  Gregory's  early  recollections  of  the 
Turf  ran  back  to  the  days  when  most  of  the  heavy 
betting  races  were  settled  beforehand,  as  it  was 
called,  "  by  arrangement."  Never,  except  per- 
haps in  the  case  of  General  Peel,  was  there  an 
owner  of  horses  who  could  recount  more  stories 
of  Turf  robberies,  by  some  of  which  he  had  him- 
self suffered,  than  Sir  William  Gregory.  One  of 
the  most  famous  he  had  received  from  Mr  George 
Payne.  It  is  well  known  that,  at  the  instance  of 
Mr  John  Gully,  Mr  Payne  laid  heavily  against 
Mr  Gascoigne's  Jerry,  who  won  the  Doncaster  St 


388       RACING   CAREER   OF    SIR  W.    H.   GREGORY. 

Leger  in  1824.  The  horse  was  trained  at  Middle- 
ham  by  Croft,  the  most  famous  trainer  of  that 
day,  from  whom  John  and  Bill  Scott  learnt  the 
rudiments  of  what  they  knew  (and  no  men  knew 
more)  about  the  management  of  thoroughbreds. 
Jerry  had  been  tried  so  highly  that  Croft  thought 
it  impossible  for  him  to  be  defeated  for  the  St 
Leger.  Nevertheless,  the  market  showed  clearly 
that  there  was  a  screw  loose  somewhere.  Despite 
the  thousands  upon  thousands  of  pounds  for  which 
he  was  backed,  he  kept  continually  receding  in 
the  betting.  In  those  days  the  St  Leger  fa- 
vourites arrived  at  Doncaster  three  or  four  weeks 
before  the  greatest  of  Yorkshire  races  came  off', 
and  Croft  was  distracted  with  anxiety  to  account 
for  the  hostility  to  his  horse  which  prevailed 
universally.  As  the  race  drew  near  his  anxiety 
increased,  and  one  night  he  found  himself  unable 
to  sleep,  and  walked  out  shortly  before  midnight 
along  the  Great  North  Road  in  the  direction  of 
York.  As  he  approached  the  turnpike-gate  which 
lies  a  short  distance  to  the  north  of  Doncaster,  a 
post-chaise  drawn  by  four  horses  drew  near  from 
the  other  side.  Ensconcing  himself  within  the 
shadow  of  a  stable  doorway,  Croft  awaited  the 
chaise,  taking  stock  eagerly  of  its  occupants.  Two 
men  were  seated  inside,  the  first  being  Bob  Rids- 
dale,  then  the  confederate  of  John  Gully,  and 
the  second  Harry  Edwards,  the  jockey  who  was 
engaged  to  ride  Jerry.  "  I  have  it  now,"  ejacu- 


JERRY'S  ST  LEGER.  389 

lated  Croft  with  intense  satisfaction,  as  he  re- 
turned home,  and  slept  the  sleep  of  the  just.  In 
the  morning  he  communicated  his  discovery  to  Mr 
Gascoigne,  bidding  him  keep  the  secret  to  himself. 
The  result  is  well  known.  At  the  last  moment  a 
fresh  jockey,  Ben  Smith,  was  substituted  for  Harry 
Edwards,  and  in  his  new  pilot's  hands  Jerry  won 
in  a  canter. 

The  second  heat  of  the  above  story  must  now  be 
told  in  Sir  William  Gregory's  own  words  : — 

"  After  Jerry  had  won  the  St  Leger,  Gully  took 
George  Payne  behind  the  stand  next  day,  and 
said,  '  I  am  very  sorry,  Mr  Payne,  for  what  has 
occurred  ;  but  we  were  entirely  deceived.  I  heard 
from  what  I  thought  the  best  authority  that  Jerry 
was  infirm,  and  doing  no  work  whatever.'  l  But,' 
rejoined  Mr  Payne,  '  Jerry's  owner,  and  his  owner's 
friends,  never  ceased  backing  him,  and  his  trainer 
gave  them  the  most  encouraging  reports.'  '  That 
is  true,'  replied  Gully ;  '  but  I  had  the  fullest 
reason  to  believe  that  Croft  was  having  a  race 
for  himself.  It  was  a  trap  laid  for  me,  into  which 
I  fell,  and  unfortunately  led  you  to  follow  me. 
But  now  mark  my  words ;  if  you  will  be  guided  by 
my  advice,  you  will  get  all  your  money  back  this 
time  next  year.  You  saw  Mr  Watt's  Memnon  win 
The  Champagne  the  day  before  yesterday.  He  is 
quite  certain  to  win  the  next  St  Leger,  if  well 
on  the  day.'  '  That  was  nice  consolation,'  added 


390      RACING   CAREER    OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

Payne,  '  for  a  young  fellow  who  had  to  pay  £24,000 
next  day ;  but  I  took  his  advice  all  the  same,  and 
got  back  £12,000  when  Memnonwon  the  St  Leger 
in  1825.'  '  But  how  did  you  get  the  money  for  the 
settling  day  after  Jerry's  easy  victory  ? '  '  Oh  ! 
that  was  all  right,'  he  exclaimed.  '  In  those  days 
I  always  posted  down  to  Doncaster  with  a  money- 
lending  fellow  of  the  name  of  Hitchcock.  Until 
the  St  Leger  was  over  nothing  was  good  enough 
for  him.  '  Hitchcock,  let  me  give  you  some  more 
venison  -  fat ; '  '  Waiter,  bring  a  bottle  of  that 
champagne  which  Mr  Hitchcock  liked  last  year ; ' 
'  Hitchcock,  I  have  kept  a  fine  fat  partridge 
specially  for  you ;  let  me  give  you  the  breast ! ' 
It  was  lovely  to  watch  him  writing  cheques,  like 
a  lamb,  when  things  went  wrong.  But  if  the 
St  Leger  came  off  all  right,  and  no  money  was 
wanted,  the  devil  a  bit  of  venison-fat  did  he  get, 
or  anything  else,  except  the  partridge  drum- 
sticks.' 

"  I  could  tell  you  dozens  of  stories  of  which 
Payne  was  the  hero.  Nothing  was  more  droll 
than  his  management  of  Charles  Greville,  his 
life  -  long  confederate.  Do  you  remember  our 
old  friend  Drumlanrig  executing  a  heavy  com- 
mission for  Greville  on  Adine  for  the  Goodwood 
Stakes,  which  she  won  very  easily  ?  Next  day 
Greville  had  a  great  pot,  in  Muscovite,  for  the 
Goodwood  Cup,  and  thought,  after  Adine's  victory 
on  Wednesday,  that  Muscovite  could  not  be  beaten 


LORD   DRUMLANRIG  AND    CHARLES    GREVILLE.       391 

on  Thursday.  The  Muscovite  commission,  how- 
ever, he  kept  secret  from  Drumlanrig,  denying  to 
him,  when  questioned,  that  he  himself  was  backing 
that  horse.  Upon  discovering  the  truth,  Drum- 
lanrig went  up  to  Greville  in  great  dudgeon,  and 
told  him  his  mind.  He  ended  by  throwing  down 
the  list  of  bets  which  he  had  taken  for  Greville 
about  Adine,  and  told  him  to  collect  them  for 
himself.  Greville  was  in  great  perturbation  about 
the  affair,  partly  from  consciousness  that  he  had 
acted  shabbily,  and  partly  because  he  knew  Drum- 
lanrig to  be  one  of  the  most  courageous  and  im- 
petuous of  men.  Several  messengers  were  sent  by 
Greville  to  Drumlanrig,  but  nothing  would  soften 
him  ;  and  so  Payne  took  him  in  hand.1  Approach- 
ing him  with  a  bonhomie  peculiarly  his  own,  he 
said,  '  Well,  Drum,  I  hear  that  old  Charles  Greville 
has  been  doing  by  you  what  he  sometimes  does 
even  by  me,  who  am  his  confederate.  At  times  I 
feel  inclined  to  kick  him  round  the  course ;  espe- 
cially so  at  this  moment,  when  I  have  a  bone  to 
pick  with  him  about  a  matter  with  which  I  need 
not  trouble  you.'  Having  thus  spoken,  away  he 
went,  and  returned  to  the  charge  after  a  couple 


1  Sir  W.  Gregory  was  not  aware  that  Lord  Drumlanrig's  resolve 
to  horsewhip  Mr  Greville  was  abandoned,  not  in  consequence  of 
anything  done  or  said  by  Mr  George  Payne,  but  at  the  earnest 
entreaty  of  two  of  Lord  Drumlanrig's  younger  friends,  who  repre- 
sented to  him  that  it  would  be  regarded  as  a  cowardly  act  on  his 
part  were  he,  an  accomplished  "bruiser,"  to  strike  a  man  of  Mr 
Greville's  age,  crippled  by  gout,  and  not  of  a  very  masculine  type. 


392       RACING    CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

of  races  had  been  run,  exclaiming,  '  Well,  after  all, 
Greville  is  very  contrite  for  his  misconduct  to  us 
both,  and  I  have  consented  to  forgive  him.  It  all 
comes  of  illness  :  he  has  a  terrible  fit  of  gout 
coming  on,  which  makes  him  miserable.  Indeed 
I  think  it  is  through  grizzling  about  you  that  the 
gout  is  sent  to  punish  him.  There  he  stands,  dying 
to  speak  to  you,  but  afraid  to  do  so,  knowing  what 
kind  of  man  you  are.  After  all,  there  is  not  a 
warmer-hearted  fellow  in  existence,  but  when  his 
gout  is  coming  on,  he  is  not  accountable  for  what 
he  does.'  At  this  explanation  Drumlanrig  was 
mollified ;  and  Greville,  having  been  beckoned  to 
by  Payne,  hobbled  up,  shook  hands,  and  was  duly 
forgiven.  How  it  would  have  ended  had  Mus- 
covite won  the  Cup,  instead  of  being  almost  last 
for  it,  I  will  not  undertake  to  say." 

The  letter  upon  which  my  eye  happens  next  to 
fall  bears  the  date  of  "Milan,  October  15,  1885," 
and  has  reference  to  one  of  the  most  successful 
and  least  generally  known  patrons  of  the  Turf  that 
has  existed  in  my  time.  I  allude  to  Mr  John 
Bowes,  of  Streatlam  Castle,  near  Barnard  Castle, 
in  Durham,  who  won  the  Derby  four  times,  and 
owned,  in  West  Australian — the  last  of  his  four 
Derby  winners — perhaps  the  best  three-year-old 
ever  known  upon  the  English  Turf.  Such,  at 
least,  was  the  opinion  of  John  Scott  who  trained, 
and  of  Frank  Butler  who  rode,  that  wonderful  son 


JOHN   BOWES.  393 

of  Melbourne  and  Mowerina,  who  was  herself  the 
daughter  of  Emma,  the  dam  of  Cotherstone.  Sir 
William's  letter  was  couched  in  the  following 
terms  :— 

"  I  have  just  seen  in  the  English  and  French 
papers  an  account  of  the  death  of  my  old  friend 
John  Bowes,  with  whom  I  was  very  intimate  forty 
years  ago.  He  was  tall,  slight,  dark-haired,  very 
refined,  but  very  shy  and  very  reserved.  Most  of 
his  life  was  spent  in  Paris,  where  he  devoted  him- 
self to  a  second  -  rate  actress  whom  he  married, 
and  for  whom  he  hired  the  Varietes  Theatre, 
whereby  he  lost  a  lot  of  money.  When  Mundig 
won  the  Derby  in  1835,  Bowes,  who  won  nearly 
£20,000  on  the  race,  returned  from  Epsom  quite 
unmoved.  A  friend  of  mine,  long  ago  dead, 
happened  to  dine  that  same  evening  at  Crock- 
ford's,  and  asked  the  waiter  who  that  dark 
pale  young  man  might  be  who  was  dining  very 
quietly  by  himself  in  a  corner  of  Crockford's  su- 
perb salle-a-manger.  '  Oh,  sir,'  replied  the  waiter, 
6  that  is  Mr  Bowes  who  won  the  Derby  this 
afternoon.'  The  same  imperturbability  was  dis- 
played by  him  at  Doncaster,  where,  from  the  top 
of  the  Jockey  Club  Stand,  he  saw  his  fine  colt, 
Epirus,  driven  on  to  the  top  of  the  bank  on  the 
other  side  of  the  course,  where  he  fell,  extinguish- 
ing his  chance  of  winning  a  race  which,  with 
his  fine  speed  and  in  very  moderate  company, 


394      RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

it  would  have  been  impossible  for  him  to  lose. 
Bowes  had  a  long  telescope  through  which  he 
watched  the  race,  and  was  surrounded  by  people 
eager  to  know  all  that  was  going  on.  When  the 
catastrophe  occurred  he  shut  up  his  telescope, 
merely  remarking,  '  My  horse  has  fallen,  arid  I 
think  Bill  Scott  is  killed/  As  matters  fell  out,  the 
famous  Whitewall  jockey  got  off  with  a  broken 
collar-bone.  I  well  remember  Bowes  calling  to  ask 
me  to  do  a  big  commission  for  him  about  Cother- 
stone,  another  of  his  Derby  winners.  One  morning, 
when  I  was  still  in  my  bedroom,  my  servant  came 
in,  announcing  that  Mr  Bowes  was  below,  and 
wanted  to  see  me.  The  occurrence  was  so  unusual 
that  I  made  all  haste  to  join  him.  As  I  entered 
the  room,  he  apologised  for  troubling  me  at  that 
unreasonably  early  hour,  adding  that  he  had  come 
upon  business,  and  that  his  colt,  Cotherstone,  had 
been  highly  tried,  and  would  win  the  Derby,  for 
which  he  was  then  at  long  odds — to  wit,  40  to  1. 
He  asked  me  to  back  the  horse  for  £1000,  and  to 
put  on  something  for  myself.  I  made  one  stipula- 
tion— that  there  should  be  no  other  commission 
in  the  market — to  which  he  promised  faithfully  to 
adhere.  I  returned  him  next  day  the  odds  of 
£23,000  to  £1000.  Some  of  the  money  was  shaky 
in  consequence  of  the  liberties  taken  with  the 
horse  by  a  gang  of  nobblers,  who  thought  they 
had  the  means  of  making  him  safe.  When  they 
failed  in  their  nefarious  efforts,  through  the  pre- 


COTHERSTONE'S  DERBY.  395 

cautions  taken  by  John  and  Bill  Scott  under 
Colonel  Anson's  advice,  there  was  a  rush  to  hedge, 
and  I  obtained  permission  from  Bowes  to  lay  them 
back  liberal  odds ;  and,  by  taking  good  money  in- 
stead at  a  lower  price,  I  was  enabled  to  hand 
Bowes  £21,600  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of 
settlement.  I  shall  not  readily  forget  the  tremen- 
dous excitement  I  experienced  when  Tom  Dawson 
brought  Lord  Eglinton's  fine  colt,  Pompey,  to  run 
for  the  Riddlesworth  Stakes  at  Newmarket,  full 
of  confidence  that  he  would  beat  Cotherstone. 
Many  Yorkshiremen,  and  all  the  racing  Scots- 
men, piled  their  money  upon  Pompey.  The  race, 
however,  never  was  in  doubt,  as  Cotherstone  pulled 
his  way  to  the  front,  and  won  as  he  pleased.  From 
that  moment  forward  the  Derby  was  a  foregone 
conclusion,  unless  ill-health,  accident,  or  foul  play, 
got  rid  of  Cotherstone.  Nevertheless,  there  were 
many  who  could  not  get  over  his  round  hunting 
action,  and  vowed  that  unless  the  Derby  were  run 
up  a  staircase  he  would  have  no  chance.  George 
Bentinck  was  thoroughly  convinced  that  Gaper, 
who  had  beaten  Cotherstone  for  the  Criterion 
Stakes  at  Newmarket  when  both  were  two-year- 
olds,  would  show  his  heels  to  the  north-country 
crack  in  the  Derby.  Maidstone  was  also  of  the 
same  opinion,  and  paid  dearly  for  his  mistake. 
I  never  saw  a  finer  sight  than  Cotherstone  pre- 
sented as  he  mounted  the  hill,  which  exactly 
suited  his  high  round  action.  Upon  reaching 


396       RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

Tattenham  Corner,  round  which  Gaper  led,  Cother- 
stone  seemed  equally  able  to  come  down  hill,  and 
ended  by  winning  without  an  effort." 

Upon  February  1,  1884,  Sir  William  set  forth 
in  happy  phrase  his  views  as  to  Mr  Charles 
Greville's  capabilities  to  fill  the  rdle  of  a  leading 
statesman,  to  which  he  always  aspired.  The 
opinion  given  below  by  Sir  William  Gregory  was 
shared  in  a  still  higher  degree  by  the  late  Sir 
Francis  Doyle,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  meeting 
Mr  Greville  annually  for  many  years  at  Nun- 
appleton,  the  seat  of  Sir  William  Milner,  from 
which  they  all  repaired  to  York  August  Races. 
Here  are  Sir  William's  words  :— 

"  Charles  Greville  could  never  have  taken  a 
prominent  part  as  a  political  warrior.  He  had 
good  sense,  and  sound  views  upon  many  subjects — 
witness  his  book  on  Ireland,  which  is  very  remark- 
able, considering  how  far  advanced  his  opinions 
were  beyond  those  in  fashion  at  the  time.  I  do 
not  think  he  would  ever  have  been  a  good  speaker; 
certainly  never  a  leader  of  men,  even  if  he  had 
enjoyed  many  years  of  parliamentary  training. 
He  was  the  worst  adjuster  of  quarrels  and  what 
the  Americans  call  "difficulties"  that  I  ever  came 
in  contact  with.  In  fact,  paradoxical  as  it  may 
seem,  I  never  could  regard  him  as  what  he  most 
desired  to  be  thought — a  man  of  the  world.  This 


FRED   SWINDELL.  397 

was  also  George  Anson's  opinion.  The  messes  and 
mistakes  in  which  he  got  himself  entangled  when 
trying  his  own  horses  were  too  comical,  and  used 
to  elicit  roars  of  laughter  from  Nat,  his  favourite 
jockey.  I  do  not  know  which  was  the  worse 
judge  of  racing  —  he  or  his  confederate,  George 
Payne." 

The  next  two  letters  have  reference  to  personal 
matters  in  which  "  The  Pope,"  as  he  was  univer- 
sally called  by  his  friends  and  contemporaries,  took 
deep  interest.  Writing  from  Coole  Park,  Gort, 
on  May  30,  1885,  Sir  William  says:— 

"  The  first  that  I  heard  as  to  the  death  of  my 
old  friend  Fred  Swindell,  was  from  your  article. 
A  young  lady  whose  father  lives  close  to  this  place, 
and  takes  in  the ,  told  me  there  was  some- 
thing in  that  paper  about  myself  and  a  very  rich 
betting-man  who  had  just  died.  Fred  Swindell 
was  the  most  remarkable  man  of  his  class  that 
I  ever  met.  He  was,  of  course,  remarkable  for 
ability,  but  still  more  so  for  kindness  of  heart. 
Speaking  from  much  experience,  I  can  say  un- 
hesitatingly that  he  was  as  true  as  steel  to  those 
who  trusted  him  in  their  racing  transactions.  As 
for  his  drollery,  wit,  and  power  of  graphic  descrip- 
tion, they  rendered  an  evening  passed  in  his  com- 
pany something  never  to  be  forgotten.  His  stories 
of  Palmer  the  poisoner  were  droll  to  a  degree,  but 
occasionally  terrifying ;  nor  shall  I  forget  his  look 


398      RACING   CAREER   OF    SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

when  he  asked  me  at  Egham  Races  whether  that 
was  not  the  place  where  the  field  beat  King  John. 
You  dwell  rightly  upon  one  remarkable  trait  in 
his  character — to  wit,  that  all  his  sympathies  were 
with  the  gentlemen.  Nothing  pleased  him  more 
than  when  they  had  a  good  race.  His  reflections 
on  the  use  of  the  Turf  to  British  society,  as  a 
safety-valve  for  the  lower  orders,  were  excellent, 
and  full  of  wisdom." 

The  second  letter  to  which  I  have  alluded  above 
has  reference  to  the  authorship  of  '  The  Chaunt 
of  Achilles,'  which  was  published  anonymously  in 
'The  Sporting  Magazine'  in  1838,  shortly  after 
her  Majesty's  Coronation. 

"  I  have  in  my  possession,"  writes  Sir  William, 
"a  copy  of  'The  Chaunt  of  Achilles,'  with  the 
inscription,  '  By  Bernal  Osborne,  Jun.,'  written 
on  its  back.  Below  are  the  words,  (  Got  fifteen 
guineas  from  Editor  for  this.'  I  am  convinced  from 
internal  evidence  that  no  one  but  a  member  of 
West-End  society  could  have  written  it.  It  is 
impossible  that  Surtees,  a  north-country  attorney, 
could  have  known  all  the  gossip  to  which  it  refers. 
The  style,  moreover,  in  which  it  is  written  affords 
another  proof  of  its  authorship,  for  the  versifica- 
tion is  exactly  similar  to  that  of  '  The  Voice  from 
Palace  Yard/  which  is  admittedly  Bernal  Osborne's 
composition/' 


GENERAL    PEEL.  399 

With  one  final  extract  from  a  letter  bearing  the 
date  of  "3  St  George's  Place,  Hyde  Park  Corner, 
S.W.,  November  25,  1889,"  I  will  conclude  a 
chapter  which  is,  I  fear,  already  too  long.  Speak- 
ing of  General  Peel's  boundless  store  of  amusing 
anecdotes,  Sir  William  remarks  : — 

"  Well  do  I  remember  the  dear  old  General's 
stories ;  and  I  ought  to  remember  them,  for  I 
heard  them  often,  and  they  were  as  good  the 
twentieth  time  of  hearing  as  the  first,  because  of 
the  undisguised  enjoyment  with  which  he  brought 
them  out.  I  shall  never  forget  driving  down  with 
him  and  Lord  Eglinton  to  Gorhambury  Races,  and 
to  what  extent  the  Colonel's  programme  (he  was 
then  Colonel  Peel)  was  flavoured  by  Eglinton's 
facetice,  and  by  the  irrepressible  peals  of  laughter 
with  which  we  made  the  lanes  of  Hertfordshire 
echo  again  and  again." 


400 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

RACING    CAREER    OF    THE   LATE    RIGHT    HON. 

SIR  w.  H.  GREGORY — continued. 

I  NOW  approach  that  portion  of  my  task  which 
brings  Sir  William  Gregory  into  closer  communi- 
cation than  ever  with  Lord  George  Bentinck. 
The  two  famous  passages  of  Lord  George's  history 
which  it  becomes  my  duty  to  treat  are,  in  the 
first  place,  his  duel  with  Squire  Osbaldeston ;  and 
secondly,  his  hurried  journey  to  the  Curragh  of 
Kildare  to  ascertain  from  Mr  Thomas  Ferguson, 
the  owner  of  the  celebrated  horse  Harkaway,  some 
details  about  the  animal  purchased  in  Ireland  by 
Goodman  Levy,  and  substituted  for  Running  Rein. 
Other  letters  of  Lord  George  to  Sir  William  will 
find  a  place  in  this  chapter,  some  of  which  go  far 
to  confirm  Mr  John  Kent's  view  of  his  noble 
master's  character.  The  light  thus  shed  upon 
Lord  George's  life  will  be  welcomed  by  all  who 
recognise  in  him  the  strongest  and  most  con- 
spicuous Patron  of  the  Turf  that  these  islands  have 
produced  during  the  present  century. 


LOUD  GEORGE  BENTINCK  AND  COLONEL  ANSON.        401 

I  shall  begin  with  Sir  William  Gregory's  narra- 
tive, partly  taken  down  from  his  own  lips,  and 
partly  confirmed  by  letters  now  in  my  possession 
touching  the  famous  duel  between  Lord  George 
and  Squire  Osbaldeston  in  1836.  It  should  be 
premised  that  the  account  usually  given  of  the 
encounter  in  question  differs  in  many  particulars 
from  the  more  veracious  record  supplied  by  Sir 
William  Gregory.  It  was  well  known  to  their 
contemporaries  and  friends  that  the  greatest 
possible  intimacy  subsisted  between  Lord  George 
Bentinck  and  Colonel  Anson.  Their  friendship 
was  doubtless  increased  by  the  fact  that,  in  Lord 
George's  opinion,  Colonel  Anson  had  saved  his  life 
when  subjected  to  the  fire  of  one  of  the  finest  pistol- 
shots  in  the  world.  Some  years  later,  Colonel  Anson 
did  his  utmost  to  heal  the  differences  which  had 
long  existed  between  those  two  masterful  first 
cousins,  Lord  George  and  Mr  Charles  Greville,  who, 
after  being  racing  confederates  in  youth,  became 
bitterly  estranged  when  they  quarrelled  about 
Preserve,  whose  running  has  been  described  in  a 
previous  chapter.  Colonel  Anson  obtained  from 
Lord  George  Bentinck  a  promise  that  he  would 
meet  and  shake  hands  with  Mr  Greville  after  a 
certain  race  at  Goodwood  in  1843.  Mr  Greville 
had  long  been  eager  for  a  reconciliation,  and  when 
the  race  in  question  was  over,  he  lost  not  a  moment 
in  repairing  to  the  tryst  named  by  Colonel  Anson, 
who  had  addressed  himself  to  the  far  more  difficult 

2  c 


402       RACING   CAREER    OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

task  of  bringing  Lord  George  to  the  same  spot. 
Unfortunately,  all  his  well-meant  efforts  proved  to 
be  futile.  Accompanied  by  Colonel  Anson,  Lord 
George  drew  near,  when,  catching  sight  of  Mr 
Greville,  his  old  antipathy  to  his  cousin  burst  out 
with  renewed  vigour.  He  declined  to  advance  an- 
other step,  exclaiming  to  his  companion,  "After  all, 
I  would  rather  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  fellow  ! " 
Against  this  decision  all  Colonel  Anson's  entreaties 
and  arguments  were  powerless  to  prevail. 

The  remarkable  duel  between  Lord  George  and 
"  the  Squire "  created  the  greatest  sensation  at 
the  time  of  its  occurrence.  The  popular  account 
is  that  Lord  George  fired  first  and  missed.  Upon 
that  he  is  represented  to  have  called  out  to  Mr 
Osbaldeston  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Now,  Squire,  the 
odds  are  ten  to  one  upon  you."  No  one  acquainted 
with  Lord  George's  aristocratic  pride,  of  which  he 
speaks  in  a  letter  to  Sir  W.  Gregory,1  will  be 
likely  to  believe  it  possible  that  under  such 
circumstances  he  would  use  language  of  this  kind 
to  an  adversary  whom  he  profoundly  despised. 
I  am  indebted  to  Sir  William  for  the  version 
which  now  follows,  and  its  authenticity  is  con- 
firmed in  other  quarters.  It  agrees  substantially 
with  an  account  of  the  duel  which  I  contributed 
seven  years  ago  to  l  The  Sporting  Times/  and 
which  was  read  by  Sir  William  Gregory  with 
much  satisfaction. 

1  See  p.  412. 


HISTORY   OF   A    FAMOUS    DUEL.  403 

The  Heaton  Park  Meeting  of  September  1835, 
took  place,  as  usual,  immediately  after  the  Doncas- 
ter  St  Leger.  The  riders  were  mostly  gentlemen 
jockeys,  who,  however,  were  divided  into  two  classes, 
of  which  the  first  and  most  aristocratic  were  Lord 
Wilton's  guests,  and  the  second  found  quarters  at 
Manchester,  within  four  miles  of  Lord  Wilton's  seat. 
To  the  latter  section  Mr  Osbaldeston  belonged.  In 
common  with  many  others,  he  had  long  harboured 
a  shrewd  suspicion  that  the  handicaps  were  gener- 
ally framed  upon  terms  exceptionally  favourable 
to  Lord  Wilton  and  his  friends.  Resolved  to  be 
revenged,  and  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  aristocratic 
monopolists,  the  Squire  looked  about  for  a  horse 
likely  to  suit  his  purpose.  He  found  one  in  a  four- 
year-old  Irish  colt  named  Rush,  by  Humphrey 
Clinker,  whom  he  purchased  at  Doncaster  from  his 
breeder,  Mr  Watts,  for  400  guineas.  The  Squire 
tried  his  new  purchase  with  a  mare  belonging  to 
old  Job  Marson  over  the  St  Leger  course  at  Don- 
caster,  riding  Rush  himself.  As  they  rounded  the 
Red  House  Turn  the  Squire  found  that  he  could  do 
what  he  liked  with  his  antagonist,  and  promptly 
checking  Rush,  allowed  the  mare  to  gallop  in  first 
by  many  lengths.  The  result  of  the  trial  got 
noised  abroad,  and,  in  consequence  of  his  sup- 
posed defeat,  Rush  was  very  favourably  handi- 
capped for  the  Trial  Stakes  and  Cup  at  Heaton 
Park.  In  the  first  of  these  two  races  he  started, 
ridden  by  his  owner,  and  finished  nowhere.  Next 


404      RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

day  he  was  again  pulled  out  for  the  Cup,  and  a 
heavy  commission  to  back  him  was  issued  by  Mr 
Osbaldeston.  All  the  money  betted  against  Rush 
at  Lord  Wilton's  dinner-table  upon  the  previous 
evening  was  secured  by  an  agent  of  the  Squire, 
and  when  the  horses  came  to  the  post  for  the  Cup, 
Rush,  who  had  been  backed  for  large  sums,  from 
10  down  to  2  to  1,  started  at  the  latter  price.  As 
Mr  Osbaldeston,  seated  upon  his  horse's  back, 
walked  by  the  stand  to  go  down  to  the  starting- 
post,  Lord  George  Bentinck  cried  out  in  a  loud 
voice, "Two  hundred  to  one  against  Rush."  "Done," 
exclaimed  Mr  Osbaldeston ;  "  put  it  down  to  me." 
Waiting  upon  Lord  Wilton,  who  rode  Bill  Scott's 
mare,  Lady  le  Gros  (also  a  great  pot),  the  Squire 
overhauled  her  at  the  distance,  and  coming  away, 
won  in  a  canter.  Great  was  the  hubbub  that 
ensued,  and  Rush's  sudden  change  of  form  was 
commented  upon  in  very  outspoken  language, 
which  was  not  a  little  increased  and  aggravated  by 
his  winning  again  upon  the  following  day.  Im- 
mediately after  the  latter  race  the  Squire  set  off 
to  go  cub-hunting,  and  had  no  opportunity  of  asking 
Lord  George  for  two  hundred  pounds  until  they 
both  met  at  the  Craven  Meeting  next  year.  The 
fact  that  his  Lordship,  who  was  usually  the  most 
punctual  of  settlers,  had  not  discharged  his  debt 
for  many  months,  gave  some  presage  of  the  scene 
which  was  to  follow. 

Lord  George  was  standing  in  front  of  the  Jockey 


HISTORY   OF   A    FAMOUS    DUEL.  405 

Club  rooms  (arrayed  in  the  green  cutaway  coat, 
doeskin  breeches,  and  top-boots  which  he  habitually 
wore  at  Newmarket),  when  Mr  Osbaldeston  saw 
and  approached  him.  "  My  Lord,"  he  exclaimed, 
somewhat  curtly,  "  you  have  had  plenty  of  time  to 
digest  your  loss.  May  I  ask  you  for  the  £200 
which  I  won  from  you  at  Heaton  Park  ?  "  Draw- 
ing himself  up  to  his  full  height,  and  towering  over 
his  puny  interpellator,  Lord  George  retorted  "  that 
he  was  astonished  to  be  asked  for  the  money,  as 
the  whole  affair  was  a  robbery,  and  so  the  Jockey 
Club  considered  it."  Nothing  daunted,  Mr  Osbal- 
deston answered  firmly,  "  I  won  the  money  fairly, 
and  I  insist  upon  its  payment."  "  Can  you  count  ?" 
sneeringly  asked  Lord  George,  as  he  dived  into  the 
inside  pocket  of  his  coat,  and  pulled  out  a  long 
black-leather  case,  which  he  always  carried  stuffed 
with  bank-notes.  "  I  could  at  Eton,"  sharply  re- 
plied the  Squire  ;  and  the  specified  sum  was  slowly 
told  out  into  his  hand  in  small  notes.  "  The  matter 
will  not  end  here,  my  Lord,"  exclaimed  the  Squire, 
as  he  marched  off  with  his  bristles  set.  Within 
a  few  minutes  Mr  Humphrey  approached  Lord 
George,  and,  lifting  his  hat,  demanded,  on  the 
Squire's  behalf,  an  ample  apology,  or  that  Lord 
George  should  at  once  give  satisfaction  to  the 
man  whom  he  had  so  grossly  insulted.  Lord 
George  loftily  declined  to  meet  Mr  Osbaldeston 
in  the  field ;  and  upon  receiving  this  disdainful 
answer,  the  latter  said,  "  Tell  Lord  George  that 


406       RACING   CAREER    OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

I  will  pull  his  nose  the  first  time  we  meet.'7 
Acting  on  the  advice  of  Colonel  Anson,  who  offi- 
ciated as  his  second,  the  haughty  patrician  then 
resolved  to  swallow  his  pride,  and  to  go  out 
with  his  aggrieved  foe.  Wormwood  Scrubbs  was 
named  as  the  tryst ;  and  at  six  o'clock,  upon  a 
lovely  spring  morning,  the  two  combatants  were 
drawn  up,  pistol  in  hand,  at  twelve  paces  from 
each  other.  It  was  a  serious  moment.  Lord 
George  had  never  had  a  pistol  in  his  hand  before, 
while  his  small  and  wiry  antagonist  had  often 
killed  birds  on  the  wing  with  a  pistol-ball.  When 
shooting  with  Sir  Richard  Sutton,  the  Squire, 
moreover,  had,  not  long  before,  killed  ninety- 
eight  pheasants  out  of  one  hundred  shots,  and 
at  pigeons  he  had  few  superiors.  Lord  George 
was  arrayed  from  top  to  toe  in  black,  and  not  a 
speck  of  white  was  visible  about  him  for  his 
formidable  enemy  to  aim  at.  The  Squire  had 
openly  declared  that  he  would  kill  him ;  and  but 
for  Colonel  Alison's  adroit  management  of  the 
duel,  it  is  but  too  probable  that  Lord  George's 
mortal  career  would  have  ended  that  day  upon 
Wormwood  Scrubbs. 

Approaching  the  two  belligerents,  Colonel 
Anson  addressed  them  in  a  few  emphatic  words. 
"  He  told  them  that  if  the  affair  drifted  into  a  law 
court,  the  verdict  of  the  jury  would  turn  chiefly 
upon  his  evidence,  and  that  if  either  combatant 
disobeyed  instructions,  and  chanced  to  kill  his  ad- 


HISTORY   OF   A   FAMOUS    DUEL.  407 

versary,  the  law  would  regard  him  as  a  murderer." 
The  Colonel  added,  that  he  should  give  the  word 
to  fire  by  exclaiming,  "  One,  two,  three ! "  that 
each  man  was  to  fire  directly  "  Three  !  "  was  pro- 
nounced ;  that  until  then  they  were  to  keep  their 
eyes  fixed  upon  him.  If  either  man  failed  to  fire 
instantly  when  "  Three  ! "  was  said,  the  Colonel 
warned  him  solemnly  to  beware  of  the  conse- 
quences. 

Withdrawing  for  a  few  paces,  Colonel  Anson 
called  out  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Gentlemen,  are  you 
ready  ? "  A  couple  of  nods  of  the  head  indicated 
assent,  and  the  word  "  One  ! "  rang  out  with 
startling  clearness.  A  long  pause  followed,  and 
then,  almost  in  the  same  breath,  the  Colonel 
vociferated,  "  Two,  three  !  "  At  the  sound  of  the 
last  word  Lord  George  fired  in  the  air,  and  Mr 
Osbaldeston  was  so  hurried  in  his  aim  that  his 
bullet  went  through  his  noble  adversary's  hat 
within  a  couple  of  inches  of  its  wearer's  hair. 
"  I  did  not  think  you  were  so  bad  a  shot,  Squire," 
laughingly  remarked  the  Colonel,  overjoyed  at 
the  bloodless  conclusion  of  an  affair  which  had 
augured  so  ill  for  his  principal.  "  It  might  have 
come  off  differently  next  time,"  growled  out  the 
Squire,  who  was  well  aware  that  Colonel  Anson 
had  saved  his  friend's  life.  For  some  years  Lord 
George  and  Mr  Osbaldeston  never  spoke.  Then 
there  came  a  time  when  Lord  George,  whose 
horses  were  trained  at  Danebury,  wished  to  be- 


408       RACING    CAREER   OF    SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

come  a  member  of  the  Bibury  Club,  and  old  John 
Day  tried  his  diplomacy  upon  the  Squire  to  ascer- 
tain whether  he  would  interfere  with  his  former 
antagonist's  election.  All  animosity,  however,  had 
long  died  away  in  the  Squire's  breast ;  and  after 
Lord  George's  admission  to  the  club,  he  invited 
the  Squire  to  come  and  see  the  Danebury  horses, 
and  treated  him  with  marked  politeness. 

The  next  episode  in  Lord  George's  career  has 
reference  to  the  most  sensational  trial  ever  yet 
embarked  upon  in  connection  with  an  English 
race.  There  has  never  been  any  dearth  of  floating 
rumours  among  old  habitues  of  the  Turf  as  regards 
the  frequent  occurrence  of  three-year-old  races 
which  have  been  fraudulently  won  without  detec- 
tion, though  certainly  not  without  suspicion,  by 
four  -  year  -  olds  and  upwards.  It  is  more  than 
probable  that  in  two  or  three  instances,  besides 
that  of  Running  Rein,  there  is  truth  in  these  allega- 
tions or  surmises.  Into  them,  however,  I  have  no 
intention  to  enter,  as  there  is  nothing  to  be  gained 
by  chronicling  suspicions  which  cannot  be  sub- 
stantiated. The  "memorable  Derby  of  1844" 
possesses  this  rare  peculiarity — that  two  horses 
started  for  it,  each  trained  in  a  different  stable, 
which  were  admittedly  four-year-olds,  and  that 
one  of  them  broke  the  other's  leg  in  rounding 
Tattenham  Corner,  and  ended  by  catching 
the  Judge's  eye  as  seeming  winner  of  the  race. 


THE   DERBY   OF    1844.  409 

Scarcely  had  he  done  so  before  Lord  George 
Bentinck  advised  Colonel  Peel,  the  owner  of 
Orlando,  the  second  horse,  to  make  an  objection 
against  the  winner.  In  order  to  gain  the  evidence 
necessary  to  prove  the  fraud,  of  which  Lord 
George  felt  sure  that  Mr  A.  Wood  and  his 
accomplice  were  guilty,  he  set  out  from  London 
to  interview  Mr  Thomas  Ferguson  at  Rossmore 
Lodge,  Curragh  of  Kildare.  The  following  letter, 
written  by  a  friend  of  Mr  Ferguson,  will  speak  for 
itself: — 

"  At  the  time  when  the  Derby  of  1844  was  run, 
I  was  on  terms  of  the  warmest  friendship  with 
'  Tom  Ferguson,'  of  Rossmore  Lodge,  Curragh, 
who  had  no  secrets  from  me.  This  fact  was  well 
known  to  one  of  Lord  George  Bentinck's  most 
trusted  commissioners,  who  upon  the  evening  of 
the  day  on  which  Running  Rein  ran  first  for  the 
Derby,  came  post-haste  from  Epsom  to  my  house 
in  London,  and  induced  me  to  write  to  Ferguson, 
so  as  to  obtain  from  him  information  with  which 
he  was  acquainted  as  to  the  substitution  for  the 
Maccabeus  colt  of  an  Irish  horse  who,  under  the 
name  of  Running  Rein,  won  the  Derby  in  1844. 
The  commissioner  in  question  stood  to  win  a  very 
large  stake  on  Colonel  Peel's  Orlando,  and  pro- 
mised me  faithfully  that  he  would  put  me  on  a 
large  sum  to  nothing  if  I  assisted  in  unveiling  the 
fraud.  In  addition,  he  pledged  me  his  most  solemn 


410      RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

word    that    Tom    Ferguson's   reply    to   my   letter- 
should  be  kept  secret,  and  shown  to  no  one. 

"  When  Ferguson's  letter  reached  me  three  or 
four  days  later,  Lord  George's  commissioner  was  at 
my  house  expecting  it.  I,  little  knowing  what  sort 
of  a  man  I  was  dealing  with,  was  persuaded  by 
him  to  let  him  have  the  letter,  which  he  solemnly 
pledged  himself  to  return  to  me  the  same  evening. 
From  that  day  forward  I  never  again  was  in  the 
same  room  with  him,  and  never  spoke  to  him  again. 
His  promises  proved  to  be  as  faithless  as  he  was 
himself,  and  whenever  we  were  near  each  other  on 
a  race-course  after  the  occurrence  I  am  now  recit- 
ing, he  took  very  good  care  to  get  out  of  my  way. 
Immediately  upon  leaving  my  house,  the  individual 
of  whom  I  am  now  writing  carried  Ferguson's 
letter  to  Lord  George  Bentinck,  who  saw  that  the 
information  contained  in  it  would  inevitably  give 
the  Derby  stakes  to  Orlando.  With  characteristic 
energy  Lord  George  started  off  without  a  moment's 
delay  to  Ireland,  and  on  arriving  at  the  Curragh 
found  Tom  Ferguson  ill  in  bed  with  the  gout.  At 
first  he  refused  to  see  his  Lordship,  but  the  latter 
sent  up  word  that  he  had  in  his  possession  a  letter 
written  by  Ferguson  to  myself.  Seeing  what  a 
fix  he  was  in,  Ferguson  determined  to  receive  Lord 
George  in  his  bedroom,  and  gave  him  all  the  infor- 
mation of  which  he  was  himself  possessed." 

The  following  letter  from  Lord  George  Bentinck 


TE  AHA  WAY.  411 

to  Sir  William  Gregory  shows  that  his  Lordship 
had  made  other  visits  to  Ireland  previous  to  that 
of  1844.  The  letter  is  dated  "  WATERLOO  HOTEL, 
LIVERPOOL,  August  6,  1841,"  and  runs  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  In  my  vain  and  futile  hurry  last  night  to  save 
a  packet,  whose  inert  captain  had  not  vigour  or 
energy  enough  to  save  the  London  train,  which 
we  lost  by  five  minutes,  I  had  not  time  to 
thank  you  sufficiently  for  the  trouble  you  took 
for  me,  or  the  kindness  you  showed  me.  Nor  had 
I  time  to  give  you  more  than  half  a  report  of  what 
I  saw  and  did  at  Rossmore  Lodge.  I  found  in 
Tearaway  a  fine,  lengthy,  racing-like  animal,  about 
fifteen  three  high — fine  shoulders,  fine  length  of 
body,  good  loins,  good  girth,  and  as  fine  hind-legs 
and  hocks  as  could  be  put  upon  a  horse ;  but  also 
a  regular  Blacklock  head,  Roman  nose,  and  a  small 
and  soft  rather  than  cowardly  eye.  His  fore-legs 
are  badly  put  on,  with  small  and  somewhat  twisted 
fetlock-joints,  and  small  narrow  feet.  I  should 
add  that  he  is  wanting  in  bone  and  power  as 
regards  his  legs,  knees,  and  arms.  Altogether  I 
was  disappointed  with  the  horse ;  but  Ferguson 
assures  me  that  he  can  give  the  year  and  seven 
pounds  to  Johnny,  which,  if  true,  makes  him  a 
race-horse,  in  spite  of  his  fore-legs.  I  went  to  the 
Curragh  prepared  to  offer  Ferguson  a  handsome 
moneyed  rent  for  the  horse,  in  addition  to  the 


412       RACING   CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

whole  stake  if  he  won  the  St  Leger ;  but  I  was 
so  far  disappointed  in  the  animal  that  I  restricted 
myself  to  a  single  offer  to  take  and  train  him, 
paying  his  stakes  and  forfeits,  and  giving  Ferguson 
the  St  Leger  if  he  won  it,  and  twenty  per  cent  of 
any  other  stakes  he  won. 

"  I  left  my  terms  in  writing,  and  my  impression 
is  they  will  be  accepted ;  but  I  could  clearly  see 
that  Messrs  Ferguson  and  Lea's  object  in  wishing 
me  to  have  the  horse  is  to  get  him  up  to  an  eight 
to  one  favourite,  so  that  they  might  make  a  good 
thing  of  their  fifty  to  one  bets ;  which  made  me 
less  keen  to  have  him. 

"  With  regard  to  the  two-year-olds,  both  are 
fine  animals — Fireaway  bearing  no  resemblance  to 
his  half-brother  Tearaway,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
with  a  beautiful  head  and  fore-hand,  and  capital 
fore-legs.  Goneaway  is  bigger  than  Fireaway,  but 
looks  heavy  and  slow. 

"  Harkaway  is  in  training,  and  appears  sound, 
but  has  the  most  frightful  leg  to  look  at  you  ever 
saw.  After  seeing  the  horses,  Mr  Ferguson  showed 
me  into  his  dining-room,  where  I  beheld  one  of 
the  finest  Liffey  salmon  ever  seen  smoking  on  the 
table,  besides  various  other  good  things,  composing 
a  dinner  for  three.  But  my  aristocratick  [sic]  pride 
prevailed  over  the  cravings  of  my  belly,  and  I  went 
hungry  away,  and  sought  refuge  in  the  humbler 
and  meaner  fare  at  Harrington's  of  Naas. — Always 
very  sincerely  yours,  G.  BENTINCK." 


THE  Rr.  HONBLE.   SIR  WILLIAM  H.  GREGORY,  K.C.M.G. 


"A    MANLY   SPORTS    BILL."  413 

The  above  letter,  of  which  I  have  quoted  less 
than  two-thirds,  is  so  characteristic  of  Lord  George 
that  it  will  be  read  with  interest  by  the  few  sur- 
vivors who  knew  him  in  the  flesh.  Unfortunately 
the  letter  to  Sir  William  about  Running  Rein's 
Derby,  which  the  latter  has  often  described  to  me 
as  the  most  humorous  that  he  ever  received  from 
Lord  George,  cannot  be  found.  It  recorded,  how- 
ever, that  after  some  little  difficulty  Lord  George 
obtained  from  Mr  Ferguson  all  the  information 
that  he  needed  to  disqualify  Running  Rein  for 
the  Derby.  The  other  details  of  the  famous  trial 
and  of  its  result  are  too  well  known  for  repetition 
here. 

Lord  George's  correspondence  with  Sir  William 
throws  a  flood  of  light  on  the  "Qui,tam"  actions 
of  1843,  and  upon  the  extraordinary  vigour  with 
which  the  former  combated  the  "  common  in- 
formers" by  whom  w^rits  were  served  upon  the 
Earl  of  Eglinton,  Lord  George  Bentinck,  John 
Bowes,  George  Anson,  Jonathan  Peel,  Charles 
Greville,  W.  H.  Gregory,  John  Gully,  and  others, 
under  an  old  statute  of  Queen  Anne,  which  was 
construed  into  a  legal  prohibition  of  betting. 
These  writs  were  met  by  "  A  Manly  Sports  Bill," 
introduced  into  the  House  of  Lords  on  February 
1,  1844,  by  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  and  passed 
that  session  by  both  Houses.  At  a  numerous 
meeting  of  the  Jockey  Club,  held  at  Newmarket, 
on  Tuesday,  in  the  Second  October  Meeting  1845, 


414      RACING    CAREER    OF    SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

it  was  resolved — "  That  the  unanimous  thanks 
of  the  Jockey  Club  be  rendered  to  his  Grace  the 
Duke  of  Richmond,  K.G.,  for  his  Grace's  inde- 
fatigable exertions  and  eminent  services  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  whereby  many  obsolete  statutes 
which  threatened  destruction  to  the  best  interests 
of  the  Turf  have  been  repealed,  and  the  remaining 
laws  in  regard  to  horse-racing  put  upon  a  safe  and 
satisfactory  footing."  Of  this  salutary  Bill  Lord 
George  was  the  principal  instigator,  and  his  let- 
ters to  Sir  William  Gregory,  from  which  I  shall 
make  two  extracts,  are  full  of  interesting  in- 
formation. They  show  in  the  clearest  light 
Lord  George's  masculine  and  fearless  character, 
and  also  his  profound  sympathy  with  the  sports 
of  the  people. 

The  first  ran  as  follows  : — 

"HARCOURT  HOUSE, 
CAVENDISH  SQUARE,  JVov.  17,  1843. 

"  Though  I  have  no  apprehension  that  these 
rascally  informers  will  succeed  in  their  suits,  I 
cannot  consider  them  otherwise  than  as  serious. 
Construed  as  the  Judges  have  heretofore  construed 
the  9th  of  Queen  Anne,  there  is  no  doubt  but 
that  betting  on  horse  -  races  comes  within  the 
meaning  of  the  Act.  It  is  vain,  therefore,  to  dis- 
guise from  ourselves  that  these  vagabonds  have 
primd  facie  the  law  on  their  side.  On  ours  we 
have  the  difficulty  of  proof,  and  the  indisposition 


TRIALS    FOB   BETTING.  415 

of  juries  to  give  them  a  verdict.  Even  if  the  ver- 
dict went  against  us,  such  a  decision  would,  I  feel 
sure,  be  reversed  on  appeal  to  the  House  of  Lords ; 
for  I  defy  any  man,  whose  judgment  has  not  been 
mystified  by  studying  musty  law,  to  rise  from  a 
perusal  of  the  9th  of  Queen  Anne  without  being 
satisfied  that  betting  on  horse-races  was  not  con- 
templated by  the  framers  of  that  Act.  .  .  .  For 
all  practical  purposes  you  are  as  safe  in  coming 
over  from  Ireland  now  as  you  would  be  if  you 
postponed  their  serving  you  with  a  writ  until 
Parliament  meets.  The  suit  for  the  money  you 
won  on  Cotherstone  must  be  tried  in  Surrey,  and 
cannot,  therefore,  come  on  till  the  end  of  March. 
The  only  thing  I  recommend  you  to  do  is  to  give 
Sir  William  Follett  a  general  retainer,  so  as  to 
keep  him  out  of  their  hands.  Thesiger,  being 
leading  counsel  on  the  Surrey  Circuit,  should 
have  a  general  retainer  too.  I  have  given  re- 
tainers to  the  leading  counsel  on  all  the  Circuits 
where  the  trials  may  come  on.  Eglinton,  Bowes, 
and  Jonathan  Peel  have  done  the  same.  From 
the  heavy  commission  you  executed  for  Bowes  you 
stand  in  greater  hazard  than  anybody,  unless  it 
be  Eglinton,  for  his  winnings  on  Blue  Bonnet. 

"  Peel  and  Charles  Greville  are  in  no  slight 
jeopardy  from  their  notable  trial  about  Canadian 
at  Guildford,  where  Peel  proved  half  the  informer's 
case  against  himself  and  Charles  Greville. — Yours 
very  sincerely,  G.  BENTINCK." 


416       RACING    CAREER   OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

The  second  extract  is  from  a  letter  dated— 

"HARCOURT  HOUSE,  Jan.  8,  1844. 

"  Our  Bill  is  to  be  bold,  manly,  and  straightfor- 
ward, staying  proceedings  under  the  Queen  Anne 
statute  without  costs,  and  legalising  betting  on 
horse  -  races,  foot  -  races,  sailing  matches,  cricket 
matches,  coursing,  and  all  other  manly  and  whole- 
some sports.  I  cannot,  therefore,  see  the  neces- 
sity of  you  and  Bowes  skulking,  you  in  Ireland 
and  Bowes  in  Paris.  You  would  both  be  of  much 
more  use  here  canvassing  for  support  to  our  Bill, 
which,  thus  far,  but  for  me,  would  have  been  left 
to  its  fate.  As  yet  no  satisfactory  arrangement 
has  been  made  as  to  the  great  expense  already 
incurred,  and  as  to  how  it  is  to  be  met. — Yours 
very  sincerely,  G.  BENTINCK." 

In  these  letters  Lord  George  confirms  the  re- 
peated views  of  his  ardent  and  intense  character 
given  by  Mr  John  Kent  in  the  earlier  chapters  of 
this  work.  It  remains  for  me  to  add  a  few  further 
words  about  Sir  William  Gregory  himself,  and  I 
will  begin  with  the  following  brief  account  of  the 
way  in  which  he  got  possession  of  Clermont,  per- 
haps his  luckiest  purchase.  His  version  is  as 
follows  : — 

"  On  the  day  following  the  Cesare witch  of  1845 
I  chanced  to  walk  from  my  lodgings  at  Newmarket 


CLERMONT.  4l'7 

to  the  Jockey  Club  Rooms,  to  breakfast  there, 
as  was  my  invariable  habit.  It  was  a  wretched 
morning,  and  as  I  approached  the  Rooms  I  ob- 
served that  old  Richard  Tattersall  looked  unusually 
'downcast  and  damp,'  as  he  stood  in  a  sort  of  open 
box  in  the  High  Street,  Newmarket,  endeavour- 
ing to  sell  some  blood  stock.  My  eye  caught 
sight  of  a  scraggy-looking  chestnut  yearling,  by 
Euclid,  a  horse  of  whom  I  was  always  fond. 
Turning  to  Tattersall  as  I  passed,  I  exclaimed, 
pointing  at  the  Euclid  colt,  '  If  that  lot  goes 
cheap,  buy  him  for  me.'  When  I  came  out  from 
breakfast  I  found  that  he  had  bought  me  the 
colt  in  question  for  the  moderate  sum  of  fifteen 
guineas.  You  know  the  rest  of  Clermont's  his- 
tory. He  was  a  slow,  moderate  two -year -old, 
and  the  only  man  that  ever  tried  to  buy  him  at 
that  age  was  your  friend  John  Kent,  who  would 
have  given  a  smart  sum  for  him  at  Goodwood  in 
1846,  had  Treen,  my  trainer,  been  willing  to  accept 
his  terms.  In  the  winter  I  tried  the  horse  to  be 
a  good  fair  stayer,  and  if  the  spring  had  been 
dry  I  fully  believe  that  Clermont,  as  I  sub- 
sequently called  him,  would  have  won  four  out 
of  the  five  great  handicaps  in  which  I  entered 
him.  But  he  was  a  ten -pound  worse  horse  in 
dirt  than  on  the  top  of  the  ground,  his  weak 
twisted  ankles  disqualifying  him  from  getting 
through  mud.  Fred  Swindell  won  me  a  good 
stake  on  the  Newmarket  Handicap,  and  still  more 

2  D 


418      RACING   CAREER    OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

on  the  Great  Metropolitan ;  but  I  knocked  down 
some  of  my  winnings  on  the  Somersetshire  Stakes, 
at  Bath,  where  the  mud  beat  me.  Moreover, 
Frank  Butler's  fine  riding  on  Wolf  Dog  for  the 
Northamptonshire  Stakes  was  more  than  my  little 
boy  Treen  could  tackle,  although  with  a  little 
more  experience  he  got  the  best  of  the  great 
jockey  at  Epsom." 

Fortunately  for  himself,  as  it  has  often  been  to 
many  another  ruined  gambler,  Sir  William  Greg- 
ory's active  connection  with  the  Turf  as  an  owner 
of  race-horses  ceased  for  ever  in  the  spring  of  1855. 
His  first  step  was  to  take  a  long  cruise  in  the  Medi- 
terranean, with  Sir  Sandford  Graham  for  his  com- 
panion. At  that  time  it  appeared  little  probable 
that  the  most  useful  and  blameless  part  of  his 
life  lay  still  before  him.  Financial  disaster  had, 
however,  overtaken  him  when  he  was  still  young 
and  full  of  energy.  Under  all  circumstances  and 
all  conditions  he  never  ceased  to  be  an  indus- 
trious worker ;  and  his  catholic  taste  for  the 
classics,  for  literature  of  all  kinds,  and  for  art  »in 
particular,  was  well  known  to  his  many  friends. 
None  of  them  anticipated,  however,  that  in  the 
face  of  recent  disasters  his  rehabilitation  was  so 
near  at  hand.  The  disruption  of  the  Conserva- 
tive party,  consequent  upon  Sir  Robert  Peel's 
introduction  of  free  trade  in  1846,  had  emanci- 
pated Sir  William  Gregory  from  the  ties  of  party; 


0\v  {.•:>•  ,{,(>        Ml'  t>i 

" 


LORD     GEORGE     BENTINCK. 


APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  CEYLON.      419 

but  the  dissolution  of  1857,  when  Lord  Palmerston 
went  to  the  country  about  the  Chinese  lorcha,  The 
Arrow,  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  returning  to 
Parliament  as  Liberal  member  for  his  native  county 
of  Galway.  His  parliamentary  career  (or,  at  least, 
its  second  heat)  continued  until  1872,  when,  chiefly 
at  the  instance  of  Frances,  Countess  Waldegrave, 
then  the  wife  of  the  still  living  Lord  Carlingford, 
he  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Crown  Colony  of 
Ceylon.  Before  dismissing  his  House  of  Commons 
"  record,"  I  should  mention  that  during  the  Civil 
War  between  the  Northern  and  Southern  States 
of  the  American  Union,  Sir  William  Gregory,  who 
had  travelled  in  the  winter  of  1859-60  through 
the  slave  States,  and  had  passed  some  weeks  at 
Washington  on  his  return  from  "  Dixie,"  became 
a  strong  and  able  supporter  of  the  Southern  cause 
in  Parliament. 

Upon  domestic  subjects,  especially  upon  those 
connected  with  Ireland,  with  the  British  Museum, 
the  National  Gallery,  and  matters  of  art  and  taste, 
he  was  a  frequent  speaker,  and  with  such  success 
that  he  was  appointed  a  Trustee  of  the  National 
Gallery  by  Mr  Disraeli,  and  sworn  as  a  member  of 
the  Privy  Council  for  Ireland  in  1871  under  Mr 
Gladstone's  First  Administration.  The  culminating 
point  of  his  career  was,  however,  attained  when,  in 
1872,  Lord  Kimberley,  then  Secretary  of  State  for 
the  Colonies,  appointed  him  Governor  of  Ceylon. 
At  last  "  the  hour  and  the  man  had  both  come." 


420       RACING    CAREER    OF    SIR   W.    H.    GREGORY. 

It  has  often  been  remarked  that  the  best  Colonial 
Governors  come  from  the  Emerald  Isle ;  and  of 
those  who  have  served  her  Majesty  within  my 
recollection,  none  was  ever  more  successful  than  Sir 
William  Gregory.  A  Crown  Colony  like  Ceylon 
gives  many  chances  to  its  Governor,  if  he  has  tact, 
capacity,  and  originality  enough  to  seize  and  work 
them  aright.  It  would  be  easy  to  write  a  volume 
on  Sir  William's  five  years  in  Ceylon.  At  this 
moment  I  have  before  me  printed  materials  from 
which  pages  upon  pages  in  approbation  of  his 
energy,  foresight,  breadth  of  view,  and  sagacity 
as  an  imperial  administrator  might  be  compiled. 
Upon  one  point  I  wish  for  a  moment  to  dwell. 
No  one  who  studies  Sir  William's  policy  in  Ceylon 
can  doubt  that  his  nice  discrimination  of  character, 
displayed  both  in  England  and  in  the  East,  was 
due  to  his  long,  critical,  and  painful  experience 
upon  the  British  Turf.  Perhaps  the  most  instruc- 
tive book  on  Sir  William's  administration  between 
1872  and  1877,  is  Mr  John  Ferguson's  'Ceylon  in 
the  Jubilee  Year/  published  in  1887.  From  it  I 
extract  the  following  passages  : — 

"  To  Sir  William  Gregory  belongs  the  distinction 
of  having  spent  more  revenue  on  reproductive  pub- 
lic works  than  any  other  Governor  of  Ceylon.  The 
roads  in  the  north  and  east  of  the  island,  which 
were  chiefly  sand-tracks,  were  completed  by  him 
in  a  permanent  form,  and  nearly  every  river  was 


HIS   JUDICIOUS    ADMINISTRATION.  421 

bridged.  The  North  -  Central  Province,  a  purely 
Sinhalese  rice-growing  division,  was  called  into 
existence,  and  large  amounts  were  invested  in 
tanks  and  roads.  About  fifty  miles  were  added  to 
the  railway  system,  and  arrangements  made  for  a 
further  extension.  When  Governor  Gregory  left 
in  1877,  a  large  extent  of  previously  unoccupied 
country  had  been  opened  up,  and  an  impetus  given 
to  natives  and  European  colonists  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  new  products,  which  alone  saved  the  island 
from  a  serious  collapse  in  the  years  of  commercial 
depression  and  of  coffee  blight  which  followed. 
Measures  were  adopted  for  the  conservation  of 
forests,  and  for  preventing  the  extinction  of  elk, 
deer,  and  elephants ;  the  registration  of  titles  was 
provided  for ;  Colombo,  Kandy,  and  Galle  were 
much  improved  ;  arrangements  were  made  for  a 
good  water-supply  to  each  town. 

"  Very  early  in  his  administration,  Sir  William 
Gregory,  to  his  special  credit  be  it  said,  saw  the 
necessity  for  new  products,  and  he  used  all  his 
personal  and  official  influence  to  secure  their  de- 
velopment, introducing  a  new  feature  into  the 
Governor's  annual  speech  to  the  Legislative  Council 
in  special  notices  of  the  progress  of  tea,  cinchona, 
cacao,  Liberian  coffee,  and  rubber  cultivation." 

With  one  more  passage  from  Mr  Ferguson's  book 
I  will  conclude  these  remarks. 

"  Ceylon  wants  a  Governor  like  Sir  H.  Ward  or 


422       RACING   CAREER    OF   SIR  W.    H.    GREGORY. 

Sir  William  Gregory,  who  has  his  whole  heart  in 
his  work ;  is  ready  to  sympathise  with  all  classes 
and  races,  to  see  provinces,  districts,  and  public 
works  for  himself — by  journeys  on  horseback,  if 
necessary ;  is  open  to  receive  counsel  as  to  pro- 
posed legislation  from  the  most  diverse  quarters, 
while  deciding  for  himself  after  giving  due  con- 
sideration to  such  advice." 

The  result  of  all  these  beneficent  operations  was, 
that  when  the  Prince  of  Wales  visited  Ceylon,  Sir 
William  Gregory  received  the  honour  of  knight- 
hood from  his  Royal  Highness's  hands  ;  and  finally, 
a  statue  of  the  right  honourable  gentleman,  from 
which  the  photograph  opposite  this  page  has  been 
taken,  testifies,  as  it  stands  in  the  market-place  of 
Colombo,  to  the  high  regard  and  esteem  of  the 
population  which  he  governed  so  well.  Upon  the 
pedestal  the  following  inscription  is  carved  :— 

THE  RIGHT  HONBLE. 

SIR  WILLIAM  GREGORY,   K.C.M.G., 
GOVERNOR  OF  CEYLON. 

Erected  by  the  inhabitants  of  this  Island  to  commemorate  the 
benefits  conferred  by  him  upon  the  Colony  during  his  administration 
of  the  Government  from  1872  to  1877. 

After  his  return  to  England,  Sir  William  married 
in  1880  Miss  Augusta  Persse,  a  young  and  much- 
esteemed  lady  who  lived  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Coole  Park,  Sir  William's  ancestral  seat  in  Gal- 
way.  Never  was  there  a  happier  marriage.  Lady 


HIS    DECLINING   YEARS.  423 

Gregory,  who  was  Sir  William's  second  wife,  be- 
came at  once  a  great  favourite  in  London  society, 
and  her  little  salon  at  3  St  George's  Place,  Hyde 
Park  Corner,  soon  became  one  of  the  most  agreeable 
in  London.  During  the  concluding  years  of  his 
life,  offers  from  diverse  constituencies,  both  Eng- 
lish and  Irish,  poured  in  upon  Sir  William,  but  in 
vain.  He  was  equally  deaf  to  overtures  made  to 
him  by  Secretaries  for  the  Colonies  that  he  would 
accept  another  Governorship.  Fond  of  society,  an 
admirable  diner-out,  and  blessed  with  an  Irish- 
man's high  spirits,  Sir  William's  declining  years 
were  undoubtedly  the  happiest  that  he  ever  passed. 
In  1884  he  revisited  Ceylon,  accompanied  by  Lady 
Gregory,  and  the  crowning  honour  of  his  life  was 
the  erection  of  the  statue,  from  Sir  Edgar  Boehm's 
hand,  to  which  I  have  above  alluded.  "  Life  to 
the  last  enjoyed,"  with  memory,  hearing,  and  eye- 
sight unimpaired,  full  of  years  and  honours,  Sir 
William  went  to  his  well  -  earned  rest  without 
leaving  an  enemy  behind  him.  During  his  last 
two  winters,  the  cold  of  London  tried  him  se- 
verely, and  it  was  his  intention  to  escape  to  a 
warmer  climate,  when  death  overtook  him.  The 
last  letter  that  I  ever  received  from  him  was 
couched  in  the  following  pathetic  terms  : — 

"  3  ST  GEORGE'S  PLACE, 
HYDE  PARK  CORNER,  S.W.,  14th  Feb.  1892. 

"  I  have  to  thank  you  for  your  review  of  Lord 
Eosebery's  '  Pitt/  which  is  a  fine  biography,  and 


424      RACING    CAREER   OF   SIR   W.    H.    GREGORY. 

the  style  admirable.  There  are  phrases  and  touches 
in  it  which  are  quite  sui  generis,  and  which  send 
you  on  your  way  rejoicing.  Among  others,  there 
is  one  which  you  notice  and  which  struck  me 
much:  'The  instinct  of  self-preservation  guides 
the  European  Powers  with  the  same  certainty  as 
weather  moves  sheep  on  the  hill.'  Another  re- 
markable expression  is,  '  Buckingham  was  his 
brother  Grenville's  hair-shirt/ 

"  On  the  whole,  despite  the  delightful  style, 
it  is  one  of  the  saddest  books  I  ever  read.  It  is 
the  struggle  of  the  most  noble-minded  patriotic 
Englishman  that  ever  lived  to  establish  a  wise 
fiscal  policy,  to  abandon  the  old  insane  foreign 
entanglements,  to  pacify  Ireland  by  wise  and 
feasible  measures,  which  would  have  rendered 
her  a  glory  to  England  and  no  longer  .a  shame  to 
humanity.  In  all  these  aims  he  was  arrested, 
thwarted,  and  beaten  back  by  the  powers  of  evil. 
You  should  not  have  concluded  your  critique 
without  quoting  Rosebery's  noble  final  sentence : 
'  From  the  dead  eighteenth  century  Pitt's  figure 
still  faces  us  with  a  majesty  of  loneliness  and 
courage.  There  may  have  been  men  abler  and 
greater  than  he — though  it  is  not  easy  to  cite 
them.  But  in  all  history  there  is  no  more  patriotic 
spirit,  none  more  intrepid,  none  more  pure/ 

"  I  am  as  ill  as  a  man  can  well  be.  I  went  to 
Bournemouth  for  ten  days,  but  came  back  much 
as  I  went.  The  doctors  are  quite  '  au  bout  de 


HIS    DEATH.  425 

leur  latin ' ;  but  one  of  them  says  there  is  a  chance 
of  heat  bringing  me  round.  We  start,  therefore, 
on  Thursday  next  at  3  P.M.,  and  arrive  at  Marseilles 
next  day  at  2.30.  Is  not  that  wonderful?  I 
remember  travelling  five  days  and  nights  from 
Marseilles  to  Paris,  to  be  present  at  Coronation's 
Derby. — Yours  ever  sincerely, 

"  W.  H.  GREGORY." 

That  journey  to  Marseilles  he  was  not  permitted 
to  make.  At  the  close  of  February  and  during 
the  opening  days  of  March  the  cold  became  daily 
more  intense,  and  told  with  fatal  severity  upon  his 
enfeebled  frame.  For  many  days  before  his  death 
he  lay  unconscious  of  the  tender  solicitude  lavished 
upon  him  by  his  devoted  wife,  who  never  left  his 
bedside  by  night  or  day.  Upon  Sunday,  March  6, 
1892,  the  end  came.  No  man  ever  retrieved  more 
honourably  the  errors  of  his  youth  ;  and  to  him 
more  than  to  any  other  man  of  my  acquaintance 
might  be  applied  the  well-known  French  proverb, 
"  On  ne  revient  pas  de  si  loin  pour  peu  de  chose." 


426 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

POLITICAL    CAREER   OF    LORD    GEORGE    BENTINCK. 

ALTHOUGH  it  was  my  original  intention  to  confine 
myself  in  these  pages  solely  to  the  "  Racing  Life 
of  Lord  George  Bentinck,"  I  cannot,  with  justice  to 
him  or  to  myself,  omit  to  point  out  that  his  politi- 
cal career  was  very  closely  associated  with,  and  in 
some  sense  sprang  out  of,  his  love  for  the  Turf. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  was  warmly 
encouraged  by  his  intimate  friend,  the  Right 
Honourable  Benjamin  Disraeli,  to  take  a  more 
active  part  in  politics  than  he  had  ever  attempted 
between  1826,  when  he  first  entered  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  1846,  when  Sir  Robert  Peel,  then 
the  acknowledged  head  of  the  Conservative  party, 
rent  it  in  twain  by  abolishing  the  import  duty  upon 
foreign  corn.  It  is  evident,  from  Lord  George's 
letter  to  Mr  Croker,  from  which  I  have  already 
quoted,  that  he  would  never  have  given  himself  up 
body  and  soul  to  politics  if  it  had  not  been  his  rooted 
and  conscientious  conviction  that  the  Conservative 


LOED    GEORGE   AND   MR   DISRAELI.  427 

party,  of  which  he  had  long  been  a  silent  member, 
was  being  misguided  and  wrecked  by  the  "  man  at 
the  helm," — the  great  statesman  who  had  until 
then  been  its  most  trusted  pilot.  To  this  conviction 
he  was  mainly  brought  by  the  influence  and  argu- 
ments of  Mr  Disraeli,  who  well  knew  Lord  George's 
character,  and  appraised  his  abilities  more  accurately 
than  any  other  member  of  Parliament  did.  I  shall 
always  think  that  Mr  Disraeli  allowed  himself,  as 
early  as  the  year  1842,  to  appear  to  be  drawn 
by  Lord  George  into  the  vortex  of  racing,  with 
a  view  to  drawing  Lord  George,  when  the  right 
moment  came,  into  the  vortex  of  politics. 

In  1842  Lord  George  owned  a  very  highly  bred 
filly  called  Kitten,  who  was  the  daughter  of  Bay 
Middleton,  winner  of  the  Derby,  and  of  Pussy, 
winner  of  the  Oaks.  Lord  George  insisted  that  in 
this  filly  Mr  Disraeli  should  take  an  interest,  by 
accepting  a  half  share  in  her,  of  which  I  have  no 
doubt  that  his  Lordship  made  him  a  present. 
Kitten  was  engaged  in  several  two-year-old  and 
three-year-old  stakes,  but  unfortunately  she  was, 
like  many  of  the  Bay  Middletons,  very  light  in  the 
fore-legs,  and  was  therefore  unable  to  stand  training 
even  to  the  extent  of  being  prepared  for  a  two- 
year-old  stake  over  a  half-mile  course.  Worthless 
as  she  was,  she  afforded  Mr  Disraeli  an  opportunity 
to  call  more  frequently  upon  Lord  George,  although 
I  do  not  believe  that  the  former  ever  took  any 
genuine  interest  in  horses  or  in  racing.  About 


428  POLITICAL    CAREER, 

that  time,  however,  no  one  was  so  constantly  found 
by  me  in  Lord  George's  room  at  Harcourt  House 
as  Mr  Disraeli,  and  he  listened  with  the  greatest 
semblance  of  attention  to  all  I  had  to  say  about 
Lord  George's  horses,  and  would  often  accompany 
Lord  George  to  the  stables  behind  Harcourt  House 
in  order  to  inspect  them.  In  other  respects  Mr 
Disraeli  seemed  to  me  at  this  epoch  to  be  greatly 
inferior  to  Lord  George  Bentinck  in  tact,  ability, 
and  address.  The  subjects  of  conversation  between 
us  were,  of  course,  perfectly  familiar  to  Lord  George, 
and  quite  the  reverse  to  Mr  Disraeli ;  but  I  cannot 
help  adding  that  to  me  the  contrast  between  them 
was  very  striking.  In  fact,  from  what  I  saw  of 
Mr  Disraeli  between  1842  and  1848, 1  should  never 
have  thought  it  possible  that  he  was  possessed  of 
the  remarkable  sagacity  and  ability  which  he  sub- 
sequently displayed,  and  with  which  he  was  from 
the  first  credited  by  Lord  George,  as  the  following 
letter  shows  : — 

"HARCOURT  HOUSE,  Zd  March  1848. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR  CROKER, — I  have  been  so  busy, 
sitting  long  days  and  six  days  a  week  on  two 
committees,  that  I  forgot  to  write  to  you. 

"  You  ask  me  of  Disraeli's  manner  of  speaking 
and  effectiveness  in  debate.  I  will  answer  you  by 
giving  my  brother  Henry's  observation  on  the 
various  speakers  in  the  House.  Henry  is  rather 
a  cynical  critic.  He  expressed  himself  as  greatly 


HIS    OPINION    OF   MR    DISRAELl's    ABILITIES.       429 

disappointed  with  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  Lord  John 
Russell,  and  concluded  by  saying  that  Disraeli  is 
the  only  man  he  had  heard  who  at  all  came  up  to 
his  ideas  of  an  orator. 

"  Disraeli's  speeches  this  session  have  been  first- 
rate.  His  last  speech,  altogether  burked  in  the 
'  Times,'  but  pretty  well  given  in  the  (  Post,'  was 
admirable.  He  cuts  Cobden  to  ribbons  ;  and  Cob- 
den  writhes  and  quails  under  him  just  as  Peel  did 
in  1846.  And  mark  my  words — spite  of  Lord 
Stanley,  Major  Beresford,  Mr  Phillips,  and  the 
1  Herald,'  it  will  end  before  two  sessions  are  out  in 
Disraeli  being  the  chosen  leader  of  the  party,  but 
not,  I  think,  under  Lord  Stanley's  banner,  whether 
the  latter  turns  his  coat  on  the  Jew  Bill  or  not. — 
Always  most  sincerely  yours,  G.  BENTINCK." 

This  was  the  last  letter,  so  far  as  I  know,  that 
Lord  George  ever  wrote  to  Mr  Croker,  and  to  the 
latter  it  must  have  been  gall  and  wormwood,  as 
Mr  Croker's  detestation  of  Mr  Disraeli,  who  had 
ridiculed  him  in  conversation  and  caricatured  him 
in  his  novel  of  '  Coningsby '  under  the  name  of 
"Mr  Rigby,"  was  well  known.  Referring  to  this 
letter,  the  editor  of  Mr  Croker's  '  Correspondence 
and  Diaries'  remarks  that  it  was  written  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  pressure  of  business,  as,  in  addition 
to  his  usual  parliamentary  duties,  Lord  George 
Bentinck  was  serving  on  two  important  committees 
— first,  on  .that  to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the 


430       .  POLITICAL    CAREER. 

sugar  and  coffee  interests  ;  and  secondly,  on  that 
which  was  seeking  to  ascertain  the  causes  of  the 
prevailing  commercial  distress.  We  learn  from 
the  same  source  that  the  energy,  application,  and 
zeal  which  he  brought  to  his  new  avocations  were 
never  exceeded  by  any  man  in  Parliament.  "  This 
was  the  period  of  his  life,"  says  Mr  Disraeli, 
"  when  he  was  frequently  in  the  habit  of  working 
eighteen  hours  in  the  day,  and  when  he  made 
great  progress  towards  acquiring  the  habit  of  liv- 
ing without  food,  for  he  breakfasted  on  dry  toast, 
and  took  no  sustenance  all  day  or  all  night,  until 
Parliament  was  up,  when  he  dined  at  White's 
Club  at  half-past  two  o'clock  in  the  morning." 

I  have  read  all  the  books  within  my  reach  which 
deal  with  my  dear  and  honoured  master's  political 
career  ;  but  neither  Mr  Disraeli's  *  Political  Bio- 
graphy '  nor  Mr  Greville's  '  Diaries,'  nor  any  of 
the  many  Lives  of  the  Fourteenth  Earl  of 
Derby,  give  such  insight  into  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck's  character  as  the  last  volume  of '  The  Croker 
Papers,'  published  in  1884.  The  letters  from  Lord 
George  to  Mr  Croker  are  seventeen  in  number,  the 
first  being  dated  on  June  30,  1847,  and  the  last  on 
March  2,  1848,  so  that  they  cover  a  space  of  little 
more  than  eight  months.  Within  them,  however, 
may  be  found  the  germs  of  what  Lord  George  was, 
and  I  venture  to  think  that  they  explain  the  ex- 
traordinary ascendancy  gained  in  less  than  two 
years  by  a  statesman — for  as  such  I  sjiall  always 


CHARACTER-SKETCH    OF   LORD    GEORGE.        431 

regard  him — of  the  purest  and  most  disinterested 
character,  of  dauntless  courage,  and  with  an  entire 
absence  of  personal  vanity  and  conceit.  Before 
quoting  from  two  or  three  of  these  letters,  I  must 
permit  myself  the  pleasure  of  citing  the  following 
passage  from  the  pen  of  the  editor  of  the  '  Croker 
Papers ' : — 

"  Lord  George  Bentinck  is  a  unique  figure  in  our 
history.  No  one  before  or  since  has  ever  entered 
political  life  under  circumstances  so  remarkable,  or 
made  such  rapid  strides  towards  distinction  in  an 
equal  period  of  time.  All  his  parliamentary  repu- 
tation was  achieved  in  about  two  years.  It  is  true 
that  he  had  been  a  long  time  in  the  House,  but 
most  people  supposed  that  he  cared  for  nothing 
in  the  world  except  horses ;  and  for  some  years 
undoubtedly  he  did  not.  That  a  power  of  master- 
ing facts  and  accumulating  information  was  among 
his  natural  gifts,  his  letters  amply  testify.  But 
the  Turf  engrossed  his  whole  being,  and  he  pur- 
sued it,  in  Mr  Disraeli's  words,  '  on  a  scale  that 
has  never  been  equalled.'  When  he  went  to  the 
House  he  seldom  remained  long,  and  appeared  to 
take  very  little  interest  in  the  debates.  He  spoke 
unwillingly  and  with  difficulty.  Such  was  the 
man  to  whom  the  Protectionists  looked  for  guid- 
ance when  they  found  themselves  cast  off  by  Sir 
Robert  Peel. 

"In  1847  Lord  George  Bentinck  was  prevailed 


432  POLITICAL    CAREER. 

upon  to  take  his  seat  on  the  front  Opposition  bench. 
It  required  some  management  to  get  him  into  that 
position.  Repeatedly  he  had  told  his  followers  that 
they  must  not  look  to  him  as  their  head — that  he 
would  do  what  he  could  for  a  time,  but  it  would 
only  be  for  a  time.  Apparently,  however,  Mr 
Disraeli  persuaded  him  to  take  the  usual  place 
assigned  to  the  Opposition  leader.  Throughout 
that  session  he  worked  on  with  great  steadfastness 
and  courage.  As  an  orator  he  might  never  have 
made  a  brilliant  reputation ;  but  if  no  dazzling 
flights  of  eloquence  marked  his  brief  career,  he 
greatly  stirred  curiosity,  delivered  many  effective 
speeches,  and  sometimes  roused  his  supporters  to 
genuine  enthusiasm." 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  letters  of  those 
written  by  Lord  George  Bentinck  to  Mr  Croker 
are,  first,  the  one  bearing  the  date  of  "  Welbeck, 
27th  September  1847,"  on  the  export  and  import 
trade  of  this  country ;  secondly,  that  written  two 
days  later,  on  the  question  of  Jewish  disabilities, 
for  the  removal  of  which  Lord  George  had  always 
voted ;  thirdly,  that  from  Welbeck  on  October  5, 
1847,  in  which  he  dilated  upon  his  own  disquali- 
fications for  the  post  of  leader  of  the  Opposi- 
tion ;  and,  fourthly,  that  from  Harcourt  House, 
London,  November  3,  1847,  on  the  Bank  Charter 
Act  of  1844. 

These  four  letters,  showing,  I  venture  to  think, 


LORD    GEORGE   AND    THE   FARMING   INTEREST.       433 

the  modesty  and  also  the  indomitable  perseverance 
of  my  noble  master,  justify  me  in  believing  that  if 
his  invaluable  life  had  been  spared,  and  he  had 
continued  to  give  his  strenuous  attention  to  politics, 
he  would  have  played  a  very  prominent  and  dis- 
tinguished part  in  public  life.  Such  was,  however, 
his  inflexibility,  that  I  question  whether  he  would 
have  remained  in  Parliament  after  the  complete 
triumph  of  Free  Trade.  The  one  individual  who 
gained  most  by  Lord  George's  death  was  undoubt- 
edly Mr  Disraeli,  in  whom  there  was  a  pliancy  and  a 
disposition  to  make  the  best  of  the  inevitable  which 
were  wholly  absent  from  Lord  George's  composition. 
The  latter  would  never  have  given  up  his  advocacy 
of  Protection  ;  and,  moreover,  he  never  would  have 
forgiven  Mr  Disraeli  and  others  who  had  stood  by 
his  side  as  Protectionists  for  abandoning  the  con- 
test and  making  terms  with  the  enemy. 

It  was  Lord  George's  conviction,  often  expressed 
by  him  in  my  hearing,  that  45s.  a  quarter  for  Eng- 
lish wheat  spelt  ruin  to  the  farmer.  His  predic- 
tions as  to  the  decay  of  the  agricultural  interest 
in  these  islands,  consequent  upon  the  repeal  of  the 
Corn  Laws  in  1846,  were  truly  prophetic,  and  have 
been  verified  to  the  letter.  Whether  it  is  to  the 
advantage  of  the  British  race  that  the  great  urban 
populations  should  get  a  so-called  cheap  loaf  at  the 
cost  of  ruining  the  landlords,  farmers,  and  farm 
labourers,  it  is  for  the  future,  and  for  wiser  heads 
than  mine,  to  determine. 

2  E 


434  POLITICAL    CAREER. 

In  the  July  of  1847  came  the  long-expected  dis- 
solution, Parliament  having  all  but  lived  out  its 
full  period.  When  the  contest  was  over,  it  was 
found  that  the  relative  strength  of  both  parties 
remained  pretty  much  what  it  had  been  before. 
Among  the  members  elected  to  the  new  Parliament 
was  included  Baron  Lionel  Rothschild,  who  was 
returned  for  the  City  of  London.  This  circumstance 
revived  the  question  of  the  removal  of  Jewish  dis- 
abilities, which  had  been  long  and  frequently  dis- 
cussed. From  1830  to  1840  a  Jew  was  a  sort  of 
pariah  in  the  body  politic.  He  was  not  allowed  to 
vote  if  he  refused  to  take  the  elector's  oath ;  he 
could  not  practise  at  the  bar,  or  be  an  attorney,  or 
keep  a  school,  or  be  employed  as  an  usher  or  tutor 
in  public.  Gradually  concessions  were  made  until, 
in  1847,  the  only  civic  privilege  from  which  a  Jew 
was  excluded  was  the  right  to  sit  in  Parliament. 
When  Baron  Rothschild  was  returned  in  that  year, 
Lord  John  Russell,  then  Prime  Minister,  brought 
in  a  Bill  to  enable  the  Baron  to  take  his  seat.  It 
was  opposed  by  the  Conservative  party  generally, 
but,  as  on  previous  occasions,  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck  voted  for  it,  giving  great  dissatisfaction  to 
many  of  his  followers.  They  conveyed  to  him 
"  their  keen  sense  of  disapprobation,"  and  his 
haughty  spirit  immediately  took  fire  at  the  re- 
buke. Towards  the  close  of  the  year  he  resigned 
the  leadership  of  the  Opposition — a  post  which 
he  had  never  sought,  and  was  beginning  to  find 


LETTER   TO    MR   CROKER.  435 

very  distasteful.  At  the  opening  of  the  session 
of  1848  he  walked  up  to  the  head  of  the  second 
bench  below  the  gangway  on  the  Opposition  side, 
and  thus  significantly  announced  that  he  was  no 
longer  the  head  of  the  Protectionist  party.  His 
place  was  taken  with  apparent  reluctance  by  Mr 
Disraeli,  who  from  that  moment  forward,  until 
he  went  to  the  Upper  House,  never  ceased  to 
be  the  leader  of  the  Conservative  party  in  the 
Commons. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances  that  Lord 
George  wrote  from  Welbeck,  on  October  5,  1847, 
the  following  letter  : — 

"  MY  DEAR  MR  CROKER, — My  services,  such  as 
they  are,  shall  always  be  at  the  command  of  any 
one  who,  like  yourself,  can  put  the  facts  which  I 
am  able  to  collect  with  more  force  and  in  a  more 
striking  light  before  the  world. 

"  Virtually  an  uneducated  man,  never  intended 
or  attracted  by  taste  for  a  political  life,  in  the 
House  of  Commons  only  by  a  pure  accident — in- 
deed by  an  undesired  and  inevitable  chance — I  am 
well  aware  of  my  own  incapacity  properly  to  fill 
the  station  I  have  been  thrust  into.  My  sole  ambi- 
tion was  to  rally  the  broken  and  dispirited  forces  of 
a  betrayed  and  insulted  party,  and  to  avenge  the 
country  gentlemen  and  landed  aristocracy  of  Eng- 
land upon  the  minister  who,  presuming  upon  their 
weakness,  falsely  flattered  himself  that  they  could 


436  POLITICAL    CAREER. 

be  trampled  upon  with  impunity. — Always  yours 
most  sincerely,  G.  BENTINCK." 

In  this  letter  the  spirit  and  character  of  my 
noble  master  are  conspicuously  portrayed.  I  have 
reason  to  know  that  he  felt  his  fall  from  the 
prominent  place  of  leader  of  the  Protectionist 
party,  in  which  he  had  achieved  such  wonders, 
more  keenly  than  he  allowed  outsiders  to  perceive. 
One  effect  of  the  slight  suspension  of  the  pressure 
of  his  parliamentary  duties  resulting  from  his 
resignation  of  the  leadership  of  the  Opposition 
was  that  he  occasionally  attended  a  race  meeting, 
and  was  present  at  Newmarket  in  1848  to  see  the 
Two  Thousand  Guineas  run  for,  which  race  was 
won  by  Mr  B.  Green's  Flatcatcher,  in  the  absence, 
as  I  have  stated  in  a  previous  chapter,  of  Lord 
Clifden's  Surplice  and  Loadstone,  both  of  them 
bred  by  Lord  George  Bentinck,  and  both  engaged 
in  the  Two  Thousand,  which  either  could  have  won. 
Upon  the  day  of  the  race  Lord  George  was,  as 
usual,  upon  horseback,  and  in  the  afternoon  he 
rode  up  to  the  carriage  in  which  those  two  beautiful 
sisters,  the  Countess  of  Chesterfield  and  the  Hon- 
ourable Mrs  Anson  (the  latter  being  the  wife  of 
Lord  George's  intimate  friend,  Colonel  Anson)  were 
seated.  Mrs  Anson  looked  at  Lord  George  long 
and  wistfully,  and  rising  in  her  seat,  and  throwing 
her  whole  heart  into  her  voice,  exclaimed,  "  George, 
come  back  to  us,  and  leave  those  dreadful  politics 


SIGNS   OF   ILL   HEALTH.  437 

alone,  or,  take  my  word  for  it,  they  will  kill  you 
before  another  year  has  passed  away."1 

Her  words  were,  indeed,  prophetic,  and  they 
have  often  reminded  me  of  the  last  interview  I 
ever  had  with  his  Lordship  at  Harcourt  House, 
on  which  occasion  Mr  Disraeli  was  present.  I 
had  been  much  distressed  on  perceiving  the  de- 
teriorating effect  upon  Lord  George's  health  pro- 
duced by  his  long-sustained  and  close  application, 
by  his  confinement  to  his  own  room,  hour  after 
hour,  without  getting  a  breath  of  fresh  air,  and 
by  his  neglecting  to  take  necessary  nourishment. 
His  countenance  was  no  longer  animated,  cheerful, 
and  suffused  with  the  glow  of  health,  as  when  he 
spent  long  hours  in  exercise  on  the  invigorating 
Goodwood  Downs.  Furthermore,  his  piercing,  in- 
terrogating eye,  which  looked  you  through  and 
through,  had  lost  its  lustre.  On  the  occasion 
above  referred  to  I  entered  the  room  at  Harcourt 
House,  and  found  his  Lordship  seated  on  one  side 
of  the  fireplace  and  Mr  Disraeli  on  the  other. 
The  floor  was  literally  covered  with  papers,  letters, 
and  documents,  and  a  kind  of  rampart  built  up 
with  blue  books  ran  between  me  and  his  Lordship. 
As  I  hesitated  to  approach  for  fear  of  displacing 
some  of  these  barriers,  he  said  to  me  in  a  re- 
assuring tone,  "  Come  up  nearer,  John ;  don't  be 
afraid  of  stepping  over  the  piles  of  books  or 

1  For  information   as  to  this  incident  I  owe  my  best  thanks  to 
Mr  Edmund  Tattersall,  who  witnessed  it,  and  repeated  it  to  me. 


438  POLITICAL    CAREER. 

treading  on  the  papers,  although  I  have  forbidden 
Mrs  Jones,  the  housekeeper,  ever  to  touch  them, 
for  in  putting  them  to  rights,  as  she  sometimes 
presumes  to  do,  I  find  that  she  puts  them  very 
much  to  wrongs." 

Presently  Lord  George  left  the  room,  and  Mr 
Disraeli  took  the  opportunity  of  accosting  me : 
"  What  do  you  think,  Kent,"  he  asked,  "  of  all 
these  papers  ? "  My  reply  was,  "  I  should  much 
prefer,  sir,  to  see  c  Racing  Calendars '  substituted 
for  them ;  and  this  I  say,  not  for  my  own  interest, 
but  for  the  sake  of  his  Lordship's  health,  which  is 
being  undermined  by  long  confinement  in  London, 
and  by  the  total  stoppage  of  that  open-air  exercise 
to  which  he  has  been  all  his  life  accustomed." 
"  You  are  quite  right,"  rejoined  Mr  Disraeli,  "  but 
you  know  his  Lordship  as  well  as  I  do.  When  he 
takes  anything  up  in  earnest,  it  is  useless  to  at- 
tempt to  dissuade  him  from  persisting  in  it."  I 
could  but  shake  my  head  mournfully ;  and  when 
I  took  my  departure  that  day,  a  sad  presentiment 
flashed  across  my  mind  that  never  again  should 
I  meet  and  converse  with  Lord  George  Bentinck 
in  Harcourt  House. 

I  well  remember  the  surprise  and  astonishment 
with  which  Lord  George's  unsurpassed  power  of 
mastering  details  and  laying  his  conclusions  before 
the  House  was  received  by  many  of  his  friends, 
who  had  known  him  for  years,  as  well  as  by  the 
general  public.  His  fundamental  policy  was  to 


HIS    SYMPATHETIC   DISPOSITION.  439 

encourage  domestic  trade,  and  stimulate  home  la- 
bour. One  of  his  favourite  illustrations  was  that 
a  £5  note  spent  at  home  was  turned  over  a  dozen 
times  or  more  in  a  year,  whereas  if  sent  abroad 
it  did  not  return  in  twelve  months,  if  at  all. 
That  British  labour  should  find  constant,  well- 
paid  employment  from  British  capital,  was  the 
main  aspiration  of  Lord  George's  life.  An  earnest 
desire  to  amend  the  unsatisfactory  condition  of  the 
labourers  in  1846  had  much  to  do  with  inducing 
him  to  take  an  active  part  in  politics.  The  mis- 
ery to  which  Ireland  was  reduced  by  the  failure 
of  the  potato  crop  was  felt  also  in  England  and 
Scotland ;  and,  if  Lord  George  could  have  had 
his  way,  he  would  have  sent  all  the  available 
ships  of  her  Majesty's  navy  to  New  York,  to 
bring  back  bread -stuffs  for  the  starving  masses 
at  home.  His  idea  of  Protection  was  as  generous 
as  his  own  disposition.  He  had  no  desire  rigidly 
to  exclude  foreign  corn  by  building  up  a  Chinese 
wall  forbidding  its  introduction  until  British  wheat 
was  fetching  prohibitive  prices — say,  100s.  a  quar- 
ter, at  which  it  had  often  been  quoted  at  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century.  Be  it  recorded 
to  his  credit  that,  in  view  of  famine  in  Ireland, 
he  offered  no  obstruction  to  the  free  importation 
of  corn ;  on  the  contrary,  what  he  did  object  to 
was  that,  in  September,  October,  and  November 
1846,  seventeen  of  her  Majesty's  war-ships  were 
lying  in  the  Tagus  "  taking  care,"  as  he  expressed 


440  POLITICAL   CAREER. 

it  in  a  letter  to  Mr  Croker,  "  of  the  Queen's  cousin," 
which,  if  sent  at  once  to  New  York,  might  have 
brought  back  100,000  quarters  of  grain,  and  saved 
a  large  proportion  of  a  million  Irish  lives,  sacrificed 
through  the  ladies  of  the  Government. 

Undoubtedly  Lord  George,  if  he  had  ever  held 
high  office,  would  have  been  a  favourite  with  the 
Irish.  It  was  his  earnest  desire,  following  the  lead 
of  Mr  Pitt  and  Mr  Canning,  to  provide  stipends 
for  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  in  Ireland ;  and,  as 
I  have  already  stated,  he  proposed  to  advance 
£16,000,000  to  be  expended  in  Ireland  on  railways 
and  other  public  works. 

In  1848  the  parliamentary  session  opened  with 
a  motion,  brought  forward  by  Lord  George,  asking 
for  a  Select  Committee  to  "  inquire  into  the  present 
condition  and  prospects  of  the  interests  connected 
with  and  dependent  on  sugar  and  coffee  planting 
in  her  Majesty's  East  and  West  Indian  possessions, 
and  in  Mauritius  ;  and  to  consider  whether  any, 
and  what,  measures  can  be  adopted  by  Parliament 
for  their  relief."  The  Committee  was  granted,  and 
witnesses  of  every  class  connected  with  the  subject 
— merchants,  planters,  distillers,  brokers,  members 
of  Parliament,  Secretaries  of  State,  and  East  India 
directors — gave  evidence  before  it,  with  the  result 
that  Lord  George,  who  was  Chairman,  carried  his 
report,  and  greatly  enhanced  his  reputation  as  a 
laborious  and  able  leader. 

"  He  did  so,"  writes  the  anonymous  author  of 


"  THE   KNELL    OF   FREE    TRADE."  441 

'  Memoirs  of  Charles  Gordon  Lennox,  Fifth  Duke 
of  Richmond/  "  at  a  heavy  sacrifice.  For  years 
his  ambition  had  been  to  win  the  Derby  ;  but  in 
order  to  devote  the  whole  of  his  energies  to  the 
political  career  which  he  embraced  so  suddenly,  he 
had  parted  with  his  racing  stud,  and  a  few  months 
later  his  home-bred  horse  Surplice  won  the  Derby. 
He  recovered,  however,  from  his  disappointment 
next  day,  when  his  casting  vote  carried  Sir  Thomas 
Birch's  resolution  for  a  ten  -  shilling  differential 
duty,  and  he  exclaimed  enthusiastically,  "We 
have  saved  the  colonies  ;  it  is  the  knell  of  free 
trade ! " 

We  all  know  now  that,  instead  of  repealing  free 
trade,  the  parliamentary  session  of  1848  (which, 
thanks  chiefly  to  the  extraordinary  energy  and 
zeal  brought  to  bear  upon  it  by  Lord  George, 
lasted  for  ten  months,  and  was  not  prorogued  until 
the  5th  of  September)  confirmed  and  established 
free  trade  on  so  firm  a  basis,  that  to-day,  nearly 
half  a  century  later,  it  seems  altogether  unassail- 
able. Meanwhile,  there  still  remain  some  few 
admirers  of  Lord  George  Bentinck  who  remember 
the  earnestness  with  which  he  exclaimed,  "  Wait 
until  North  and  South  America  are  cultivated,  and 
see  what  free  trade  without  reciprocity  will  make 
of  this  country  ! "  and  who  are  sometimes  tempted 
to  ask  themselves  whether,  after  all,  he  was  not 
right.  When  I  read  that,  according  to  the  late 
Sir  James  Caird,  the  landed  interest  in  the  United 


442  POLITICAL    CAREER. 

Kingdom  is  poorer  by  four  hundred  millions  of 
pounds  than  it  was  twenty  years  ago,  and  that 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  acres  upon  the 
wheat-growing  farms  in  these  islands  cannot  he 
tilled  so  long  as  wheat  remains  at  30s.  a  quarter, 
I  cannot  but  reflect  what  my  two  honoured 
masters,  the  fifth  Duke  of  Richmond  and  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  foretold,  and  what  they  would 
have  thought  of  the  present  condition  of  affairs. 
These  illustrious  and  enlightened  men  advocated 
protection,  not  for  British  agriculturists  alone, 
but  also  for  British  manufacturers.  I  am  as- 
sured by  those  better  informed  than  myself  that 
if  ever  free  trade  is  overthrown  in  this  country, 
the  change  will  be  effected,  not  by  the  agricul- 
turists, but  by  the  commercial  classes. 

It  was  during  this  memorable  session,  and  less 
than  a  month  before  his  death,  that  Lord  George 
addressed  the  following  letter  to  Mr  Disraeli : — 

"HARCOURT  HOUSE, 
Wednesday,  Aug.  30,  1848,  4.30  A.M. 

"  I  have  just  come  home  from  the  House  of 
Commons,  after  a  sitting  of  fifteen  hours  and  a 
half — the  longest  but  one,  I  believe,  on  record. 
Late  as  it  is,  I  send  you  the  report  of  the  self- 
constituted  Committee  on  Savings  Banks  in  Ire- 
land. The  Bill  was  only  printed  yesterday,  and 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  forces  us  into 
a  consideration  of  it  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night, 


A   VOLUMINOUS    CORRESPONDENT.  443 

after  Lord  John  Russell  has  gone  to  bed,  and  we 
are  kept  at  it  after  all  the  reporters  have  gone  to 
bed  too.  I  think  it  a  most  scandalous  proceeding 
on  the  part  of  Government." 

It  will  be  observed  that  at  the  head  of  nearly 
all  the  letters  from  Lord  George  to  Mr  Croker 
which  are  included  in  the  '  Croker  Papers/  the 
word  "  Extract "  is  printed.  This  leads  me  to 
observe  that  a  more  voluminous  correspondent 
than  Lord  George  was  probably  never  known. 
As  I  have  already  mentioned,  I  have  frequently 
received  letters  from  him  on  racing  subjects  which 
covered  seven  or  eight  sheets  of  note-paper,  and 
some  of  those  sent  to  Mr  Croker  must  have  been 
still  longer.  Not  less  remarkable  is  the  wide 
range  of  subjects  treated  in  his  letters  to  the 
latter,  and  the  fulness  and  accuracy  of  the  in- 
formation which  he  contrived  to  accumulate.  I 
had  long  been  aware  that  his  Lordship's  financial 
ability  was  of  a  very  high  order,  but  I  was  not 
prepared  for  the  research  and  knowledge  dis- 
played in  his  letters  and  speeches  on  such  sub- 
jects as  the  Bank  Charter  Act. 

I  have  heard  it  stated  by  some  of  those  who 
were  among  Lord  George's  audience  that  his 
speeches,  though  enhanced  by  no  rhetorical  arts, 
commanded  as  much  attention  as  those  of  any  of 
the  great  orators  of  the  day.  Even  Mr  Charles 
Greville  admits  that,  although  Lord  George's  Irish 


444  POLITICAL   CAREER. 

speech  was  "  very  tiresome,"  and  lasted  nearly 
three  hours,  "  it  was  listened  to  with  profound  and 
respectful  interest  from  first  to  last."  The  'Annual 
Register '  for  1847  devotes  ten  columns  to  summar- 
ising it,  and  its  report  concludes  as  follows  : — 

"  The  noble  Lord  then  returned  to  his  panegyric 
on  the  character  of  the  Irish  people,  eulogising 
their  patience  under  the  most  direful  sufferings, 
and  saying  that  if  by  his  measure  he  could  fill 
them  with  good  beef  and  mutton,  and  their  cottages 
with  fine  wheat-flour  and  sound  beer,  and  their 
pockets  with  English  gold  to  purchase  the  blankets 
of  Wiltshire,  the  fustians  of  Bradford,  and  the 
cotton  prints  of  Manchester,  he,  though  a  Saxon, 
would  answer  with  his  head  for  their  loyalty,  and 
would  lead  them,  through  their  warm  hearts  and 
sympathies,  not  to  sever  but  to  cement  the  union 
of  Ireland  with  England.  The  noble  Lord  con- 
cluded a  speech  which  had  lasted  more  than  two 
and  a  half  hours  amid  cheers  from  all  sides  of  the 
House."1 

It  must  also  be  remembered  that  all  the  questions 
with  which  Lord  George  dealt  were  of  colossal  mag- 
nitude, and  that  he  handled  them  with  the  grasp 

1  The  speech  referred  to  in  this  extract  from  the  '  Annual  Regis- 
ter '  was  heard  from  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons  by  that 
universal  favourite,  Dr  William  H.  Russell,  who  was  then  a  parlia- 
mentary reporter.  After  listening  to  it  with  rapt  attention,  Dr 
Russell  repaired  to  the  'Times'  office,  and  told  Mr  Delane,  his 
editor,  that  if  ever  Lord  George  Bentinck  became  Prime  Minister, 
the  woes  of  Ireland  (Dr  Russell's  native  country)  would  soon  be 
redressed. — ED. 


LABORIOUS    LIFE    WHILE   IN    PARLIAMENT.      445 

of  a  master,  and  on  the  same  scale  as  his  operations 
on  the  Turf. 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  member  of  Parliament 
ever  went  for  so  long  a  period  through  such  la- 
borious days  and  nights  as  Lord  George  Bentinck 
did.  At  whatever  hour  he  went  to  bed — and  it 
was  usually  4  A.M.  before  he  laid  his  head  upon  the 
pillow — his  breakfast,  consisting  of  one  boiled  egg 
and  a  couple  of  slices  of  dry  toast,  was  on  the  table 
at  8  A.M.  precisely.  After  reading  his  enormous 
correspondence,  he  began  to  receive  visitors  at  9.30 
A.M.  They  called  to  give  him  information  on  all 
kinds  of  subjects,  and  his  purse  was  always  open 
to  them.  When  they  left,  he  plunged  into  the 
elaborate  correspondence  which  each  day  brought, 
conducting  it  entirely  with  his  own  hand,  in  a 
writing  so  clear  and  legible  as  to  put  to  shame 
the  scrawl  which  nowadays  is  affected  by  so  many 
public  men.  At  twelve  o'clock  (noon)  he  went 
down  to  sit  on  some  Committee,  and  he  only  left  the 
Committee-room  to  take  his  seat,  without  touch- 
ing food,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  which  he 
never  quitted  until  it  was  adjourned.  In  the 
House  he  never  missed  an  opportunity  of  enforc- 
ing or  vindicating  his  own  opinions,  and  of  watch- 
ing with  lynx-like  vigilance  the  conduct  by  Gov- 
ernment of  public  business.  Nothing  daunted 
him — nothing  exhausted  his  resources ;  once  con- 
vinced that  he  was  in  the  right,  no  show  of 
authority,  no  parade  of  official  experience,  no 


446  POLITICAL    CAREER. 

dread  of  superior  ability,  knowledge,  or  eloquence 
possessed  by  an  opponent,  could  make  him  afraid. 
In  common  with  some  old  friends  who  think  with 
me  and  are  of  the  same  opinion — to  one  of  whom  I 
am  indebted  for  much  valuable  information  in  writ- 
ing this  chapter — I  have  formed  my  estimate  of 
the  nobility  and  magnanimity  of  Lord  George's 
character  in  consonance  with  what  I  have  here 
stated.  Personal  ambition,  conceit,  and  vanity 
he  had  none  ;  but,  as  he  often  showed  in  the 
racing  world,  his  self-reliance  and  fearlessness 
were  unbounded,  and  he  would  never  trust  any 
other  man  to  do  what  he  could  do  himself.  He 
brought  the  same  self  -  sacrificing  spirit  to  bear 
upon  politics,  and  his  life  was  the  forfeit.  In 
his  opinions  he  may,  or  may  not,  have  been  mis- 
taken ;  but  that  he  held  them  with  perfect  disin- 
terestedness, and  without  a  thought  of  self,  will  be 
denied  by  none  who  knew  him  as  I  was  privileged 
to  do. 


447 


CHAPTER  XX. 

DEATH  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

IT  is  with  a  lively  sense  of  pain  and  grief,  which 
the  lapse  of  more  than  forty  years  has  not  yet 
extinguished,  that  I  approach  the  closing  scene 
of  a  life  so  prematurely  ended  at  a  moment  when 
it  was  fullest  of  promise.  Mr  Disraeli  remarks  that 
the  labours  of  Lord  George  Bentinck  had  been 
so  superhuman  from  the  day  when,  in  1845,  he 
had  been  trying  to  find  a  lawyer  to  compose  a 
speech  for  him  to  deliver  in  Parliament,  until 
the  end  of  the  session  of  1848,  that  every  one 
ought  to  have  prognosticated  at  the  latter  period 
that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  be  continued 
much  longer  upon  such  an  exhausting  scale.  "  No 
friend,"  adds  the  future  Prime  Minister,  "could, 
however,  control  his  eager  spirit.  He  obeyed  the 
law  of  his  fiery  and  vehement  nature,  being  one 
of  those  men  who,  in  whatever  they  undertake, 
know  no  medium,  but  will  succeed  or  die,  come 
what  may."  The  two  friends  parted  for  the  last 
time  on  the  steps  of  Harcourt  House — the  last  of 


448     DEATH  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

the  great  hotels  of  an  age  of  stately  manners,  with 
its  wings,  courtyard,  carriage-portal,  and  huge  out- 
ward walls.  "  Lord  George,"  adds  Mr  Disraeli, 
"  put  forth  his  hand  to  bid  me  farewell,  and  his 
last  words  were  characteristic  of  the  man,  of  his 
warm  feelings  and  ruling  passion  :  '  God  bless  you  ! 
we  must  work,  and  the  country  will  come  round  to 
us  yet/" 

It  is  evident  that  some  foreboding  of  the  coming 
tragedy  must  have  crossed  Mr  Disraeli's  mind  at 
that  final  interview,  for  he  immediately  proceeds 
to  say  :  "  But  why  talk  or  think  of  death  ?  He  goes 
to  his  native  county  and  his  father's  proud  domain 
to  breathe  the  air  of  his  boyhood,  and  move  amid 
the  parks  and  scenes  of  his  youth.  Every  breeze 
will  bear  health  on  its  wings,  and  the  sight  of 
every  hallowed  haunt  will  stimulate  his  pulse. 
He  is  scarcely  older  than  Julius  Caesar  when  he 
commenced  his  public  career ;  he  looks  as  high  and 
as  brave,  and  he  springs  from  a  long-lived  race." 
Yet  if  any  gloomy  presentiment  suggested  itself  on 
this  occasion  to  Mr  Disraeli's  thoughts,  it  can  be 
shown  beyond  doubt  by  many  irrefutable  evidences 
that  Lord  George  went  down  to  Welbeck  full  of 
energy  and  hope.  On  arriving  at  the  home  of 
his  childhood,  he  was  thought  by  some  of  his 
attached  relatives — and  never  was  son  or  brother 
more  beloved — to  be  looking  worn  and  pale.  Noth- 
ing, however,  appears  to  have  been  said  to  him  on 
the  subject  in  a  family  always  noted  for  reticence  and 


DONC ASTER   RACES.  449 

undemonstrativeness.  Lord  George  seemed  to  all 
who  came  in  contact  with  him,  between  his  arrival 
at  Welbeck  on  Monday,  the  llth  of  September 
1848,  and  the  day  of  his  death,  September  21,  to 
regard  himself  as  in  the  best  of  health.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  he  was  in  excellent  spirits,  and  also  that 
he  greatly  enjoyed  the  change  of  scene  and  the 
freshness  of  the  country  air  after  his  long  incar- 
ceration in  London. 

On  Tuesday,  September  12,  1848,  the  first  day 
of  Doncaster  Races  came  round.  Lord  George  at- 
tended the  meeting  as  usual  from  Welbeck  Abbey, 
which  is  twenty-five  miles  distant  from  Doncaster, 
and  was  greatly  interested  in  the  success  of  Lord 
Eglinton's  magnificent  colt,  the  Flying  Dutchman, 
for  the  Champagne  Stakes,  which  he  won  in  a 
canter  against  four  competitors.  Lord  George 
watched  the  Flying  Dutchman's  grand  action  with 
the  closest  attention,  because  he  was  the  son  of 
his  old  stallion  Bay  Middleton  (then  the  property 
of  Lord  Clifden),  and  the  best  animal  that  ever 
sprang  from  Bay  Middleton's  loins.  In  the 
Municipal  Stakes,  of  300  sovereigns  each,  he  wit- 
nessed the  triumph  of  another  son  of  Bay  Middle- 
ton,  Tiresome  by  name,  whom  he  had  himself  bred 
and  sold  as  a  foal  to  Mr  Mostyn  in  1846.  The 
Doncaster  meeting  was,  indeed,  full  of  attractive- 
ness to  Lord  George,  who  had  not  gone  down  to 
Epsom  on  the  Derby  day  to  see  Surplice,  the  son 
of  his  old  favourite  Crucifix,  win  the  "  blue  ribbon 

2  F 


450     DEATH  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

of  the  Turf."  It  had  always  been  Lord  George's 
custom  to  back  any  good  horse  that  called  him 
master  for  a  very  large  sum,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
say  what  he  would  not  have  won  in  1848  upon 
Surplice,  who  in  his  hands  would  have  carried  off 
the  Two  Thousand,  the  Derby,  and  the  St  Leger. 
In  those  days  it  was  easy  to  back  horses  for  treble 
events,  and  the  odds  laid  against  Surplice  winning 
the  three  great  classic  races  would  doubtless  have 
been  enormous.  The  feat  of  winning  the  Two 
Thousand,  Derby,  and  St  Leger  had,  in  1848, 
never  been  accomplished  by  the  same  horse.  The 
only  winner  of  the  Derby  and  St  Leger  down  to 
that  year  was  Mr  Christopher  Wilson's  Champion, 
who,  in  1800,  won  the  Derby  in  a  field  of  thirteen 
starters,  and  the  St  Leger  in  a  field  of  ten.  But, 
in  1800,  the  Two  Thousand  Guineas  did  not  exist, 
as  the  race  was  not  established  until  1809,  and 
was  won,  oddly  enough,  by  Mr  Wilson's  Wizard. 

That,  in  1848,  it  was  deemed  to  be  in  the  highest 
degree  improbable  that  the  same  horse  would  win 
the  Derby  and  St  Leger,  is  shown  by  the  facility 
with  which  Mr  Francis  Villiers  and  his  friends 
succeeded  in  getting  large  bets  at  100  to  1  against 
Surplice  landing  the  double  event,  after  he  had 
been  tried  to  be  a  great  horse  a  few  days  before 
the  Derby.  I  remember  that  the  present  Earl  of 
Bradford,  who  was  not  in  the  habit  either  then  or 
now  of  making  heavy  bets,  was  tempted  to  lay  the 
late  Earl  of  Winchilsea  (then  Lord  Maidstone) 


SURPLICE  WINS  THE  ST  LEGER.       451 

£10,000  to  £100  against  Surplice  winning  the 
Derby  and  St  Leger.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive 
what  extreme  odds  Lord  George  Bentinck  would 
have  obtained  against  Surplice  winning  what  is 
now  called  "  the  triple  crown,"*  had  the  colt  been 
his  property  in  1848.  Lord  George  was  often 
reported  to  be  extremely  anxious  to  accomplish  a 
feat  in  which  no  one  has  ever  been  successful — the 
feat  of  "breaking  the  ring."  Never  would  he 
have  had  a  better  chance  than  if  Surplice  had 
been  in  his  hands  and  trained  at  Goodwood,  over 
the  finest  and  most  private  downs  in  the  world,  at 
the  time  when  that  great  horse  was  put  through 
the  mill  in  1848. 

It  will  readily  be  understood,  therefore,  that 
Lord  George's  interest  in  the  St  Leger  of  1848 
was  extremely  great.  He  had  backed  Surplice 
for  it  before  the  Derby,  and  although  the  stake 
which  he  landed  at  Doncaster — £11,000 — was 
small  in  comparison  with  what  he  would  doubtless 
have  netted  before  he  sold  his  stud,  it  was  enough 
to  make  him  watch  the  race  with  keen  attention. 
The  political  relations  between  the  fourteenth  Earl 
of  Derby  (then  Lord  Stanley)  and  Lord  George 
were  at  that  time  somewhat  strained,  and  although 
Lord  George  made  no  remark  on  the  subject,  I 
think  it  was  a  gratification  to  him  to  see  Sur- 
plice beat  Lord  Stanley's  fine  mare  Canezou,  upon 
whom,  although  beaten,  Frank  Butler  rode  a 
magnificent  race. 


452  DEATH    OF    LORD    GEORGE   BENTINCK. 

I  remember  that,  when  the  St  Leger  was  over, 
Lord  George's  eye  and  countenance  were  radiant 
with  some  of  the  old  fire  which  I  had  seen  re- 
flected by  them  on  many  previous  occasions. 
That  he  must  ha've  inwardly  regretted  to  have 
allowed  such  a  horse  as  Surplice  to  pass  out  of 
his  hands  it  is  impossible  to  doubt.  I  have  lately 
seen  a  letter  addressed  to  a  friend  of  his  by  the  late 
Sir  William  Gregory,  who,  as  my  readers  are  al- 
ready aware,  was  intimately  acquainted  with,  and  a 
great  admirer  of,  Lord  George  Bentinck.  I  should 
premise  that,  in  1838,  Lord  Chesterfield's  Don  John 
won  the  St  Leger  in  a  canter  against  a  small  but 
good  field.  As  Lord  George  was  walking  off  the 
course  he  fell  in  with  Sir  William  Gregory,  and 
addressed  him  as  follows  : — 

"  I  am  now  on  my  way  home  to  discharge  the 
weary  task  of  making  out  my  betting -book,  in 
which  I  have  not  one  winning  bet.  But  I  de- 
clare I  would  rather  be  in  this  position  than  in 
that  occupied  by  my  Lord  Chesterfield,  who  has 
won  a  paltry  £1500  on  such  a  horse!  If  Don 
John  had  been  mine  I  would  not  have  left  a  card- 
seller  in  Doncaster  with  a  shirt  to  his  back." 

It  is  probable  that  some  such  thoughts  as  these 
must  have  passed  through  Lord  George's  mind 
when  he  saw  Surplice  wear  Lord  Stanley's  Canezou 
down  in  the  Doncaster  St  Leger  of  1848,  and  win 
by  indomitable  pluck  and  stoutness.  There  can 


POLITICS    MORE    EXPENSIVE    THAN   RACING.       453 

be  no  doubt  that  about  that  time  Lord  George 
was  beginning  to  tire  of  politics,  which  thus  far 
had  brought  him  nothing  but  disappointment, 
while  imposing  heavy  demands  upon  his  pocket. 
In  this  impression  I  am  confirmed  by  the  letter 
which  he  wrote  to  me  from  Welbeck  on  the  day 
following  the  St  Leger  of  1848,  bidding  me  meet 
him  on  the  following  Saturday  at  the  Turf  Tavern, 
Doncaster,  behind  which  his  Lordship's  old  pad- 
docks were  situated,  which,  on  his  withdrawal 
from  the  Turf,  passed  into  the  Earl  of  Glasgow's 
hands.  When  I  met  Lord  George  on  the  ap- 
pointed day,  he  immediately  remarked  to  me  : 
"  I  found  racing  expensive  when  I  was  mixed 
up  with  it,  but  nothing  like  so  expensive  as  poli- 
tics, for  I  never  saw  such  a  hungry  lot  of  fellows 
as  these  politicians ;  they  are  never  satisfied !  I 
want  you,  therefore,  to  pick  out  eight  or  ten  horses 
for  me,  and  I  will  have  another  try  at  the  Turf. 
You  and  I  got  on  very  well  together  before,  and  I 
have  no  doubt  that  we  shall  do  so  again." 

Of  course  I  was  overjoyed  to  hear  that  my  dear 
old  master  had  resolved  to  return  to  the  arena  in 
which  he  had  once  been  so  conspicuous,  and  I  can 
truly  say  that  my  satisfaction  was  greater  on  his 
account  than  on  my  own.  I  then  ventured  to  ask 
him  what  kind  of  horses  he  wished  me  to  purchase 
for  him,  and  of  what  age.  He  replied  at  once,  and 
with  unusual  cordiality,  "  I  leave  it  entirely  to 


454     DEATH  OF  LOUD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

you.  You  may  buy  anything  that  you  consider 
likely  to  do  us  all  good."  These  were  almost  the 
last  words  I  ever  heard  issue  from  Lord  George 
Bentinck's  lips,  and  the  emotion  with  which  I 
now  write  them  down  will  be  fully  appreciated  and 
understood  by  those  (they  are  now  few  in  number) 
who  remember  the  pride  and  affection  with  which 
I  endeavoured  to  do  my  duty  towards  a  beloved 
and  honoured  employer,  whose  equal,  I  am  per- 
suaded, has  not  been  seen  among  patrons  of  the 
Turf  in  my  time. 

On  Saturday  afternoon  the  16th  of  September 
1848,  Lord  George  returned,  on  the  conclusion  of 
the  Doncaster  meeting,  to  Welbeck  Abbey,  where 
the  usual  family  party  were  assembled.  Lord 
George's  mother  had  died  on  April  28,  1844,  and 
after  her  much-lamented  decease  there  was  little 
company  entertained  at  the  Abbey.  It  might 
have  been  imagined  that  at  Welbeck  Lord  George 
would  have  eaten  more  food  than  it  was  his  custom 
to  partake  of  in  London,  where  he  had  to  attend 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  possibly  to  make  a 
speech,  or  at  any  rate  to  be  prepared  to  make  one. 
Much  as  he  needed  rest,  he  continued  to  work  as 
hard  in  the  country  as  in  town,  and  it  was  his 
fixed  belief  that  he  could  never  do  himself  justice 
unless  he  had  eaten  next  to  nothing.  It  was  the 
opinion  of  many  of  his  friends,  as  it  certainly  was 
my  own,  that  if  he  had  taken  as  much  nourishment 
as  most  brain- workers  are  in  the  habit  of  doing, 


HIS    LAST   LETTERS.  455 

he  would  with  his  splendid  constitution,  and  with 
physical  powers  upon  which,  until  1846,  no  severe 
draught  had  been  made,  have  sustained  for  many 
years  the  stupendous  labour  which  he  imposed 
upon  himself  in  1847  and  1848,  until  the  "golden 
bowl "  yielded  to  the  strain  and  was  prematurely 
broken.  When  I  remember  that  Lord  Winmar- 
leigh,  who  has  only  just  died,  was  born  in  the 
same  year  as  Lord  George,  it  reopens  the  old 
wounds  inflicted  upon  me  long  ago  by  the  latter's 
premature  death. 

On  Thursday,  the  21st  of  September  1848,  Lord 
George  came  down  to  breakfast  at  Welbeck  Abbey 
at  the  usual  time.  Never  did  he  appear  to  be  in 
better  health  or  spirits  than  on  that  day.  He  oc- 
cupied himself  during  the  greater  part  of  the  morn- 
ing in  writing  three  letters  in  his  dressing-room, 
and  studying  several  printed  papers.  Of  these 
three  letters,  the  first  was  addressed  to  the  Duke 
of  Richmond,  intimating  that  it  was  its  writer's 
intention  to  return  to  the  Turf;  the  second  to 
Mr  Disraeli ;  and  the  third  to  the  then  Lord 
Enfield,  who  subsequently  became  the  second 
Earl  of  Strafford.  To  the  last  named  of  the 
three  it  was  a  matter  of  no  ordinary  satis- 
faction, and  so  remained  until  his  death,  that 
"  the  ultimate  words  traced  by  his  old  friend 
George  Bentinck's  hand  were  addressed  to  him." 
Of  these  letters  each  was  of  very  considerable 
length,  and  Mr  Disraeli  mentions  that  the  one 


456     DEATH  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

received  by  him  "  consisted  of  seven  sheets  of 
note-paper,  full  of  interesting  details  of  men  and 
things,  and  written  not  only  in  a  cheerful,  but 
even  in  a  merry  mood."  When  these  letters  were 
concluded  and  sealed,  it  is  morally  certain  that 
not  a  thought  of  the  impending  calamity  had 
entered  their  writer's  mind.  He  had  so  much  to 
think  of,  so  much  to  do,  that  no  time  remained 
for  him  to  consider  his  health,  or  to  take  heed  of 
the  many  warnings  which  others  under  similar 
circumstances  could  not  have  failed  to  recognise. 
"  He  that  saveth  his  life  shall  lose  it,"  was  often 
on  his  Lordship's  lips,  when  any  one  in  his  employ 
seemed  over -anxious  about  his  own  health,  and 
disposed  to  shirk  work.  One  member  of  the  family 
who  sat  down  to  breakfast  that  memorable  morn- 
ing at  Welbeck  told  a  friend  of  mine  subsequently 
that  he  noticed  the  unusual  pallor  of  Lord  George's 
countenance  when  he  entered  the  breakfast-room. 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  as  I  have  already 
said,  that  his  Lordship's  spirits  were  more  than  or- 
dinarily bright  and  gay.  I  come  now  to  details 
which,  even  after  a  long  lapse  of  years,  are  too  sad 
for  me  to  attempt  to  clothe  in  language.  The 
best  and  simplest  account  is  that  given  in  the 
'  Annual  Register,'  from  which  I  quote  the  follow- 
ing words  :— 

"  The    announcement    of  the    sudden    death    of 
Lord  George   Bentinck  on   September   21,   under 


THE   INQUEST.  457 

the  melancholy  circumstances  detailed  in  the  evi- 
dence given  at  the  inquest,  caused  universal 
astonishment  and  sorrow ;  but  was  nowhere  re- 
ceived with  such  sorrow  as  at  Goodwood,  except, 
of  course,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Welbeck  Abbey. 
The  inquest  was  held  at  Welbeck  Abbey  on  the 
day  following  his  Lordship's  death,  by  Mr  Falkner, 
Coroner  of  Newark,  and  a  jury  of  gentlemen  far- 
mers. The  jury  inspected  the  corpse.  '  Death/ 
says  the  report,  '  had  left  no  painful  trace  on  the 
features  of  the  departed  nobleman  ;  a  cheerful  smile 
was  diffused  over  the  face.' 

"  William  Parks,  a  footman  who  waited  at  the 
breakfast  -  table  on  Thursday  morning,  deposed 
that  Lord  George  never  seemed  in  better  health 
or  spirits  than  at  breakfast.  He  took  no  luncheon, 
and  for  the  greater  part  of  the  morning  was  occu- 
pied in  his  dressing-room.  He  remained  at  home 
till  twenty  minutes  past  four  P.M.,  and  then  set 
out  for  Thoresby  Park,  where  he  was  going  to 
spend  a  couple  of  days  with  Lord  Manvers.  Two 
witnesses,  Lenthall  a  stableman,  and  Evans  a 
woodman,  then  deposed  to  having  seen  Lord 
George  on  his  walk  towards  Thoresby.  Richard 
Evans  said :  '  On  Thursday  afternoon  I  was  re- 
turning home  with  my  father,  and  with  John  Mee, 
a  fellow  -  labourer,  when  we  saw  a  gentleman, 
whom  I  did  not  know,  standing  against  the  gate 
on  the  road  to  the  water-meadows.  We  thought 
at  the  time  that  it  was  the  Marquis  of  Titchfield. 


458     DEATH  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

My  father  and  Mee  continued  along  the  road,  and 
I  stood  for  a  minute  or  two  looking  at  the  gentle- 
man. While  I  was  standing  he  turned  round  and 
looked  towards  the  kennels.  I  thought  he  was 
reading,  as,  before  he  turned  round,  he  held  his 
head  down.  He  was  still  standing  at  the  gate  when 
I  walked  on.  I  was  about  two  hundred  yards  from 
the  gate ;  it  was  about  half-past  four  o'clock.' 

"  Lenthall  the  stable-helper,  who  drove  Gard- 
ner, Lord  George  Bentinck's  valet,  to  Thoresby, 
related  the  finding  of  the  body.  '  I  was  called 
out  of  bed  at  night  and  asked  if  I  had  seen  Lord 
George  on  my  way  home,  as  he  had  not  reached 
Thoresby.  I  got  up,  and  along  with  Gardner 
the  valet,  and  George  Wilson,  went  to  search  for 
his  Lordship.  We  took  lanterns  and  followed  on 
the  foot-road  I  had  seen  him  taking.  We  found 
the  body  of  his  Lordship  lying  close  to  the  gate 
which  separates  the  kennel  water-meadow.  He 
was  quite  dead,  and  lying  on  his  face.  His  hat 
was  a  yard  or  two  before  him,  having  evidently 
been  thrown  off  in  falling.  He  was  lying  flat  on 
his  face,  and  one  of  his  arms  was  under  him.  I 
left  the  men  with  the  body,  and  immediately 
started  off  for  Mr  Hase,  the  Worksop  surgeon. 
A  few  minutes  before  we  found  the  body  Mr 
Hase  had  passed  on  horseback,  and  asked  what 
we  were  searching  for.  We  declined  telling  him, 
as  we  had  no  idea  that  any  harm  had  come  to  his 
Lordship,  and  did  not  wish  to  set  rumour  floating.' 


THE   INQUEST.  459 

"  George  Wilson,  a  groom,  who  accompanied 
Lenthall,  deposed  :  '  A  little  after  ten  on  Thursday 
night,  I,  along  with  Richard  Evans  and  William 
Gardner,  followed  the  path  leading  to  the  corner  of 
the  deer  park.  We  found  his  Lordship  lying  near 
a  gate  through  which  he  had  passed.  He  was 
lying  on  his  belly  and  face.  His  hat  was  about 
a  yard  and  a  half  before  him.  His  hands  were 
under  his  body,  and  in  one  of  them  he  grasped 
a  walking-stick.1  The  stick  was  partly  underneath 
him.  I  felt  his  leg,  and  it  was  quite  stiff  and  cold. 
A  brake  was  sent  for  from  Welbeck,  and  in  that 
he  was  removed  to  the  Abbey.  I  had  not  seen 
him  that  morning.  There  was  a  little  blood  upon 
his  face.  It  appeared  to  have  flowed  from  his  Lord- 
ship's nose.  Besides  that  on  his  face,  there  was  some 
on  the  grass.  The  body  was  not  moved  until  Dr 
Hase  came.  Gardner  and  I  carried  lights  with  us/ 

"Gardner,  the  valet,  being  absent  in  London  on 
the  day  of  the  inquest,  the  Coroner  decided  that 
his  presence  was  not  necessary. 

"Mr  Ward,  Lord  George's  regular  medical 
attendant,  gave  evidence  as  to  the  post  mortem 
examination.  He  said  :  '  I  have  this  day  opened 


1  This  walking-stick  was  presented  to  Lord  George  by  myself  one 
day  when  he  came  to  Goodwood  without  his  favourite  companion, 
which  went  with  him  everywhere.  After  his  death,  I  bought  from 
Gardner,  his  Lordship's  valet,  the  same  stick  which  I  had  given  him, 
and  which  he  grasped  in  his  hand.  It  was  the  stick  alluded  to  in 
George  Wilson's  evidence.  It  is  now  at  Welbeck  Abbey,  and  is  much 
valued  by  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Portland. — J.  K. 


460     DEATH  OF  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

the  body,  and  am  of  opinion  that  he  died  of  spasm 
of  the  heart.  There  was  very  little  food  in  his 
stomach,  but  there  was  no  morbid  appearance 
beyond  congestion,  which  prevailed  over  the  whole 
system.  There  was  emphysema  of  the  lungs,  and 
old  adhesions  from  former  diseases.  The  heart  was 
large  and  muscular,  and  covered  with  fat.  It  con- 
tained no  blood,  and  bore  the  appearance  of  irreg- 
ular contraction.' 

"  A  juror  inquired  as  to  the  state  of  the  brain. 

"  Mr  Ward.  '  It  was  perfectly  healthy,  with  the 
exception  of  a  little  venous  congestion  in  about  the 
same  ratio  as  the  other  organs/ 

"  Another  juror  asked  if  Mr  Ward  supposed  the 
blood  found  on  his  Lordship's  face  and  on  the 
grass  to  have  been  produced  by  the  rupture  of  a 
blood-vessel  in  the  head.  Mr  Ward  said  '  No  ; ' 
his  opinion  being  that  blood  flowed  from  the 
nose  in  consequence  of  the  deceased  falling  on 
his  face. 

"  The  jury  immediately  returned  a  verdict  of, 
'  Died  by  the  visitation  of  God — to  wit,  by  a  spasm 
of  the  heart.'" 

Such  is  the  cold  and  simple  record  of  the  official 
chronicler.  Mr  Disraeli  adds  that  the  attack,  sup- 
posed to  be  spasm  of  the  heart,  was  not  instan- 
taneous in  its  effects,  and  with  proper  remedies 
might  have  been  baffled.  He  says,  "  Terrible  to 
think  of  him  in  his  death-struggle,  and  so  near  a 


WIDESPREAD    GRIEF   AT    HIS    DEATH.  461 

devoted  hearth  !  "  To  me,  however,  it  appears 
more  probable  that  Lord  George  died,  as  he  had 
preferred  to  live,  a  lonely  and  inaccessible  man. 
It  would  have  been  easy  for  him,  by  lifting  his 
hand,  to  have  summoned  to  his  aid  the  woodman 
Evans,  and  the  latter's  companion.  He  could 
hardly  have  been  unconscious  of  the  near  ap- 
proach of  death  while  leaning  against  the  gate, 
close  to  which  his  body  was  found.  From  my 
intimate  acquaintance  with  his  Lordship's  char- 
acter and  iron  courage,  I  am  convinced  that  he 
preferred  to  die  alone. 

It  is  seldom  that  the  death  of  a  statesman  pro- 
vokes such  general  consternation,  such  widespread 
grief.  On  the  morrow  of  the  announcement  of 
Lord  George's  death,  all  the  British  ships  in  the 
docks  and  the  river,  from  London  Bridge  to 
Gravesend,  hoisted  their  flags  half-mast  high. 
Every  neighbouring  port  on  the  Continent,  such 
as  Antwerp,  Havre,  Cherbourg,  Bordeaux,  and 
Rotterdam,  followed  the  example  set  on  the 
Thames.  Most  of  all,  however,  was  his  Lord- 
ship's death  bewailed  with  their  customary  warm- 
heartedness and  sympathy  by  Irishmen  all  over 
the  world.  His  lofty  independence  of  party  ties, 
exemplified  by  his  support  of  Catholic  emancipa- 
tion, of  justice  to  Ireland,  of  a  reformed  Parlia- 
ment, and  of  the  removal  of  Jewish  disabilities, 
gave  him  a  higher  place  in  the  public  estimation 
than  that  won  by  any  of  his  contemporaries. 


462     DEATH  OF  LOUD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

Cold,  proud,  and  reserved  as  he  often  appeared, 
never  was  there  a  warmer  and  more  sympathetic 
heart  than  beat  in  his  breast. 

The  body  was  moved  from  Welbeck  to  Harcourt 
House,  Cavendish  Square,  and,  a  week  after  Lord 
George's  death,  was  laid  in  the  family  vault  of  the 
Bentincks,  under  the  communion  table  of  what  is 
now  a  Chapel  of  Ease  to  the  Parish  Church  of  St 
Marylebone.  The  building  in  question,  which  looks 
like  an  old  brick  barn,  is  situated  in  High  Street, 
Marylebone,  just  behind  the  house  in  which  Charles 
Dickens  and  his  wife  parted  company  for  ever. 
Scores  of  pedestrians  since  that  day  have  passed  to 
and  fro  under  the  east  window  of  that  dingy  little 
chapel  in  utter  unconsciousness  that  under  their  feet 
there  lies  all  that  was  mortal  of  the  greatest  racing 
man  that  ever  lived.  For  many  years  no  monument 
was  raised  to  the  memory  of  Lord  George.  Seven 
years  ago,  however,  his  sister,  the  late  Viscountess 
Ossington,  caused  two  slabs  of  marble  to  be  fixed 
inside  the  east  wall  of  the  chapel  in  which  the 
remains  of  her  ancestors  mingle  with  those  of  her 
favourite  brother  in  one  common  repose.  On  a 
dark  and  drizzling  day  Lord  George's  two  brothers, 
the  Marquis  of  Titchfield  and  Lord  Henry  Caven- 
dish Bentinck,  followed  their  brother's  honoured 
body  to  the  tomb.  Their  father,  the  venerable 
Duke  of  Portland,  then  in  his  eighty-first  year, 
was  too  feeble  to  attend  the  sad  ceremony.  One, 
however,  was  present  who  has  himself  long  since 


LINES    BY     'THE    DRUID.  463 

passed  away — the  late  Mr  Henry  Dixon,  better 
known  as  "  The  Druid,"  who  in  a  few  simple  but 
deeply  pathetic  lines  has  left  his  record  of  a,  by 
him,  never-to-be-forgotten  scene.  The  following 
lines  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  his  '  Post  and 
Paddock '  (first  edition).  They  are  from  the 
opening  stanzas  of  his  "  Lay  of  Doncaster  Town 
Moor":— 


1. 

"The   bells   of   ancient   Marylebone   within    their  towers 

swing, 

But  'tis  not  to  hail  a  victory,  or  greet  an  infant  king ; 
They  usher  in  no  festival,  they  honour  not  a  bride, 
But  deep  death -notes  from  their  iron  throats  along  the 

breezes  ride. 


2. 

"  Within  yon  ducal  portals,  so  shadowy  and  grim, 
A  gallant  heart  lies  pulseless,  a  gallant  eye  is  dim ; 
Lo !  through  those  portals  issuing,  in  inky-black  array, 
Bearing  its  shrouded  passenger,  a  hearse  moves  forth  to- 
day. 

3. 

"E'en  hard  men's  eyes  were  glistening  as  the  vault  that 

coffin  hid, 
And  the  dark  earth  rattled  dismally  on  its  gilded  velvet 

lid: 
Methinks  the  world's  cold  sophistry  some  hearts  not  wholly 

sears, 
When  I  viewed  the  bitter  Disraeli  in  an  agony  of  tears. 


464  DEATH   OF   LORD    GEORGE   BENTINCK. 

4. 

"  Those  tears  are  worthy  of  thee  ;  thou  wast  with  him  in 

the  van, 
As  his  cause  became  more  hopeless  and  his  cheek  became 

more  wan : 

When  Cobden  overcame  him,  No  TRUCE  was  still  his  call, 
And  like  another  Pericles  he  denied  he'd  had  a  fall. 

5. 

"  Throw  wide  his  chamber  window,  let  the  noontide  light 

rush  in ; 
'Twill  wake  not  one  who  erst  has  slept  his  wakeful  sleep 

within : 
That  chair  and  desk  will  recognise  their  toil-worn  lord  no 

more, 
As  in  winter  night  or  grey  twilight  he  worked  till  the  clock 

told  four. 


"  Stern  in  the  path  of  duty,  in  his  heyday  of  renown, 
'Mid  all  his  proud  imaginings  the  loyal  George  goes  down ; 
As   England's   tars   with   Kempenfeldt   died   'neath   their 

native  surf, 
So  the  death-sweat  gathered  o'er  him  as  he  trod  the  springy 

turf. 

7. 

"No  more  shall  he  at  Doncaster  each  foal  and  yearling 

pat, 
Nor  ride  up  Goodwood's  leafy  slopes  to  the  trial-ground 

with  Nat; 
No  more  with  Kent  and  Marson  shall  he  scan  each  pet  in 

form, 
Nor  view  their  place  as  in  the  race  they  sweep  past  like  the 

storm. 


LINES    BY    LOUD    WINCHILSEA.  465 


"Welbeck's   fair   park   is    desolate;    the    rippling   waters 

moan, 
For  the  grave's  dark  mystery  has  claimed  their  scion  for  its 

own; 
No  more  within  St  Stephen's  shall  he  ground  his  flag  on 

truth  ; 
No  jovial  sound  of  horn  and  hound  shall  conjure  ,up  his 

youth." 

Finally,  I  have  to  add  that  the  following  lines 
were  written  by  the  late  Earl  of  Winchilsea  and 
Nottingham  not  long  after  his  illustrious  friend, 
Lord  George,  had  passed  away.  I  promised  Lord 
Winchilsea,  if  ever  I  wrote  a  book  on  my  dear 
and  honoured  master's  racing  career,  that  I  would 
not  forget  to  reproduce  the  following  tribute  to 
the  latter'  s  memory,  as  Lord  Winchilsea,  who  has 
inserted  it  in  the  preface  to  his  longest  poem, 
"  Abd  el  Kader,"  expressed  a  strong  desire  that  I 
should  do  so  :  — 


"En 

GEORGE    BENTINCK. 

His  form  how  glorious,  his  eye  how  clear, 
How  cowered  a  rogue  beneath  his  withering  sneer  ! 
Before  his  stern  rebuke  bronzed  lawyers  quailed, 
And  thieves  detected  trembled  as  they  railed. 
Within,  the  guileless  spirit  of  a  child, 
Mailed  in  the  proof  of  honour  undefiled  ; 
Slow  to  believe  malicious  slander's  breath, 
But  to  a  culprit  pitiless  as  death  ; 
2  G 


466  DEATH    OF    LORD    GEORGE    BENTINCK. 

A  friend's  misfortune  ever  prompt  to  feel, 

He  passed  not  unconcerned,  but  stopped  to  heal : 

A  good  Samaritan  too  oft  repaid 

With  injuries  and  wrong  for  timely  aid. 

Others  might  boast  more  questionable  arts 

In  twisting  facts,  more  sleight  in  juggling  hearts. 

Eough  truths  he  published,  in  frieze  jerkins  dight ; 

His  was  no  gift  of  tickling  ears  polite. 

An  honest  man,  with  noblest  zeal  inspired, 

No  threats  appalled  him,  and  no  labours  tired. 

Bent  to  repress  the  licence  of  the  times, 

He  tore  their  silken  draperies  from  crimes. 

Straight  to  the  point  he  went,  abrupt  and  dry ; 

Tricks  he  called  knavery,  and  a  lie  a  lie. 

Within  the  portals  of  that  gloomy  gate 

Where  Harcourt  House  maintains  Batavian  state, 

On  the  right  hand  the  modest  chamber  lies ; 

No  scarlet  boxes  greeting  curious  eyes. 

Yet  there  he  toiled  with  more  results  to  show 

Than  well-paid  Minister  in  State  bureau. 

Health  failing,  food  neglected,  rest  foregone, 

But  like  the  mettled  steed,  still  struggling  on, 

Oblivious  of  the  paltry  bounds  assigned 

To  strongest  frame  and  most  capacious  mind. 

Alas,  my  friend !  had  all  been  such  as  thou, 
Honest  and  true,  I  had  not  mourned  thee  now ! 
The  springy  turf  of  Goodwood's  wide  domain, 
The  stirring  contests  of  Newmarket's  plain, 
Thou  hadst  not  left,  for  scenes  where  parties  rave, 
A  worn-out  spirit  and  an  early  grave. 

Grey  morning  saw  thee  full  of  kindly  cheer ; 
Dark  evening  brooded  pall-wise  o'er  thy  bier ; 


J.    B.    O.    MUNICH. 


MEMORIAL  TO  LORD  GEORGE  BENTINCK 
AT  MANSFIELD,  NOTTS. 


MEMORIAL    AT    MANSFIELD.  467 

A  voice  of  mourning  chilled  the  autumn  blast, 
Along  mute  wires  the  electric  tidings  passed ; 
Palace  and  castle,  hall  and  peasant's  cot, 
In  grief  agreeing,  all  but  grief  forgot. 
Friends  wept,  foes  pitied,  Envy  ceased  to  chide ; 
All  felt  the  loss  of  merit  undenied. 
Others  may  dedicate  to  soothe  their  grief 
Historic  brass  in  honour  of  their  chief. 
I  have  it  not  to  give,  but  what  is  mine 
Verse  and  a  tear  shall  mingle  at  thy  shrine ! 
Accept  the  best  a  sorrowing  heart  can  give, 
And  with  thy  virtues  may  our  friendship  live ! " 

Three  years  after  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
untimely  death,  a  Memorial  was  erected  in  his 
honour  at  Mansfield,  of  which  an  engraving  is 
given.  The  money  necessary  for  its  construction 
was  contributed  anonymously  by  public  subscrip- 
tion. Upon  its  base  the  following  words  were 
inscribed  : — 

"£o  tfje  IHemorg  of 
LOED  GEORGE   FREDERICK  CAVENDISH  BENTINCK, 

SECOND   SURVIVING  SON   OF 

WILLIAM  HENRY  CAVENDISH  SCOTT, 

FOURTH  DUKE   OF  POETLAND. 

HE   DIED   THE   21.ST   DAY   OF   SEPTEMBER  AN.    DOM.    MDCCCXLVIII., 
IN   THE  FORTY-SEVENTH   YEAR   OF  HIS  AGE. 

His  ardent  patriotism  and  uncompromising  honesty  were  only 
equalled  by  the  persevering  zeal  and  extraordinary  talents  which 
called  forth  the  grateful  homage  of  those  who,  in  erecting  this 
Memorial,  pay  a  heartfelt  tribute  to  exertions  which  prematurely 
brought  to  the  grave  one  who  might  long  have  lived  the  pride  of 
this,  his  native  country." 


468     DEATH  OF  LOKD  GEORGE  BENTINCK. 

When  the  present  Duke  of  Portland  succeeded 
to  Welbeck  Abbey,  he  found  that  the  Memorial  to 
Lord  George  Bentinck,  standing  in  the  market- 
place at  Mansfield,  Notts,  had  been  damaged  by 
time  and  damp,  and  not  a  little  defaced  by  icono- 
clastic hands.  His  Grace  immediately  gave  orders 
that  the  monument,  in  which  he  naturally  took 
great  pride,  should  be  thoroughly  restored,  and 
surrounded  by  a  neat  iron  railing,  to  protect  it 
from  future  injury. 

I  cannot  conclude  this  work  (the  writing  of 
which  has,  as  I  remarked  at  its  commencement, 
been  to  me  a  veritable  labour  of  love)  without 
adding  a  few  valedictory  words  in  grateful  ac- 
knowledgment of  the  great  and  unwearied  kind- 
ness and  encouragement  extended  to  me  during 
its  composition  by  their  Graces  the  present  Duke 
and  Duchess  of  Portland.  His  Grace  began  by 
giving  instructions  to  have  several  pictures  at 
Welbeck  Abbey  photographed  of  which  I  stood 
in  need  for  the  illustration  of  this  volume ;  and 
when,  at  the  last  moment,  I  solicited  permission 
to  include  the  Duchess's  portrait  in  this  attempted 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  of  the  most  illus- 
trious members  of  the  Bentinck  family,  her  Grace 
was  pleased  to  send  me  a  photograph  of  herself, 
executed  by  Miss  Alice  Hughes,  of  Gower  Street, 
W.C.,  which  has  been  faithfully  reproduced  in  the 
accompanying  engraving.  Not  satisfied,  however, 


HER    GRACE    THE    DUCHESS    OF    PORTLAND. 


HIS    GRACE    THE    DUKE    OF    PORTLAND, 


CONCLUSION.  469 

with  this  considerate  act  of  kindness,  her  Grace 
was  likewise  good  enough  to  provide  me  with  a 
second  portrait  of  the  Duke,  which  is  also  given 
here. 

It  is  often  my  habit  to  read  at  night  during  the 
long  hours  of  sleeplessness  which  it  is  occasion- 
ally my  lot  to  endure.  Among  the  books  which 
have  lately  passed  through  my  hands  was  in- 
cluded Northcote's  '  Life  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds/ 
in  which  it  is  stated  that  the  last  lecture  to  the 
students  of  the  Royal  Academy  ever  delivered 
by  that  great  painter  ended  with  the  words 
"Michael  Angelo,"  the  name  of  the  most  con- 
summate artist  that,  in  Sir  Joshua's  opinion,  the 
world  had  ever  seen.  In  my  poor  judgment,  the 
noble  hero  of  this  imperfect  biography  wras  the 
greatest  and  most  epoch-making  patron  of  the 
Turf  that  I  have  known  in  my  time.  Following 
at  an  infinite  distance  the  loving  and  appreciative 
example  set  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  I  will  now 
conclude  by  gratefully  associating  the  honoured 
name  of  Lord  George  Cavendish  Bentinck  with 
those  of  his  equally  generous  and  large-hearted 
relatives,  the  sixth  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Port- 
land. 


INDEX. 


Abbot  Stakes,  Kangaroo  winner  of 
the,  in  1865,  132. 

"Abd  el  Kader,"  Lord  Winchil- 
sea's,  lines  from,  on  Lord  George 
Bentinck,  465. 

Abdale,  jockey  ship  of,  146,  171, 
180. 

^Egis,  Chesterfield  Cup  won  by,  183. 

Alarm,  winner  of  the  Cambridge- 
shire, 224. 

Althorp  Park  Stakes,  Cherokee 
winner  of  the,  in  1845,  165. 

Andover,  progeny  of  Bay  Middle- 
ton,  73. 

'Annual  Register,'  the,  quoted,  on 
Lord  George  Bentinck's  Irish 
speech,  444  and  n. — on  his  death, 
456. 

Anson,  Colonel,  207,  258,  401,  406 
et  passim. 

Anson,  the  Honourable  Mrs,  436. 

Aphrodite",  daughter  of  Bay  Mid- 
dleton,  73. 

Arnull,  William,  practical  jokes  on, 
44  et  seq.  —  services  of,  as  a 
jockey,  47 — notices  of,  91,  304 
et  passim. 

Ashstead  stables,  the,  79. 

Baird,  Sir  David,  anecdote  of,  380 

et  seq. 
Baker,  Frank,  trainer,  32,  41,  42 

et  passim. 
Barber,  Mr,  landlord  of  the  Ram 

Inn,  27. 
Bath  Meeting,  the,  of  1842,  account 

of,  202. 


Batthyany,  Count,  50. 

Bay  Middleton,  purchase  of,  by 
Lord  George  Bentinck,  71 — pro- 
geny of,  72,  103,  104,  140,  188, 
204,  206  et  passim— failure  of,  as 
a  stallion,  74 — successes  of  pro- 
geny of,  131 — notices  of,  60,  73, 
92  et  passim. 

Beaconsfield,  Lord.  See  Disraeli, 
Right  Hon.  B. 

<  Bell's  Life/  descriptions  of  Derby 
of  1848  quoted  from,  280,  284— 
of  StLegerof  1848,  290. 

Bentinck  Benevolent  Fund,  forma- 
tion of  the,  154. 

Bentinck,  Lady  Charlotte.  See 
Ossington,  Viscountess. 

Bentinck,  Lord  William  George 
Frederick  Cavendish,  birth  and 
parentage  of,  1 — military  career 
of,  4 — political  career  of,  5  et 
seq.,  426  et  seq. — his  character  as 
a  statesman,  8,  185,  422  et  passim 
— early  racing  days  of,  53  et  seq. 
— beginning  of  his  stud,  55 — 
gains  and  losses  on  the  Turf  by, 
59  —  leaves  the  Turf,  127 --as 
a  letter- writer,  185  et  seq. — speci- 
mens of  his  letters,  188,  189,  192, 
196  et  seq. — his  gains  on  the  Turf 
in  1844  and  1845,  225  et  seq. — 
sale  of  his  stud,  241  et  seq. — as 
a  Turf  reformer,  296  et  seq.— 
personal  habits  of,  311  et  seq. 
— last  days  and  death  of,  447 
et  seq. 

Blaze,  career  of,  262. 


472 


INDEX. 


Blenkhorn,    John,    trainer    to    Mr 

Mostyn,  142. 

Bloomsbury,  Derby  winner,  374. 
Boeotian,  successes  of,  14. 
Bolingbroke,  notice  of,  169. 
Bonehill,    Lord  George   Bentinck's 

stud   at,    72 — improvements   at, 

203. 

Bourbon,  Craven  Stakes  won  by,  82. 
Bowe,     John,     landlord     of     Turf 

Tavern,  56,  57,  230  et  passim — 

widow  of,  230,  232. 
Bowes,  John,  large  gains  of,  on  the 

Derby,    110,    392— biographical 

sketch  of,  393  et  seq. 
Boyce,  R.  D.,  notices  of,  41,  47,  78, 

82  et  passim. 
Braham,  John,   punishment  of,   in 

the  affair  of  Ratan  and  the  Ugly 

Buck,    159  —  sentence    of,    con- 
firmed, 161. 
Bramble,  running  of,  for  the  Chester 

Cup,  119. 
Braybrooke,    Lord,    owner    of    Sir 

Joshua,  81. 
Bretby   Park,    Lord    Chesterfield's 

racing  establishment  at,  209. 
Bryant,   Thomas,   anecdote   of,   44 

et  seq. 

Buckle,  Frank,  86,  87— rivalry  be- 
tween, and  John  Shepherd,  88 

— character  of,  91. 
Bunbury,    Sir    Charles,    27  —  some 

famous  horses  owned  by,  ib. 
Busaco,  war-horse  of  Lord  March 

(fifth  Duke  of  Richmond),  notice 

of,  337. 
Butler,   Frank,  rider  of  Loadstone 

for  the  300  Sov.  Produce  Stakes, 

258 — as  a  judge  of  racing,   261 

— rider   of   Canezou    in    the   St 

Leger,  290,  295,  451. 

Cadland,  Derby  winner,  93 — Jem 
Robinson's  jockey  ship  of,  ib. 

"  Cambridgeshire,  the  famous  little 
town  in,"  14,  25.  See  also  New- 
market. 

Cambridgeshire,  the,  of  1845,  won 
by  Alarm,  224. 

Canezou,  Lord  Stanley's,  notices  of, 
290,  295,  451  et  passim. 

Canning,  Right  Hon.  George,  1,  4. 


Captain  Cook,  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck's running  of,  95,  96. 

Cavendish,  Lord  George,  betting  of, 
81  et  seq. 

Cesarewitch,  the,  of  1845,  won  by 
the  Baron,  224  —  Lord  George 
Bentinck's  gains  on,  227. 

Ceylon,  Sir  W.  H.  Gregory  ap- 
pointed Governor  of,  419  et  seq. 
— Mr  John  Ferguson's  book  on, 
quoted,  420,  421— Sir  W.  H. 
Gregory's  second  visit  to,  423. 

Chapeau  d'Espagne  filly,  description 
of,  206. 

Chappie,  Jemmy,  360. 

Chatham,  Lord  George  Bentinck's, 
80 — his  lordship's  gains  by,  239. 

"Chaunt  of  Achilles,"  the,  398— 
authorship  of,  ib. 

Cherokee,  165  —  successes  of,  in 
1845,  230. 

Chester  Cup,  gaming  of  the,  by  Red 
Deer,  117. 

Chesterfield,  Lord,  racing  estab- 
lishment of,  at  Bretby  Park, 
209  — Priam  owned  by,  307— 
Don  John  owned  by,  452. 

Chichester  Old  Bank,  stoppage  of, 
317 — John  Kent,  sen.,  a  creditor 
in,  ib. 

Chifney,  Sam,  jun.,  jockey  of 
Mameluke,  304. 

Chifney,  Sam,  sen.,  48,  49,  79  et 
passim. 

Chifney,  William,  assault  of  Colonel 
Leigh  by,  48  —  jockeyship  of 
Priam  in  the  Derby  of  1830  by, 
49 — new  house  built  by,  ib. 

Clark,  E.  R.,  purchase  of  The 
Baron  by,  215. 

Clark,  J.  F.,  26,  211. 

Clermont  Euclid  colt,  376 — pur- 
chase of,  by  Sir  W.  H.  Gregory, 
417 — character  of,  ib. 

Clifden,  Lord,  purchase  of  the 
Goodwood  stud  by,  287 — trans- 
ference of  the  Goodwood  stud  to 
Newmarket  by,  289. 

Clipstone,  the  Duke  of  Portland's 
improvements  at,  17. 

Clumsy,  two-year-old,  match  won 
by,  against  a  five-year-old  mare, 
116. 


INDEX. 


473 


Cocked  Hat  Stakes  at  Goodwood, 
Lord  George  Bentinck  winning 
jockey  of  the,  in  1824,  53. 

Coelebs,  attempted  poisoning  of,  36. 

Colombo,  statue  to  Sir  W.  H. 
Gregory  at,  422. 

Conservative  party,  Lord  George 
Bentinck  assumes  leadership  of 
the,  225,  432 — resigns  leadership 
of  the,  236,  330,  434. 

Cooper,  Abraham,  pictures  of  Miss 
Elis  painted  by,  180  et  seq. 

Cornopean,  running  of,  199. 

Coronation,  notice  of,  313. 

Cotherstone,  winner  of  the  Two 
Thousand,  108— of  the  Derby, 
110,  198,  394. 

Cowl,  winner  at  Ascot,  233. 

Craven  Meeting,  Newmarket  Bien- 
nial Stakes,  Kangaroo  winner  of, 
in  1865,  132. 

Crockford,  Mr,  owner  of  Ratan, 
155. 

'Croker  Papers, 'the,  430— quoted, 
431  et  seq. 

Croker,  Right  Hon.  John  Wilson, 
letters  from  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck to,  236,  330,  428,  430  et 
passim. 

Crozier,  Flatmaii's  jockeyship  of,  at 
Ascot,  145. 

Crucifix,  purchase  of,  by  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  130 — descrip- 
tion of,  204— offer  for,  253— foul 
designs  to  defeat,  308 — ruin  of, 
in  a  false  start,  309. 

Cyprian,  racing  feats  of,  69. 

Dandizette,  running  of,  for  Good- 
wood Stakes,  in  1824,  301— 
notice  of,  343. 

Danebury,  formation  of  Lord  George 
Bentinck's  stud  at,  57  et  seq. — 
removal  of  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck's horses  from,  to  Good- 
wood, 97  et  seq. 

Danebury  paddocks,  the,  187,  314. 

Danebury  stables,  varied  fortunes 
of  the,  59. 

Dawson,  Dan,  race-horses  poisoned 
by,  34  et  seq. — trial  and  execu- 
tion of,  39. 

Day,  Isaac,  96,  201,  313  et  passim. 


Day,  John  Barham,  57,  98,  104, 
108,  185  et  passim. 

Day,  John,  jun.,  193,  201. 

"Derby  Dilly,"  the,  5. 

"Derby  of  1844,  the  memorable," 
152  et  seq.,  408  et  seq. 

Derby  of  1848,  backing  of  Surplice 
for  the,  270 — account  of  the,  272 
et  seq.  —  gains  of  Lord  George 
Bentinck  on  the,  286. 

Dieting  of  race-horses,  the,  101  et  seq. 

Discord,  winner  of  Northampton- 
shire Stakes,  166  —  of  Granby 
Handicap  and  Cup,  169. 

Disraeli,  Right  Hon.  B.,  Political 
Biography  of  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck by,  2,  9,  154,  329,  430— 
estimate  of  Lord  George  Bentinck 
as  a  statesman  by,  185,  329— 
visits  of,  to  Harcourt  House,  329, 
428,  437,  447 — as  a  patron  of  the 
Turf,  427 — influence  of,  on  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  ib.  —  Lord 
George  Bentinck's  estimate  of, 
as  a  politician,  428  et  seq. — be- 
comes leader  of  Conservative 
party,  435 — Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck's last  letter  to,  455. 

Dixon,  Henry  ("The  Druid"),  ex- 
tract from  *  Silk  and  Scarlet '  by, 
13  n.— on  death  of  Emilius,  130 
— lines  on  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
funeral  by,  463. 

Doe,  John,  trainer  to  Lord  Lich- 
field,  56,  58— notices  of,  62,  64 
et  passim — first  trial  of  vans  for 
race-horses  by,  65. 

Doncaster,  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
stud  at,  56,  72 — race-horses  con- 
veyed to,  in  vans,  61  et  seq. — 
accident  to  Epirus  at,  393. 

Doncaster  St  Leger,  the,  of  1848, 
289  et  seq. 

Dorling,  Mr,  clerk  of  Epsom  race- 
course, 297. 

Drawing-Room  Stakes,  the,  won  by 
Elis,  62. 

Drumlanrig,  Lord,  390,  391  and  n. 

Dublin,  political  contest  for,  be- 
tween Sir  W.  H.  Gregory  and 
Lord  Morpeth,  370  et  seq. 

Dunwich,  Lord.  See  Stradbroke, 
Earl  of. 


474 


INDEX. 


Edwards,  James,  trainer,  32,  71, 
79. 

Eglinton,  the  thirteenth  Earl  of, 
notice  of,  379 — as  Lord  Lieuten- 
ant of  Ireland,  382. 

Elis,  racing  engagements  of,  59,  60, 
62,  63,  69  et  passim — first  trial  of 
vans  for  race-horses  in  convey- 
ance of,  to  Doncaster,  61  et  seq. 
— sale  of,  74. 

Emilius,  progeny  of ,  129 — purchase 
of,  130— death  of,  ib. 

Enclosures,  formation  of,  at  race- 
courses, 299. 

Enfield,  Lord,  backing  of  Surplice 
for  the  Derby  by,  285— last  letter 
written  by  Lord  George  Bentinck 
addressed  to,  455. 

Ennui,  successes  of,  in  1845,  230. 

Epirote,  Col.  Anson's,  at  Ascot, 
145. 

Epirus,  accident  to,  at  Doncaster, 
393. 

Epsom,  vanning  of  Lord  George 
Bentinck's  horses  to,  80 — recep- 
tion of  Surplice  at,  on  winning  of 
Derby  of  1848,  277— Lord  George 
Bentinck's  racing  rules  at,  297 — 
enclosure  round  Stand  at,  299 — 
incident  at,  of  cruelty  to  a  horse, 
320. 

Euphrates,  Lord  Rous's,  13. 

Farintosh,  constitutional  defects  of, 
104 — success  of,  at  Newmarket, 
105— history  of,  140. 

Farthing  Candle,  Innkeeper's  Plate 
won  by,  234. 

Ferguson,  Thomas,  owner  of  Hark- 
away,  355-400 — connection  of, 
with  the  Running  Rein  case,  409 
et  seq.  passim. 

Filho  da  Puta,  match  between,  and 
Sir  Joshua,  82  et  seq. 

Firebrand,  80  —  winner  at  New- 
market, 100,  102. 

Fitzpatrick,  W.  J.,  'The  Corres- 
pondence of  Daniel  O'Connell '  by, 
noticed,  368 — its  effects  on  Mr 
Gladstone  as  regards  Home  Rule 
for  Ireland,  ib. 

Flag  system,  starting  of  race-horses 
by  the,  297. 


Flatcatcher,  notices  of,  290,  292, 
293,  436. 

Flatman,  Elnathan,  biographical 
sketch  of,  143  et  seq. — fortune 
left  by,  144 — his  various  masters, 
ib.  —  his  characteristics  as  a 
jockey,  145  et  seq. — his  jockey- 
ship  of  John  o'  Gaunt  for  the 
Queen's  Plate,  167  —  winning 
jockey  in  the  Cesarewitch,  223 — 
in  the  Cambridgeshire,  ib. — Sur- 
plice ridden  by,  in  Ham  Stakes, 
257 — for  the  Derby,  ib. — notices 
of,  359,  383  et  passim. 

Foley,  Lord,  33. 

Fox,  Right  Hon.  Charles  James,  33. 

Free  Trade,  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
ideas  of,  433  et  seq.  passim. 

Fremantle,  Sir  Thomas,  7. 

Gains  on  the  Turf,  Lord  George 
Bentinck's,  in  1844  and  1845,  225 
et  seq. 

Gaper,  success  of,  at  Newmarket, 
100,  104,  107,  108— at  Epsom, 
108  et  seq. — character  of,  105, 
110,  186— notices  of,  160,  193, 
199  et  passim — letters  of  Lord 
George  Bentinck  to  his  trainer 
regarding,  188,  192,  196  et  seq. 
— Lord  George  Bentinck's  gains 
by,  239. 

George,  Prince  of  Wales  (afterwards 
George  IV.),  Frank  Baker  trainer 
to,  32 — retirement  of,  from  the 
Turf,  50— at  Newmarket,  83— 
horses  started  by,  in  1789  and 
1790,  129. 

Ghillie  Callum,  the  fifth  Duke  of 
Richmond's,  348,  352. 

Gladstone,  Mr,  Irish  Home  Rule 
ideas  of,  368— article  by,  in  '  The 
Nineteenth  Century,'  quoted,  ib. 

Glasgow,  Earl  of,  as  a  patron  of  the 
Turf,  12,  115,  137  — matches 
made  by,  with  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck, ib.  et  seq. — an  extraordi- 
nary match  made  by,  139 — be- 
comes owner  of  Doncaster  pad- 
docks, 453. 

Glentilt,  description  of,  205. 

Godolphin,  winner  of  the  Craven 
Stakes,  47. 


INDEX. 


475 


Goodwood  Cup,  the,  85 — of  1845, 
starters  for,  177 — winner  of,  178 
—of  1838,  355,  400— palmy  days 
of,  355. 

Goodwood  exercise -grounds,  con- 
struction of  straw-beds  at,  163 — 
excellence  of,  170. 

Goodwood  House,  festivities  at, 
344. 

Goodwood,  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
removal  of  his  race-horses  to, 
from  Danebury,  97  et  seq. — 
improvements  effected  on  race- 
course at,  123,  203— final  depart- 
ure of  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
stud  from,  287. 

Goodwood  races,  Lord  George  Ben- 
thick's  successes  at,  53  et  seq. — 
his  support  of,  123  et  seq. — com- 
parative tables  of,  125,  126— 
enclosure  round  Stand  at,  299 — 
value  of  stakes  at,  300 — cases  of 
error  in  decisions  at,  301 — the 
fifth  Duke  of  Richmond's  delight 
in,  344  et  seq. 

Goodwood  stable,  the,  formation  of, 
97  et  seq. — expenses  of  maintain- 
ing, 111,  127  et  seq.,  235— suc- 
cesses of,  in  1844,  116  et  seq. — 
account  of,  in  1844,  149  et  seq. — 
account  of,  in  1845,  163  et  seq. — 
successes  of,  in  1845,  170  —  in 
1842,  202 — rivalry  between,  and 
Danebury  stables,  178  et  seq. — 
labour  connected  with  manage- 
ment of,  210 — sale  of,  by  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  241  et  seq. — 
reinforcement  of,  343. 

Goodwood  Stakes  of  1845,  starters 
for  the,  174 — Miss  Elis  winner 
of  the,  175. 

Goodwood  stud, beginning  of  the,  55. 

Goodwood  yearlings,  sale  of  the, 
113. 

Gordon  Castle,  acquisition  of,  by 
Lennox  family,  347 — last  visit  of 
fifth  Duke  of  Richmond  to,  365. 

Gratwicke,  Mr,  notice  of,  356. 

Great  Yorkshire  Handicap  of  1845, 
running  of  My  Mary  for  the,  219 
— winner  of  the,  221  —  Lord 
George  Bentinck's  gains  on  the, 
226. 


Gregory,  Right  Hon.  Sir  W.  H., 
racing  career  of,  366  et  seq. — 
early  years  of,  369  —  political 
contest  of,  for  Dublin,  370 — first 
race  of,  374 — reminiscences  of, 
379  et  seq. 

Greville,  Charles,  notices  of,  54, 
56,  390,  396— 'Diary'  of,  quoted, 
9,  152,  225. 

Gully,  John,  and  the  Ratan  affair, 
187— notices  of,  385,  387,  388  et 


Gulnare,  successes  of,  343. 

Halnaker  Park  gallop,  formation  of 
the,  105  —  advantages  of  the, 
164,  170. 

Ham  Stakes,  Surplice  winner  of 
the,  257. 

Hampden,  description  of  the  Duke 
of  Grafton's,  343. 

Hampton  Court,  royal  stud  at,  349. 

Harcourt  House,  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck's life  at,  313,  315  et  seq.— 
horses  kept  at,  318 — letters  sent 
to,  fraudulently  opened,  321 — 
Mr  Disraeli  at,  329,  428,  437, 
447. 

Harkaway,  winner  of  Goodwood 
Cup  in  1838,  355,  400. 

Hastings,  Marquis  of,  purchase  of 
Kangaroo  by,  132. 

"Haunch  of  Venison"  inn,  the, 
79. 

Headley,  racing  headquarters  at, 
78 — the  Chifneys'  stables  at,  79. 

Hermes,  notice  of,  342. 

Herring,  Mr,  of  Long  Acre,  vans  for 
race-horses  first  constructed  by, 
61,  67. 

Holywell  Hunt  Races,  Queen  of 
Trumps  winner  at,  142. 

Horses,  number  of,  trained  by  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  129 — longprices 
given  for,  135 — singeing  of,  319 
— shaving  of,  ib. — Lord  George 
Bentinck's  kindness  to,  320,  328. 
See  also  Race-horses. 

Houghton  October  Meeting,  suc- 
cesses of  Goodwood  stable  at,  in 
1844,  116. 

Howth  Castle,  notice  of,  386. 

Howth,  Lord,  race-horses  of,  385. 


476 


INDEX. 


Hunnybun,  Mr,  of  Newmarket,  im- 
provements on  Mr  Herring's  van 
by,  67. 

Ilione,  Lord  Palmerston's,  98. 

Innkeepers'  Plate,  winning  of,  by 
Farthing  Candle,  234. 

Inverness  Castle,  the  coiistableship 
of,  347. 

Ireland,  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
proposals  for  the  improvement 
of,  10,  439,  444  —  influences 
brought  to  bear  on  Mr  Gladstone 
in  his  scheme  of  Home  Rule  for, 
368  — Lord  Eglinton  as  Lord 
Lieutenant  of,  382. 

Ives,  Jeremiah  Robert,  notice  of, 
374. 

Jerry,  winner  of  St  Leger  in  1824, 
388. 

Jewish  Disabilities  Bill,  the,  434— 
Lord  George  Bentinck's  active 
interest  in,  461. 

Jockey  Club,  the,  and  the  Bentinck 
Benevolent  Fund,  154 — verdict 
of,  in  the  Ratan  affair,  159,  161 
— dinner  given  to,  by  King 
William  IV.,  349. 

Jockeys,  asking  advice  of,  261 — 
weighing  of,  297  —  false  starts 
practised  by,  297,  304,  305,  308 
— jealousies  between  north- coun- 
try and  south-country,  305. 

John  o'  Gaunt,  Queen's  Plate  won 
by,  167 — subsequent  career  of, 
169,  173  et  seq. 

Kalipyge,  notice  of,  73. 

Kangaroo,  successes  of,  132 — pur- 
chase of,  by  Marquis  of  Hastings, 
ib.  —  character  and  subsequent 
career  of,  133. 

Kent,  John,  jun.,  trainer  to  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  autobiographi- 
cal notice  of,  25  et  seq.  —  Mr 
Payne's  offer  to,  as  his  private 
trainer,  243 — becomes  trainer  to 
Mr  Mostyn  —  letters  of  Lord 
George  Bentinck  to,  168,  203, 
207,  221,  247,  324,  325— visits 
to  Lord  George  Bentinck  in  Lon- 
don by,  313  et  seq. 


Kent,  John,  sen. ,  early  years  of,  30 
et  seq. — takes  command  of  Good- 
wood stables,  41 — painting  of 
Miss  Elis  presented  to,  180 — 
private  trainer  to  fifth  Duke  of 
Richmond,  342 — letters  of  Lord 
George  Bentinck  to,  117,  180, 
188,  192  et  seq.  passim. 

"Kent's  charges,"  105. 

King,  Samuel,  56  et  seq.  passim. 

King's  Lynn,  Lord  George  Bentinck 
member  for,  7. 

King's  Plate  Course,  construction 
of,  94. 

King's  Plate,  the,  given  by  King 
William  IV.,  350. 

Kitten,  Lord  George  Bentinck's,  427 
— Mr  Disraeli's  partnership  in,  ib. 

Ladbroke,  Mr,  as  a  patron  of  the 

Turf,  78  et  seq. 

Lady  Emmeline,  description  of,  205. 
Lady  Wildair,  notice  of,  267. 
Landgrave,    running    of,    at   New- 
market, in  1850,  359. 
Langley,  W.  H.,  career  of  Emilius 

given  in  '  Reminiscences  of  Eas- 

by'by,  131— quoted,  77  n.,  139, 

155  11.,  158  n. 
Larry  M'Hale,    Lord   Maidstone's, 

95  —  match  between,  and  Lord 

George  Bentinck's  Captain  Cook, 

ib. 

Latitude  colt,  description  of,  205. 
Lawley,  Hon.  Francis,  sketch  of  the 

racing  career  of  the  Right  Hon. 

Sir  W.  H.  Gregory  by,  336  et  seq. 
"Lay  of  Doncaster  Town  Moor," 

lines  from  Mr  Henry  Dixoii's,  on 

Lord  George  Bentinck,  463. 
Leander,  racing  feat  of,  155  n. 
Leatherhead  stables,  the,  78,  79. 
"Leg  of  Mutton  and  Cauliflower" 

inn,  the,  79. 
Leigh,  Colonel,  assault  of,  by  Bill 

Chifney,  48. 
Lennox,  Lord  Henry  Gordon,  fears 

of,  regarding  his  bets  on  Surplice, 

265  et  seq. 
Lennox,  Mr.     See  Richmond,  fifth 

Duke  of. 
Letters  to  Lord  George  Bentinck, 

fraudulent  opening  of,   321. 


INDEX. 


477 


Letter-writer,  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck  as  a,  185  et  seq.,  347— fifth 
Duke  of  Richmond  as  a,  347. 

Let-us-stop-a-while  -  says-Slow,  de- 
scription of,  206. 

Levy,  Goodman,  anecdote  of,  51 — 
fraudulent  attempt  by,  to  win 
the  Derby,  155,  400. 

Lewes  Stakes,  the,  won  by  Elis,  63. 

"Little  Peter, "44. 

Liverpool  Cup,  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck's  gains  on  winning  the,  of 
1845,  227. 

Liverpool  race  -  course,  enclosure 
round  Stand  at,  299. 

Liverpool  St  Leger,  St  Paul's  Men- 
tor winner  of  the,  215. 

Lloyd,  Cynric,  and  the  Goodwood 
stud,  246— backing  of  Surplice 
by,  270. 

Loadstone,  offer  for,  253 — subse- 
quent career  of,  255,  260 — trials 
of,  for  the  Derby  of  1848,  263— 
failure  of,  280,  283. 

Long-course  races,  Lord  George 
Bentinck's  promotion  of,  85,  94, 
95 — the  Duke  of  Portland's  en- 
couragement of,  86. 

Maidstone  Course,  construction  of 

the,  94. 
Maidstone,  Lord,  jockeyship  of,  95, 

96 — purchase  of  Tom  Tulloch  by, 

114. 
Malcolm,  Mr  Ramsay's,  incident  of, 

213. 
Mameluke,    flagrant    attempts    to 

defeat,  for  the  St  Leger  of  1827, 

304— race  won  by,  305. 
Manly  Sports  Bill,  the,  413,  416. 
Mann,  Sam,  359. 
Mansfield,  memorial  to  Lord  George 

Bentinck  at,  467 — restoration  of 

memorial  at,  by  the  present  Duke 

of  Portland,  468. 
March,  Countess  of  (fifth  Duchess 

of  Richmond),  351. 
March,  Lord.     See  Richmond,  fifth 

Duke  of. 
March,  the  present  Lord,  notice  of, 

352. 
Martin's,    Sir   Theodore,    'Life   of 

the  Prince  Consort'  quoted,  10. 


Matilda,  running  of,  for  St  Leger 
of  1827,  305. 

Melody  colt,  Mr  Etwall's,  98. 

Mentor,  Mr  St  Paul's,  215. 

Milk  and  eggs,  dieting  of  horses 
with,  102. 

Misdeal,  winner  at  Ascot,  100 — at 
Goodwood ,  ib.  — at  Ne  wmarket ,  ib. 

Miss  Elis,  trials  of,  172 — Goodwood 
Stakes  won  by,  175 — Goodwood 
Cup  won  by,  177 — large  sums 
won  on,  by  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck, ISO — pictures  of,  painted 
by  Mr  Abraham  Cooper,  ib.  et  seq. 
— rejoicings  at  Goodwood  on  vic- 
tories of,  182 — history  and  pedi- 
gree of,  184 — appearance  of,  ib. 
— running  of,  at  York,  213. 

Miss  Sarah,  winner  of  Great  York- 
shire Stakes  in  1845,  213— run- 
ning of,  for  Doncaster  St  Leger, 
214. 

Molecomb,  residence  of  Lord  March 
(fifth  Duke  of  Richmond),  352— 
description  of,  ib. — abode  of  pres- 
ent Lord  March,  ib. 

Moon,  the  brothers,  345. 

Mostyn,  Hon.  Edward  Mostyn 
Lloyd,  purchase  of  Lord  George 
Bentinck's  stud  by,  246 — portion 
of  stud  sold  by,  250. 

"Mr  Rigby,"  Mr  Disraeli's  carica- 
ture of  Mr  Croker  in  '  Coningsby ' 
as,  429. 

Muirkirk,  estate  of,  purchased  for 
Lord  George  Bentinck,  55  n. 

Mulatto,  notices  of,  13  n.,  54. 

Mundig,  winner  of  Derby  in  1835, 
393 — John  Bowes's  gains  on,  ib. 

Murray's,  John,  '  Handbook  to  Not- 
tinghamshire '  quoted  on  Duke 
of  Portland's  improvements  at 
Welbeck,  17. 

Mus,  winner  of  Orleans  Cup  in 
1841,  355. 

Mustapha,  winner  at  Goodwood, 
100. 

My  Dear,  description  of,  206. 

My  Mary,  trials  of,  at  Goodwood, 
165 — pedigree  of,  216 — successes 
of,  217 — training  of,  at  Good- 
wood, ib. — winner  of  Great  York- 
shire Handicap,  221. 


478 


INDEX. 


Napier,  Lady  Sarah,  letters  to,  338, 
339. 

Newman,  Philip,  stud  -  groom  at 
Danebury  paddocks,  187  et  seq. 
passim. 

Newmarket  Biennial,  Kangaroo 
winner  at,  in  1865,  132. 

Newmarket,  improvements  made 
on  race-course  at,  by  the  fourth 
Duke  of  Portland,  14 — early  his- 
tory of,  25  et  seq. — successes  of 
Goodwood  stable  at,  in  1844,  116 
— transference  of  Lord  Clifden's 
horses  to,  289— Sir  W.  H.  Gre- 
gory's recollections  of  382  et 
seq. 

'Nineteenth  Century,'  the,  article 
in,  on  Daniel  O'Connell,  noticed, 
368. 

Northamptonshire  Stakes  of  1845, 
the,  won  by  Discord,  166. 

Oaks,  the,  Refraction  winner  of,  in 
1845,  227. 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  attitude  of,  to- 
wards Sir  W.  H.  Gregory  in 
political  contest  for  Dublin,  371. 

<  O'Connell,  Daniel,  The  Correspon- 
dence of,'  noticed,  368— Mr  Glad- 
stone's article  on,  in  '  The  Nine- 
teenth Century,'  quoted,  ib. 

Octaviana,  purchase  of,  by  Lord 
George  Beritinck,  307 — pedigree 
of,  ib. 

October  Meeting,  First,  successes 
of  Goodwood  stable  at,  in  1844, 
116  —  successes  of  Goodwood 
stable  at  Second,  ib. 

Olive,  progeny  of  Bay  Middleton, 
description  of,  204. 

Olive,  Mr  Poyntz's,  Lord  George 
Bentinck's  jockeyship  of,  53. 

One  Thousand  Guineas,  Picnic 
winner  of  the,  in  1845,  227. 

Orford,  Earl  of,  incident  regarding 
the,  26. 

Orlando,  Colonel  Peel's,  and  the 
Running  Rein  case,  153. 

Osbaldeston,  Squire,  Lord  George 
Bentinck's  duel  with,  401  et  seq. 

Ossington,  Viscountess,  notices  of, 
21,  22,  54 — monument  erected  to 
Lord  George  Bentinck  by,  462. 


Oulston,  successes  of,  133 — ruin  of, 

by  over-training,  ib. 
Our  Nell,  winner  of  the  Oaks,  80. 

Paget,  Lady  Caroline,  marriage  of 
fifth  Duke  of  Richmond  to,  351. 

Payne,  George,  offer  for  Lord 
George  Bentinck's  stud  by,  242 
— request  for  John  Kent's  ser- 
vices as  trainer  by,  243 — notices 
of,  389  et  passim. 

Peel,  General,  notices  of,  143,  144, 
153,  380,  383  et  passim— as  a 
raconteur,  399. 

Peel,  Sir  Robert,  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck as  a  supporter  of,  6. 

Peninsular  medals,  account  of  the, 
362  et  seq. 

Peninsular  war,  fifth  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond's share  in  the,  335  et  seq. 

Persse,  Miss  Augusta,  marriage  of, 
to  Sir  W.  H.  Gregory,  422. 

Petre,  Hon.  Edward,  anecdote  re- 
garding, 44. 

Picnic,  winner  of  the  One  Thousand 
Guineas,  227. 

"  Pink  "  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
7. 

Pirouette,  poisoning  of,  36. 

1  Pitt,'  Lord  Rosebery's,  notice  of, 
423. 

Planet,  large  offer  for,  253 — subse- 
quent career  of,  ib. 

Plenipotentiary,  colts  by,  descrip- 
tion of,  205. 

'  Political  Biography  of  Lord  George 
Bentinck/  Mr  Disraeli's,  referred 
to,  2,  9,  329,  430. 

Politics,  money  spent  on,  by  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  331. 

Pompey,  Lord  Eglinton's,  395. 

Port  Stakes,  the,  of  1845,  at  New- 
market, Lord  George  Bentinck's 
gains  on  winning,  227. 

Portland,  Duchess  of  (mother  of 
Lord  George  Bentinck),  2. 

"  Portland  farm,"  the,  14  et  seq. 

Portland,  fourth  Duke  of  (father  of 
Lord  George  Bentinck),  1 — as  a 
patron  of  the  Turf,  11  et  seq.— 
improvements  on  his  estate  by, 
17 — character  of,  19 — pedestrian 
powers  of,  21 — charities  of,  22 — 


INDEX. 


479 


death   of,   23— establishment   of 
Portland     Handicap     at     New- 
market by,  86. 
Portland   Handicap,   establishment 

of  the,  86. 
Portland,  sixth  Duchess  of,  interest 

taken  in  present  work  by,  468. 
Portland,  sixth  Duke  of,  22 — stud 
of,  at  Welbeck  Abbey,  73 — racing 
trophies  of,  at  Welbeck  Abbey, 
182 — restoration  of  memorial  at 
Mansfield  to  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck  by,  468 — interest  taken  in 
present  work  by,  ib. 

'  Post  and  Paddock,'  lines  from  Mr 
Henry  Dixon's,  on  Lord  George 
Bentinck,  463. 

Potter,  Mr,  landlord  of  the  Ram 
Inn,  28. 

Poyntz,  Mr,  notice  of,  53. 

Preserve,  foul  designs  to  defeat,  at 
Newmarket,  308. 

Priam,  winner  of  Derby  in  1830, 
49 — Goodwood  Cup  won  by,  129 
— progeny  of,  130 — attempts  to 
defeat,  in  Derby  of  1830,  305— 
splendid  character  of,  ib. — Lord 
George  Bentinck's  connection 
with,  ib. 

Prince  of  Wales,  Sir  W.  H.  Gregory 
knighted  by,  at  Ceylon,  422. 

Prince,  Richard,  12,  30,  307  et 
passim — stable  of,  33. 

Princess  Alice,  successes  of,  in  1845, 
230. 

Princess,  the  Earl  of  Egremont's, 
342. 

Prizes,  list  of,  won  by  the  Good- 
wood stable  in  1845,  170. 

Protection,  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
ideas  of,  433  et  seq.  passim. 

Provincial  race  meetings,  former 
primitive  arrangements  at,  301 
et  seq.  —  starting  of  horses  at, 
303. 

Queen  of  Trumps,  winner  at  Holy- 
well  Hunt  Races,  142 — winner 
at  Epsom  and  Doncaster,  ib. 

Queen's  Plate,  the,  of  1845,  running 
for,  166  et  seq. 

"Qui  tarn"  lawsuits,  the,  of  1843, 
413  et  seq. 


Race-horses,  conveyance  of,  in  vans, 
61  et  seq. — dieting  of,  101  et  seq. 
— art  of  training,  13  n.,  132  et 
seq. — revolution  in  training  of, 
135 — long  prices  paid  for,  ib. 
See  also  Horses. 

Race-meetings,  provincial,  former 
primitive  arrangements  at,  301 
et  seq. — starting  of  horses  at,  303. 

'Racing  Calendar,'  the,  quoted, 
160,  174,  177,  280,  290. 

Racing  engagements,  Lord  George 
Bentinck's,  in  1845,  238. 

Racing  establishments,  Lord  George 
Bentinck's,  sale  of,  241  et  seq. 

Racing  events,  list  of,  won  by  the 
fifth  Duke  of  Richmond's  race- 
horses, 348. 

Railways,  revolution  in  training  of 
race-horses  caused  by  extension 
of,  135 — effect  of,  on  racing 
events,  317. 

Ram  Inn,  the,  incident  regarding 
name  of,  26 — the  landlord  of,  27. 

Ratan  and  the  Ugly  Buck,  the  affair 
of,  155  et  seq. 

Red  Deer,  gaining  of  Chester  Cup 
by,  117  et  seq.  —  enthusiasm 
caused  by  victory  of,  121 — Sam 
Rogers 's  jockeyship  of,  160. 

Red  Hart,  the  fifth  Duke  of  Rich- 
mond's, 348,  354. 

Refraction,  winner  of  the  Oaks,  227. 

'  Reminiscences  of  Easby,'  notice 
in,  of  Emilius's  career,  131. 

Reveller,  attempted  poisoning  of ,  37. 

Richmond,  fourth  Duke  and  Duch- 
ess of,  famous  ball  given  by,  at 
Brussels,  347. 

Richmond,  fifth  Duchess  of,  inter- 
view of  John  Kent  with,  as  to 
leaving  Goodwood,  244. 

Richmond,  fifth  Duke  of,  character 
of,  3,  332  et  seq.  —  his  interest 
in  Lord  George  Bentinck's  stud, 
101,  128,  287 — his  early  years, 
333 — enters  the  army,  335 — on 
staff  of  Lord  Wellington  in  the 
Peninsular  war,  ib.  et  seq. — be- 
comes a  patron  of  the  Turf,  341 
— his  character  as  a  racing  man, 

347  —  his    gains    on    the   Turf, 

348  —  his   marriage ,   351 — some 


480 


INDEX. 


race-horses  owned  by,  352 — as 
an  agriculturist,  ib. — his  politi- 
cal career,  361 — presented  with 
a  testimonial  for  exertions  on  be- 
half of  Peninsular  heroes,  363 — 
his  death,  365 — 'Memoirs'  of, 
quoted,  336,  351,  361,  441. 

Robinson,  Jem,  notices  of,  261,  263, 
275,  291,  305  et  passim. 

Rotoson,  Robert,  "the  Emperor  of 
Trainers,"  87. 

Rogers,  Sam,  jockey  of  Gaper  for 
the  Derby,  110,  160,  187  — 
jockey  of  Red  Deer  at  Liverpool 
and  Goodwood,  160,  161— pun- 
ishment of,  in  the  affair  of  Ratan 
and  the  Ugly  Buck,  159 — pardon 
of,  161 — jockey  ship  of  the  Cur 
by,  162. 

Roncesvalles,  successes  of,  342. 

Rose,  C.  D. ,  racing  prizes  given  by, 
85. 

Ross,  Charles,  '  The  Correspondence 
of  Charles,  First  Marquis  Corn- 
wallis,'  by,  noticed,  368. 

Rothschild,  Baron  Lionel,  return  of, 
to  Parliament,  434. 

Running  Rein  case,  the,  152  et  seq., 
408  et  seq. — testimonial  to  Lord 
George  Bentinck  for  services  ren- 
dered in,  154. 

Rutland  Arms  Inn,  the,  26. 

Scott,  John,  notices  of,  114,  119, 

124,  388. 
Scott,  the  Misses,  designations  of, 

1 — marriages  of,  ib. 
Scott,  William,  jockeyship  of,  92, 

93,  394. 
Semaphore,  amateur  reading  of  the, 

42. 
Sheet-Anchor,  winning  of  Portland 

Handicap  by,  92. 

Shepherd,  John,  notice  of,  88  et  seq. 
Short-course  races,  present  day,  30, 

86,  94. 
Shylock,  running  of,   in  Derby  of 

1848,  282,  284. 
'Silk   and    Scarlet.'      See    Dixon, 

Henry. 
Singeing     of     horses,     the,     Lord 

George  Bentinck's  fancy  regard- 
ing, 319. 


Sir  Joshua,  notice  of,  81 — the  match 
between,  and  Filho  da  Puta,  82 
et  seq. 

Sister  to  Pug,  description  of,  206. 

Sittingbourne,  record  of,  357. 

Skillygolee,  running  of,  for  Gold 
Cup,  in  1837,  302. 

Slander,  winner  of  Prince  of 
Wales's  Stakes,  247— large  offer 
for,  253 — subsequent  career  of, 
254. 

Soar,  Peter,  notice  of,  346  and  n. 

Sorella,  running  of,  at  Northamp- 
ton, 167. 

South -country  horses,  failure  to 
win  St  Leger  with,  77. 

Spaniard,  poisoning  of,  36,  37. 

Sponges,  a  hunt  for  big,  151. 

'  Sporting  Magazine,'  the,  on  run- 
ning of  three-year-olds,  quoted, 
86. 

Springy  Jack,  running  of,  in  Derby 
of  1848,  281,  284. 

Stable  secrets,  case  of  treachery 
regarding,  323  et  seq. 

St  Paul's  Mentor,  winner  of  the 
Liverpool  St  Leger,  215. 

Stradbroke,  Earl  of,  notice  of,  342 
et  seq. 

Strafford,  second  Earl  of.  See 
Enfield,  Lord. 

Stud -farms,  list  of  some  of  the 
principal,  136. 

Surplice,  victory  of,  in  Derby  and 
St  Leger  of  1848,  80,  130,  450— 
influence  of  success  of,  on  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  130 — offer  for, 
253 — subsequent  career  of,  255, 
257  et  seq. — trial  of,  for  Two 
Thousand,  263— winner  of  Two 
Thousand,  268— backing  of,  for 
the  Derby,  269 — transportation 
of,  from  Goodwood  to  Epsom, 
272  et  seq. — reception  of,  at  Ep- 
som, 277 — nefarious  attempts  to 
injure,  279,  285,  291— 'Bell's 
Life '  quoted  on  running  of,  281, 
284,  290  —  Sim  Templeman's 
jockeyship  of,  282  —  gains  on, 
286  —  constitutional  defects  of, 
ib. — subsequent  career  of,  288  et 
seq. — the  St  Leger  won  by,  290 
et  seq.  —  termination  of  racing 


INDEX. 


481 


career    of,    294  —  Lord    George 
Bentinck's  interest  in,  449  et  seq, 

Swindell,  Fred,  sketch  of,  397. 

Swindon,  notice  of,  53. 

Tarrare,  winner  of  Doncaster  St 
Leger  of  1826,  54,  57— heavy 
losses  of  Lord  George  Bentinck 
on,  54. 

Tattersall's,  sale  of  part  of  Good- 
wood stud  at,  113,  250  et  seq. 

Tedworth,  winner  at  Newmarket, 
100. 

Templeman,  Sim,  rider  of  Surplice 
in  Derby  of  1848,  275,  282. 

The  Baron,  winner  of  Doncaster  St 
Leger,  215  —  record  of,  ib. — 
backing  of,  for  the  Cesarewitch, 
223 — winner  of  the  Cesarewitch, 
224  —  Lord  George  Bentinck's 
gains  on  winning  the  Cesarewitch 
by,  227. 

The  Cur,  winner  of  the  Cesarewitch, 
162. 

The  Dandy,  poisoning  of,  36. 

The  Drummer,  notices  of,  63,  64, 
66. 

The  Flying  Dutchman,  notices  of, 
73,  283  et  passim. 

Three-year-olds,  racing  of,  86. 

Tilbrook,  Mrs,  and  the  horse-poison- 
ing case,  38. 

Tiresias,  winner  of  Derby  in  1819, 
13. 

Titchfield,  Marquis  of.  See  Port- 
land, fourth  Duke  of. 

Tom  Tulloch,  purchase  of,  by  Lord 
Maidstone,  114,  232— defeat  of, 
by  Ennui,  230,  233. 

Topsail,  winner  of  the  City  Cup  at 
Bath,  100,  202. 

Training  of  race-horses,  art  of,  132 
— revolution  in,  135. 

Treen,  William,  notice  of,  374  et  seq. 

Trees,  transplanting  of,  by  the 
fourth  Duke  of  Portland,  18. 

Tripoli,  winner  of  Somersetshire 
Stakes  at  Bath,  100,  202. 

Turf,  reforms  of  the,  by  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  296  et  seq. — 
tactics  of  speculators  on  the,  305 
— stories  of  robberies  on  the,  387 
et  seq. 


Turf  Tavern,  a  dinner  at  the,  230 

et  seq. 
Two-year-old  stakes,  former  paucity 

of,  142. 
Ugly  Buck,  affair  of  Ratan  and  the, 

155  et  seq. — opinions  regarding 

the  Ugly  Buck,  201. 

Vacuna  colt,  description  of,  205. 

Vans,  construction  of,  for  convey- 
ance of  race-horses,  61  et  seq. — 
first  trial  of,  65 — improvements 
on  first  idea  of,  67 — advantages 
of,  69 — horse-racing  previous  to, 
76  et  seq.  —  transport  of  horses 
from  Danebury  to  Goodwood  in, 
99  et  seq. 

Velocipede,  progeny  of,  72. 

Venison,  purchase  of,  by  Lord 
George  Bentinck,  58 — notices  of, 
60,  63,  70— sale  of,  74. 

Venus,  progeny  of,  73. 

Villiers,  Hon.  Francis,  Goodwood 
yearlings  purchased  by,  113  — 
betting  of,  on  Surplice,  259  — 
purchase  of  Blaze  by,  261 — back- 
ing of  Blaze  by,  for  the  Two 
Thousand,  262  et  seq. — despair 
of,  at  result  of  Surplice's  Derby 
trial,  268— gains  of,  on  the  St 
Leger,  292. 

Vitellina,  running  of,  for  the  Good- 
wood Stakes  in  1824,  302. 

Voltigeur,  notices  of,  352,  353. 

Waterloo  Shield,  the,  85 — running 
for,  ib. 

Weatherbit,  successes  of,  178 — de- 
feats of,  183. 

Weatherby,  Mr,  midnight  visits  to, 
220,  316. 

Wclbeck,  fourth  Duke  of  Portland's 
stud  at,  12 — his  improvements 
at,  17— sixth  Duke  of  Portland's 
breeding  establishment  at,  73 — 
painting  of  Elis  at,  180 — racing 
trophies  at,  ib. — hunters  kept  at, 
319  —  last  days  of  Lord  George 
Bentinck  at,  448  et  seq. — inquest 
oh  Lord  George  Bentinck's  death 
held  at,  457. 

West  Australian,  notices  of,  358, 
392. 


2  H 


482 


INDEX. 


Whalebone,  progeny  of,  72. 

White's  Club,  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck's  late  dinners  at,  8,  314. 

Wild  Dayrell,  winner  of  Derby, 
133. 

William  IV.,  as  a  patron  of  the 
Turf,  348  at  seq. — dinner  given 
to  Jockey  Club  by,  349 — speech 
made  by,  at  Egham  races,  350. 

Williams,  Captain  Percy,  jockey- 
ship  of,  96. 

Winchilsea,  the  Earl  of,  lines  to 
the  memory  of  Lord  George  Ben- 
tinck  by,  quoted,  465. 


Wizard,  attempt  to  defeat  running 
of,  91. 

Yearlings,  sale  of  a  batch  of  the 
Goodwood,  113  —  breaking  of 
Lord  George  Bentinck's,  114 — 
successes  in  running  of,  115 — 
former  mode  of  buying  and  train- 
ing of,  136 — importance  of  try- 
ing, 142. 

York  race-course,  condition  of,  in 
1845  meeting,  213. 

Yorkshire  Stakes,  running  of  Miss 
Elis  for  the,  213. 


PRINTED  BY   WILLIAM   BLACKWOOD  AND  SONS. 


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