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DEATH OF LONDON SPORTSMANS FOUNDER Interesting Features in the Life Career of the Owner of tho Famous itorsc Rosebcry RosebcryJames James Smith founder of the SiHHtsman and long a prominent figure on the knglisn turf died quite recently at the advanced age of eightysix years His career was varied and his achievuients many and interesting London Sportsman gives the fol lowing entertaining story of his life lifeMr Mr James Smith a prominent figure in the rac ¬ ing world during the sixties seventies and eighties and commonly known as Rosebery Smith was a native of Manchester In his early days he was engaged in the printing trade at one time being con ¬ nected with Bradshaws Railway Guide while later he was manager of a large printing establishment In Manchester A man ot flue presence he was a typical Englishman a refined and intellectual edi ¬ tion in fact of the John Bull type as portrayed in Punch hy the deft pencils of Tcnnlel and Linley Sainbourne Sport of all kinds particularly horse racing found in the deceased a ready devotee and In the early fifties he became connected with Mr Moseley Jr of Wolverhampton for whom he betted The brothers Henry and Thomas Wadlow at that period were already Installed at Shifnal in Salop from which famous training establishment were destined to issue forth in the years to come many horses whose deeds on the turf made for Stanton a great reputatiou as a training ground Discours ¬ ing on this topic In Post and Paddock The Druid said The best country tan gallop we know of is Wadlows at Stauton which Is about a mile and a quarter round and beautifully situated at the foot of Lizzard Wood a favorite meet in the Al brlghton Hunt No wonder that old Alonzo our ten yearold tnrf nestor was always ready for his spring work Alonzo was foaled in 1847 and in his long career won numerous races for his owner He be ¬ longed to Mr Moseley one of II Wadlows patrons who also owned Bourton To Mr James Smith was entrusted the working of the commissions in connec ¬ tion with Bourtou and Alonzo for the Grand Na ¬ tional and Doncaster Spring Handicap of 1854 Both horses were victorious and by the easy success In particular of Bourton in the big steeplechase a large stake was landed by the party Mr Moseleys colors scarlet white belt black cap were at that time particularly favored by fortune for after win ning the National Bourton In the following week under a tenpound penalty carried off the Doncaster Steeplechase which with Alonzos victory made a nice treble event It was after these successes that James Smith himself became an owner of irace horses in partnership with Mr Sydney Smith also hailing from the Manchester district but strangely enough in no way related to his partner This connection lasted for upwards of twentyfive years during which time the partnership had possession of some of the best horses that ever trod the turf Their first winner of any note was ai filly named Queen of Spain a brown daughter of King Tom out of Ma Miu an own sister to Empress from whom came In tail female such good latterday horses as Queens Birthday and Nunthorpe Queen of Spains debut was auspicious for the filly won the Brockles by Stakes on the opening day of the racing season of 1861 in a canter by three lengths The Brocklesby at that time was not of the same importance as later In its history hut the filly was exceptionally smaxt and she won three other faces that year The lifsfrgreat coup landed by the Messrs Smith was in the Cesarewitch of 1S02 with the threeyearold Hartlngtou which was foaled in the same season as Queen of Spain After being bought at Doncaster liartlngton was first of all trained by William and George Oates at Middleham and then by John Daw son at Hsley together with Queen of Spain Van couver etc As a juvenile liartlngton did no good and1 in a nursery at Warwick was one of the un placed division to the queen In the following sea ¬ son Dawson migrated to Newmarket to train for Prince then Count Batthyany and General PeeL and the Messrs Smith transferred their horses to the care of Treen at Beckhampton Hartington which was a bay colt by Voltlgeur out of Countess of Burlington was very backward when pulled out for a race at the Epsom Spring Meeting of 1862 and did not again sport silk until the Cesarewitch for which hCtwas allotted Cst lOlb Ridden by Jimmy GrlmshaW then a fashionable lightweight he de ¬ feated a field fof thirtysix rivals the largest num ¬ ber that ever went to the post for this event James Smith was fond of relating how he had borrowed Dusk which that year won six races to try Hart Ingtoir with not very long after Dusk had run a very respectable third in the Somersetshire Stakes at Bath to Coractacus the subsequent Derby win ¬ ner The manner in which Hartiugton settled his schoolmaster convinced the Messrs Smith that they had in their possession a horse combining the two essenlal qualities of speed and staying power for as James Smith used to say he never saw so tired a horse as Dusk was at the conclusion of the trial spin So long was he in coming round that for a time lie feared the gallop had completely settled him Jimmy Grimshaw used to tell the story of how his elder brother Harry then the leading light ¬ weight jockey advised him during the race not to knock his mount about as he had no chance The truth was that by some oversight Hartington had a strange bit which he would not face for a long time and perhaps it was only little Grimshaws previous experience of the colt which led him to persevere and to tell his brother that the horse had not galloped1 yet Hartlngtous former trainer must have been considerably astonished at the colts easy victory for so little did he esteem his chance that as was the case with Harry Feist before Casse Teles National he declared that if Hartington wins the Cesarewitch Ill eat him Hartington came very near to repeating the victory a fortnight later wider his penalty in the Cambridgeshire for which he landed fifth In another field of thirtyseven to Lord Chesterfields Bathllde So close was the finish between the leading1 horses that the winner was only about two lengths In advance of Hartlng tori which would probably have won but for getting very badly away and carrying moreover three pounds overweight beyond his sevenpound penalty owing to the Impossibility of securing a jockey who could do the right weight Had Hartington been prepared for the Derby for which he was nominated by his breeder W Robin ¬ son he would probably taking a line through Dusk and Caractacus have carried off the Blub Riband As matters stood although Inferentially the best of his year he was an unlucky horse for apart from his brilliant Cesarewitch victory he won nothing and eventually broke down downEarlier Earlier in 1862 the partners won the St Liz Handicap at Northampton Spring a race at that 7 erlod of some importance with the fouryearold Vancouver by The Flying Dutchman out of Divi ¬ dend In connection with this horse it may be re lated that the Messrs Smith went to the sales at Doncaster in 1859 in order to buy yearlings marking down for purchase Vancouver and two others These others were Kettledrum and Dundee which as three yearolds finished respectively first and second for the Derby When Kettledrum was put up they started bidding for him but the trainer Oates with whose stable Sydney Smith was connected assured him that be held an unlimited commission so they did not go on As to Dundee a goodlooking blood like lightfleshed bay colt hy Lord of the Isles out of Marmalade his dams only previous foal Caviare had not won a race and as Mr Merry was bidding for Dundee as if he meant having him the partners contented themselves with the purchase of Vancou ¬ ver That son of The Flying Dutchman out of Divi ¬ dend was secured for 400 guineas As a yearling the colt won an extraordinarily high trial with a threeyearold of John Dawsons called Lady Klngs ton a speedy winner under big weights and so greatly did the spin Impress people that Lord Stam ¬ ford afterwards offered James Smith 2000 guineas for him at that time a big price for a yearling Dawson advised Mr Smith to keep the colt for Dundee which was in his brothers Mat Dawson stable had also been tried and John Dawson put ting two and two together calculated Vancouver to be seven pounds better than Mr Merrys colt As all the world knows Dundee after an almost un beaten juvenile career broke down in the Derby and even so on three legs hunted Kettledrum home but Vancouver was destined never to fulfill the high hopes formed of him In his early days He ran only twice at two years of age It being decided to give him plenty of time to develop ils immature frame but In neither of his races didj he disgrace himself finishing fourth to Big Ben a speedy colt of Mr Saxons at Bath and running well at Ascot In the New Stakes won by the same eccentric owners Brown Duchess which later crefl ited him with the Oaks Vancouver made steady progress during the autumn and winter and in the following spring high hopes were entertained of his winning the City and Suburban for which he was heavily supported So well did the colt please his connections that the contingency of his subsequently winning the Derby was deemed the reverse of re jnote That such a double was by no means im ¬ possible was proved In later days bv Sefton but Vancouver fell a victim to a bad chill and did not go to the post for either race and never fully re ¬ covered his form afterwards A solitary success in the St Liz Welter at Northampton enrly in his four vearold season caused him to l e once more much fancied for the City and Suburban In that race inclusive of a UveK unds penalty he carried only ninetynine pounds but broke down in the race and George Clement could get him no nearer than fourth to Mr Naylors Sawcutter which won in a cantor bv three lengths Rather curiously Vancouver and Mr Saviles Ducat which were joint favorites for the Epsom race both descended to selling plate rank and in the subsequent autumn Vancouver wound up Ils itsannoinMncr racing career by finishing nearly last in a selling handicap of which Ducat was the winner Tnrf history teems with instances of similar failures however and Mr Smith was more than recompensed in the long run when Rosebery came on onMany Many years had still to run their course prior to Roseberys historic and for some time unique double in the Cesarowitch aiid Cambridgeshire and in the interim much happened to which reference must tirst IK made Shortly aflcr llartingtons victory in the esare fltch HII eyent the1 winning of which in those days liieant the Winning1 also of a largo for ¬ tune the Messrs Smith decided to devote a iiortion of their winnings io llie establishment of a sporting paper being convinced that public support would not be lacking for a journal conducted by enterprising and practical men That the Idea was sound and its method of development equally so is a matter of history for although art that period the youngest of the linden sporting papers The Sportsman early became the recognized leader nud as the first dally paper devoted mainly to sporting matters soon left all its competitors behind1 Returning to James Smiths career as an owner niuch interesting copy might be written concerning the turf in the sixties but con ¬ siderations of space make it necessary to come at once to Rosebery which not only enabled his owners to score their second success in the Cesarewitch but as previously mentioned was the first horse that ever carried his fourteenpound penalty to victory in the Cambridgeshire Foaled in 1872 by Speculum out of Ladylike by Newminster Roscbery was bred by W Green and was purchased by James Smith as a yearling at Dotieaster for 200 guineas his dam and her foal by Knight of the Garter which pre ¬ ceded him in the sale ring being Iwught by the Cobliam Stud Company fpr 530 guineas As a two yearold Rosebcry at that time known as the Lady ¬ like colt was of little account coming to his form comparatively late in life and he ran but seldom sporting silk on oriTyfour occasions in his first two seasons Had he been run off his legs in his early days he would prolwbly never have emerged from obscurity but one day as a fouryearold he did so well In a rough gallop that he was entered In the big autumn handicaps at Newmarket together with half a dozen other members of George Clements string Included In the number were such good horses as Akbar Prodigal Bourbakl and Blantyre The last named had1 two years previously won the Liverpool Summer Cup for Mr Merry and although subsequently only ai moderate sixth for Apologys StLeger he was a useful horse and had at a later date been purchased at a sale of Mr Merrys horses In training for 2300 guineas by Mr Masque much to the annoyance of his trainer Robert Peck So disgusted was the Russley trainer at losing him that he refused to give the halter the horse wore when he was sold For Mr Masque the as ¬ sumed name of one of his stable patrons Akbar had brought off a minor double at Lincoln and Liverpool in the spring and Prodigal had carried off the Great Northamptonshire Stakes two miles carrying 112 pounds These and the other horses made firstrate trial tackle for Rosebery which until shortly before the race was unnamed So well was the son of Speculum toerrlended that a week or so before the Cesarewitch he was favorite at 100 to 15 At the start however owing to the great de ¬ mand of Fred Swindells Woodlands and Sir John Astleys HopbloQin be was only third favorite his final quotation being 100 to 14 The handicapper evidently had some inkling as to Roseberys merit for he allotted him 103 pounds or three pounds more than the weight given to the as ¬ tute Lord Freddys Woodlands deemed by his party to be invincible For once In a way however Mr Swindell made a mistake in his calculations for Rosebery with Fred Archer In the saddle won in a canter by four lengths from Woodlands with Merry Duchess beaten another neck Woodlands was the mount of Billy Newhouse then in the zenith of his fame and started favorite at the short price of 4 to 1 in an field of twentynine runners People grumble nowadays of only one prominent candidate is not saddled in the birdcage What would they say if as for the race under notice the favorite and twenty one of the remainder were saddled at the Ditch stables Yet so it was only seven horses in ¬ clusive of Rpsebery being on view in the Birdcage visitors to which thus had the winner before them themEarly Early in the race there was a long tail and when a mile had still to be covered there were only four or five in it Broadside leading from Woodlands Rpsebery arid Merry Duchess Another quarter of a mile aud Broadside was done with leaving Merry Duchess in front but before reaching the Bushes Hill Rbsebcry passed her and easily holding Woodlands at bay the son of Speculum and Ladylike strode home easiest of winners For his services Fred Ar ¬ cher received the liberal gift of 1000 Rosberrys joint owners having thrwn in for a good stake and Harry Constable who rode the colt when he brought off the second half of the double under his fourteen IKJund penalty iritheCainbrldgeshlre was rewarded with a similar sum sumOriginally Originally handicapped at 103 pounds Roseberys penalty brought his Cambridgeshire impost to 117 pounds and at thattiine no horse had succeeded in carrying off both events in the same season although a number had attempted the feat In the early days of the two great handicaps for example Clar ¬ ion and Coranna both winners PI the long race could only finish third in the Cambridgeshire while Evenus stood in the Way of Faugh a Ballagh when theJatter essayed to accomplish the double carry ¬ ing however only 112 pounds in the Cambridgeshire the same weight as that under which he had galloped to victory in the Second October week Then in 185 J Vengeance who was originally called The Chicken when the property of the Rugeley poisoner Palmer like Faugh a Ballagh won the long race and was second In the other Again horses that won the Cambridgeshire but could only gain a place in the earlier race were Dacia Raby Landgrave and JChlght of the Shire so it is not surprising that many people should have considered Roseberys task wellnigh impossible in spite of his brilliant Cesare ¬ witch victory The market however eventually con ¬ vinced all but the most skeptical that the record might be broken for from 100 to 6 on the Monday following the Second October week he rapidly came down to 12 to 1 then 100 to 12 and on the follow ¬ ing Wednesday headed the quotations at sixes sixesThe The day beforertlie Cambridgeshire he stood at about 4 to 1 and this was his price at the start when he and Catseye a lightlyburdened fouryear old gelding of Sir George Chetwynds to which Rosebery was asYed to concede no less that thirty one pounds were joint favorites Another well hacked one yas Hi Birds The Ghost which in the race swerved on to Rosebery and knocked him to his knees thus giving a practical illustration of the saying that a horsii can fall down and win for Roseberys nose was all muddy when he returned to the paddock and Clement wiped the dirt off That Rosebery in the circumstances won at all was really marvelous especially as he had thirtyone of the best handicap horses in England for opponents and the mishap undoubtedly lost him several lengths Constable however handled him in masterly style and fortunately there was still a quarter of a mile In which to make up the lost ground This he did in characteristic fashion passing his opponents one by diicand filially had only Sir John Astleys Hop bloom one of his Cesarewitch antagonists to beat From the distance to the winning post Rosebery was always in front in n close finish and although Hopbloom was in receipt of seventeen pounds this big pull in the weights only served to keep him at the neck of the gallant son of Speculum whose vic ¬ tory although gained by no more than that margin was never in doubt after once his head was in front It may be here mentioned that the fourteen pounds extra for winning the Cesarewitch was not in force prior to 1875 only a minor penalty of seven pounds and Roseberys feat therefore made a tremendous impression on the sporting public he being the first horse to carry the extra fourteen pounds for Duke of Parma the previous years Cesarewitch winner did not run in the Cambridgeshire CambridgeshireAfter After his Cambridgeshire success Rosebcry with Estelle and other horses was bought by Mr Masque who was also a patron of Clements stable For his new owner Roscbery ran only twice the next season second to Lord Falmouths Skylark in the Gold Vase at Ascotand then for the Cambridgeshire for which he ran unplaced nndcr the top weight of 126 pounds to Prince DArenbcrgs Jongleur which carried 11G pounds In that race Rosebery strained atendpn was put out of training and when at the stud he achieved fame as the sire of Amphion Lady Rosebery Crowbery Cornbury Primrose II anil ihany others othersBeforeentering Beforeentering into other matters mention must be made of what may be termed the Post episode In Roseberys career During the autumn prior to his double a prominent layer got on the scent of tin horse and dispatched his brother to Lambourn to tout the doings of Clements charge The advent In the neighborhood of a mysterious stranger quickly bo came known to Clement and In order to get rid of the unwelcome visitor recourse was had to a simple but ingenious strategem It was the custom to send a boypn a hack to the village to take and bring back post letters and Clement who If he had not been a jockey and trainer would undoubtedly have achieved fame as a writer of plays of the type of The Prodi ¬ gal Daualitcr and The Derby Winner conceived the brilliant notion of using Rosebery to carry the boy with the postbag It worked like a charm for immediately the amateur tout found out the nature of the employment of the especial object of his mis ¬ sion he returned to London convinced that his brother had got on the wrong scent Reference has been Tnade to Estelle as having been purchased by Mr Mnsuue when he bought Rosebcry She was by Scottish Chief out of Queen of Spain and at threv years of nge when Rosebery was a fiveyearold and really better than he was when he carried off the big double1 she was twentyone pounds better than h was ut weight for age yet was unlucky enough to quit the turf without having won a race JJnst previously to the coups effected by the aid bf Roseberyv JamefSmltluhad disposed of his in ¬ terest in The Sportsman 1o C II Ashley His ac ¬ tivity of mind however was not satisfied and having been greatly impressed by the big Bon Marche in Paris which he had seen when on a visit to the Paris Exhibition he invested a large part of his money In land and In the building of a colos ¬ sal establishment on similar lines at Bnxton The scheme was In Itself brilliant but unfortunately while in his hands it turned out to 1m the reverse of a financial success Mention is made of this as it affords one more Instance of a man piftefl wl great ideas who achieved marked success in y11011 ventures only to meet with loss ou stmyinK other and less accustomed paths The deceased retained his interest in nidus the end but after the Rosebcry epoch he own few horses of uolo Among the exceptions V Magistrate likewise owned in partnership witli y ney Smith which was trained by Walters Sr a Pimpcrne and bought originally for something liKc seventy guineas In the colors of the late Mr Re1 fern who secured him in a selling race at Doncaster Magistrate won a number of races James Snm1 was also responsible for the management of a11 interested in the horses which ran in the names of Mr Leybonrne and S J Baker among them lc ing such wellknown performers as Goldseeker IV rant Lord Esterling Tarrare which was afterward named Quarrel and did good service for Lord Ro e bery Glentilt and Dargle The last named was well fancied for the Manchester November Hand cap but he was unsound and went wrong on lie morning of the race
