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; l , ; , . j OLD-TIME RACING IN MERRY ENGLAND. Quaint Happenings and Transactions When the Rules Were Not Well Defined. The fact of a four-mile race being decided re- cently In Ireland re-opened the question relating to present-day Stayers. l-n- horses are galloped more than two miles, and then only when lioing prepared tor the Cesarewlteh or one or two other big events, but what wosdd present tralne » do should the days of four-mile heats come again. Particulars are recorded of a race for a gold cup. decided at York. in September, 1708, the value being sixty sovereigns, for Six year-old horses, to run four mile beats. The rub states that should a horse will the lirst and second heats he must obtain a place In the third beat, or snoeld not be entitled to the cap. Wart won the first and second beats, and ran third in the next, so be may be r i tr 1 1 1 1 v- regarded as a stayer and entitled to the prize. Tie- horses carried los pounds each. on t.u- fallowing day, for a plate of forty sover- eigne, siso four mile beats, Wbltenose ran ::. i. [ 1. 1. winning the fourth heat easily. The program on the Thursday included s plate of baa sovereigns, four nub beat-, in which it is recorded lb it • "Button ami Milkmaid. In running the last heat, [ came in so near together that it could not lx decided by the tryera lodges, ami the riders show- bag foal play in running, and afterwards fighting I on horseback, the plate was given to the third i horse." in those day-. Indeed, four-mile beats appeared to I been the*only distances covered I for there are no records of any race of less. Iti-s fortunately times are not given, and it may bare i been a easo of. like the modern cyclist, crawling ■ for three miles and seven-eighths arid sprlutiif the : final lap. At York in 1711 there was decided - Her Majesty Que-n Anns Cold up. valne lx : ffuiiieas. for six-year-olds, etc.. ir;s pounds each. . four-mile beats. A horse named Sampson wen the ; firsi two beats end got the stakes. Of another i winner which finished — 6, I, l -Bay Bolton bj t name, it is writ! :: I him that he was an excellent : stallion, and died In 1730, He was buried with h :s shoes on. and must have reached the great age t of thirty - ne years. r At iork to July, 1714, there was a similar nice, iind a mare called Pncatsi ran in four four mile ? heats, being placed us foUowa -1. 2. 2. 1. n is recent** thai the Uilrd heal waa naosl severely 1 contested betwe«"n Docaesa and Foxbtmter. Duchess s raa ro Bear the cords thai her rider araa obliged I to whip oTer hia bene** shoulder. The heal m s given i" Foxhunteer, hut aa both the riders I .1 I I shown fool play, and afterwards fought aa horae - back, uiMiiy dispates arose asanas; the ■portamen, . aad i araa agreed that the heat should be nm 1 nor again by the lr, Dncheaa winning by a clear 1 length. In cona inence ol both tin- owners claim-Inn • ili prise a lawsuit ensued, ami all leets w.-re t . arced to be withdrawn. In tiie meantime her M.ij.nv Gold Cap araa lavested in traal with the ■ Lord Mayor of the City of York. It being ett]cd liv the court before which the raaae was beard that ,,ii Uuraea arhich were not disqualified had an eqaal 1 i.:!i to the priae, tear owners aold their shares s tor twenty-ore guineas each, two of arhich were l" purchased by the Duke of Rtitland. and one each 1 ioj the Karl f Carlisle aad sir. William Lowtber. Bart., who agreed that it should In- rim for again in 1719, or live rears later. Thia ran took place . in .Inlv. 1719, and was won liv the Karl of Carlisle, tii. the third day of the ITU meeting a plate of 14 sov ereigna waa won bj bet Majesty Qoeea Annes , star, which was placed — 4 :; 1 1 la the foot beata , respectively. Daring the naming for a sold cap , .11 Angaal 2 ol that year "an express arrived oH f the death of her Kajestj Qaeen Anne, upon which , the Bobilbj and gentry immediately left the it Id j and attended the lard mayor and archbishop, who proclaimed his Majesty King George I., after which I mot of the noliility set off for London." There wa- more racing on the following day. however, and [ it is n corded that "this meeting was attended by so great a eaacoarae of nobility and gentry that t there wore one hundred and nfty-alx carriages one . day upon the field." What would the rhronicler t have written hail ho seen Boaae of the preseat-dav tin normal times Beets of motor ears, cspeciall; at Ascot, Epsom on Derby day. or a grand military . meeting 1 The next item ot nolo occurred at York 1 in 1718, When a gelding named Sly won three heats over four miles for a plate of forty sovereigns. The record says: "Crutches was taken against the field 1 at high odds and he would certainly have won the place with great ease had not his rider intentionally ,- thrown himself off near the winning post when he lad the lead. Notwithstanding this, the horse won 1 the heat, hut was deemed distanced by not bringing ; in his weight." One can imagine what 1 ho stewards 1 of the lackey Club would do should a jockey act in i a like manner now. At Hambletoa in August, 1710. thirtv-one went t 1o the post for Ills Majestys old Cap. value 100 guineas, for Bve-year-old marea, distance four miles. . The Duke of Rutlands Bonn Black won. and sixteen - herses were placed, hut as a matter of fact the B winner was only a loin -year-oM. and a footnote i stall-: "There is no otb r instaace OB record of I m many horses being started foe any one race, and 1 what is more remarkable is that it should be won by a mare which, only four years old. gave her r rear away against .n large a field am! carried t.e 6 weight stipulated for fire-year-olda. Bonny Black s was unquestionably the beat rater of her day." The Bar! • •; Cheaters Bnckhanter wen His Majestys -1 Hold Cup at York in 1710. finishing Brat, fourth and 1 and in his three heats. Bnckhanter, it is reported. . waa ■ gelding of aaaerioc form: be win numerous • plates and slakes at Newmarket, and for a great t Dumber of years was used as a trial horse, which t severe work he sustained until fourteen years of f age, when he was sold, and af forwards won no fewer than eighteen plates, which at that period woiiM most probably he all fear-mile beata. tie] ft .11 tasl broke a leg while running, and was buried1 aear t.- the pails of Stilton Churchyard, where the B I I accident happened, in 1731. An unnamed horse won 1 I I tli- Ladles Date at York in 1720. "but his rider; rl showing fool play ii was adjudged by the Founders s that ho should not have any benefit from either r plate or stakes." The Oral record of racing at Dene aster is dated Inly 1728. Im- a plate of 40 sovereigns, for six-year-olds, fou: mile heat--. Hackney and Country Wench were disqualified in the first heal. "This aaa occasioned by the carelessness of the jockeys who. not intending to run for the heat, lay too far " out of their ground. The two horses stalled again, aad heal all the oihers iii." Daelger. arhich woo a four-mile race at York in the same year, "was so 1 1 inch -111- tier 10 his antagonists thai his rider palled him up and walked round the turn poet, after which he could hare distanced them all." At a 1 ting at Don-ash r In 1731 it was resolved that t the Honcaster meetings shoald hi future take place ■ ia the first week in Jane. Mother No-sham won 1 two beata 1! tour miles at York in 1733, after breeding a filly foal, an. I si e also won two beats - in the following year. One winner was named Who 1 Would Have Thought It. and another. Why Do Ton 1 slight Me. For His Majestys On,. Hundred Guineas ; at Yoi-u in 173$ "Spectre was backed against th • field at high odd-;, ami after lie- Brat beat guineas were laid to shillings on him." Bat tiie good thing. as so often happens nowadays, came andone. and I the horse only look second place, .lack. Come Tickle Me win a race, and th.- home BCqaired his name •, in the circumstance that the owner, asking the Jockey who rode him how he liked the chestnut colt, I be latter replied. "He ran better for being tickled." In 174:: a two-mile even; appears, though - 11-mile heals were the rule until nianv years later. -— c. ? 1 s I s I I - . 1 1 • t ■ 1 s l" 1 . , , , f , j I [ t . t . 1 1 ,- 1 ; 1 i t . - B i I 1 r 6 s -1 1 . • t t f ft B I I 1 I I rl s r " 1 1 t ■ 1 - 1 1 ; • I At York, in 174. the then Lord March won a four nub match on 1 1 i ~~ own horse, Whipper In. The carl wa-- a celebrated sportsman in mam ways. He ar ranged a carriage match, to cover nineteen miles in uixtj minutes, and the conveying of a letter Bfty miles .vitliiu aa hour enclosed 111 a cri kit ball and handed from cue in llu- Other of twenty-four crick - lers. These schemes were believed at the time- to 1 e absolutely impracticable, but they were accom- plisbed. A mare named Miss Western scored at Hambleton in 1751. She araa attended to by one John Hutchinson, "a boy of fifteen years of age who possessed but a trilling sum. which he bet that she area the race. He was so elated with his socoeaa that after counting his wianinga over and over again and lossiiii. the money in his hat he threw it DpOB tin- corn bin and exclaimed: There, thank ;od 1 -hill never want money again. " Hutchinson subsequent!] became a fasaoas breeder ami raci horse owner, and accumulated a considerable far- tunc Give and Take plates wen1 far some time in vogue. Horses carried weight for age and weight for laches. If an age. I horse- measured fourteen hands he e-.u-f- lied 120 pounds, and fifteen bauds 154 pounds, with a rielueecl scale tor younger animals. In one of these races a loin year-old carried Ml pounds, four ounces, and a five-year-old 122 pounds, four ounces, while an aged hors,. carried 136 pounds, ten ounces. Kven in those long-ago days there were Jockeys named Richard Marsh and William Wangle The first recorded time Of a four-mile race was S:07 at v eik in 1750. Dan Kussel occupied 3:31 in covering two miles recently, so that the earlier time was by no means slow. Another four milor did the journey in two s -c-ond leas. It is recorded that in 1700 a famous Mr. . Johnson rode one mile standing upright on boree back for loo guineas. He was allowed three min-.- ntes. hut performed it in 2:42. Not only did jock-t . cys fight, as mentioned above, in the old days, but t horses followed the example. One named Irinee Ferdinald, the sou of an Arab horse, waa to have r run at Doarastft on September 23, 1700, but he broke loose and fought with and killed Laurel. . which stood in the same stable. These is an in--. - stance of a marc- having a foal before being taken 1 into training. She was I.ass of the Mill, and siibsc-. e;iie-nlly proved a good breeder. That great horse, Eclipse, walked over for His Majestys One Hundred Guineas at York in 1770, then being a six -year-old. Eclipse raced for two ; seasons, and is described as an unparalleled racer J and stallion, and. being foaled during the great f eclipse which took place in 1704 the horse was , . named from that circumstance. Eclipse was never beaten. His skeleton was preserved, and in later ,. years one of his hoofs, elegantly and expensively . mounted, was presented tee the Jockey Club by ;ec-rge the Fourth, and st one time formed the first challenge prize at Ascot. The winner of a can at Done-aster in 1770 named Liberty was origin-1 ally bought for seven sovereigns and resold for r nine. Refare the race he changed hands again for r ten guiicas down: ten more if he won which he , did, and twenty sovereigns a year for life. A celebrated jockey in those far-off days. John Singleton, was the son of a wise father, for it is J on record that tin- latter supported a wife and ] nine children on the small wages of tour pence per day. For one event 2S0 guineas forfeit was paid 1 and a hogshead of claret handed over. The first t St. Leger. tl en called a sweepstakes of twenty-five i guineas each, for three-year-olds, two miles, at-1 trneted six subscriptions, but there was nothing sen-1 national about the race. The event, run in 1776. A was originated that year on the proposition of I iii. st. Leger, aad at the third aaalveraary the race was named the St. Leger Stake, in compliment j. to that gentleman, who could not have foreseen the , great pail which the St. Leger has subsequently . played in turf history. A mare named MNs Nightingale was to have run 1 at I.oroughbridge- in October. 177S. but died on the * Sunday preceding the- race. Suspiei.ms having [ arisen of her being pois aed, she was opened, when I here was found in her stomach about two pounds of duck shot, made up with putty into balls. The name of Tatteraall crops up in the records of 177S. and about that time AJaX was a good winner. : Moie 1 ee-ently. of e-ourse. another Ajax. a son of living Fox, won important rae-es. Ihocion won the Gold Cap at Doaeastet in 177S. A useful performer ; . at tin- time was a horse named Ifagog, which was backed to win that particular event at high odds. but the night before running "some villains broke ! two ]• cks ami girt into the stable to Magog, and I by cutting bis tongue nearly int. and giving him ! some dole terious medicine inwardly, rendered him at the time Incapable of starting, in eonseepionce of I which 1 fresh entry was ordered by the stewards. ami all farmer liets declared void. Slagog recovered from his injuries, and won one or two races." .The York meeting in 17S0 was honored by the presence of the Prince of Wales afterwards Jeorge tiio Fourth! and the Duke of York. and festivities were conducted on a gorgeous scale for several days. rank, beauty and fashion joining in the pro- ceedings. A singular cause of the death of a horse occurred at Chester in 170N. He was taking tie hmd Bear the winning i ost when he bolted over lie- cords among the crewel, "his head coming in violent contact with the flipe of the helmet of a soldier, who happened to i e a ape eta tor, which rjccasiaaed the horses immediate death, while the soldier received no injury." — London Sportsman.
