view raw text
FAMOUS PARTNERSHIPS AND PLUNGERS. How British Turf Giants Operated More Than a Century Ago. "The first betting partnership on record, I believe, was that of the Bight Honorable Charles JaBtea Fox and Thomas, Lord Foley, which lasted fraaalTTS to 17i3. twenty -one years and was only terminated by the Math of Lord Foley." writes Thormanby In the London Sportsman. "Every one knows what a reckless plunger Charles .lames Fox was at ever- species of gambling. Gibson tells of Lis playing at hazard for twenty-one hours at a sitting, and losing BM pounds an hour, and in his first three years at the game he got through 140.000 pounds. Indomitable paster that he was. lie naed to s.iy that the greatest pleasure la life, after winning was losing lie commenced his partnership with Lord Pole] well, fur in the first spring meeting of 177l:. at Newmarket, he won lo.ooo pounds by laying against the favorite, which was beaten by j i ; 1 1 a nock. "Three rears later ho eclipsed this coup by winning 30.000 pounds over the three days racing at the headquarters of the turf. Even the cares and ditties of stat s:nanship could not keep him from constantly visiting Newmarket, where his portly frame was ever to be seen on his back, tearing wildly paat the Judges chair, dose np wit n the leading homes, whipping, spurring and blowing as if lie would hare lafanf d his whole aoel into the hooaa he was hacking, just as Lord George Bentinck need to do until the late Mr. Clarke defended a disputed decision by the remark that he ought by rights to have placed a tall gentleman in a white mackintosh first. "ChartOS .lames Fox owned some good horses in Ids time, among the m PjirhOS, by Which he and his partner won upwards of 12,000 pounds. But though la- Brought off some big coups lie plunged so recklessly tiiat his losses far exceeded his gains in tin-long run. His partner. Lord Poley, however, was even lees fortunate, lie commtaced his career m a racing man with 100,000 pounds in ready money and ■ clear is. ion poands a year. When lie died in 17a-.i be was bankrupt Like Charles James Fox. of Whom Edmund Burke said that lie was a man made to bo lived. Ford Foley won tlie affection of all ■with Whom he was brought in Contact, lie was tie-most amiabh and eh ■ mi lag of men, and he 1-ft behind him not only a stainless name, but the n-piit.it lea of hrhag one of the finest and moat ■traightforward aportsmea that the tarf had ever para. Acknowledffed Prince of Plungers. "But the prince of plungers was without question Harry Ml iliab. For live brief year-- Mellish was the most conspicuous figure in the circa: I I . sport and fashion. He commenced his racing career in MM, when his Welshman, by Sir Pet r Teazle, with tiat wily Jockey, Billy Pierce, in the saddle, won for him a match of fifty guineas at Durham meet. From that tine- forward la-was passionately attached to the turf and had he confined himself to that sport, despite I » I — reckless plunging, he would probably have added to, rather than diminished, his splendid patrimony, for he wus udmittcd ou all side:, to be the cleverest man of his day both ii: the theory and practice of racing. In matching and handicapping his skill was acknowledged to be extraordinary. But in one memorable instance tlie Duke of Clcvi hind, the Jesuit of the ring, as he was called, and onn of the most crafty and astute turfmen of his owe or any other time, was one too ni.iuv for the accomplished Mellish. The Dnki . who was then Lord Darlington, matched his Pavilion, a horse afterwards purchased by the Prince Regent, against MeUlsha Baacho for 8,004 guineas a side. The two horses had already met one it: the New Claret Stakes over the I.ewes course sad Pavilion had won. The second match was won over tlie ram course in the .Inly of 1800, The excitement over the race was tremendous — greater even than that evoked by the famous contest between Hainbh-toniaa and Diamond. Mellish had back d S.ineho to win him 30,000 pounds, and when he drove on the ei arse in his splendidly-appointed drag, with it superb team of browns, lie raised his white hat ironically to his friends in the grandstand and said: If Sanchos boat. I hope some of you will take me for a coachman. "It was a splendid race. Sam Chifney having the mount on Pavilion and Frank Buckle being on Mr. M Uiehs horse, but just at the finish Sanchos leg gave way when he looked all over a winner, and Pavilion shot past the judges box. After tlie race the Prince in-t Mellish on the course am] said: Mellish. Im sorry for you. No, youre net, your Royal Highness, for youve won your money. replied the owner of Sanclio. turning on his heel as lie spoke, and leaving the regent to stomach the retort as best lie could. It was a keener cut for his Rojal Iliirhness than even when he received Unround robin fri m the Jockey Club, in consequence of which lie never again appeared at Newmarket. Bat such trifles did not weigh very long on the philosophic mind of Henry Mellish. and. despite his rudeness to the regent, he lunched at he Star with tiie royal party as calmly as if he had bean only losing threepenny points at whist. Lord Foley Nicl-.named No. 11. "At that time Mr. Mellish had as his letting associate Lord Foley, the son of Charles .lames Tons partner, one of the most miserably lean and meager men ever s;-en. whom his contemporaries nicknamed No. 11. from a fancied resemblance which tlie appearance of his extraordinary long thin legs bora to the numeral. And very lively these two made it for the betting men. for Mellish lever opened his month under oOO pounds in the ring. "Stirring scenes there must have been down at Brigiiton. The two pulled off some big coups together, and on the whole held their own well against the ring, though, perhaps, not with such distinguished success as tlie Hon. Richard Vernon. commonly called Dick Vernon, who, if we are to believe his biographer, Thomas Iloicroft anther of thai admired comedy, The Road to Bain, wea so adroit in hedging his bets that he usually made a 10.000 pound book by which he lost nothing, nor Could he in any case ha IS lost anything. Put Mellish lived at inch a rate that the wealth of Croesus could not have stood the strain. He had close upon forty horses in training, seventeen carriage horses, a abaca hunters in Leicestershire, five ehargers at Brighton he was captain of the 10th Hussars, the ne plus ultra of fashionable soldiering bl sides hack l innumerable, and had a whole brigade of retainers in his pay. whose crimson liveries alone must have Coat him a pretty penny. Then he wa: al-o an enthusiastic supporter of the prize ring: in fact, the noble army of bruisers looked upon him as the treasurer and made no slight demands upon his parse. Vet not all this lavish expenditure would have rained Mellish if he could only have kept aloof from cards and dice. Fatal St. Leger of 1306. "But vile, insinuating hazard effected that which betting in the ring only partially accomplished, and fih-hed from the reckless plunger his fair domains. It is sail! that he on -a staked 10,000 pounds npoa a -ingle throw and lost. On one occasion he lost 07,000 pounds at one sitting at Brooke Clab, in St. James street, and wis leaving the place when he met his Royal Highness the Bake of Sussex, to who he exhumed: Ive lost : -. y thing; Im ruined. Thereupon the good-natured duke, clapping him on the back, said: Come back, your luck will turn, perhaps. And it did turn with a vengeance, for he won 100.000 pounds eh-an off the reel lrom his Royal Highness. But all he ever got in discharge of the debt was an annuity of 4,000 pounds a year, badly paid. "The last straw to break the camels back was the St. Lcger oi" 1800, over which the betting was terrific. The Sporting Magazine two months before the race was run stated that there was little doubt that upwards of on ! million guineas had already been laid. Lord Foley and Mellish were amongst those who were most heavily hit by the victory of PyMener. The latter, indeed, was ruined by the blow. In the following December his stud was sold, whilst he himself left England and went out as an aide-de-camp to Sir Rowland Fergu son in Spain, where the Peninsular war was then raging. "I.ut before he P ft he bad the honor of entertaining his [loyal Highness the Prince Regent in his ancestral hail at Blythe, which was no longer his, however, for he had been compelled to seB it to Mr. Walker, the great i run found-, r. of Rotterdam, who generously lent him the house in order that he might play the host to his distinguished guest in a manner worthy of his re putation. "During the few days that, Mr. Mellish gave his farewell reception to royalty he and the prince used to sit tip all night, engaged in tie- fascinating pursuit game of hazard, and there is still preserved in Doncaater, I believe, the little fable at which the master of l.ythe rattled the dice for tlie last time with the future sovereign of Bngland. On being appointed aide-de-camp to Sir Rowland Ferguson. Mr. Mellish received the brev-t rank of colonel, anl whilst he was attached to that generals staT. distinguished himself so conspicuously by his gallantry and intelligence that he was more than once honored with special mention and nmhw in the dispatches of the Duke of Wellington. Unfortunately, however, Mellish could not restrain his passion for gambling, a vice which the duke viewed with the greatest abhorrence during a campaign, and the Conseqaence was that the colonel was advised to throw iii his post and return home. "Maddest" of Bets by Mellish. "It was whilst ho was in the peninsula that Mellish made one of tie- maddest bets in the annals of wagering. He appeared one morning on a wretched looking home, which made him the subject of unlimited chaff. Why. the brute wouldnt fetch a fiver. said one of his brother officers. Ill bet y:m a couple of ponies that I shall get fifty-five pounds for him. replied Mellish. "The wager was promptly taken by half a dozen officers. Mellish quietly booked all the bets, and then, patting the spurs to his charger, galloped straight for the enemys nearest picket. As he was within range, the Flench sharpshooters began to blaze at him. but. regardless of the bullets that whistled around him. UeBish rode on till the home was hot under him. Then, waving his hat to the Frenchmen, he walked coaly back to the British lines an touched. Now the government then allowed forty !ie pounds for every officers horse killed in action. So Harry Mellish won the wager, for which he lad deliberately risked his life. "Out of his splendid property only one small farm was left to him. There he lived quietly on his wifes income, foreswore betting and gambling, and devoted his attention to scientific farming and the breeding of cattle and greyhounds. He died in 1817 at the early age of thirty-s -vcn. Notorious Plunger Jubilee Juggins. "The story of the ill fated Marquis of Hastings is too well known to call for repetition hero. Au-other notorious plunger, of the most foolish type, was Ernest Benson, commonly known as the Jubilee Juggins. who got through a fortune of 250,000 pounds in two years. Yet, BOW and then, even he had his good times. But a man who could spend 00,000 poands on a pie as MO flip to Australia and drop thousands at baccarat in a ingle evening, scarcely u.ided plunging on the tarf to bring him to speedy rain. I have known men to whom the reckless flinging away of money was a fascinating pastime. This no re possession of ready aah inflamed them with an irresistible pas- ion for throwing it away. "The number of men who have at one time or another won fortunes on the turf and tin n let their winnings i again is extraordinary. Never be ing satisfied with one fortune, they tried for two and lost all. Ridsdale. who. with Cully as a partner, wen the Derby twice, died in a garni : . : Newmarket without the price of a pint of ale to 1 ie-s himself wit:., while William Chifney, tl. owner of tin celebrated Priam, whose establishment at Newmarket rivalled Crocksforda m its magnificence, died nearly as badly off as Ridsdale. Then the money Mr. liodgmaii won in MSB on Rocket for the Cesarewitcb, in 1S,;[ on Victor for the Royal Hunt, in 1863 on Verdant for tin- Ebor and on Confederate for the Great Eastern Handicap, i.-i 1 s.p; on I.iul Jones for the Chester Cup and in 1800 on Westminster for the Cambridgeshire, mast have been fabulous; but. as Lord George Bentinck discovered, it was ■ t ■ufficJenl to nay expenses for the number of her--, hi had in training and in that manner and unsuccessful speculation it no lied away like tin- morning dew. "At on- tine- Mr. "layby was tired of winning. but ia his case, too. a series o: failures, combined with a very large stu i, soon look mora than all tie- gilt oft" the gingerbread. Mr. Bonnet .-..•in by the two victories of Il.ilhy in ti - Chest, r Cap 1m;:. 6, won over 60,000 pounds; vet a few years biter he lad net as man; I rthings. Poor Care-.v. wno stood to win 1-o.iMiii poands on Old Robert, died almost penniless iu Boulogne."
