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SOME GREAT PLUNGERS OF THE PAST Transactions in Which Famous English Owners Figured and Not Always Creditably There is no such betting now as was transacted in the fifties and sixties and in the early seventies says the sporting writer of Truth The last really ireat stake which was landed over this race tht Cesarewltch was won by Uosebery and two years earlier F Swindell had backed the Truth gelding to win 00000 by a long course of dexterous lint perfectly unscrupulous maneuvering Mr Swindell won a huge stake over Didcibella which hail been tried a certainty and she came in alone aloneThere There was an immense win over Lecturer Lord Hastings himself clearing 400000 while the total winnings of the party were not less than 0 X0 When the weights for the Cesarewitch of 1S were published Lord Hastings considered that his horses had been unfairly treated by Admiral Kous and they were all struck out Lecturer was not included in the band as he had been nominated for some reason or another by the wellknown Peter Wilkinson Everything in those days was utterly chaotic and huggermugger in the department of ownership and partnership but under the present rules Lecturer would surely have been disqualified disqualifiedThe The most sensational race was that won by Lion ¬ ess as it led to unpleasant developments which had farreaching results Colonel Ouseley Higgins who was one of the most popular members of the Jockey Club set had been for some time on intimate terms with Jnmes Merry He was consulted as to the running of Mr Merrys horses and was quite behind the scenes in the stable tactics Lioness was sys ¬ tematically steadied with a view to her winning the Cesarewitch the coup having been for several mouths in contemplation but on this occasion not only was Colonel Higgins kept in the dark but lie maintained that he had been deliberately misled and that not only had he been put off backing the mare himself hut lie had prevented many of his acquaintances from supportins her herMr Mr Merry as was said of a celebrated turf tac ¬ tician had been as sly as a fox and as mute as a mackerel The fact was that lie gave Ids com ¬ mission to a shrewd man who undertook it only on receiving a most solemn promise tliat not a word should bo uttered in recommendation of Lioness until the numbers were up Mr Merry carefully held his tongue and although Lioness was obviously being backed for a great deal of money neither Colonel Higgins nor anyone else received a particle of encouragement from the owner ownerWhen When the numbers were hoisted Mr Merry looked out for Colonel Higgins but in those days it was easy for men to miss each other tit Newmarket just before such a big race One would be in the birdcage and the other might be at the ring or In the crowd of horsemen or in a carriage by the ropes Mr Merry met Lord Stamford who was galloping to the ring and begged liini if he saw Colonel Hixgins to tell him to be sure to make Lioness a winner IEE OF COLONEL HIGGINS AEOUSED However the tip did not arrive in time and di ¬ rectly after Lioness had won easily Colonel Hig ¬ gins galloped up to Mr Merrys carriage almost speechless with fury and assailed him publicly with a rich flow of invective including such epi ¬ thets as are commonly associated with Ananias and Rarabbas Lord Stamford who came up during the attack vainly attempted to explain away matters but Colonel Higgins was implacable and vowed the only satisfaction would compensate for his grievances grievancesMr Mr Merry did not relish the prospect of standing opposite a bloodthirsty Irishman who was known to be a sure shot and Inter in the day Lord Stamford was sent to confer with Colonel Iliggins with much the same secret instructions as were given by Lord Steyne to Mr Wenham when lie deputed liini to meet Colonel Kawdon Crawley HapiHly the offer was referred for final decision to Admiral Rons and George Payne whose strong common sense and fine tact enabled them to patch up what Lord Bed consfield lias defined as v badtempered under ¬ standing standingThe The episode caused a great fuss at Newmarket but it was kept quiet as people were not iii those days so ftmd of proclaiming quarrels mid scandals as they are now It was this unfortunate affair which prevented Mr Merry from being elected a member of the Jockey Club ClubA A few years afterwards his name was to lie put forward but Admiral lions and Lord George Man ¬ ners advised the proposer and seconder to withdraw the candidate as it was absolutely certain that he would 1 blackballed Admiral IJons was sensibly averse to subjecting a man of Mr Merrys position on the turf to a public snub as it might likely have caused him to sell his stud and give up racing altogether In those days the names of candidates for the Jockey Club were published in tlie Calendar before this ballot so if a man was blackballed every one knew of his failure failureThere There was a great todo alxmt 1807 when I he late Duke of Hamilton was blackballed for the Jockey Club and not only did the welkin ring with the indignation of the candidates friends but Admiral Uons pointed out the absurdity and folly of reject ¬ ing a candidate of unexceptionable position who meed on a large scale At that time however there was a positive craze for blackballing at New ¬ market and a certain clique vowed to keep out of the club any candidate connected with the city Lord Glasgow nearly always put in a black ball and for years one of tlie great objects of his life was ti keep Colonel Forester out of the Jockey Club
