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INCIDENTS OF SOME OLDTIME RACES Thunderbolt Was a Horso of Tremendous Speed and tbo Greatest Rival of Thormanby A slashing golden chestnut son of Stockwell Cordelia by Red Deer Thunderbolt was a horse of great speed and he was one of the most formidable rivals of Thormanby in their twoyearold days For Mr Calodon Alexander be won five races out of eight in bis first season inclusive of a walk ¬ over Thormanby lie met three times at two years finishing in front of him in the Findon Stakes at Goodwood then a neck and head divided Nut bourne Thunderbolt and Mr Merrys great horse Previously however Thunderbolt ran unplaced to Rupee and Thormanby for tiie New Stakes and at their last meeting in the Criterion Thormanby defeated him by a length after a great race Ford ham having to use the whip on the winner in a strenuous finish finishRather Rather curiously Tanntons Famous Horses states that in 1851 Thunderbolt won the Stewards Cup at Goodwood under 139 pounds but that is an error He certainly ran for that nice carrying the weight specified but he was unplaced to Croagli Patrick to which he was trying to concede no less than sixty pounds Thunderbolt moreover started at the forlorn odds of GO to 1 1At At the stud he sired many big horses but nowa ¬ days the best known of them is perhaps Reverbera ¬ tion which became the sire of Concussion dam of Ilammcrkop Sirenia Llangibby etc Among his daughters were Lady Blanche which was the granddam of Btmbury and Loctot which went to Australia and produced among others Chain Shot The lastnamed came to tills country as a stallion A famous mare that likewise attained the age of thirtyone was Rosamond by Buzzard dam of the St Lcger winner Barefoot When she foaled that colt to Tramp she was already twentytwo and she continued to bear foals for another four years yearsBarcfoots Barcfoots Leger was most sensational for after three false starts twentythree of the twentyseven competitors broke away and ran the whole course Barefoot finishing second to Carnival The race had to be run over again and only a dozen went to the post Barefoot finally winning His original backers had good hedging for his price of 20 to 1 prior to the false start was subsequently reduced to 5 to 1 1In In those days of course there was no such thing as starting price but had there been his backers would of course have been entitled to twenties In more recent times the point was definitely de ¬ cided when Barmecide won the Cninlx rland Plate That was in 1890 All the nine runners except Reil sand went the course in a breakaway Tyrant a warm favorite at evens coming in first beating Parmccide 8 to 1 by a half length Two of the field did not go to the post for the actual race which was won by Barmecide 3 to 1 with Tyrant 11 to 8 against unplaced unplacedIt It was argued in some quarters that the prices at the actual start should rule but if that were cor ¬ rect what would become of the money wagered on the two horses which were finally withdrawn Hav ¬ ing once been under the starters orders they were clearly runners within the meaning of Rule 1 of the Rules of Racing Bookmakers were therefore en ¬ titled to receive over them and per contra they were equally entitled to pay backers the original or false start prices over the actual winner and placed horses horsesRAN RAN TOO GREAT A DISTANCE DISTANCEThere There was a previous decision to the same equit ¬ able effect in connection witli the Northampton ¬ shire Stakes of 1SS7 The circumstances were rather different for after Mieldlethorpe had won by six lengths from Valentine with Postscript third an ohloction was made to the nice on the ground that the proper distance had been exceeded and the stewards ordered the course to be measured when it was found that all the horses had run two hundred and fifty yards more than the prescribed distance They ordered the race to be run over again in ac ¬ cordance with the rule Five of the horses did not go to the post the second time and Middlethorpe won again with Postscript second Sandpiper third and Valentine and Thome unplaced unplacedIn In his book on The Rules of Betting a well known legal authority on turf matters sonic years later dissented from the decision which was given at the time that all the horses which ran in the race over the wrong course were starters whether or not they ran in the actual race His opinion was that this decision was erroneous inasmuch as there was no starter properly acting within the scope of his duties dutiesI I must confess that I am unable to follow bis argument for apparently the starter was not re ¬ sponsible for the mistake and even had lie been Rule 33 of the Rules of Racing 1SS7 stated in plain words that if a race was run by all the horses at wrong weights or a wrong distance or when the judge was not in the box the stewards were to order it to be run again on the same day That being so there was as far as a mere layman can see not the smallest loophole for a quibble Ten horses went to the post and took part in the original race and they were therefore starters whether they went to the post the second time or not notThe The settlement of starting price wagers for that reason could only be made in one way i e by the return of the prices at the time of the start of the irst race over the wrong course Bookmakers were entitled to claim over the five horses that were withdrawn from the actual nice and therefore they had to pay the prices current at the first start Middiethorpe It may bo recalled was then favorite at 4 to 1 witli Xelly Farren second choice at 5 to 1 Postscript at 11 to 2 Thome at 100 to I Sandpiper 7 to 1 Valentine 8 to 1 Chatterl ox 100 to 8 and so on For the actual nice Mieldlethorpe was a 7 to 4 on chance witli Postscript at fours and the other runners Sandpiper Valentine and Thome jointly at 8 to 1 It was only equity that starting price layers could not receive over Nelly Farren and the other four absentees and at the same time pay out over Middlcthorpe at the greatly shortened price of 7 to 4 on Vigilant in London Sportsman
