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Earls of Derby Famous Turfmen Old Racing Stables at Leasowe Built Nearly 300 Years Ago Family Derby Yet to Be Won In the Liverpool Museum there is the original door of the old racing stables at Leasowe which were probably built by the sixth earl of Derby some time between the years of 1000 and 1042 These stables were in close proximity to the Leasowe race course which was probably one of the oldest in the kingdom William Webb under sheriff of Cheshire writjng in 1622 of the course says Fair lands or plains upon the shores of the sea which for fitness for such a purpose allure the gentlemen and others oft to appoint great matches and venture no small sums in trying the swiftness of their horses Leasuwe Castle was near the course and the oldest part of it had a flat roof which was used as a stand for viewing the races and was probably built by the pre ¬ ceding earl the fiftli for thus purpose and also for hawking hawkingThe The race course began and ended at the same place the starting chair being also the winning post It was marked out by posts or stoops At the far end close to the castle there were three posts or stoops round which the horses had to pass making a kind of loop and tiien to relnrn along the same track to the distance chair which was 210 yards short of the winning post To win a race the horse had to be in front at the distance chair and maintain bis lead up to the winning post postIn In the reign of Charles II the racing which had been dormant for some years was revived again and in the London Gazette for February 12 1671 there is a notice of a nice to close which was under the auspices of Charles Karl of Derby the eighth carl with many other gentlemen of quality within the two counties of Lancaster and Chester The nice was to lx run on May 18 was open to horses of any size but all runners must have been kept within lie Liberties of Liverpool hree jyeki trfnrpthe day f m SPORTING NOBLEMEN OF OLD DAYS DAYSIn In 1C82 the ill s tarred Duke of Monmouth was present at the Autumn meeting and riding his own horse won the first Plate with Young White ley second and Mr Bolds horse ridden by the Hon Henry Booth third and Nottingham last In thin race Lord Monmouth offered to lay 1000 on his horse but found no takers and it was noted that on the way to the start Mr Booth the rider of the second rode up to him and said something to him which so pleased the duke that he embraced Mr Booth very kindly In the light of nowadays one wonders if there was perhaps one all out and the rest airing but the race ¬ goer even then knew something as the dukes wagers found no takers takersThe The 30 Plate at the same meeting was won by Mr Booth other horses competing being the property of Lord Derby and Lord Molineux At the finish of the racing the Duke had two foot races witli a Mr Cutts of Cambridgeshire the first stripped and the second In Ills boots and won both bothIn In the early part of the eighteenth century one of the richest stakes in the kingdom was run for as in 1723 the Dukes of Devonshire and Bridge water the Earls of Derby and Barrymore Vis ¬ count Molineux Lord Gower Sir William Wil ¬ liams Sir Richard Grosvenor Mr Egerton Mr Cliolmondeley and Mr Bulkly Mackworth agreed to subscribe 20 guineas annually for ten successive years for a race on the first Thursday In May in each year The race was for fiveyearolds to carry 10 stone distance four miles During the last five years it was confined to horses bred by subscribers only but In the first five it was open to all allThe The first year Lord Gower won with an unnamed horse In 1724 Sir Richard Grosvenors Shag won in 1725 Duke of Devonshires Mermaid won in 1720 and 1727 Sir Richard Grosvenors Grey Wynn and Spot won in 1728 the Duke of Aucasters Gen ¬ tleman In 1729 Mr Egertoua Nanny in 1730 Lord Gowers unnamed horse and in 1731 and 1732 the Duke of Ancasters Crab and Diver DiverTWELFTH TWELFTH EARL A COOD SPORTSMAN SPORTSMANThe The Earl of Derby mentioned in the above was probably the eleventh carl who run a horse called Mufty at York in 1725 and was among the also ran to Mr Metcalfes Harlequin He was suc ¬ ceeded by his grandson the son of his eldest son Lord Strange who had been a member of the Jockey Club ClubThe The twelfth earl was born in 1752 and is the best known of the Derbys connected with the turf He was married at an early age to Lady Eizabeth Hamilton and in honor of ills engagement he held a grand fete at The Oaks in Surrey a property lie hud bought from his uncle by marriage General Burgoyne It had originally been an alehouse but General Bnrgoyne had rebuilt it and christened it The Oaks after some fine treos near by The earls first marriage was not a happy one but he would not divorce his wife and when she died in 1792 he married the actress Miss Farren FarrenIn In 1773 the earl took up his residence at The Oaks and in 1779 instituted a race for three yearold fillies 8 st 4 pounds one mile and a half and christened it after his residence The Oaks Appropriately enough he won it the first year with Bridget which was by Herod Jemima by Snap This filly with Goodison up beat a field of twelve starting favorite at 5 to 2 against The colors up were probably green white stripes as it was not until 1780 that the familiar black white cap was registered The following year 1780 saw the first race for the Derby It was The Derby Stakes of fifty guineas each half for ¬ feit for1 threeyearold colts 8 St and fillies 7 st 11 pounds one mile 36 subs At this time the earl had eleven horses in traning which was quite a small establishment compared with that of Lord Grosvenor who had thirtythree in ¬ cluding Pot8Os Pot8OsTliis Tliis latter Earl of Grosvenor was the first earl 1701 and is the one of whom it is written by Wai pole In his 3Iemoirs of George III Sir Richard Grosvenor is made a lord viscount or baron I dont know which nor does lie for yesterday when he should have kissed hands he was gone to Newmarket to see the trial of a race horse To him the earl ¬ dom was nothing in comparison to the foundation of the Eaton Stud which he accomplished round about 1780 Besides Gimcraek he owned Pot8Os Daedalus his brother Rhadamanthns and John Bull the latter three of which all won the Derby The Grosvenor colors were registered in 1702 as orange but were changed to orange black cap in 1771 1771The The Earl of Derby had tried to win the Derby with King William in 1781 and the Oaks with Rose in 1783 but both were down the course Then in 1784 he was third witli Dancer to Colonel OKellys Sergeant for the Derby and second with Lady Teazle to Stella for the Oaks Then after an unsuccessful attempt with Ziiia for the 1785 Oaks the long coveted Derby was won with Sir Peter Teazle his wifes most successful play from seven others This horse was by Highflyer Papil lon a mare which laid the foundation of the earls stud as mated to Matchem she produced Sincerity To Highflyer she produced Lady Teazle To Wood ¬ pecker she produced The Wren and then to High ¬ flyer again Sir Peter Teazle The Derby was this horses first race and starting at 2 to 1 he beat Gunpowder and Bustler and then went on to Ascot and won a sweepstakes Then lie went to New ¬ market aiid won a 1400 guineas subscription race for threeyearolds and two days later took the Prince of Wales Plate His next outing was a match against Lord Ciermonts Bullfinch for 500 guineas Lord Derbys horse conceded twentyseven pounds but won comfortably Then came another subscription purse and then a walkover for a similar race two days later This completed his threeyearold racing and he retired to winter quarters unbeaten and in his next season he was unbeaten though winning the Jockey Stakes the Claret Stakes the Fortescue Stakes arid receiving forfeit in two matches until the first October meeting when lie failed to give thirty five pounds to the Duke of Queensberrys Dash DashIn In histhirdseasoiulierj a9 jiptsosajiHfactorjrand iM broke dbwnln his attempt to mti The Seventy Guineas at the first October meeting He then retired to the stud at Knowsley at a fee of ten guineas soon raised to thirty guineas He sired four Derby winners in Sir Harry 1789 Archduke 1799 Ditto 1803 and Paris 1806 two winners of the Oaks in Hermione 1794 and Parisot 1796 and four St Leger winners in Ambrosio 1796 Fyldner 1806 Paulina 1807 and Petronius 1808 triple succession of victories that has never before or since fallen to the lot of one sire sireCOCK COCK FIGHTING TWELFTH EARLS HOBBY HOBBYLord Lord Derby was a great believer in inbreeding and he inbred with Papillon For nine generations brother and sister were mated together but the result naturally was a fiasco Another good mare he owned was Brown Bess which mated with Sir Peter Teazle produced Maud third to Pelisse for the Oaks of 1804 and Margaret second to Briseis for the same race in 1807 1807Before Before leaving the twelfth earl a word must be said of his other bobby cock fighting more es ¬ pecially as in the early days of his life mains were i introduced into the program of most race meet ¬ ings The famous Derby red strain of gamecocks had been famous for generations as the sixth earl built a cockpit at St Johns Chester in a garden by the waterside where many mains were fought by gentlemen from all parts and much money was lost and gained even estates changing owners and in the time of the twelfth earl 3000 chickens were placed out annually and the retinue of the fighting cocks resembled that of a training stable B Beesley and Potter were his lordships cock feeders and Roscoe was cockbreeder cockbreederAn An advertisement in the nice list for Manchester races run at Salford in 1S29 reads A main of cocks will be fought at the pit in Salford between the Earl of Derby Potter feeder and H B Hoghton Esq Woodcock feeder for 10 guineas a battle and 200 guineas the main 35 maws 5 byes The earl won 17 mains 2 byes and Mr Hoghton 18 mains 3 byes The earl died in 1835 beloved and respected by all a real sportsman and an all white man manThe The fourteenth earl grandson of the twelfth earl went in for racing as well as politics on a large scale He had during his twentyone years con ¬ nection with the turf 243 horses in training and of these fiftyfour won ovor 94000 pounds sterling in stakes which must have cleared all expenses for his hobby His bost winners were Canezou which won the 1000 guineas for him in 1848 and was second to Surolice for the St Leger and Sagitta which took the Guineas in I860 Ithuriel was an ¬ other though more famous at the stud than on the turf as she was the dam of Iris an Oaks winner The fourteenth carl The Rupert of Debate was as famous if not more so in parliament as on the turf and was the great political opponent of Lord Palmerston who was also tin owner ownerMODERN MODERN EARLS ALL TURFMEN TURFMENThe The next earl to be connected witli the tnrf was the sixteenth and when he took up his interest in sport probably due to the influence of the present earl then Lord Stanley the Knowsley Paddocks had become almost derelict Canterbury Pilgrim was the first big winner lie owned and she was probably lucky to beat Thais for the Oaks in 1896 For the first few years Melange Dingle Bay and Chaucer scored well in the family colors Chaucers first get was Stedfast which ran second to Sunstar for the Coronation Derby Canterbury Pilgrim was bought by the present earl then Lord Stanley as a yearling for 1800 guineas from the Duchess of Montrose and Mr John Griffiths who had for many years been stud groom with the duchess was the first to take charge of the renovated Knowsley KnowsleyThe The turf career of the present carl is too recent to bear repetition but to date there have been winners of the Oaks in Keystone II the One Thousand Guineas with Canyon and the St Leger with Swynford but so far Sir Peter Teazles victory for the twelfth earl in the Derby has never been repeated The Grand National has yet to be won In July 191iT the present Lord Stan ¬ leys colors were registered as black white belt and cap and a week later lie won his first race the Cambridgeshire Hunt Plate with Young Peg ¬ asus a horse given him by the earl beating the kings horse Sunny Lake by a head and Dan Rus ¬ sell formerly the property of Lord Derby a good third Baileys Magazine
