Part 14

The incidents of the Cesarewitch outside racing circles are not of very great interest; many of the animals which have proved successful have never again been heard of as being of any value on the turf. The distance run is a little over two miles and a quarter, and as the pace is usually a rapid one, it takes a very good horse to win when the animal is really weighted according to its merits. As has been indicated, the race on some occasions falls to a very mediocre horse, who has been got into the handicap by trickery, at almost a nominal weight, for the purpose of enabling the owner and his friends to win a series of big bets. The Cesarewitch does not often result in the first favourite proving successful, having been often won by horses which, in a comparative sense, may be called outsiders. The honours of favouritism are of course determined by the price of the horse in the betting; if it is at 4 to 1, whilst the others are at such prices as 7, 10, or 14, then the "first" favourite is the horse which is at 4 to 1.

The Cambridgeshire is looked upon as the twin race of the Cesarewitch; both are run at Newmarket within about a fortnight of each other. The distance of the Cambridgeshire course is a little over a mile, so that the race is of the short-cut kind; although to get a mile at the terrific pace which is set in this handicap, takes something serious out of the competing horses. The Cambridgeshire, like the Cesarewitch, was instituted in 1839, and the race is a favourite medium of speculation, large sums being now and then won by a well-planned coup. The first winner of the race was Mr. Ramsay, of Barnton, whose horse, Lanercost, beating eleven others, credited him with the prize. In some years forty horses have run in the Cambridgeshire. It was often prophesied that the same animal would in one year win both races; but the double event was never compassed till 1876, when Roseberry, a horse belonging to Mr. James Smith, the well-known proprietor of the Bon Marché, proved successful, and again in 1881, "the American year," the double event was accomplished by Mr. Keene's horse, Foxhall, an animal that had previously credited his owner with the lucrative Grand Prize of Paris. As year after year passed over, and the double event never came off, it began to be thought that such an occurrence would prove to be an impossibility in consequence of the disparity of the distances over which the horses had to run, and over which of course they required to be trained; but in 1885 the feat was once more accomplished, this time by the French horse, Plaisanterie.

The Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire, as has been stated, are big betting races, more money being wagered over these events in the present day than over any other handicaps of the year. The two find favour in the eyes of double event bettors; the foreign bookmakers in particular laid themselves out to accommodate the betting public to any extent. Two thousand pounds to twenty shillings is the limit fixed for such bets, and every now and then the feat of combining in one bet the names of the winning horses of both events is accomplished. In the year Cardinal York won the one race and Adonis the other the success of several double event bettors was recorded by the press. One gentleman, a stockbroker, was named as being the winner of twelve thousand pounds, the risk he ran in obtaining that sum being nine pounds ten shillings only. As may be supposed, where one is successful thousands fail. A bookmaker doing only a small business informed the writer that of sixteen hundred and seventy-two double event bets which he laid against the chances of naming the two winners, only thirteen persons were successful in coupling the first winner with a horse for the second event, and none of those who tried succeeded in the feat of naming both winners. An Edinburgh bookmaker who at one time accommodated small bettors with double event bets on the same races, never once required to pay, although thousands tried their luck.

Those persons who bet on the results of the race for the Cambridgeshire, when they are so fortunate as to name the winner, occasionally obtain wonderfully good odds. Since 1875 only five favourites have won the race. On the other hand, what are called "long prices" have been laid against horses that have won in recent years, as, for instance, 33 to 1, Jongleur (1877); 40 to 1, Jester (1878); 30 to 1, La Merveille (1879); 50 to 1, Bendigo (1883); and 40 to 1, Gloriation (1887). Several other Cambridgeshire horses might be quoted at 20 to 1, and at figures a little below 20. Such prices do not often attend the race for the Cesarewitch, but then the winner in 1890 started at the odds of 28 to 1; and Stoneclink (1885) was quoted while at the starting-post at 100 to 3--an excellent price, as all who had the good fortune to back the horse willingly acknowledged.

As has been hinted, the Cesarewitch has been notorious for the thousand and one plots that have been laid to obtain a victory; the same may be said of the Cambridgeshire. Many hopes and fears have been centred on the chance of winning one or both of these races. Clever turfites have again and again planned and schemed, only, however, to incur defeat. Honest owners, running on the square with an honestly handicapped horse, have been "done" in the end by the machinations of some syndicate possessed of an animal kept for the purpose.

The Northumberland Plate, still run for at Gosforth Park, the Great Ebor Handicap, and the Liverpool Cups, as also the Cumberland Plate, were all of them some twenty-five years ago favourite betting races. They are no longer, however, what they were; but bettors have the Jubilee Stakes at their service, as also such events as the Royal Hunt Cup, run at Ascot, and the Stewards' Cup, decided at the Goodwood Meeting. These are races on which plenty of speculation takes place, so that the loss of the "great" handicaps is not of much moment, there being so many other outlets for the gambling instinct of the nation, which was never so strong as it now is. The races for the Ascot Stakes and the Goodwood Stakes do not give rise to betting of any consequence till the days set for their decision; nor does speculation, as of old, begin on the Portland Plate, decided at Doncaster, till the names of the runners are known. The big handicaps brought off at Manchester during the Whitsuntide holidays, and at a later period, give rise to an immense amount of betting, especially among the masses.

These handicap notes might be considerably extended. Some of the recently introduced races represent big stakes, ranging from one to six thousand pounds, so that they are worth winning. The race for the City and Suburban has even of late years been improved, and is now worth a thousand pounds to the owner of the winning horse. A glance at any of the turf guides will show that there is almost a plethora of racing; but betting men, be they ever so industrious, cannot go on day after day figuring the odds against everything. Racing fashions are bound to change. It is of little use, therefore, mourning over the decadence of the Chester Cup, or any of the other "great" handicaps of "auld lang syne," when there are so many events which afford better opportunities to the horse and greater scope to those who care nothing for the animal, except as an instrument of gambling.

NOTES ON MEMORABLE MATCHES.

Match-making, and the running-off of matches, was in the beginning of racing, and in later times as well, a favourite mode of sport; a volume, indeed, and an interesting one, might be written on that branch of the history of horse-racing, which is still to some extent carried on, matches being occasionally resorted to as one means of settling which of two is the better horse. It is not my purpose to do more at present than chronicle, by way of "sample," half-a-dozen of the more memorable matches, two or three of which may be said to have become historical.

Matches, as they were made some hundred years ago, or in earlier times, were always arranged to be run over a distance of ground, the courses never as a rule being shorter than four miles, and sometimes extending far beyond that distance. In the years 1718-9-20-1, to go no further back, upwards of eighty such contests took place--that is to say, races between horse and horse. In those days, and for long afterwards, other kinds of matches were made, which do not, however, concern this history; and at one time it was a fashion to arrange different exploits as matches. Many such might be referred to--shooting matches, cocking matches, racket matches, and sometimes even mail coaches were matched to run one against the other. A contest of this description may just be mentioned in passing, as an example of what was called sport ninety years ago. In the year 1802 the London and Plymouth mails raced for a sum of 500 gs. from St. Sydwells to Honiton, a distance of sixteen miles, when the London coach, driven by Mr. Browne, won the race, doing the distance in one hour and fourteen minutes.

Fifty-two years previous to the decision of that match, a still more curious event of the kind occurred at Newmarket, when a wager of 100 gs. was made that a carriage with four running wheels, to be drawn by four horses and driven by a man, would run nineteen miles on Newmarket Heath within one hour. A vehicle was made expressly for the occasion by a London coachmaker of celebrity, and when all was ready this race against time began at seven o'clock in the morning, and finished in fifty-three minutes and twenty-seven seconds, so that backers of the horses won their money.

Captain Newland's wager to ride one hundred and forty miles in eight successive hours on hack horses excited much attention. The event took place on the 2nd of April, 1801. The captain won, as he performed the distance in seven hours and thirty-four minutes. Many matches, or rather wagers to ride horses against time, might be recorded of even earlier date, as for instance one which took place in the year 1606, when "John Lepton, Esq., of York, for a considerable sum, engaged to ride six days in succession between York and London, and he won his wager."

The walking matches of Captain Barclay have been so often described that no reference need be here made to them--they were marvels of pluck and endurance. Another of the many curious matches which took place during the last century was that of Miss Pond, brought off at Newmarket in the months of April and May, 1758. That lady's wager was to ride, mounted always on the same horse, a thousand miles in a thousand successive hours. The stake involved was only 200 gs., and she won it easily enough. Miss Pond was the daughter of the compiler and publisher of the Racing Calendar, and some doubts have been expressed as to whether or not she used the same horse throughout. It is worth mentioning that Dr. Johnson wrote a satirical essay on this affair in the sixth number of The Idler (May, 1775), his contention being that profit was the sole end in acquiring honour and distinction, and that such events as that in which Miss Pond took part were estimated only by the money gained or lost.

A Mr. Jenison Shafto, in accordance with a wager of 2,000 gs. between himself and Hugo Maynell, found a person to ride one hundred miles a day "on any one horse each day for twenty-nine successive days, to have any number of horses not exceeding twenty-nine." John Woodcock was selected to perform this feat, and beginning his arduous task on Newmarket Heath on May 4th, 1761, brought it to a successful conclusion on the 1st of June about six o'clock in the evening, having used fourteen horses only.

Coming now to matches more suitable to be recorded in this work, one affair of the kind run at Newmarket between two horses deserves notice. It was that of Mr. Blake's Firetail and Mr. Foley's Pumpkin, "the hardest race almost ever known," and remarkable for the wonderful time in which it was run; the horses, it is said, did the Rowley mile (one mile and thirty yards) in one minute and four seconds! An interesting match was run in the year 1773, the course being from York to London; the one horse was a hackney gelding, the other a road mare. The distance was done in forty hours and thirty-five minutes, and the winning mare, it is related, drank twelve bottles of wine during her journey, for which she was nothing the worse; the beaten horse died the day after the contest was finished.

The great struggle between Hambletonian and Diamond, which took place at the Newmarket Craven Meeting of 1799, is well worthy of notice; it was regarded by sportsmen of the time as a race to determine which was the better sire, Eclipse or Herod. The match is recorded in Baily's Register in the following bald way: "Sir H. T. Vane's b. h. Hambletonian, by King Fergus, 8st. 3 lb., beat Mr. Cookson's br. h. Diamond, 8st., B.C., 3,000 gs. h. ft." A more detailed account has, however, been preserved and is given in Whyte's "History of the Turf," from which the following narrative has been taken: Previous to the time fixed for the match, which was run between one and two o'clock on Monday, 25th March, 1799, a great crowd of persons had assembled--"one of the greatest crowds ever witnessed at Newmarket"--to see the race. Hambletonian, it is related, started with the lead and maintained it till the last half-mile of the course was entered upon, when Diamond, stealing up, challenged. The struggle for victory was a keen one; each jockey rode his very best, Hambletonian being ridden by the famous Buckle, while Dennis Fitzpatrick had charge of the other horse. As the animals neared the winning-post it looked all over as if the contest would end in a dead heat, but almost in the last stride Buckle nerved himself for a great and final effort, and won the race by little more than a head. According to the best authorities, the four miles were run in about eight minutes and a half.

Large sums fell to be paid and received over this event, the betting having ruled high, Yorkshire to a man supporting Hambletonian, and the Newmarket people backing Diamond. When the horses started the state of the odds was about "even money," either you liked. Hambletonian was foaled in 1792, and won almost every race for which he was entered, including the St. Leger and the Gold Cup at Doncaster; indeed, he was only beaten upon one occasion when he unfortunately ran out of the course at York August Meeting, 1797, when running against Deserter and Spread Eagle. This famous animal, after a fairly successful time at the stud, died on March 28th, 1818, in the twenty-seventh year of his age, having begot Norval, Camillus, Joan of Arc, and many other high-mettled steeds that have figured in turf history.

Another match that excited almost as much attention as the struggle between Hambletonian and Diamond, was arranged between Sir H. Vane's Cockfighter and Mr. Johnson's Sir Solomon for 500 guineas, which took place at Doncaster on the 19th September, 1801. The horses ran the Doncaster course twice, and the first two miles were said to have been covered in three minutes, whilst the four miles were done in seven minutes and ten seconds: the distance run was three miles, six furlongs, and thirty-two yards. The betting at starting was 6 to 4 and 11 to 8 on Cockfighter, and a sum of £50,000 is said to have changed hands on the occasion. Sir Solomon took the lead at the start and, never being headed, won by about a length and a half. The winner was got by Sir Peter Teazle; Cockfighter was got by Overton, and was thus descended from the Godolphin barb.

The most noteworthy match--"the most interesting race ever run upon Knavesmire"--recorded in the annals of the turf is that in which Mrs. Colonel Thornton and Mr. Flint took part. The excitement which attended this affair may be guessed from the fact that upwards of £200,000 was depending in wagers on the event--the betting at the start being at the rate of 5 to 4 and 6 to 4 on the lady, who, however, lost the day. The affair was fully recorded in the sporting periodicals of the period, from which the following particulars have been gleaned. The match originated quite in a friendly spirit; the parties being out for a ride discussed and, of course, praised the merits of their respective horses, and on the spur of the moment indulged in a trial gallop, the lady being at once victorious. A formal challenge was the result of this extempore gallop, which ended in a match for 1,000 gs. This event was brought to a consummation on the 25th of August, 1804, and for some weeks before that date nothing else was talked about; over sporting Yorkshire it was a common topic of conversation, all sorts of notions being entertained as to how the lady would ride and how she would be dressed, and as the time drew near it became quite evident that Mrs. Thornton possessed the entire sympathies of the horse-loving people of the greatest county of England.

On the appointed day the horses were duly prepared for the struggle. Mrs. Thornton's horse was Vingarillo and Mr. Flint's was Thornville; in accordance with the conditions of the match the lady was to ride her weight against the weight of Mr. Flint. According to the newspapers of the day such an assemblage of the people on a racecourse had never been seen as on the occasion of riding this match; it was estimated that at least a hundred thousand persons were present on the Knavesmire, expectation being raised to the highest pitch from the exceeding novelty of the event.

The story of the race was told in The York Herald: "About four o'clock Mrs. Thornton appeared on the ground, full of spirits, her horse led by Colonel Thornton, and followed by Mr. Baker and Mr. H. Boynton; afterwards appeared Mr. Flint. They started a little past four o'clock. The lady took the lead for upwards of three miles in most capital style. Her horse, however, had much the shorter stroke of the two. When within a mile of being home Mr. Flint pushed forward and got the lead, which he kept. Mrs. Thornton used every exertion, but finding it impossible to win the race, she drew up in sportsman-like style, when within about two distances. The course was four miles."

The riding of the lady excited admiration, and it was difficult to say whether her horsemanship, her dress, or her beauty was most admired, the tout ensemble being considered unique. The sympathy extended to Mrs. Thornton because of her defeat was universal, and there seemed to be a feeling on the part of all that Mr. Flint acted most ungallantly in not allowing her to take the honours of the race; in plainer language, he should have made her a present of the stake--£1,000! That some bad blood resulted over the affair was soon known. The lady herself, who is reputed to have been as clever at her desk as she was in the saddle, wrote a letter on the subject complaining of having been ungallantly used in various ways on the course, and concluding by challenging Mr. Flint to ride the same match in all its terms over the same course next year.

The appetite of Mrs. Colonel Thornton appears to have been whetted by what had taken place for further exploits of a similar kind; at all events, in the next year, 1805, her name crops up in two matches, one for 2,000 gs. and four hogsheads of Cote Roti, as also a bet of 600 gs. p.p. Mr. Bromford, her opponent, however, declined to ride, and Mrs. Thornton, after doing the usual perfunctory walk over, bagged £1,000 of forfeit, the bet of 600 gs. p.p., and presumably contributed to her stock of wine half of the supply of the Cote Roti. No sooner had the walk, or rather canter over taken place, than the lady, "dressed in a purple cap and waistcoat, nankeen-coloured skirts, purple shoes, and embroidered stockings," appeared to ride against Buckle, the famous jockey, a match of two miles. The start for this contest was made at half-past three o'clock, when the lady went off with the lead and managed to keep in front for some distance, when Buckle forged to the front and kept there for a dozen paces, "when Mrs. Thornton, by the most excellent, we may truly say horsemanship, pushed forward and came in in a style far superior to anything of the kind we have witnessed, gaining the race by half a neck; her bold and steady jockeyship, indeed, amazed one of the most crowded courses ever witnessed. On her winning she was hailed with the most reiterated shouts of congratulation."

It has been hinted, with regard to this race, that the lady owed her victory to the gallantry of the professional horseman, Buckle. The match is thus given in the "Annals of the Turf":

MATCH FOR A CUP, VALUE 700 GUINEAS. TWO MILES.

Colonel Thornton's br. m. Louisa, by Pegasus, 6 years old, 9 st. 6 lb. Mrs. Thornton 1 Mr. Bloomfield's ch. m. Allegro, by Pegasus, 6 years old, 13 st. 6 lb. Francis Buckle 2

The pleasures of victory were greatly marred by an incident which occurred in the course of the afternoon, and that was the horse-whipping of Colonel Thornton by Mr. Flint, who had never received payment of the stakes lost by the lady in her first match. Law proceedings ensued, but these need not be detailed here; there can be no doubt Flint was rather ill-used throughout, and that Mrs. Colonel Thornton's views were entirely mercenary. And who was the lady who thus made herself so notorious? Orton, in the work already referred to, says she was not the wife but only the chère amie of Colonel Thornton, her real name being Alicia Meynell, the daughter of a respectable watchmaker of the city of Norwich, and was then about twenty-two years of age, very handsome, and of fascinating manners, with fair complexion, light hair, and blue eyes. Captain Flint was a well-known sportsman of those days, and well known as the author of "A Treatise on the Management of the Horse." He died from an over-dose of prussic acid, which he was in the habit of taking in order to relieve the attacks of asthma from which he often suffered.

Next in interest to the great match between Hambletonian and Diamond, a giant struggle of modern times may be referred to. It took place on the Knavesmire at the York Spring Meeting, May 13th, 1851; the names of the two horses which gave renown to the match were Flying Dutchman and Voltigeur, and there are many alive who looked on at the race, and talk of it as the one sight of their lives.