Racing Reminiscences and Experiences of the Turf
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
LIBRARY UNIVERSITY^ PENNSYLVANIA FAIRMAN ROGERS COLLECTION ON HORSEMANSHIP ^ / ^/ Jp^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/racingreminisc01chet RACING EEMINISCENCES VOL. I. FHINTET) BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQIJARE LONDON RACING REMINISCENCES AND EXPEEIENCES OF THE TUEF BY SIE GEOEGE CHETWYND, - BAET. IN TWO VOLUMES—VOL. I. LONDON LONGMANS, GEEEN, AND CO. AND NEW YOEK : 15 EAST IG"- STREET 1891 Ail rights reserved NEW BOLTON (m«. CENTER cm ^•1 DEDICATED SPOETING PUBLIC — PEEFACE Tfie reader has doubtless observed, as I have, how much interest is often aroused by a glance at an old ' Eacing Calendar ' which revives memories of bygone celebrities and of the events which made them famous. We seem to hear again the thunder of their hoofs as they dash past the Kowley Mile Stand, see the flash of the bright jackets, and listen to the roar of the crowd that follows the hoisting of the number which proclaims that the good thing has come off—or, as more frequently happens, has just been beaten on the post. But in a ' Calendar ' there is necessarily an absence of detail ; it is in its nature a dry record of fact ; and I have ventured to think, therefore, that a somewhat fuller account of the most interesting events of which I have been a spectator—in which, not seldom, I have been an actor—would perhaps possess interest for my readers. During my racing career I have also gathered and on many occasions paid dearly for—experience of various kinds ; and this, it has struck me, is likely to be of service to those who have a taste for the ' great game.' Many men whose names live, and will live, in Turf history have been my friends, and sketches . j VIU RACING REMINISCENCES of them from the hand of one who knew them well may I hope tend to preserve their memories ; more- over, I have come across not a few curious characters whose doings may be entertaining, and instructive rather as a warning than as an example ; and of some of these I have been tempted to speak. Practical hints on various subjects, about some of which opinions differ, are included in the volume. Of these I can only say that the advice is that which commends itself to me after careful study of the matters treated. One other object I have had in view : to pre- serve a record of the facts connected with an action which I felt it my duty to bring against a nobleman who had traduced my character. The verdict was in my favour, as it was inevitable it must be ; but the Stewards of the Jockey Club, who sat as Arbitrators, failed to award me damages which would have marked the magnitude of the wrong I suffered, and I have felt bound therefore to vindicate myself by printing as an Appendix a report of the trial. I regret its length if the reader finds it long ; but for reasons which I state in the remarks preceding it I could not make it shorter. For some assistance in the, to me, unaccustomed task of writing a l^ook, I am indebted to my friend Mr. Alfred Watson, the Assistant Editor of the Badminton Lil )rar3^ j-: Georg Cii j-:t w y n i . CONTENTS THE FIRST VOLUME PAOK PREFACE V RACING REMINISCENCES AGE 1869 1 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 RACING REMINISCENCES Turf history during the last twenty years has been of a notably eventful character, racing itself and its surroundings and associations having changed to an astonishing extent since, to fix a period, let us say Blue Gown's Derby. At that time the great Epsom contest was the event of the year par excellence^ not only because of the fame which attended a Derby winner, but because the prize seemed, by comparison with the fifty-pound plate which often attracted fields good in quantity and quality, of very great value, no one dreaming that within the time mentioned, on courses that did not then exist, stakes of 10,000L or 12,000Z. would come to be regarded with perfect equanimity. No less remote from the imagination of the racegoer of twenty years ago was the idea that horseflesh would reach its present standard—that, for instance, 662 lots of foals and yearlings would be sold in a year and fetch such a sum as 195,358 guineas, or 300 guineas each. The sale of Kangaroo for 11,000 guineas to the late Marquis of Hastings had been men- tioned with breathless wonder ; whereas now we hear without surprise of the refusal of nearly twice that sum—20,000/. —.for a successful two-year-old. B 2 RACING REMINISCENCES During the last twenty years the Turf has gained a stronger hold upon all classes of the community. Among men talk about racing generally interests a very much larger proportion of any given company than any other subject that could possibly be started. The talkers may know nothing about it, but they will talk ; indeed, it sometimes appears that they do so in proportion to their lack of knowledge. And they gamble as well as talk, as also in most instances with no better judgment. Those who remember the haunts of the hole-and-corner bettincr men of two decades since, who saw how many of them there were, and how numerous were their ' clients,' may hesitate to believe that backing horses has increased to the enormous extent it has done ; but there is no large town now without its larger or smaller circle of bookmakers, and there are few small towns in which those who know where to look for him cannot find someone who is always ready to lay them the odds. Many wise reforms have been accomplished during these twenty years, since half-mile scampers were features in every programme, and, at the same time, not a few legislative blunders have also been committed ; but with these matters I shall deal at length later in the book. As regards myself, I may perhaps be excused for remarking that throughout the period over which these reminiscences extend, I have not only owned horses, but have taken, I think, a more active and direct interest in their preparation, engagements, and trials, than is the case with the majority of owners. As a Steward of the Jockej^ Club, and very frequently of race meetings in all parts of EAELY EXPERIENCE 3 the country, I have necessarily made myself familiar with the system of Turf legislation, and I trust that the reader may consider these credentials as suffi- cient to justify me in the task I am now undertaking. With these brief introductory remarks I plunge at once into my subject. As these are reminiscences, I shall perhaps do well to begin with the first thing that I remember in con- nection with horses and silk jackets. My earliest experience of a race was when, at the age of eight or nine, I was taken with a large party staying at my father^s house to see some farmers' steeplechases got up by the gentlemen of the Ather- stone Hunt, the chief event of the day being a match, owners up, between Colonel Maddockes and Mr. William Oakeley, both of whom used to stay at Grendon for the hunting season with the late Lord Vivian, General Gipps, and others. The match was made at Grendon, one night after dinner, and there was great excitement over it, owing to the popularity of the two riders. It was won by Mr. Oakeley, but the result might have been different had not his antagonist called his attention to the fact that he had gone the wrong side of the flag, and refused to take advantage of the mistake, waiting while his opponent retraced his steps. If it were my purpose to be didactic I might here enlarge upon the multitudinous chances and accidents of racing—the result of which so often is to prevent the best horse from winning, a lesson which, happily for the betting ring, backers will never learn. From Christchurch some of us used to go to small steeplechase meetings ; but the first important flat b2 4 KACING REMINISCENCES race meeting I attended was Ascot in 1 8168. I have good occasion for remembering it, as I had broken the small bone in my leg three weeks before, and had with whalebone supports made on purpose a boot ; but it was a foolish thing to go, and I was in great pain towards the end of the day. Here too, thus early in, at the very beginning indeed of, my brief career, I had my first experience of being welshed. I laid a man in the outer ring 2 to 1 on the Earl, when the proper price was 5 to 1, and gave him my 201. beforehand. The Earl beat Eestitution a neck ; but when I went to collect the 30/. I had won I was surprised to find that my bookmaker had disappeared. In August 1869 I went to Brighton races and .saw Eestitution win the cup for Baron Eothschild. Then ' were the days when Follow the Baron ' was the watchword which backers so often found it fortunate to observe, and his lordship had justifiable confidence in his own luck. So much so was this the case at the time I am speaking of, that on seeing and admiring the cup in the morning he made a bet that it would be on his dinner table that night ; and there the loser had the gratification of contemplating it during the evening.