LATE LORD WOOLAVINGTON

Lord Woolavington, whose death was recently reported from London at the advanced age of 85 years, was not only lamed iii business enterprise but he was also one of the stoutest pillars. of the English Turf and one of its most striking personalities. Formerly Mr J. Buchanan, and later Sir James m isi> au'w 0 Wai ralsed t0 tllc Peerage ■ 'S • Hl? coloui-s were registered in 1900 and he was elected a member of the Jockey Club in 1027. For many years he was the principal patron of the Beckhampton stable, presided over by F. Darling. In his first association with the sport the late Lord Woolavington raced under the assumed name of '"Mr T Kincaid,;' one of the first horses to carry his colours being Epsom Lad with whom he won the Prince of Wales's Stakes and Eclipse Stakes Epsom Lad was one of the best horses in- n ever- owned> and he cost him only 1000 guineas a few weeks before he won the two races named, worth £10,000 apiece. Another good horse he owned at about the same time was Golden Measure, with whom ■■he ■■won the Great Ebor Handicap and Ascot Gold Vase.

Lord Woolavington was not nearly so fortunate in his acquisition of Noctuilorm, whom he purchased from the late Mr. G. G. Stead, as the New Zeajand-bred horse was an abject failure in England. There is no question of Noctuiform's having been a really good horse here, but he was put into training and raced soon after his arrival in England, after having had a bad passage from New Zealand, and he was never able to recover form. Few men spent money so lavishly on bloodstock, both mares and yearlings, as Lord Woolavington, and it cannot be said that until recent years the return was anything like adequate to the expenditure. The tide turned in his favour when he purchased Hurry On as a- yearling in 1914 for 500 guineas. It was unfortunate that Hurry On should have had to do his racing during the war years, when his opportunities were limited. Hurry On raced for only one season when a three-year-old, and retired undefeated having won six races. He became a great sire, and brought a fortune to his owner in stud fees, as well as siring for him the best horses he ever owned.

With Captain Cuttle and Coronach, sons of Hurry On, Lord Woolavington won the Derby, and Coronach also won the St. Leger. In stakes Coronach earned £48,225 and Captain Cuttle £15,037. Last year Lord Woolavington paid 15,000 guineas for the Frenchowned coll Easton, who was considered to have a great chance of winning the Derby. Ridden by Richards, he ran second to the Indian-owned Windsor Lad. This year Windsor Lad confirmed his superiority over Easton. Manitoba, who is now at" the stud in Victoria, was also raced by Ltrd Woolavington, and so was Parenthesis, another horse at the stud in Australia.

One of the hobbies of Lord Woolavington was the collecting of famous sporing pictures, and he had one of the finest collections in the world.