FORTUNES LOST ON THE TURF.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 65, 16 March 1907, Page 13

FORTUNES LOST ON THE TURF.

SOME TRAGEDIES OF PRODIGALS AND EASILY AMASSED WEALTH.

No more tragic story is contained In the history of the turf than that relating to the Ufe and death of the unfortunate young: Marquis of Hastings. Born on the 22nd of July, 1842, by the death of an elder brother he succeeded to the title and an immense patrimony when he was only nine years old; and seemingly at that time no prospects could have been brighter or fairer than his. Yet only a little over 26 years later the young Marquis had passed away, a ruined man both in mind and in pocket. At the outset of his racing career lie was fairly successful, among his big betting coups being the winning of £75,000 over the Cesarewitch, which Lecturer won. His good fortune, however, seems to Have turned his head, for, commencing to gamble recklessly, and at times with, a perverse, blindness to the dictates of his own common sense, he soon lost heavily. Over the sensational Derby which Hermit, in spite of the fact that he had broken a blood vessel but a few days before, won in 1567, he lost considerably more than £100,000, and was compelled to sacrifice his magnificent estate of Loudon in Scotland in order to meet his debts. His pride urged him to pay his creditors to the uttermost farthing, as the owner of the winner was Mr. Henry Chaplin, whose fiancee, Lady Florence Paget, he had induced to run away with him, and marry him, three short years before; and he could not brook that his rival should in any way have cause to point the finger of scorn at him. AN UNLUCKY FILLY. But, although Hermit cost him so dearly, it was his own filly, Lady Elizabeth, who dealt the final blow at his tottering fortunes. So confident was he that she would win the two-year-old Derby, the Middle Park Plate, that he supported her ehanct. as long as the bookmakers wou'd accept Ms bets. The result of the race was that Rosicrucian, owned by Sir Joseph Hawley, came in first, Lady Eli_abeth being beaten out of a place. The Marquis of Hastings lost £00,000, and, for the first time during his racing career, he was observed to change colour, and show outwardly his concern at his tremendous losses. To cover his confusion the Marchioness of Aylesbury, who was standing near, thrust her bettingbook into his hand, and inquired in a whisper how much she had lost. The Marquis was immediately himself again, and, without the trace of a tremour audible in his voice, replied, "You have lost £23."

In spite of her pronounced failure on this occasion, the Marquis was quite as infatuated with Lady Elizabeth's supposed merits as ever. For the Derby the following year he backed her to win an enormous sum, with the same result, however, for again Lady Elizabeth was beaten out of the first three. The Marquis was now completely ruined, and his health giving way, be went on a yachting voyage amongst the seas and fjords of Norway, in an endeavour to rehabilitate it. Tbe effort was vain, however, and early in November, 186S, tbe Marquis breathed his last.

FAMOUS PLUNGERS.

Another nobleman who, like the Marquis of Hastings, rapidly squandered a large fortune on the Turf, and met with an early and tragic death, w__ the Earl of Barrymore, who, it is said, ran through a matter of £300,000 in four years. He was only twenty-five years of age when an accidental gun-shot put an end to his misspent and wasted life. i

Colonel Mellish, a romantic figure, in spite of his wild ways and the passion for gambling that was an inherent part of his nature, so ruined himself by betting on horse races and gambling at cards (at the latter game he is said to have more than once lost and won £100,000, at a single sitting), that, although he inherited a tremendous property when he came of age, all that was left of it some six years later was one solitary farm, Hodsack Priory, to which, when the final wreck of his fortunes came, he eventually retired with his wife, and there lived until the day of his death the quiet life of a "entlenian farmer. The end of most of the famous plungers has been a sad one—fitting finale to their reckless lives. The eccentric "Jack" Mytton, whose numerous escapades and mad freaks, were they to be related in extenso, would suffice to fill a volume, died in prison, where he had been committed for a debt. Yet, at twenty-one years of age, he had inherited a fortune of some £10,000 a year, and £60,000 in ready money. The whole of it had, however, gone in ten years. He spent it with the most reckless profusion, and his betting losses over his horses alone amounted to an enormous sum. THE "LEVIATHAN" BOOKMAKER. Davies, the famous bookmaker, whose transactions were on such a gigantic scale that he was nicknamed the "Leviathan," in, spite of the fact that be realised a large fortune, at times lost tremendously over the more important races. Over the Derby which Teddington won in 1851, the Ring lost upwards of £150,000, two-thirds of which represented the amount of Davies's liabiUties. To one man alone, Sir Joseph Hawlcy, be paid £30,000. and to another, Mr Charles Greville, £15,000. Daniel O'Rourke's Derby was another over which Davies lost heavily. Irritated at the refusal of the stable representatives to accept what he considered to be a fair price, he ordered his "list clerk" to put up 100 to 1 as the price he was wUling to lay against the horse to the public only. He did not lower this rate of odds until he had laid the colt to lose in all £100,000. Daniel O'Rourke very luckily won the race, and Davies found himself the poorer by £80,000. So well was Voltigeur backed for the Derby of ISso—he was a public idol—that over his list-counter alone Davies paid £40,000 to the fortunate speculators. West Australian's Derby was another bad one for the '•Leviathan," as, when his books had been balanced, it was found he was close on £50,000 on the wrong side. GULLT: PUGILIST AND POLITICIAN. Heavy individual losses over the principal races by private speculators occur annually, but they are not often made public. Gully, who in his lifetime played many parts—he was in turn butcher, pugilist, publican, bookmaker, owner of racehorses, member of Parliament, colliery proprietor, and country squire, a fine example of the progress of evolution —although he was, on the whole, a big winner, at times lost heavily. When Matilda won the St. Leger, in 1527, for instance, lie lost £45,000. He would not have done so, however, had the race been run fairly. The greater proportion of his bets were with the notorious Crockford, the founder of the famous club which bore his name. The latter suborned the starter, and had half-a-dozen half-trained horses sent to the post—a common trick in those unregenerate days—in order to upset Gully's horse, Mameluke, by their antics. The plot succeeded only too well, for although Mameluke made up with giant strides the ground be had lost at the start, he could not quite get up in time, and was beaten half a length. It was over this race, by the way, that the Earl of Glasgow, a bold and determined plunger when in the humour, lost nearly £30,000.

When Jerry won the St. Leger in 1824, Mr George Payne, the well known owner of racehorses, lost, on Gully's advice, upwards of £30,000. Not that it was the latter _ fault, however. He had learnt, quite correctly enough, that a conspiracy had been formed to £revent Jerry .winning, although.

he did not know, the chieX. actors in it, or, how it was to be. carried out. Fortunately,. however, tbe plot miscarried. The jockey who was to ride. Jerry, and who bad been tampered with, was displaced in consequence of certain knowledge having, corte to his master's ears, and the mount given to another rider, who, as the. result of doing his best, won easily. One. of. the biggest gambling owners on the Turf at the present time is the well known American sportsman, Mr John A. Drake, who, some four years ago, ran horses in England with

conspicuous success, one animal, Royal Flush, an ex-selling plater, winning for him the Royal Hunt Cup and the Stewards' Cnp in one season, as well as a huge tune in bets. His Inck lately on the American Turf, however, has been execrable — so bad, in fact, that he is credited with the intention of retiring from the sport. In this way, it is reported, Mr .Drake and his partner, Mr John W. Gates, have between tbem lost considerably over £100,000.