NEWMARKET ASIDES
Newmarket, where the races for the Guineas draw great crowds, says the "Manchester Guardian," could formerly boast attractions additional to the racing. In 1676, when Charles 11. and his Court attended the races there, - Lord Digby staked £50 that he would walk round the Heath, barefooted and in his birthday suit, within a given timelimit, and had the chagrin of losing- by the narrow margin of a minute, with the King and his ladies as witnesses. About the same date Captain Gibbs laid a bet he would drive a light chaise and four horses: up and • down the steepest and most dangerous part of the Devil's Ditch, and won "to the surprise of all the spectators." As late as 1870 Abraham Wood fortified the race programme by wagering to run forty miles round the Heath in five hours. He accomplished the run with five minutes to spare, and wori 500 guineas. ■■ •-.;'' ■■'• : - ?
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 145, 22 June 1938, Page 13
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153NEWMARKET ASIDES Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 145, 22 June 1938, Page 13
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