ANECDOTES OF SPORTS AND SPORTSMEN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1832, 31 December 1886, Page 27

ANECDOTES OF SPORTS AND SPORTSMEN.

(Licensed Victuallers' Gazette.)

According to Sam Chiffney his early paths had not been particularly well paved for him, for he and his brother, with the liberality which seems to be an inheritance in the Westminster family, " were stableboys to Earl Grosvenor, at eight guineas a year and a stable suit" — so jockeys in those days were not over highly paid though the betting men did so well. "In addition," says Nimrod, •■ there is the son of the ostler at the Black Swan, at York, betting his thousands, his necktie being secured by a diamond pin worth hundreds. Then, harking back^ tcrcrowri^U-there is Squire Beardsworth, of Birmingham, with his l 7 ratii.oisc". «"d his crimson liveries, in the same loyal but dirty town in which he once drove a hackney coach." Taking for granted that all this wealth has been acquired honestly, what is there to prevent anyone from getting on in the world in a racing way, where, by the by, " the race is not always to the swift or the battle to the strong ? "

And now to some racing memories, with Lord George Bentinck as the subject. If he excelled in one thing more than another it was in matohmakiog, and he once won 26 out of 27 matches right off the reel. Seven of his other matches ended in dead heats, and, oddly enough, his Alma and a Purity filly of Lord Glasgow's ran a dead heat bath in 1843 and 1844. The two Lords had often a tussle of this kind, and one of a very peculiar kind. When Olive Oil was matched against Rose of Cashmere Lord George backed his opponent's horse, and lost £600 by his own victory. In his £1000 match of Grey Momus with Vulture the grew had not the ghost of a chance with Orlando's dam, and the Duke of Portland could not resist ironically remarking to his son. " What a rich man this Mr Bowe must be, George, to make such matches." Lord George always backed his fancy, and so dropped £3500 over Miss Sarah in the St. Leger in 1845. But he got all his money back, and something more, over the Cesarewitch. His forecast was in this wise : Miss Sarah had beaten Miss Elis, and therefore ho decided to put My Mary, Miss Elis, and Naworth together, and if Miss Elis wins the Baron must win the Cesarewitch. He won by a neck. My Mary being second, and Lord George felt so sure of the result that he backed the Baron, despite the 7st 01b, and gave up Nat to ride him. When he was next at Goodwood my lord went up to Miss Elis the moment he entered the stable, and, patting her, said, in his mincing way: "You good old creature, you can't win yourself, but you tell me what can win."

Mr Harry Hill was his chief ring commissioner, yet so great a respect, or otherwise, had his lordship for bis agent, that it was said he would have stood the livelong day rather than sit down in his company. In 1845 George had a wonderful year, at least as men then thought wonderful. He won £20,000 on My Mary, at Doncaster, and more than £23,000 on Miss Elis, at Goodwood, where he backed her heavily against Weatherbit for the Cup. But heavy betting was the only source from which he could meet such a heavy outlay as his stud and stable caused. Before the Criterion Stakes he got on Gaper at forties, fifties, and sixties, and then managed through Mr Hill to hedge very nicely, and when the Derby bell rang he stood to win £120,000 to nothing. The colt was beaten at Newmarket in the spring, and went back to 1000 to 15, which Mr Hill took 40 times. Old John Day laid £20.000 to £300, but as Lord George apparently kept backing his horse till it reached 5 to 1, he (John Day) was thankful at last, through Mr Greville, to take back £20,000 to £3000, thus losing £2700 on the deal. For this amoniit Honest John (?) gave a bill, whie'i waß in Mr Hill's pocket when he gave evidence on the Qui Tarn action against Lord George at tfuudford. When we recall all those matters to mind, it requires a good deal of seasoning to swallow the statement about Lord George Bentinck's probity, and all that sort of thing, iv tn.rf transactions, He w,as no more honest, perfottpß, ttita hie <tottmi&K«i&, add wa ao tftft

think anyone yet has proposed to erect a monument in Westminster Abbey to Mr Harry Hill as being one of "the most undeceiving and deceivable of men.

When Parliament was sitting he would travel by mail train to Fareham, taka some coffee at the Red Lion, and post across country to Goodwood. The carriage would then be drawn up against Kent's door, the horses taken out, the postboy sent home, and there his lordship would sleep in " that cloak of sables " Lord Beaconsfield bought from Lord George's valet for lOOgs, and turn out fresh in the morning for a long trial and stable day. After the Doncaster meeting it was his practice to come to the Swan at Chichester, and stay there till the eve of the Newmarket October. Every morning, wet or fine, he would walk over to Kent' 6, always stipulating for " Yorkshire fare, John— eggs and bacon." He never rode with his horses, but walked about all day with his big, bent whitethorn stick. _ There would be often three hours' trials to begin with, and some seventy horses to be put through the mill at Halnaker Park. Iv racing trying was a mania with him ; Red Deer, for instance, was tried for the Chester Cup by moonlight. A curious thing was his partiality for out-of-the-way vulgar names for his horses. It was remarkable that a man so refined, not to say fastidious, could have cared to see his name in the Racing Calendar attached to " Here I ge with my eye out," "AH round my hat," "Let's stop awhile, says Slow," and similar out-of-the-way cognomens. The Duke of Richmond often used to rally him about this craze. " All your legs, blood, and condition, George," his grace would say, "are no good, and if you don't reohristen them you will never win a race." Such a word as impossible Lord George knew not, and he would break down 10 horses if he were set upon knowing what the animals could do, and to half a pound. When Firebrand seemed a hopeful subject for the One Thousand 6he was kept on wheat flower, eggs, and new milk mixed. • We imagine no treatment in the way of food for preparing a horse for a race could have been worse. Crusader, Flytrap and Chatham had each the same dainty fare before Epsom, and so had the slow and game Crozier. Four cows were specially kept for them, and quite a host of hens, as they bad a dozen of eggs a-piece at each feed. Though he bought his hay at home, he had all his oats from Aberdeenshire. He had made many mistakes, with all his powers of calculation, and one of the biggest he ever made was when he ran African, Baleine, and Yorkshire Lady for tho Goodwood Cup. The Lady was merely startad to give Kitchener confidence for the Goodwood Stakes mount; and his lordship did not back her for a shilling, while he stood to win a pile upon African, it was said. That might, or might not be. He brought her out at the eleventh hour, when any odds could be had against her. She won in a canter, African and Baleine being second and third. No man ever sacrificed more time or wealth on practical or speculative sporting than the eccentric Earl of Orford. Among his experiments was a determination to drive four red deer stags in a phaeton instead of horses, and these he had reduced to perfect discipline for his excursions and short journeys upon, the road ; but uufortanately, as he was driving one day to Newmarket, bis ears were saluted with the cry of a pack of hounds, whioh soon after crossing the road in the rear, caught sight of the curious four-in-hand, and commenced a new kind of chase with breast-high alacrity. In vain did bis lordship exert all his charioteering skill, in vain did his groom endeavour to ride before them; reins, trammels, the weight of the carriage, were of no effect, for the 6tags went like a whirlwind, and everybody gave up both carriage and rider as lost. Luckily, however, his lordship had been accustomed to drive this, set of fiery-eyed steeds to the Ram Inn, at Newmarket, which was fortunately at hand ; into the yard they bounded, scattering ostlers and stable bojS~ right .and left. Here they were luckily caught, and stags^ pbffiton, and all huddled into a barn as the hounds appeared in full cry at the gate.