WOMEN JOCKEYS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 45, 30 March 1914, Page 5

WOMEN JOCKEYS.

MYSTERIOUS "MRS THORNTOR."

. I ">W The following lively letter was re--" pfi ceived by the "Express" on the sojbject raised by another correspondent' ~3 previously:— •, To the Editor of the ''Express." -~-J! Sir, —As your correspondent*- , Jg. '' H.V.M.,'' says he would like to kasv,-. more of " Mrs Thorstftn," and lament*, l ■ the fact that -'The Dictionary of iSWHtional Biography" cannot even reea*s /M her maiden name, I am pleased to W I;® able to enlighten him on the subject." 4® Captain William -Flint (white) ' | "Mrs Thornton'' (riding side-saddlers' * M a dress of buff and leopard colomy Wiie 5 sleeves and cap) over the in the match mentioned on August 25L • p 1804. ■ • --t "Much unpleasantness followed da- ■*% this -contest; Colonel Thornton applied. ~"|p in the King's Bench for a'criminal itfrc, junction against Captain Flint' for chat- "V M lenging him to a duel and for horse- 1 whipping him , on the race-ground York the summer after the match tooK: place. The quarrel arose out of non-payment of a bet Flint claimed:'' from Thornton after the race. ' -■ ■'.« i Q|| ; Lord Ellenborough in 1806—that the Court ought not> i<r "|i interfere, but the trouble was' -revive at theYorkAssizefr in 1808, grounds which the available record* 'iltii* - not make intelligible, Thornton, -Ji taineda verdict for£soQ against Fltnst,. , WON BY HALF A NECK.' -~?I ' 1 At the York August meeting of ' 'I M MrsThornton" —the other party't» "the match, Mr Bromford, ride—walked over for 1600 -A four hogsheads of Cote Roti—a viatqgp- - 9 quite unknown to me. rode (9.6) a mare named Louisa 1* J, match, oyer two miles, against ridden by the famous jockey Bae&te(l3.6). -The lady wore a purple cap-<aaj&-~/y waistcoat, nankeen coloured skitts^-: purple shoes,: and embroidered . ings. She won, amid treat cheering. Sy v?i Tialf a neck. .. „ * - \9j The equestrienne is stated by Orto* in his "Annals" not to have been Mrs Thornton at all, but Alicia Meyne%- ? daughter of a watchmaker liviag. fc *£«§ Norwich; At the time of the with Flint she was 22 years of age, of fair complexion, light hair, blue eyes£and "very fascinating.'' Colonel Thornton died in proceedings in the Prerogative Yjijaj of Canterbury, in 1823, disclosed tfiit fact that there was another fictitious .4|||y Mrs Thornton, to whom the' colonel his money. t The real widow unsucccagfully opposed the will, winning her caafe" lapPS in France, byt losing it in England* ' REAL <'LADIES' PLATE/''v |9 Woman jockeys were not first heard' "'Jre! of in the times of Alicia Meynell. 'At ~ ( y|aj Ripon, in 1725, there was a '' Ladies* .;Sj3| Plate of £ls/' run in three heats, women riders only. Probably this. wra.v': : Sf*B the origin of the now meaningless'dfe* -;viS scription, "Ladies' Plate" in modem --:JI race programmes ' v > In 1898 a Mrs Bagwill, aged 24, was riding races on the Pacific Coast circuit. She resided in Carson City, the regulation costume, and rode astridcw % At the Nevada State Fair races that year she won twice in five attempt J I do not understand that there", is t any preclusion of women riders in tlui" Rules of Racing. When the late Dion Boucicault was accused of ridiculous J ignorance in allowing a female in,,his play, "The Jilt," to ride ; the winner '' •] of a steeplechase, he wrote to Messrs i Weatherby, who were said to have .f. answered: "We, conclude it wouldJt>» Impossible to put up a female jockey who. had never previously ridden a winner, 03 and therefore required no licence./" w