HORSERACING A CENTURY AGO.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1213, 13 January 1886, Page 6

HORSERACING A CENTURY AGO.

Those who talk about degeneracy of the turf should read the following, written by a traveller in the reign of Queen Anne : —

" Being at Newmarket in October, I had the opportunity of seeing the horseraces, and a great concourse of the nobility and gentry, as well from London as from all parts of England ; but they were all so intent, so eager, bo busy upon the sharp shooting part of , t|ie sport, their wagers and bets, that to me they seemed just so many horse* copers from Smithfield, descending, t,he , greatest of them from their -high dignity and quality to the picking of one another's poqkets.one swindlinganother as mtych as possible, and that with: so njuch eagerness ftfb }t mioftt b$ sai<J Ibbey icted without respqefp $3ss, honor, ov good manners, Tb£r£ Ws' &• Fagg, of Sussex, of whom, fame flays he nas the .most in him, and the least to ihow for it, relating to jockey* |

ship of auy man there ; yet ho often carried the prize. His horses, they said, were all cheats, how honest soever their master was ; for he scarce ever produced a horse but he looked like what he was not, and what nobody expected him to be. If he was light as the wind, and could fly like a meteor, he was sure to look as clumsy as a cart horse as all the cunning of his grooms and master could make him ; and just in this manner he bit some of the greatest gamesters in the field. The following story fully illustrates this description. The famous horse Merlin, was matched to run against a favorite of the notorious Tregonwell irampton's. Merlin, being a northcountry horse, was backed by Yorkshire sportsmen to a large amount, and was sent to Newmarket to be trained, under tihe care of one Heseltine, a jockey. Frampton's groom getting hold of Heseltine, proposed to run the horses a private trial at the weights and distance stated in the match, so that by ascertaining which could win they might have an opportunity of making something themselves. The jockey fought shy at first, and thought it prudent to communicate the affair to one Sir William Strickland, a Yorkshire baronet, who was principally interested in Merlin's match. Sir William told him to agree to the proposal, and directed him to carry 71b more weight than was specified in the terms of the match. Having received his instructions Heseltine threw himself in the way of Frampton's groom, who renewed his proposal, and after showing a great deal of reluctance the other consented to be on the job. Now Frampton had also given orders to the groom to carry 71b extra weight. The two horses then privately ran the distance for which they were matched, each jockey believing that he had deceived the other in the matter of weight. After a very close race, Merlin won by about a length.

The jockeys now respectively communicated tbe result of the race to their masters, though each had sworn to secrecy, and both of them were now equally confident of winning, and each backed his horse for a heavy amount, Sir William Strickland's friends who were in the secret, arguing that as Merlin had beaten his antagonist with an extra 71b on his back, he must win easily at even weights ; whilst Frampton calculated that, as his horse had run the other so close under such a penalty, he must win at the level impost. It was said at the time that so much money never before depended on a single match. At length the eventful hour arrived. There was a gallant and exciting race, and Merlin won exactly by a length, as be did in the trial run. Hundreds who had put unlimited faith in Frampton's proverbial luck and astuteness were ruined, and Tregonwell with difficulty saved himself from a similar catastrophe. Not very long afterwards the plant was blown upon, and so heavy were the losses incurred by Frampton'a backers that the Legislature, in order to put 3 stop to such ruinous proceedings, enacted a law to prevent the recovery of any sum exceeding £2 betted on a horserace.