TRICKS AND THE TURF.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5206, 21 November 1927, Page 4

TRICKS AND THE TURF.

TALES OF OLDEN DAYS. A GRIM ST. LEGER STORY. To prop the dead body of a man in a Londop window as a means of ensuring heavy winnings on a race seems too gruesome and fantastic an enterprise for the most hardened plunger. Yet this grim scheme was actually put into practice in the early days of the St. Leger, says a London writeir.

After successfully “rigging” the market a map named Crockford, together with a number of equally unscrupulous friends, laid heavy stakes on a Ally called Princess, but on the night before the race Crockford was found dead. At first his friends despaired of drowing their winn'ngs, for death cancels all bets. But they rose to the emergency. Instructing confederates on the course to tell the bookmakers that Crockford had stayed at the club, the; schemers arranged for news of the rate to be brought to them by pigeon. Princess won, and they immediately propped Crockford’s bpdy in a win to,w* seat overlooking St. James’ Street When the returning racegoers passed by they thought they saw the old man watching them. Crockford was no great loss to the turf. Although far too clever to be caught, he was a notorious swindler. On one occasion an ex-prizefighter named Gully backed his own horse, Mameluke, with Crockford for a heavy sum. Knowing that Mameluke was amazingly flfeet, but extremely bad-tempered. Crockford hit upon the plan of entering several second-rate horses for the St. Leger, instructing their jockeys to wear out Mameluke’s patience by making a number of false starts. The ruse succeeded. Kicking furiously, Mameluke refused to start, and Gully lost £45,000. BEATING A BAND OF SHARPERS. This was a case of thief catching thief, for in conjunction with another historic plunger named Risdale Gully engineered many a doubtful coup. Between* them this pair arei said to have cleared over £lOO,OOO by rigging the market at one Derby meeting, but though Gully died a wealthy man his confederate lost his fortune in a single bet, and was found dead in a stable with three halfpence in his pocket. Brazen swindling was the common order of events in thei early days of the St. Leger, which was first run in 1776. On one occasion Lord George Bentinck, whp did a great, deal to purify the turf, cleverly outwitted a band of sharpers- He had a hatred of small bets. A wealthy man, he stood to lose, in 1843, no less than £130,000 on his Derby horse Gaper, which was not even placed, and on this occasion he was dissatisfied with the odds of five to one offered against Elis for the St. Leger. Lord George threatened to scratch the animal unless he was staked at least £lo',ooo to £lOOO. Remembering that Elis was at Danebury, in Hampshire, the bookmakers delayed offering these odds until they thought it impossible for the horse to reach Doncaster in time. Chartering a van used for carrying cattle, he arranged for relays of post-horses to the course. To the amazement of the bookmakers Elis was at thei startingpoint on the day of the 'race and won easily. This is the first recorded instance of a racehourse being vanned. A PISTOL-AND A MISFIRE. Although he cared little for money, Bentinck was not above occasional sharp practice himself, and this weakness once nearly cost him his life. Squire Osbaldeston, a fieiry-tempered sportsman, approached him with the remark:

“Lord George, I want the £4OO I won off you at Heaton Park.” “You me,an the £4OO you swindled me put of ?” returned Bentinck. Challenged to a duel, Lord George secured the first shot, but his pistol misfired.

“Now, Squire, it's two to one on you," he said. “That, so ? Then the bat’s off,” snapped the generous old man, and he fired his weapon in the air. To own a Derby winner besides winning the St. Leger was Lord George’s great ambition. Tiring of his failure, however, he sold his magnificent stud to Mr Mostyn for the ■relatively small sum of £lO,OOO. Among the horses was a. foal named Surplice, .which two years later won both the Derby and the St. Leger. Seven days after this wonderful achievement of thq horse he had once owned Lord George wias found dead in a field near Welbeck. His iheart had failed under the disappointment. A GREAT RACE. Perhaps the most exciting contest in the series took place in 1850, when Russborough ran Voltigeur to a dead heat. Voltigeur was the Derby winner of that year, and the wildest scenes ever witnessed at Doncaster took place when, the favourite was challenged a hundred yards from the winning post by an unknown Irish horse, and the judge decided upon a second heat. Voltigeur’s trainer jvished to stable his horse, but refrained when John Scott, who created a record by training no fewer than 16 St. Leger winners, pointed out that this would •make him too stiff to gallop. So Voutigeur was led gently up and down. When the time arrived for the heat to be decided the eager crowd pressed dangerously upon the track. At thq half distance Voltigeur was behind, but gradually drew level to win by an easy margin.

Even more strenuous, ihpwever, was the race which faced Voltigejur two days later for the Doncaster Cup, when he met the famous Flying Dutchman, the Derby winner of the previous year, in a match that is generally recognized as the most famous in the annals of the turf. The betting was 5 to 1 on the Dutchman, but he was badly ridden. His jockey set too fast a pace, and when Voltigeur crept up on him by the p«st the had nothing left for a final spurt. JIMMY HIRST’S HAT. Strangest of all the peculiar characters associated with this race was

Jimmy Hirst, of Rawcliffe, who hunted on a bull and wept shooting accompanied by a trained pig. Hirst used to visit the St. Leger riding in a wickerwork palanquin drawn by mules or dogs. Beside him sat his pig and otter, while a trained fox followed.

Wearing a lambskin hat nine feet in circumference, an otter-skin coat, and silver buckles on his shoes, Hirst was notorious. Eventually King George IV. heard of. the old man and invited him to court. Hirst arrived at the Palace in his wonderful equipage, and greeted the astonished monarch with the words :

“Eh ! I’m glad to see thee such a plain owd chap. If ever thou comes to Rawcliffe step in and give me a visit.”