Stories of the Turf.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 251, 20 November 1903, Page 3

Stories of the Turf.

Mr Spencer, a recent writer on the turl', has an extraordinary number of aneodoles of turf patrons, and to the general reader these will ■be of greater interest than the chapters in which the victories of the great horses of the century are chronicled :—Among the great names in racing circles in the lirst half of last century was the Hon. Henry James Ilous, second son of the first Earl of Stradbroke, known on the turf as " The Admiral." He was elected as a steward of the Jockey Club in 1838, and the man who three years before had sailed his ship, the l'i'que, from the coast of Labrador to Spithead, ruddarless, ami with a leak which made 2ft of water per hour, was not . long in showing his administrative powers in the turf senate. The revenue of the Jockey Club property at Newmarket, when he first took offlccwas barely £3OOO a year, and by 1875 it had grown to £IB,OOO. As a pillar of the national sport we shall never look upon his like again. Talk about the turf as an educator ! The study of "The Admiral's" unblemished career, as its dictator, is a liberal education in itself." Concerning one Lord Chesterfield—not tlve letter writer—Mr Spencer tells this story of a visit paid to Chesterfield House by the two brothers Bond :—"They went in connection with a cheque /or £SOOO, payment of which his lordship had instructed his bankers, Messrs Hemes and Farquhar, to refuse. It was only after a substantial bribe that the footman admitted them to- the billiard room, and dire was the wrath of Lord Chesterfield when he discovered who' his visitors were. With' a great oath he vowed that the gamesters should be kicked off the the premises, ringing the bell at the same time. And then Ephraim Bond took up the parable. 'By Heavens, my lord !' he cried, 'unless you tell the v servaint when he answers that bell to bring a "glass of water, you shall find your way into the courtyard below !•' And the ' bluff ' was successful, for the Bonds left Chester-field House with full authority to draw the £SOOO.

The coolness of most jockeys on the eve of a great race is remarkable. When "Ben"'and "Bob" met in the Epsom Cup, the author interviewed the two jockeys in the paddock. "Now, Cannon," said he to the natty Hampshire horseman, 'the eyes of the civilised world are once more concentrated upon you—aren't you a little bit nervous at the awful responsibility?" "Feel my pulse," was the cool response. It was " normal." But an offer to place a clinical thermometer beneath his tongue for a few seconds was rejected with obloquy. Archer was next approached. ''Feel at all nervous?" "Bo you feel nervous when the dinner bell, rings ?" he .retorted. "Old Q,," for some alleged misdemeanour on the turf, was challenged by an irishman, A meeting took place, and whilst the seconds were loading the pistols a man appeared —to the amazement of Lord March and his second—carrying l a coffin draped in black, which he reverently deposited at the feet of Lord March. Upon looking down, he read, inscribed on the coffin plate:—" James Douglus, Earl of March, born sth Novemlser, 1725, died 10th June, 1750." Lord March turned pale. "What is the meaning of this infernally bad jest?" he inquired. "Why, my dear fellow,''' replied his opponent, "you are, of course, aware that 1 never miss my man, and as 1 iind myself in excellent trim for sport today,! -have not a shadow of doubt upon my mind that you will .want this oaken cloak before five minutes are over." This.was too much for the nerves of the'other. Lord March was "no Biucher •" he refused light, apologised, and no subsequent insult could induce him to send the Irish nobleman a challenge. Consequently he hud rather a rough time of it in fashionable gambling .circles afterwards.

Another eccentric turf patron is referred to in this wise :—At the commencement of the present century there was an epidemic of misers ; ami one of these, Mr James Hirst, a Yorkshiroman, used to create a considerable sensation by driving on to the Town Moor at Doncaster on Leger Day in an old "ramshackle" vehicle fastened together with string. From its recesses hj» •would fling apples—in all probability worthless ones—to the crowd to scramble for. At home he kept an otter chained to a kennel instead of a dog, to avoid the tax, and would ride round his estate on the back of a line old 'bull.

For eccentricity the author gives the palm to the late Lord Glasgow : —The late Sir Kobert Peel, who=raced under the nom de course of "Mr F. Koibinson/' was eccentric in dress, disposition, and language. 'His tall, shiny hat, "cocked ;" his moustache, imperial, and abundant locks; his high Napoleon boots, were well known at Newmarket in the fifties. The eccentricity of Mr John Frail, clerk o'f the racecourse, and Conservative agent of Shrewsbury,' took the form of dress (he was usually attired like Liston in 'Paul Pry'). He was a most courteous, courtly old gentleman, whom I well remember in the days of my boyhood. And he Was a master otf repartee. A "rough" who had been turned out of the enclosure commenced to abuse Mr Frail. "And who the Halifax are you ?" he wound up. " You was only a something barber, yuu was." "Quite right, sir," said Mr Frail, sweetly. "And permit mo to add that had you begun life as a barber, you—would have been a, Lurber still."

Among superstitious sportsmen was Captain Batchelor. Whilst stopping at Hatchett's Hotel, on his way back from Tattersall's on the Monday before the Derby of 1856, Col. Hicks noticed that the "W." in the displayed title of the "Wellington". .Restaurant across the way had somehow become displaced. Quick as lightning' he jumped into his hansom and hurried back to "Tatt's," where he backed Ellington for the Derby until the bookmakers 'became tired of writing the horse's name. Upon another occasion, while ' journeying with a friend citywards, the cab became "blocked" in Holborn. Col. Hicks was always on the look-out for qmens, and was not long in arriviiijj at'the fact that the cab had stopped immediately opposite Ely place. "By Gad !" he exclaimed to his friend, "we must on no account miss this." "What on earth do you mean?" asked the friend. "Ely, to be sure ! To-day's the Go/odwood Cup clay, is it WPt X' And shouting in thu'pestjisy p,f tha moment, he bade the cabman drive at once to the office of Mr "Charley" Bush. "How much Ely?" he asked that astute fielder. "Bight to one to ypu, Colgnel," was the reply. "Done—to a hundred !" yelled the excited warrior. And once again the omen was propitious." Of Mr George Baird's father we have this : "Bet yon a fiver you can't repeat tho Lord's Prayer w{tiiout a ji4s= take," said the Laird of Belladrum, "Done," pxclalmod Mr Baird, sen., who promptly proceeded to recite the Apostle's Creed. But ere he had ''believed" a couple of lines, Mr Merry, who was as ill acquainted with religdous literature as the other paid over the "fiver" with the remark ; ...... "Hoots ! I never thought ye'd ha' known it. man." The corps qf stable boys, is a tlMihs oil wijich Mr Spencer ■dotes, He considers tiffit better

treatment and a more liberal scale [ of diet breeds more rcspeet for the "•governor." "What are you going to run that ■beastly brute for ?" inquired one stable boy of another, just before the race for the 'Jockey Club Stakes last September. "Why, for ten thousand quid, you silly cuckoo !" was the prompt' reply. And a year or two before that the question was asked of a boy in the employment of Mr Thomas Jennings, sen., "Can your 'orse get the course?" "(Jet the course?" was the scornful rejoinder. "He'd get up a ladder if Die old governor wanted him to do it !' "