CHAPTER XIII 



THE GRAND MILITARY STEErLECIIASE 



STATISTICAL matter at the best of times 

 is rather dull readino-, but so much space 

 has been taken up with the Liverpool and 

 the National Hunt Steeplechases that it would 

 be unfair to leave the Grand Military out in the 

 cold. It cannot be denied that from the earliest 

 days of "steeple to steeple" our soldiers have 

 made the sport one of their greatest recreations ; 

 indeed we find them so engaged long before the 

 days of the Crimea, as will be seen in the appended 

 list of winners. In this list one looks in vain for 

 the name of a Grand National hero or heroine. 

 Yet we find that the military were early on the 

 war-path at Aintree with winners such as Carlow, 

 Brenda, Boxkeeper and The Roarer. The latter, 

 with Jem Mason up, started favourite in 1847, when 

 Mathew won. 



Subsequently to the Crimea, pedigree and class, 

 however, showed a marked improvement in the 

 chase. In 1868, for instance, there was a horse 

 called King Arthur who so readily scored in the 

 Grand Military at Rugby that he had the market 

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