SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



day was very wet, but the weather improved 

 on the next. On the first day four races 

 were run ; one of these was four miles, each 

 of the others three miles. In the match of 

 p^ioo, only two horses ran, the Rector 

 winning. The Grand Military Gold Cup 

 of ;^100, added to a sweepstake of j^io each, 

 was won by The Hermit, ridden by Captain 

 Anderson. Lord Southampton's Hunt Steeple- 

 chase, of 5^94, was won by Chance. 



The last race was a sweepstake of ;^2iO, 

 which was won by The Premier by half a 

 length, a good race. The next day, Friday, 

 five races were run, all of which were 3 

 miles, except the third, which was 2 miles. 



The Welter Stakes of ;/^i85 were won by 

 Marmion by a head. The Northampton Open 

 Steeplechase Handicap of ;^I20 was an easy 

 race for the Tartar, who came in alone. The 

 Wootton Hill Steeplechase Plate of ^^49 was 

 won by Tumbler, Peru having led up to the 

 brook, where he fell. The Veteran Stakes of 

 jTijO was won by Huntsman. Lord South- 

 ampton's Hunt Steeplechase Sweepstake of 

 £j \ was won by Midnight, the favourite, 

 Ploughboy, having fallen soon after starting. 



The most important steeplechase ever 

 held in Northamptonshire, or, indeed, in 

 England, was the Grand National Hunt 

 Steeplechase, run on 18 April, i860. Its 

 importance is due to the fact that the es- 

 tablishment of the National Hunt Committee, 

 the tribunal now governing the sport, grew 

 out of the race. It took place near Market 

 Harborough ; the course, which was four miles, 

 passed through the parishes of East Farndon, 

 Thorpe Lubenham, and Clipston. The idea 

 was to bring together the very flower of the 

 numerous studs of hunters throughout the 

 country. A committee was formed, and the 

 subscriptions from every hunt in England, 

 produced a fund of ;^500, and to this was 

 added a sweepstake of ;^I0 each. The con- 

 ditions were that the competitors should be 

 horses which had never won a race ; and the 

 jockeys gentlemen riders. Fifty-eight entries 

 were sent in, and thirty-one horses came to 

 the post, the largest steeplechase field which 

 has ever started in England. Most of the 

 horses were known as the best hunters in their 

 various districts in Great Britain and Ireland ; 

 the jockeys also were the best amateur horse- 

 men of the day. The race was won by 

 Mr. B. F. Angell's Bridegroom, ridden by his 

 old college friend Mr. E. C. Burton. 



The Grand National Hunt Steeplechase 

 was again run, on 4 April, 1 861, in North- 

 amptonshire. The meeting was held in con- 

 junction with the Market Harborough races, 

 over much the same line of country as in 



the preceding year, except that the starting- 

 post was changed and the horses had to face 

 the water on going out, it being the third leap 

 from the start. The result of the canvass for 

 subscriptions throughout the country was not 

 so satisfactory, ;f300 only were collected, to 

 which was added a sweepstake of ^^ 10 each. 

 Thirty-eight horses were entered and seven- 

 teen came to the post. Mr. Angell again won 

 the race with a five-year-old named Queens- 

 ferry, ridden by Mr. Burton. 



Two years later the Grand National Hunt 

 Steeplechase was again run for the last time 

 over the course near Farndon Hill. Only five 

 horses started, and the race was won by Lord 

 Calthorpe's Socks. 



Steeplechases were held at Blackley in 1868 

 and 1869 ; and there was one solitary gather- 

 ing at Thrapston in 1869; but, for some 

 reason or other, one season in this locality 

 sufficed. 



The village of Brigstock attained some 

 celebrity by holding meetings in 1870, 1875, 

 1876, 1877 and 1878, when they came to an 

 end. They were much frequented by the 

 followers of the Fitzwilliam, Pytchley, and 

 Cottesmore Hunts. 



Hopping Hill, in the parish of Maidwell, 

 lies on the west side of the old turnpike road 

 leading from Northampton to Market Har- 

 borough, and at this place the Pytchley 

 Hunt Steeplechases were held in the years 

 1873. 1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, and 1879, 

 when they were abandoned. There is no 

 record of any celebrated horse having run on 

 any of these occasions. The Steeplechase 

 Meeting of 1878 will, however, be long 

 remembered in this country. It was held on 

 19 February, and was the largest and most 

 successful meeting held at Hopping Hill. 

 H.R.H. the Princess of Wales and the late 

 duchess of Teck were present. H.I.M. the 

 late empress of Austria was also at the meeting: 

 it was the last time she was seen in the county, 

 for she left the same evening, after having seen 

 her pilot, Captain Middleton, win the cup 

 presented by her. The first race was the 

 Kelmarsh Challenge Cup of ;^I50, given by 

 Mr. J. C. Naylor, with ^^50 added, for which 

 only three horses ran. Then came the Hohen- 

 embs Cup, value ;^L20, given by the empress 

 under the name of countess of Hohenembs; 

 this was won, after a good race, by Captain Mid- 

 dleton, on his horse Piccadilly. The Cottes- 

 brooke Cup, value ^^80, with ;^I00 added, was 

 also given by the empress. The Pytchley Hunt 

 Cup of j^5o, with a sweepstake of ^^5 each, was 

 again won by Captain Middleton, on Zouave. 

 The last race, a Selling Stakes of £1. each 

 with j^30 added, was won by Mr. Manning's 



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