SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 





of Harrington and Shrewsbury, Lord Savile, 

 General Warrand, Colonel Rolleston, Mr. Abing- 

 ton, and Mr. F. Platt. 



Mansfield was the scene of a race meeting 

 from early in the igth century until 1877, and 

 the sport was often of surpassingly good charac- 

 ter. The race-course, situated on the Southwell 

 Road, a short distance from the town, was of 

 unusual excellence for so small a place. It had 

 a straight course of about 5 furlongs, which 

 enabled heavy weights to lie back until they 

 reached the distance, when their desperate rush 

 to get home often resulted in exceedingly close 

 and exciting finishes. At the beginning the 

 prizes did not soar very high, consisting for the 

 most part of silver tankards and saddles and bridles; 

 but as time went on the stakes were increased 

 and the meeting attained some celebrity, horses 

 being sent to it from as far as Newcastle. In 

 1814 there were two days' racing, the card each 

 day consisting of two events, run in heats, and 

 the prizes being a silver tankard, a silver cup, 

 and two saddles. Later the value of the stakes 

 was considerably increased, the races being 

 generously supported by the Duke of Portland, 

 the owners of RufFord Abbey, and the neighbour- 

 ing gentry. In 1840 stakes of the value of ^40 

 and 20 respectively were run for in heats, and 

 three years later the programme comprised the 

 Sherwood Stakes of 3 sovs. each, with 30 sovs. 

 added; the Innkeepers' Purse of IQJ. each with 5 

 sovs. added ; a Sweepstakes of I sov. each, with 10 

 sovs. added on the first day ; the North Brox- 

 towe Stakes of 2 sovs. each, with 20 added ; and 

 sweepstakes of I sov. and IQJ. each, with icsovs. 

 and 5 sovs. respectively added on the second day. 

 There were twenty-four starters in the whole of 

 the races, which were held, as usual, in July. 

 In 1845 a hurdle race was for the first time 

 introduced. 



Subsequently the races were allowed to lapse, 

 but after a brief interregnum were revived, and 

 new life was infused into the proceedings ; but 

 it failed to sustain the fixture for long, and the 

 last meeting took place in 1874. On one occa- 

 sion, it is recorded, the Duke of Newcastle's 

 horses carried off nearly all the prizes, but his 

 grace generously returned them to be competed 

 for on a future occasion. 



In bygone times Mansfield's claim to fame 

 as a racing centre did not entirely rest upon its 

 race meetings, for it was for a considerable period 

 very popular with trainers. Here that celebrated 

 trainer Mr. John Scott, ' the wizard of the 

 north ' as he was called, managed a racing 

 stable for Mr. Petre, and subsequently for 

 Mr. Thomas Houldsworth, who purchased 

 Sherwood Hall, and laid out a race-course there 

 for training purposes. Mr. Scott had in his 

 charge at this time Filho da Puta, which won 

 the St. Leger in 1815. In the following year 

 this famous horse passed into the hands of another 



trainer, and came to grief in the match with Sir 

 Joshua (the property of Mr. Neville, afterwards 

 Lord Braybrooke) at Newmarket. 



The connexion between Mr. Scott and 

 Mr. Houldsworth was terminated in unhappy 

 circumstances in 1823, after his horse Sherwood 

 was beaten in the St. Leger by Mr. Watts's 

 Barefoot. Mr. Houldsworth, believing, rightly 

 or wrongly, that the race was sold, and that 

 Scott was implicated in the matter, parted with 

 the great trainer, who afterwards joined Mr. Petre 

 at Malton. He trained the winners of five 

 Derbys, sixteen St. Legers, and innumerable 

 other races. Another gentleman who had racing 

 stables at Mansfield was Mr. Lacey of Notting- 

 ham, and there were also training quarters at 

 Tithe Barn, Toothill Lane, Mansfield. 



Among well-known sporting characters asso- 

 ciated with the town Mr. Short, landlord of the 

 Bowling Hand Inn, Leeming Street, may be 

 fitly mentioned as a racing enthusiast. He 

 travelled from Mansfield to see forty- nine 

 St. Legers run, and was buried at Mansfield on 

 St. Leger Day 1871, at the time when Hannah 

 was winning the great race. 



So far back as 1866 the village of Hazelford 

 Ferry witnessed its first racing festival, but for 

 some reason or other it was not continued. On 

 22 September 1884, however, there was a revival 

 of the sport in the little hamlet, and a capital 

 course, three-quarters of a mile round, was laid 

 out. The originator of the meeting was Mr. A. 

 Merryfield, now of Southwell, who, with the 

 able assistance of Mr. VV. J. Ford of Notting- 

 ham, carried through the meeting for thirteen 

 years. Six events, subsequently increased to 

 seven, constituted the programme, and they were 

 run under the rules of the National Hunt. The 

 stakes ranged from 25 sovs. to 50 sovs., and so 

 popular did the fixture become with owners that 

 it attracted surprisingly good entries, and the 

 sport was often above the average. After the 

 first occasion the meeting was always held in 

 May. In some respects it became the most 

 popular of local meetings. At first a tem- 

 porary stand was provided, but later a permanent 

 structure was built and other improvements 

 carried out, including the formation of a steeple- 

 chase course. 



Lord Shrewsbury, who was a generous sup- 

 porter of Nottinghamshire race meetings, won 

 the first steeplechase with Beacon, and other 

 owners running horses at these meetings included 

 Lord Harrington, Lord Savile, Captain Middleton, 

 Mr. (now Sir) John Robinson, Sir James Duke, 

 Messrs. W. R. Brockton, J. G. Elsey, T. Price, 

 R. Botterill, F. Platt, R. Howett, C. Hibbert, 

 T. Tyler, W. Pidcock, W. Black, F. Godson, 

 G. E. Paget, W. E. Elsey, Hamar Bass, H. D. 

 Johnson, Woodland, Savage, and Leader. A 

 feature of several of the meetings was the battle 

 between Mr. Godson's Arron and Mr. Jolland's 



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