On the Office of Steward. 51 



objected to, the weight he carried, the mode in 

 which he was ridden by the jockey, &c.; indeed, 

 any question which involves the right of a horse 

 to be deemed the winner, or to a place in the 

 race, notwithstanding his having first passed the 

 winning-post. 



When by the articles it is provided that disputes 

 are to be decided by the Stewards, their decision 

 upon such disputes is final, and cannot be reversed 

 in a court of law, even though it may be clearly 

 erroneous, provided there be no ground for 

 impeaching it on the ground of fraud or cor- 

 ruption of the Stewards themselves. 



So long as a dispute remains under the con- 

 sideration of the Stewards, the stakes cannot be 

 recovered from the stakeholder. This was expressly 

 decided in a case of Brown against Overbury, 

 tried before Mr. Justice Coleridge, at Warwick 

 Assizes, in 1855, wherein it appeared that, in the 

 spring of that year, a steeplechase was run near 

 Henley. Overbury, the defendant, was treasurer 

 of that race, and Brown, the plaintiff, sought to 

 recover 26Z., being the amount of the stakes 

 which he alleged were won by his horse * Minor.' 

 According to the articles, any dispute as to the 

 race was to be decided by the award of four 

 Stewards. A dispute arose. The Stewards met, 



E2 



