II 



A GREAT MATCH 



A young racehorse of old pedigree 

 Match'd for the Spring, whom several went to see. 



Byron, Don Juan. 



The Scottish peer whose famiUar reputation rests 

 upon the romantic tournament which bears his 

 name, and whose popularity was proverbial in 

 Scotland as a princely host, and in Ireland as 

 genial Viceroy in two of Lord Derby's administra- 

 tions, figures prominently in the annals of the 

 Turf at a most interesting period. A sketch, 

 masterly but fanciful, is given of him in a classic 

 work of political romance, in which reference is 

 made to " his horses that were entered for all the 

 great races of the kingdom." The thirteenth 

 Earl of Eglinton at the age of nineteen won the 

 Ayr Plate with his grey mare Bathsheba. En- 

 couraged by this success, three years later he had 

 ten horses in training under the care of old George 

 Dawson. Among them was St. Benet, who 

 achieved a notable victory in the Liverpool Cup 

 of 1838. Irishmen in numbers had crossed the 

 Channel to witness the success of their invincible 

 Harkaway ; but, great horse as he was, he failed 

 to give 15 lb. to St. Benet, who v/on a desperate 

 race for Lord Eglinton by a neck. 



Three years after the celebration of the historic 



44 



