CHAPTERS FROM TURF HISTORY 



sales, his lordship would have none of him. He 

 was quickly passed out of the sale ring as no one 

 would bid a hundred for him, and he was returned 

 to his breeder, Mr. Stephenson of Hart. But 

 the trainer adhered to his favourable opinion of 

 the unpopular yearling with his too massive fore- 

 hand, and at last Lord Zetland reluctantly gave 

 permission for him to be sent to Aske. To the 

 amazement of the Aske stable the brown colt won 

 two trials with consummate ease, and in a third, 

 in which Ellen Middleton and Castenette ^ were 

 engaged, he came in alone. Lord Zetland was 

 now only too anxious to buy the animal he had 

 once so contemptuously declined, and gladly gave 

 £1,500 for him, with a /500 contingency on every 

 classic race he should win. The horse was named 

 Voltigeur. He brought imperishable lustre to his 

 owner, and inspired the love and adoration of 

 every sportsman in the Northern shire. 



Voltigeur only ran once as a two-year-old, 

 winning a small race at Richmond. The colt 

 carried 8 st. 9 lb. and with 6 to 4 betted on him he 

 won by a length. For the Derby he underwent 

 the careful and old-fashioned preparation of those 

 days, and the thickset three-year-old, with legs 

 and feet like iron, throve under the heavy sweats 

 which were then in vogue. In due course he was 

 sent to Epson ; but through some mischance of 

 the journey he was delayed in his box for many 

 hours, and he had evidently suffered greatly by 

 the prolonged confinement. The cognoscenti in 



» Both these mares became famous at the stud. Ellen Middleton 

 bred Wild Dayrell, who won the Derby in 1855, and Castenette 

 the renowned Cup horse. Fandango. 



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