1773 THE LORDS 39 



sion, had very much the best of the deal with Lord 

 Grosvenor at the First Spring Meeting in 1779. The 

 story has so often been wrongly told (as it is by Mr. 

 Christie Whyte in his * History of the British Turf,' 

 an authority greatly and, for the most part, deservedly 

 followed) that it must be repeated. It appears, then, 

 that Lords Abingdon and Grosvenor had arranged to 

 run a match at the said meeting, the former to run 

 Cardinal York, 4 years, 8 stone, and the latter a filly 

 by Dux out of Curiosity, 4 years, 7 stone 11 lb., B.C., 

 for 1,000 guineas a side, and a ' bye,' or additional bet 

 of 6,000 guineas (laid by Lord Grosvenor) against 

 3,000 guineas, the match and bet or bets having, of 

 course, been made some time before. When the time 

 for the match to be run came on, the story goes that 

 Lord Grosvenor called upon Lord Abingdon to ' make 

 stakes ' (in default of which, the rule was that bets 

 were void, and the match too, of course), which Lord 

 Abingdon was not prepared to do, and was only saved 

 by the interposition of the noted ' miser,' Mr. Elwes, 

 who, though a ' miser,' was nothing if not a sportsman, 

 and offered to lend the money without ado or security. 

 The offer was accepted, 7 to 4 was laid on Lord Abing- 

 don's horse, and Lord Abingdon won both the original 

 stakes or bet and the * bye ' as well. Mr. Whyte's 

 version, adopted by others, makes the sporting 'miser ' 

 lend the money to Lord Grosvenor, which seems to be 

 absurd, for Cardinal York was backed at 7 to 4 on t 

 and the demand to ' make stakes ' was clearly a happy 



