36o STEEPLE-CHASING. 



39 feet.^ Captain Little, his rider, was one of the most experi- 

 enced horsemen of his day, and that such a pair should win 

 the Liverpool seems quite in accordance with the eternal 

 fitness of things. 



Peter Simple, an impetuous horse, with wonderful action 

 through dirt, took two Liverpools, and ran much in races which 

 came more properly under the head of steeple-chases. Abd-el- 

 Kader, who took the race in 1850 and in 185 1, was the son of a 

 mare that worked the Shrewsbury coach. Emigrant, winner in 

 1857, was certainly a racehorse, and carried 7 st. 5 lbs. in the 

 Ascot Stakes, but not being good enough to win on the flat he 

 became a hunter, and was ridden with the Atherstone hounds 

 for two or three seasons, where he showed such form that he 

 was put into training, and Boyce steered him home in front of 

 twenty-seven rivals. 



Boyce was a fairly good jockey, but it was generally sup- 

 posed that some more ingenious head suggested the plan which 

 went a long way towards insuring him success on Emigrant. 

 It was exceptionally heavy going in 1857. Parts of the course 

 were swamps, and the horses tired sadly in them. Boyce, 

 however, by his own wit, or the wit of some one else, hit on the 

 expedient of jumping a fence out of one of the fields so that 

 he got on to the towing-path of the canal ; thus he avoided 

 the quagmire which distressed the others, and, going gaily 

 along on the top of the ground, saved his horse much exertion. 

 All this was fair enough, according to the then conditions of the 

 race ; but the managers of the meeting prevented a repetition 

 of the plan by putting a couple of flags on the fence — there 

 had been none before— between which the horses had to jump. 



Little Charley next year was ridden to victory by W. Archer, 

 father of the celebrated jockey Fred Archer, and Anatis the 

 year afterwards gave Mr. ' Thomas ' the first of his three 

 winning mounts. Determination, and a consistent resolve to 

 throw away no chance, were perhaps the strong points of this 

 rider, wno at his best was wonderfully successful. Mr. Thomas 



A So the story goes ; but the facts form matter of unceasing argument. 



