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76 STEEPLE-CHASING. 



part of the estates claimed by the soi-disant ' Sir Roger Tich- 

 borne.' Roquefort had run in ' military races' — that is to say, 

 in steeplechases got up by the officers of various regiments — 

 but he was a particularly headstrong animal, with a habit of 

 trying determinedly to bolt out of right-handed courses. So 

 set was this trick that Captain P'isher, who owned him when 

 he ran third in 1884, had at one time made up his mind to 

 turn him out of training and drive him in a dog-cart ; but 

 Roquefort seemed to reform. His owner, when quartered on 

 the Kentish coast, rode him about, and the horse's manners 

 improved to an extent which saved him from the collar and 

 shafts, in which, by the way, he would probably have been a 

 desperately awkward animal to drive. He was so little trust- 

 worthy, however, that Captain Fisher put him up for auction 

 at Sandown Park, and he was sold for 1,250 guineas. 



Mr. E. P. Wilson, the rider and trainer of Voluptuary, took 

 charge of Roquefort, and so marked was the improvement he 

 made, that he started favourite at 100 to 30, next in the ' mar- 

 ket ' being Zoedone, 5 to i. At the hurdles in the preliminary 

 canter before the race, Zoedone, ridden by her owner. Count 

 Kinsky (who had won this race on her in 1883 as recorded), 

 fell heavily, and suspicions that the mare had been 'got at,' 

 that is to say, drugged, were afterwards noised abroad. She 

 jumped very clumsily throughout the early part of the race, 

 and fell heavily when half the distance was traversed. Roque- 

 fort did not wholly escape accident, and at one fence IMr. 

 ^Vilson was almost knocked out of the saddle ; but he recovered 

 himself and his horse and won by a couple of lengths from 

 Frigate, who had occupied the same position behind Voluptuary 

 the year before. 



An honest hunter. Old Joe, won the Grand National of 

 1886, starting at odds of 25 to i. There was a hot favourite 

 this year in Coronet, a brilliant fencer and a very speedy 

 animal, lacking only the capacity to stay the Liverpool course. 

 Roquefort was also heavily backed at 5 to i, the favourite's 

 price having been 100 to 30— short odds for a Grand National. 

 Old Joe had a light weight, 10 st. 9 lbs., and a thorough 



