FAMOUS CHASERS AND THEIR RIDERS, ^jj 



preparation to recommend him, and he won with T. Skelton 

 in the saddle, by six lengths from the hope of Ireland, Count 

 Erdody's Too Good, ii st. 12 lbs., Mr. H. Beasley up ; Game- 

 cock, who was to distinguish himself next year, five lengths 

 behind the second. Frigate ran, ridden by John Jones, who, 

 however, parted company with her at the second fence, and in 

 the field also was old Liberator, who, as an aged horse, 

 had won eight years before. Mr. Douglas thought so highly 

 of the winner that he actually ran him in the Cesarewitch, 

 but with only 6 st. 3 lbs. on his back, he finished several 

 hundred yards behind the leading horses. Subsequently 

 Mr. E. W. Baird bought Old Joe, but his day was over, and 

 one little race at Croydon, in a field of three starters, one of 

 whom refused, was his solitary success. Old Joe was most 

 lucky to win, for Savoyard had all the best of the race to the 

 last hurdle, where he came down heavily. 



Ireland supplied the favourite of 1887, in Spahi, 9 to 2. 

 Roquefort, in spite of the 1 2 st. 8 lbs. which the handicapper 

 had allotted him, was the most fancied of the remainder, at 

 7 to I, and many observers thought he would have beaten the 

 record by winning with all his weight. When going well, 

 however, he perversely swerved, and fell over the rails. The 

 race was won by Gamecock, who, as just remarked, had run 

 third in the previous year, and, with Daniels in the saddle, 

 carried 1 1 st. past the post three lengths in front of Savoyard, 

 10 St. 13 lbs., who had looked like retrieving the previous year's 

 disaster. The late Lord Wolverton's Johnny Longtaii was driven 

 into third place by J. Childs, one of Mr. Arthur Yates' jockeys, 

 from the Alresford stable. Frigate made her annual appearance. 



A chapter of accidents marked the race in 1888. Usna, 

 an Irish horse with an unbeaten certificate, shared favouritism 

 with a useful animal named Chancellor ; and it is possible that 

 Usna might have won, though to speculate on what ' might 

 have been,' on the ground that a heavily weighted horse was 

 going well a long way from home, is always unprofitable. How- 

 ever, Usna injured his shoulder, and, swerving after he had 

 jumped a fence, carried Frigate, it was said, some thirty 



