FAMOUS CHASERS AND THEIR RIDERS. 387 



whose love of racing under National Hunt Rules has in- 

 duced them to abandon their profession and devote them- 

 selves to the sport. Captain Bewicke was for a time connected 

 with stables at Epsom ; since then he is understood to have 

 become virtually master of a training establishment near 

 Grateley in Hampshire — close to the ground on which Foxhall 

 was prepared by William Day for his victories in the Cesare- 

 witch and Cambridgeshire of 1881. Mr. Atkinson has been 

 associated with the stable at Lewes conducted by Escott. 

 Both are masters of their art, in active practice, and no account 

 of the sport would now be complete without the mention of 

 their names. Captain Bewicke has at the time of writing no 

 superior in the amateur or professional ranks. He is of opinion 

 that the best chaser he ever rode was Roman Oak when in his 

 prime, and on this horse he won the big ' chace ' at Manchester 

 carrying 1 1 st. 13 lbs. Other winners of reputation on which he 

 has been successful are Primula (dam of Buccaneer), Ormerod, 

 Red Hussar, Primate, and Lady Helen. The Primate showed 

 exceptional promise as a four year old and started second 

 favourite for the National in 1892, but Captain Bewicke was 

 convinced he was 'got at.' He was a very game generous 

 horse that resented the mere sight of the whip, but the rider 

 not only showed it to him but used it in this race, and the fact 

 that he made no sort of response told a tale. In answer to an 

 inquiry as to the best jumper he had ever ridden Captain 

 Bewicke gives an interesting and instructive reply, to the effect 

 that horses vary much over different courses. ' Red Hussar,' he 

 . states, ' was by no means a perfect jumper over a course like 

 Sandown or Kempton for the reason that he would " put in 

 short ones " and get too close to the fences ; but over a big 

 stiff course like Liverpool he would stand off, jump boldly, and 

 was a well-nigh perfect fencer. Magic ' — a horse that was for 

 some time the property of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales — ' was a 

 curious horse in this way. He would never touch a twig at 

 Liverpool and on some other big courses, but Sandown he knew 

 so well that from the very first fence he would hardly rise 



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