284 STEEPLE-CHASING. 



place Market Harborough, and Mr. Burton beat thirty oppo- 

 nents on Mr. B. J. Angell's Bridegroom. In these races the 

 original idea of the sport has been maintained as much as pos- 

 sible. A natural country is chosen, and the fences are admit- 

 tedly large. 'The Market Harborough course,' a member of 

 the Grand National Hunt Committee who has always been an 

 advocate of big jumps confesses, ' was really an awful one. 

 The aboriginal oxer prevailed ; the brook the river Welland 

 was cut clean to the width of eighteen feet. I have no idea 

 of the depth, but the scenes which occurred here were remark- 

 able. A good many of the provincial riders required a con- 

 siderable amount of "jumping powder " to induce them to face 

 this brook and other equally formidable fences. A lady well 

 known in the sporting circles of her day, however, cleared the 

 water before the assembled multitude in cold blood.' The 

 owner and rider of Bridegroom supplied and steered the winner, 

 Queensferry, the second year. 



The first Grand National Hunt recorded in ' Weatherby ' is 

 the race at Bedford in 1867, when the late Captain Coventry 

 rode Emperor III. and won by six lengths. That was as stiff 

 and big a course as could well be found. There was a double 

 post and rails ' improved ' with a ditch, which most of the jockeys 

 objected to, and it was consequently decided that one of the 

 rails should be taken down at a particular spot, so as to 

 give riders the option of an easier place. Captain Coventry 

 made no objection to this, as he saw that by going straight over 

 the double he could gain considerably on those who diverged 

 to the gap ; and he carried out his plan most successfully. 



If any proof were needed of how necessary it was that some 

 sort of law and order should be brought to bear upon the 

 steeple-chasing fraternity, readers may be referred to the short 

 preface to Messrs. Weatherby's first * Steeple-chase Calendar.' 

 This is the paragraph : 



In preparing for press this first volume of ' Steeple-chases Past,' 

 considerable pains have been taken to obtain pedigrees, and such 

 information as would enable us to distinguish or identify in the 



