370 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 Fisher, 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 Mr. 

 Wilson 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. 



From what has been said it will be gathered that Mr. E. P. 

 Wilson is a master of his art. At the time of writing there is 

 certainly no one, amateur or professional, who is able to do 

 more complete justice to a horse in a race over a country. 

 Mr. Wilson has had long experience, and he has profited by 

 it. He has two qualifications : he knows how a horse should 



