"THE LIVERPOOL" 



in which he so greatly distinguished himself. I may 

 perhaps note that a memoir of him was produced by his 

 sister, Mrs, Bovill, in conjunction with my friend Sir 

 George R. Askwith, and they were good enough to 

 acknowledge in their Preface the assistance I had been 

 happy enough to render them. Roddy had declared 

 that he would win the Liverpool and then give up 

 riding, a declaration at which, to be frank, we merely 

 smiled. He had meant what he said, and carried it out. 

 Thenceforth he devoted himself to his military duties, 

 and died after doing most gallant service in Egypt, 

 fulfilling a greater ambition than being victorious at 

 Aintree, helping materially to secure the Nile for 

 England. 



This chapter is extending beyond the limits I had 

 designed for it, the main object of the book being to 

 describe the bearers of the colours I have taken for the 

 title. Consequently I must curtail the description, upon 

 which I should like to enlarge, of the gallant victory of 

 Cloister. It naturally appealed to me more forcibly 

 because, as already noted, I had the pleasure of being 

 the guest of the owner, and so shared his anxiety and 

 appreciated his triumph, for beyond question the per- 

 formance was one of the most remarkable in the history 

 of the race. I have previously remarked that experts 

 held to the opinion that I2 st. was a prohibitive weight 

 over these tremendous fences. Cloister, however, not 

 only won with i2 st. 7 lb., but led practically all the way, 



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