3.58 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



having very large outgoings in so expensive a 

 concern. O'Kelly almost by himself, filled a 

 middle rank between our Sportsmen of the 

 Aristocracy and the professional betters ; and 

 although it may be presumed, he was not a 

 man overladen and depressed in his career by 

 scruples, his character, as a man of the Turf, 

 in all probability, would not suffer in com- 

 parison with the highest of that class. We 

 have not, nor is it likely we shall again soon, 

 see his like. 



" For the first spoke which O'Kelly put in 

 the wheel of fortune, he is said to have been 

 indebted to his connection with Mrs. Char- 

 lotte Hayes, to whom he was afterwards mar- 

 ried ; a lady of high note in her day, and of 

 the hiffhest consideration in her line. His nail 

 in fortune's wheel was finally clenched by the 

 purchase, first by the half, afterwards of the 

 whole of the Race Horse, Eclipse. The most 

 painful diurnal and nocturnal attention to the 

 business of play, and the devotion to that 

 end, of a genius and temperament singularly 

 calculated for it, enabled him to make this 

 purchase, and likewise the more heavy one of 

 the estate at Epsom, where, upon the Downs, 

 and on the verge of the course, he built a 

 suite of stabling, replete with every conveni- 

 ence, for the purpose of breeding and training 

 the Race Horse." 



O'Kelly died about 1779, leaving a con- 

 siderable fortune acquired upon the Turf, to 

 his nephew, with the condition, as it had been 

 generally understood, that he never engaged 

 in Horse-racing ; which condition, as our con- 

 venient laws both make and cut off entails, 

 and as a memento to testators, was afterwards 

 avoided. 



Though O'Kelly may be considered gene- 

 rally as a keen and knowing Sportsman, which 



most undoubtedly he was ; yet his predilec- 

 tion for some of his Horses, because they were 

 got by Eclipse (and no man we can admit had 

 greater cause for prejudice), made some of his 

 cotemporaries say was an illustration of his 

 want of judgment. Young Eclipse was a 

 Horse of this description. He never merited 

 j this splendid name bestowed upon him, being 

 a Horse of no pretensions whatever ; and yet 

 this, and another of somewhat the same de- 

 scription (Boudrow, we believe,) were once 

 his chief favourites. It had, however, been 

 discovered, that the produce of Eclipse ran 

 too generally and exclusively to speed : and 

 that in toughness and continuance, they were 

 greatly surpassed by their competitors on the 

 course, the stock of King Herod and Gold- 

 finder. 



In observing on the general character of 

 Eclipse's running, we cannot but remark, that 

 it was impossible to make a tool of him, if 

 even it had been desired or intended by his 

 owner. He was no Horse that could win a 

 race to-day, and be beaten on the morrow by 

 a Horse of inferior powers. He seemed to 

 have made up his mind to be always a win- 

 ner, and resisted all the attempts of his jockeys 

 to force him to accommodate his pace to that 

 of his opponents. He took the lead and gal- 

 lantly maintained it, in spite of all opposition. 

 Had we all Eclipses on the course, we should 

 not witness the finesse we so often do on the 

 course, at the present day. 



KING HEROD. 



King Herod, descended by his dam from 

 Flying Childers, was of the highest reputation, 

 both as a Racer and a Stallion ; indeed, stands 

 anions: the first, if he be not really the very 

 first of the latter class, in modern times. He 



