OF FARRIERY. 



409 



CHAPTER IX. 



ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCE OF WALES'S HORSE ESCAPE, RUNNING 

 AT NEWMARKET.— OBSERVATIONS ON THE TURF, ETC. 



ESCAPE, SKYLARK, PIPATOR, AND CORIANDER. 



On the 20tli of October, 1791, Chifney rode 

 the Prince of Wales's famous Horse Escape, 

 by Highflyer, in a sweepstakes, from tlie 

 Ditch-In, a distance of about two miles, 

 against the above-named Horses, and Corian- 

 der won it. On the following day Chifney 

 rode Escape against the same Horses over the 

 Beacon Course, a distance of four miles, and 

 won. The betting on this race was four and 

 five to one against Escape. Public rumour 

 stated that the Prince had won a vast sum. 



It is almost impossible to offer any fair 

 opinion upon this subject ; that appearances 

 were sufficient to cause suspicion, we are very 

 willing to allow ; and we shall leave it to the 

 candour and judgment of our readers to de- 

 cide whether the explanations of Chifney are 

 satisfactory or not. 



The Prince of Wales denied having won 

 above four hundred pounds on the race, and 

 seems to have taken every pains to investigate 

 the winnings of his jockey. We shall let 

 Chifney speak for himself: — 



On the 20th October 1791, as I was going 

 on the race-ground in company with other.*, 

 His Royal Highness from on horseback called 

 to me, saying, " Sam Chifney, Escape is sure 

 of winning to-day, is he not?" I immediately 

 rode up and informed His Royal Highness that 

 I did not know that Escape was sure of win- 

 ning to day. 



His Royal Highness said, " Yes, Escape is 

 sure of winning to-day." I then wished His 

 Royal Highness not to back him ; for the odds 

 were likely to be high upon him ; that His 

 Royal Highness might lose a deal of money 

 to winning very little. 



His Royal Highness then turned short from 

 me, saying, " No, I shall not bet upon him, 

 but he is sure of winning;" and immediately 

 joined the company that was riding down the 

 lower side of the running ground to the turn 

 of the lands. 



I now found myself under a peculiar embar- 

 rassment, for I very much wanted to tell His 

 Royal Highness that I was doubtful about 

 Escape being quite fit to run, and this was 

 my only reason for wishing His Royal Highness 

 b L 



