STEEPLE-CHASING 



credit of Mr. Holyoake. From fear of accidents, he gave up 

 hunting Clinker for two months before the race ; and three 

 weeks previous to the day of starting, he refused twelve hun- 

 dred guineas for him^ — declaring, that, as he had promised 

 him to Captain Ross, five thousand should not purchase him. 



' The same difficulty attended my Lord Kennedy in select- 

 ing a horse for this arduous undertaking. He first purchased 

 a brown horse from Colonel Wallace, for £400 ; Why not, a 

 horse that ran pretty well three years ago, as a cocktail ; a 

 brown horse, at a pretty large price, from the Hon. Mr. More- 

 ton ; and Radical, — the horse that started — from Mr. Thomas 

 Assheton Smith, for £500. Radical, also got by Clinker, is 

 quite thoroughbred ; and Mr. Smith, who has ridden him 

 three seasons, considered him the fastest horse he ever had. 

 Lord Kennedy also deputed Captain Douglas to go to Lord 

 Lynedoch, and offer him £800 for Whitestockings, the horse 

 his Lordship purchased the season before last from Lord 

 Kintore. 



' The concourse of people upon the ground on the morn- 

 ing of the race was very great, and a considerable display of 

 carriages was to be seen in the grounds of Quornby Hall, 

 situated about a mile from the Coplow, and through which 

 the riders were to pass. 



' A little after two o'clock the gentlemen started ; and as 

 nearly as I could collect, the following is a statement of the 

 race : — Mr Holyoake's instructions to Captain Ross were, 

 that he should let Captain Douglas go first, provided he went 

 off at a slapping pace ; but if not, Clinker was to take the lead. 

 Douglas, however, took the lead, and kept for about four 

 fields, when Radical, refusing a fence, swerved against a gate, 

 and threw his rider over it. Clinker followed him to the gate, 

 and here some confusion arose. Ross was not shaken from 

 his seat ; but in consequence of the wrists of both these 

 gentlemen being strapped to their bridle reins — with a view 

 of preventing their losing their horses in case of falls — he got 



* Mr. Holyoake afterwards sold Clinker to Captain Ross for 600 guineas, 



123 



