STEEPLE-CHASING 



farmers over whose land the sport took place rebelled, and 

 in 1838 the last St. Albans race was run. 



There had been a selling steeplechase at Aintree (nine 

 runners ; won by the Duke) in 1836, but, as ' The Druid ' says, 

 ' Liverpool began its Grand National in earnest ' in 1839, 

 and the glory that had been St. Albans' was translated to the 

 Aintree course. 



Commander W. B. Forbes, R.N., sends the following 

 account of the Grand National of 1882, famous in the annals 

 of the great race as having been won by a man who rode 

 his own horse, after one of the closest finishes ever seen : — 



' " That must be the happiest man on the top of the earth 

 at the present moment," said the late Mr. John Watson to me 

 in his own emphatic way, as we watched the mud-bespattered 

 Lord Manners strip the saddle from the back of the gallant 

 Seaman after the race. And though Lord Manners seemed 

 very calm amid the uproarious cheering and overwhelming 

 congratulations of those who crowded round him, I feel 

 pretty sure that my old friend was right ; for not to many 

 comes, even once in a lifetime, the intense and satisfying joy 

 that follows the accomplishment of some great deed upon 

 which the heart is set. 



' Never shall I forget the scene as the owner- jockey 



emerged from the weighing room when " all right " had been 



pronounced after the most exciting struggle I ever witnessed 



on a steeplechase course. There were many circumstances 



connected with the race which made it in every way one of 



the most memorable contests on record : and not even when 



His Majesty's royal purple was borne first past the post on 



Ambush II was victory more popular. For it was known to 



all that Lord Manners, then a young Guardsman, 30 years of 



age, had purchased Seaman at a long figure for the express 



purpose of winning the Grand National with him and riding 



him himself ; an idea, which, though it seemed quixotic to the 



British Public, caused the gallant Guardsman to become a 



popular idol when it was realised. Yet Lord Manners was not 



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