LOED (ieorctE bp:ntinck. 71 



were to fix their undivided attention and to ' go /' without fail, on 

 pain of a pecuniary fine, on seeing the colour dropped in front. The 

 main duty rested with the noble chief in getting the horses in line, a 

 manoeuvre he accomplished by great patience and occasionally walking 

 them backwards and forwards, till assured on his own part that they were 

 so, when he, standing on their flank — unseen by horse or rider — 

 suddenly lowered his flag, in signal to the man ahead to do the 

 same ; when, if the jockeys were disposed to act at all fairly, or a 

 horse was not especially restive, a false start was next to impossible. 

 On this occasion the immense field bounded off at the first signal, 

 notwithstanding it was Lord George's first essay, like a charge 

 of veteran ]Mamelukes. The countless throng cheered the gallant 

 starter with deafening shouts of delight and admiration ; and cheered 

 again, as, taking oft" his hat and bowing in acknowledgment, the 

 handsome fellow mounted his hack and cantered down the course." 



The foregoing sketch, it will be observed, presents Lord George 

 also in his character of turf reformer, which constitutes his strongest 

 claim upon the gratitude of racing men. We have already referred 

 to liis services in the Kunning Rein case, full particulars of which 

 will be found in our sketch of General Peel ; and we need only add 

 that, after the trial, a large sum was subscribed by gentlemen con- 

 nected with the turf to present Lord George with a piece of plate, " in 

 token of the high sense entertained of his indefatigable and successful 

 exertions, not only in the Running Rein affair, but for the services 

 which he had rendered in promoting the stability and prosperity of 

 racing in general." Indeed, his is the greatest name among turf 

 reformers ; and in his measures he always had chiefly an eye to the 

 comfort and happiness of the sight-seers who flocked to the race- 

 course for an afternoon's amusement. " Lord George," says a writer, 

 in 1847, " made it his great care to provide for the masses — a portion 

 of the company that previously had little thought or attention 

 bestowed on their wants. He forced stewards, trainers and jockeys 

 to come out punctual to that time they had never hitherto professed 

 to keep. He heralded, for the benefit of every spectator within 

 sight, the names, by numbers, of the field preparing to start ; and, 

 to perfect this part of his design, suggested that fine treat — the 

 saddling, walking and cantering the horses before the stands. 

 Previous to these admirable arrangements, many a man, wearied of 

 waiting, left the course ere the race he came to see was run ; or, 

 thanks to an indifferent card and one transient view, without a glance 

 at the horse he had pinned his faith to. But, useful as were the 

 improvements introduced by Lord George Bentinck for the benefit 

 of the public, they were put into the shade by his reform of turf 

 abuses. He cleared the race-coiurses of England of defaulters by his 

 . stringent code of laws ; he suppressed the prevalent system of false 

 starts, and he was constantly ready and active to put down swindling 

 in whatever form it reared its hydra head. The memory of the 

 great reformer of turf abuses and race-course monopoly will live as 



