86 FAMOUS RACING MEN. 



more as a great agriculturist and foxhunter than as a turfite that the 

 name of Sir Tatton Sykes will be principally remembered. We have 

 already alluded to his passion for sheep-breeding, and observed how 

 Leicesters divided the honours with thoroughbreds at Sledmere. But 

 still, it must not be forgotten that Sir Tatton Sykes was one of the 

 largest breeders of bloodstock in England. At the time of his death, 

 which took place in his 91st year, on the 21st of March, 1863, his 

 stud numbered upwards of 200 horses and mares, and it was no 

 small feat for one man to have bred Grey Momus, The Lawyer, St. 

 Giles, Gaspard, Elcho, Dalby and Lecturer, to say nothing of a host 

 of minor winners. His actual connection with the tui'f, however, 

 as a racing man, was not extensive. His name first appears in the 

 Racing Calendar as an owner of racehorses in 1 803, when his Tele- 

 machus ran at Middleton. In 1805 he rode his own horse, Hudibras, 

 at Malton, and won. In 1808 he matched his mare, Theresa, over 

 a four-mile course at Doncaster for 500 guineas, o^vners up, and won. 

 For twenty years after this date Sir Tatton, from time to time, kept 

 a few horses in training at Malton, chiefly for the purpose of mount- 

 ing them himself in races for gentleman riders. His colours were 

 orange and purple, and the last time he wore them on a winning 

 horse of his own was in 1829, when he won the Welham Cup at 

 Malton. The name of the horse, as someone said at the time, sug- 

 gested the quality of the owner, it was — All Heart and No Peel. 



Some years before he succeeded to the baronetcy Sir Tatton be- 

 came M.F.H., and continued master of a pack of foxhounds for forty 

 years. Perhaps there never was a better master in England, and 

 that is saying a great deal, when we recall such names as Forester, 

 Farquharson, Meynell, and Assheton-Smith. He was in his 70th 

 year when he gave up his hounds, and this only because of 

 his determination not to continue the mastership. Sir Tatton's 

 servants were always splendidly mounted, a fact which may readily 

 be accounted for when the master's judgment in horseflesh and 

 enormous breeding establishment are taken into consideration. He 

 had, as we have said, a very large stud of thoroughbred horses, and 

 among his 120 brood mares, all the best blood of the English 

 " Stud Book " was represented. Sir Tatton, too, was well-known 

 as a constant frequenter of the sales of bloodstock by Messrs. 

 Tattersall at York and Doncaster. In September, 1862, he had bid 

 3,000 guineas for Fandango, but was so anxious to get the horse 

 that he " sprang " another hundred, and when Mr. Richard Tattersall 

 reminded him that he had made the last bid as well, Sir Tatton 

 merely pulled out his watch and said, " Knock him down, Mr. 

 Tattersall, knock him down; we want to go to the races." And 

 Sir Tatton did go, and sent for "The Druid" (Mr. Henry Hall 

 Dixon) to introduce Tom Sayers to him, that famous bruiser 

 having then all his blushing honours thick upon him. A ring was 

 formed in the stand enclosure, and the people stood still to gaze 

 at the interesting and suggestive sight of the octogenarian pupil 



