18 THE POST AND THE PADDOCK. 



on theCup dayinNewminster's year; and "B. Green" 

 kept well to the fore with " his dauntless three " 

 Beverlac, Flatcatcher, and Assault (the latter of whom 

 was tried to be the best) throughout their two-year- 

 old season in 1847. One of the strangest gleams of 

 luck visited Lord Glasgow, when he swept away five 

 matches and a forfeit on the '52 Houghton Saturday. 

 Lord Exeter also sent an express to Burleigh in 1843, 

 and brought Keversion from his Burleigh paddock, 

 who, fat and unprepared as he was, contrived to break 

 down Tedworth for an <810 stake, before they had 

 reached Choak- Jade ; and not a man was at Doncas- 

 ter in 1849, who does not remember how Semi-franc 

 was equally hastily summoned from the Easby straw- 

 yard, the moment it was ascertained that Belus could 

 hardly move a leg, and how, after bolting all over the 

 course, he "lost the cripple," who hobbled home in 

 the course of the afternoon, long before they got to 

 the Neatherd's house. When Chatham and Attila 

 bade each other defiance, at four years old and the 

 A.F. post, the betting was merely on the point which 

 would break down first ; and the crowd and the pair 

 were luckily put out of pain, by a compromise in the 

 presence of the starter. 



For actual excitement during a race, we never saw 

 anything equal the deciding heat for the Voltigeur 

 St. Leger, as the crowd pressed onto the course from 

 the bend, and left to all appearance scarcely a four- 

 yard space for the horses. Poor Bobby Hill's state 

 of mind was wondrous to mark. He had been 

 dreadfully put out, because some of the crowd had 

 ironically advised him to put some brandy into the 

 water which he had brought for his horse from Mid- 

 dleham; and even gone so far as to allude to the 

 honoured cow which had been specially put into the 

 Turf Tavern box, to air it over-night. Burning 

 for revenge, he had stationed himself close by the 

 judge's chair, to hear his doom, and even then his 



