Turj Statistics — Coton Hall. 17 



ground for all the scent he gave, and the day was 

 over. Let us hope it was only a prelude to a better. 

 A melancholy story reaches me of vulpicidism, south of 

 the Severn, but I hesitated to publish it without due in- 

 quiry. One thing, dear reader, you may be pleased to hear, 

 and that is, that it has not been laid at the door of a 

 Salopian, but merely at that of a shooting gentleman 

 and his keeper. 



FIFTH WEEK— November 22 to 29. 



The racing season is over, and Mr. Hammond comes out 

 as the great winner of the year, with a total of £12,379 to 

 his credit. Mr. Peck, the trainer is second, with £11,906,. 

 and the Duke of Westminster and Mr. Manton third and 

 fourth — both in the £11,000 category. It has been 

 essentially a commoner's year and a disastrous one for 

 backers as a rule. I may be a false prophet, but to the 

 ideas of not a few, racing is drifting away from its ancient 

 moorings, and instead of being the national pastime of 

 twenty years back, it is becoming every year more a 

 professional business — the old county gatherings are no 

 more. Local interest in racing generally is fading away, 

 except to those who bet at the lists, or can enjoy Epsom, 

 Ascot, and Goodwood, in their season. 



Our hunting budget this week is by no means meagre one^ 

 On Monday, Sir Watkni and Mr. Lonsdale as usual, 

 competed. This time, it was the latter' s turn to win the 

 game, and right well he did it. Coton Hall failed to pro- 

 duce a fox, but Twemlow held a plethora — a brace of stay- 

 at-home received their quietus, afrer a ring or two in co- 

 vert, but the third was made of quite different stuff. Across 

 Which urch old racecourse, and over the L & N.W. Railway 

 to Coton, was his first move, then, swinging round, he re- 

 crossed the railway, and skirting Frees, gave his followers 

 a taste of as stiff a juni])ing country as he could have found 

 towards Soulton Wood, leaving which to the right, he 

 worked his way gallantly l^ack to the Twemlow, and baffled 

 his pnrsuers. A capital hour and twenty minutes- An 

 afternoon t'ox from a pit-hole below Ightfie**d was also- 

 equal to the occassion. Straight to and through the 

 Twemlow, and from thence to Frees, where he desciibed 

 a ring, and eventually got to ground in a rabbit hole^ 



