EACE-nOKSES.] 



MODEEN VETEEINART PEACTICE. 



[HACE-nOESES. 



Also the breadth of the hinder-leg;.?, or shanks. 



Two-and-three-quarter parts of a head, the thick- 

 •less of tlie hind pasterns. 



Also the breadth of the shanks of the fore-leo;s. 



Tvvo-and-a-quarter parts of a head, the tliickness 

 of the fore pasterns. 



Also the breadtli of the hind pasterns. 



One-and-three-quarter parts of a head, the thick- 

 ness of the fore and liind shanks. 



Such are the proportions of this famous 

 horse, which in form, constitution, and action, 

 seemed to comprehend every excellence for 

 the course. When a yearling, be was pur- 

 chased by Mr. Wildman, a sporting sheep 

 salesman of Smitbfield, for seventy-five guineas, 

 on the decease of the Duke of Cumberland, 

 at the sale by auction of bis royal bighness's 

 stud. Marsk, the reputed sire of Eclipse, 

 subsequently, on the New Forest, covered 

 country and forest mares at balf~a-guinea 

 each. But, after the transceudant qualities of 

 Eclipse were established, the same Marsk 

 covered at one hundred guineas a mare, and 

 was advertised in succeeding seasons by Lord 

 Abingdon, bis proprietor, at two hundred or 

 three hundred guineas a mare. Wildman bad 

 a friend in the old duke's stud, from whom be 

 obtained a bint of the superior form of the 

 Eclipse colt ; but making the journey in baste, 

 he did not arrive until the sale had com- 

 menced, and bis object had been already 

 knocked down at seventy guineas. Appealing 

 instantly to bis watch, which he knew to be a 

 correct time-piece, he found the hour had not 

 arrived by several minutes at which tlie com- 

 mencement of the sale had been publicly ad- 

 vertised, and thence firml}^ insisted there bad 

 been no lawful sale, and that the lots knocked 

 down should be put up again. The knight of 

 the hammer, well aware of the resolution and 

 pecuniary weight of Mr. AVildman, very pru- 

 dently oftered him the chance of any lot be 

 should choose. Eclipse was put up again, and 

 Wildman purchased tlie yearling at an advance 

 of five guineas. 



Immediately previous to Eclipse running for 

 the King's Plate, at Winchester, in 1769, 

 Colonel O'Kelly purchased the half share of 

 bim for six hundred and fifty guineas ; and, 

 afterwards, the remaining share for eleven 

 hundred guineas. 



Eclipse, for what reason has never been 



published, did not appear upon tlie turf until 

 he was full five years old, when he was entered 

 at Ej)som for the Maiden Plate of fifty pounds. 

 There can be no doubt that liis trials at Epsom 

 had been watclied, as the odds at startiu"' 

 were four to one in his favour. 



O'Kellj was, doubtless, well aware of the 

 qualities of bis maiden horse, by the large 

 sums he then betted at such considerable odds. 

 In running the second winning-heat, the whole 

 five horses were close together, at the three- 

 mile post, when some of the jockeys used their 

 whips. Eclipse was quietly jogging on at a 

 moderate rate ; when, alarmed by the crack of 

 the whips, he bounded away ; and, notwith- 

 standing his jockey held him back with all bis 

 strength, not one of his competitors could 

 save bis distance. 



In running over tlie coui'se at York, in the 

 following year, for the ISnbscripLion Purse 

 against Tortoise and Bellario, two first-rate 

 racers, but aged, Eclipse took the lead; and 

 the jockey, being unable to hold him, he was 

 more than a distance before his competitors at 

 the end of two miles, and won the race with 

 the utmost ease. At starting, bets of twenty, 

 and in running, one hundred pounds to a 

 guinea were oflered on Eclipse. On a certain 

 race, O'Kelly bet five and six to four that he 

 posted the horses — that is to say, named, before 

 starting, the order in which they would come 

 in. When called on to declare, he named — 

 " Eclipse first, the rest in no place ;" and won 

 his money — Eclipse distancing all the rest. 

 Being distanced, they were, consequently, in a 

 sporting sense, in no place. 



Eleven King's plates, the weight carried for 

 all of them being twelve stone (one excepted, 

 ten stone), were won by Eclipse. In twenty- 

 three years, three hundred and forty-four 

 winners, the true progeny of this matchless 

 courser, produced, to their owners, the sum of 

 £158,071 125., various prizes not included. 



About the year 1779, a noble duke, or some 

 sporting member of bis family, demanded of 

 O'Kelly how much he would take for Eclipse? 

 The reply was—" By the Mass, my lord, and 

 it is not all Bedford Level that would purchase 

 him." AVe state, on the authority of the 

 keeper of a sporting coflee-house, frequented 

 by Colonel O'Kelly, that this gentleman asked 

 the sum of twenty-five thousand pounds down, 



75 



