2GG 



ashgill; or, the life 



for the winner than Mr. Cartwright's mare and Mr. 

 Vyner's game old horse. Slight odds were laid on the 

 mare for the very reason that Thunder was running out 

 of his distance, but so close and exciting was the finish 

 that few, if any, after the event had been decided, would 

 have had the temerity to lay 5 to 4 on the winner again. 

 Knowing the failing of Mr. Vyner's horse, Custance 

 kept forcing the pace on the mare, with Thunder lying 

 off until quarter of a mile from home, where Osborne 

 brought him up alongside of her. Custance now began 

 to bustle her up, with Johnnie sitting still as a statue. 

 Struggling on in the gamest manner possible, Louise 

 Victoria would never permit Thunder to leave her much, 

 and at the half-distance the latter began to feel the 

 pinch of the pace. Then the two artistic horsemen sat 

 down in earnest — no flogging with whips here — but 

 each jockey squeezing the last inch out with hands, 

 knees, and heels. Two or three strides from home 

 Thunder seemed to have won his race, but Custance 

 with one grand, final effort caused Mr. Cartwright's 

 mare to respond in a remarkable manner, and with such 

 effect that the shortest of heads was recorded in her 

 favour, though it was not until the winner's number had 

 been hoisted that uncertainty was dispelled, the struggle 

 home having been one of the finest ever witnessed on 

 a racecourse. 



Though Osborne was " done " by " Cussy " in this 

 instance, in the second previous race to the one just 

 described— the Filly Sapling Stakes— he came off 

 trumps in a grand finish against Charley Wood. The 

 latter was on Mr. W. S. Mitchell-Innes's Goddess, who, 

 as the Nutbush filly, had done Mr. H. Chaplin good 

 service the previous season ; and " Johnnie " rode Mr. 

 Johnstone's Sister to Tipster. Odds of 5 to 2 were laid 



