LIVERPOOL 97 



ing to some authorities four, were Irish, namely, Mathew, 

 Saucepan, Brunette, and Miss Tisdall, while St. Leger 

 was according to some an Irishman. 



In this year, there was among the starters the famous 



mare Brunette, one of the most celebrated of the many 



good steeplechasers which have come out of Ireland. 



She was foaled in 1834, was bred by Mr. William Allen, 



of Ginnetts, co. Meath, and was a black or dark brown 



mare, by Sir Hercules, dam by Yeomanry, grand-dam 



by Welcome. She never appears to have run till the 



year 1841, when a young farmer named Murray rode 



her in Mr. Allen's name at Trim. There was a peculiar 



condition that the competitors had to win the race twice 



in one day — it was in fact run in heats, and Brunette 



succeeded in winning hers in a canter. Mr. J. F, 



Knaresborough — most probably the owner of Dan 



O'Connell, who started for the Liverpool in 1837 — 



bought Brunette from Mr. Allen for ^250, then a 



large price. She won at Kilkenny in 1841 ; gained the 



Kilrue Cup in 1842, the year in which the race was 



instituted ; and in the following year, by which time she 



had become the property of Mr. Preston, who gave 



^450 and a good hunter for her, she again won the 



Kilrue Cup, a race of a particularly exciting character 



that year. Just at the last moment for making entries 



Mr. Alan McDonough handed in the nomination paper 



of Peter Simple, who was then at his best in England 



and had been taken across to Ireland especially for the 



Kilrue Cup. Mr. Alan McDonough appeared to have 



an improved estimate of Peter Simple's chance, and is 



said to have laid an even fifty sovereigns that Peter 



Simple would not refuse, another level fifty that he 



would not fall, and a level hundred that he won. In 



the race itself Mr. McDonough on Peter Simple made 



the running at a tremendous pace. It appears to have 



been a terrific race all through, and not very far from 



