102 STEEPLECHASING 



by another horse and knocked over, his jockey ahghting 

 on his back. A fence or two further on Sparta struck 

 into Lord Strathmore, this putting an end to his chance, 

 while at the fourth fence before entering the straight 

 The Sailor fell, broke his back, and was immediately 

 shot, while Blue Pill and Counsellor both broke their leofs. 

 When the horses jumped on to the course The Curate 

 held the lead ; but The Chandler soon wrested it from 

 him, and after a good race won by a length. 



The Grand National of this year was chiefly remark- 

 able for the appearance in the race, in the part of a 

 jockey, of Johnny Broome, the pugilist. The story was 

 that he took a bet of ^10,000 to /^loo that he rode a 

 horse called Cavendish and won the National in this 

 year. Cavendish, however, became lame, could not 

 start, and so this bet was lost. The owner of Cavendish 

 always declared that he knew nothing about the bet, and 

 was never approached on the subject of Broome's riding 

 him at Liverpool. 



Subsequently Johnny Broome was reported to have 

 made a bet with Captain Alleyne of a level ^500 that 

 he would be in the fourth field from home when the 

 winner passed the post. It was said that in order to 

 win his wager Broome tried to buy the horse Proceed ; 

 but failing in that he at the last moment before the 

 entries closed obtained the loan of Eagle. Whatever 

 the true details of the incident may have been, the fact 

 remains that the starters for the National of 1848 in- 

 cluded "Mr. C. C. Brooke's Eagle, aged, 11 stone 4 lb. 

 (5 lb. extra)." The horse was not in anything like con- 

 dition, yet Johnny Broome, riding with plenty of pluck if 

 without much judgment, kept with his horses during the 

 first round, and then Eagle began to fall behind. At 

 Becher's Brook the second time the horse half stopped and 

 bucked over the fence, sending- his rider whirlino- through 

 space. Broome fell heavily, was taken to a cottage 



