I04 STEEPLECHASING 



himself the richer by ^500, and he then felt able to 

 start once more. The race, by the way, which served 

 to put the "Little Captain" on his legs again was the 

 Worcester Grand Annual, nor was it the first time it was 

 won by a " picked-up horse," as in the year 1S43 i^ 

 was carried off by Dragsman, whose excellence was only 

 discovered by chance, while Vivian, another winner, was 

 bought for a mere song. 



Captain Little's exploits on The Chandler were in all 

 parts of the country, and it may be mentioned that he 

 first came out as a rider at the above-mentioned race 

 at Worcester. His winning the Grand National on The 

 Chandler must be regarded as a wonderful piece of luck, 

 for Captain Little did not then know very much about 

 steeplechasing, and when it came to the finish he had 

 to fight out the issue with his old coach Tom Olliver, 

 perhaps one of the most resolute horsemen of his day. 

 It was in 1847 that Captain William Peel sold a half 

 share in The Chandler to Captain Little, and from that 

 time the two became confederates, and they became 

 possessed of Pioneer in a manner almost as curious as 

 that through which they came to own The Chandler. 

 After winning the Grand National in 1846, and the 

 Leamington Grand Annual in which he was ridden by 

 Captain Peel, Sir William Don bought him with the 

 intention of winning the first Grand Steeplechase in 

 France, and he laid the large bet of 5000 to 500 against 

 Captain Peel winning on Culverthorpe. Sir William 

 Don soon came to understand that he had made a 

 mistake, and, on begging to be off the bet, the amount 

 was reduced from 1000 to 100, which, as Culverthorpe 

 pulled off the race. Captain Peel won. He bought 

 Pioneer for the money, but as he broke down rather 

 badly he was not of much use to the confederates. In 

 1850 Captain Little won a sweepstakes at the Grand 

 Military on Gipsy Queen, and on the same mare he 



