112 STEEPLECHASING 



been rather eventful. She was bred by Mr. H. D. 

 Boulton, of Pitmore, Beds, and was by Lancastrian — 

 Norma, by Waterloo, Norma being well known in the 

 Oakley country as the property of Mr. Magniac, the 

 Master. After being returned from Newmarket with 

 the character of being "no race horse," Miss Mowbray 

 did very well in the hunting-field, and when five years 

 old was sold by Mr. Boulton to a Manchester drysalter, 

 for the "enormous" sum of ^^105, and he returned her 

 in a week as unsound and a year younger than de- 

 scribed. In vain did Mr. Boulton deny the alleged 

 unsoundness and stated the mare's proper age ; the acute 

 Manchester man fought him with two veterinary certifi- 

 cates, and the opinion of an "experienced friend," and 

 not only absolutely declined to have the mare, but 

 would not pay ^i, 19s. incurred as expenses. Poor 

 Miss Mowbray was now shown to Messrs. Bevill and 

 Goodman by Mr. Boulton, but these able riders de- 

 clined her for steeplechasing in no unmeasured terms. 

 But it is a long lane that has no turning, and Mr. J. F. 

 Mason, after riding her in a skurry with the Oakley, 

 bought her within a fortnight after her ignominious re- 

 turn from Manchester, and Miss Mowbray avenged her- 

 self on her critics by winning the Warwickshire Hunt 

 Cup, the Welter Stakes, and the Open Steeplechase at 

 Leamington, and then the Liverpool, as already stated. 



It had been asserted that the artificial water jump 

 had been made larger than usual, but the following 

 letter, addressed to the editor of Bell's Life, settles the 

 question : — 



"Sir, — In the account of the Liverpool Steeplechase given in your 

 paper of last Sunday, it is stated that the water jump opposite the 

 grand stand had been altered by my instructions, and that it was thus 

 made a large and dangerous leap. This is not at all correct. In the 

 constant preparation of this artificial fence the workmen had gradually 

 diminished the depth of the ditch till it had become a mere splash of 



