146 STEEPLECHASING 



favour of The Colonel by a neck, Primrose being beaten 

 a length for second place. The Colonel thus emulated 

 the deeds of Abd-el-Kader, by winning two years in 

 succession, which are the only instances on record of 

 such a feat having been accomplished. 



This was a very fine race, and never before had the 

 spectacle been witnessed of seventeen horses galloping 

 round the last turn for home, while the issue showed The 

 Colonel and The Doctor to be trained to the hour, the 

 former proving himself to be a grand horse. 



The fine finish, however, which called forth so much 

 admiration, led to legal proceedings, as the Society for 

 the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals caused George 

 Holman to be summoned on a charge of ill-treating The 

 Doctor, by excessive whipping and spurring. 



The Colonel was bought soon afterwards by M. 

 Andre for ^2600. The horse was bred by the late Mr. 

 John Weyman, and was described in the sale catalogue 

 as a seven-years-old horse by Knight of Kars — Boadicea. 

 He stood close upon 15 hands 3 inches, and was brown 

 in colour, with a small star on the forehead. A critic who 

 saw him at the time wrote of him : "He has somewhat 

 drooping, very jumping like, but almost short quarters, 

 beautifully laid shoulders, capital back and clean legs, 

 quite big enough in the bone for any useful purpose. 

 He is not particularly deep in his girth, but his forehand 

 is perfection." The Colonel was originally trained over 

 a very primitive course with plenty of big jumping in it, 

 close to his home at Brampton, a yeoman named Roberts 

 training him, while his riders were usually ploughboys. 



To George Stevens fell the distinction of riding the 

 winner of the Grand National on no fewer than five 

 occasions. He was born at Cheltenham on the 12th of 

 June 1833, and in 1858 married Miss Powyss, a niece of 

 Mr. Matthew Evans, the owner of The Colonel, so here 

 is the reason why his services were secured in the 



