202 STEEPLECHASING 



The horses carried twelve stone each, the distance was 

 four miles, the added money was no more than ^190, 

 and there were nine starters only. 

 The placed horses were : — 



Mr. C. Symonds' " The Freshman," . . Mr. Edwards i 

 Viscount Talon's " Laudanum.'' .... Owner . . 2 



Mr. E. Vaughan's " Ebony," Mr. Thomas 3 



Six others started. Betting : — Even on The Freshman ; 6 to i each 

 against Laudanum and Ebony. 



The Freshman was second at Market Harborough 

 in the previous year, and after leading past the stand 

 the first time round, he, Laudanum, and Ebony had the 

 race pretty much to themselves. Towards the finish, 

 Mr. Symonds' horse blundered and the mistake enabled 

 Laudanum to lead for a short distance, but two fences 

 from home the last named was third. The Fre.shman and 

 Ebony being side by side, the latter jumping first into 

 the winnincr field. The Oxford horse, however, had 

 the foot of his opponent on the flat, and eventually won 

 rather easily by four lengths. Later in the day The 

 Freshman won the Cheltenham Grand Annual Steeple- 

 chase. 



About a week later, that is to say at the beginning 

 of April, a Grand National Hunt Steeplechase took 

 place at Market Harborough, the stewards being Lords 

 Stamford, Cardigan, Hopetoun, and Carlyon, the Hons. 

 C. Gust and F. W. G. Villiers, and Messrs. W. S. 

 Grawfurd and W. W. Tailby. 



The Steeplechase Calendar, taking no official notice 

 of the Cheltenham race, tabulates this contest as the 

 third Grand National Hunt Steeplechase ; but from 

 all accounts it was in every way vastly inferior to the 

 Cheltenham event. Welshers were very much in evi- 

 dence in the stand and they carried away a good deal 

 of money. "One of the stewards of 1861 " wrote in 

 Bell's Life of the 30th December i860 that the next 



