GRAND NATIONAL HUNT STEEPLECHASE 217 



which so many good hunters and sportsmen have been 

 bred, so this year the steeplechase took place in the 

 Burton country, near to Lord Monson's mansion, and 

 almost under the shadow of the cathedral city. Except for 

 three ploughed fields and a piece of seeds, the country 

 was all orrass, and the whole course was excellent p-oino-. 

 The thirty fences were sufficiently formidable, but the 

 hounds had crossed the line often enouHi with riders 

 after them, so it may be inferred that there was nothing 

 out of the way. Two of them were perhaps especially 

 awkward ; the third fence after passing the stand had a 

 rather sharp turn, while the take off was low ; the other 

 rather difficult jump was the last before the run in. It 

 was a stiff laid fence with rails, and what made it more 

 difficult was that the horses would have to take off 

 after breasting a rather trying hill, while if one touched 

 this formidable obstacle a fall was almost a certaintv. 



Mr. Henry Chaplin befriended the local Committee 

 to the best of his power, and when that body enter- 

 tained the idea, owing to the heavy expenses incurred, 

 of charging admission to the ground, Mr. Chaplin at 

 once declined, saying that no poor man, if he could 

 help it, should be excluded from participating in the 

 sport, and that he would guarantee the Committee 

 from all loss should any accrue. The Prince of Wales 

 stayed at Blankey on the occasion, and for the second 

 year in succession was present. The general idea 

 was that the horses were a very poor collection, with 

 scarcely a weight-carrying hunter amongst them, except 

 perhaps Defence. The placed horses were :— 



Mr. J. H. Houldsworth's "Daybreak," 



5 yrs., 1 1 St. 8 lb Capt. Smith . i 



,, Smith's " Melton Mowbray," 5 yrs., 



1 1 St. 7 lb Mr. G. Moore 2 



„ R. Walker's "Defence," 6 yrs., 12 st. 



3 lb Owner ... 3 



Ten others started. Betting: — 7 to i Daybreak; 25 to i Melton 

 Mowbray ; 2 to i Defence. 



