74 The Book of the Horse. 



persuaded to become his owner at the urgent instance of Mr. Williamson, the brother to Lady 

 Zetland. It was a fortunate purchase, and the popular spots of the Lord of Aske— wliich 

 have since been adopted and rendered famous at the Antipodes by Sir Hercules Robinson, 

 late Governor of New South Wales — were never carried by a better animal. The first and 

 only visit of Voltigeur to the South was upon the occasion of his gallant victory for the Derby 

 of 1850. It was the opinion of many excellent judges that his dead heat with Russborough, 

 for the St. Leger, was occasioned by the bad riding of his jockey. Job Marson, who was 

 unnerved by the sudden and tremendous rush of Jim Robinson upon the Irish champion. 

 Then followed that memorable race for the Doncaster Cup, which still lives in the recollection 

 of those who witnessed it, and makes the equine struggles of to-day appear 'flat, stale, and 

 unprofitable,' in comparison with the more exciting scenes of their youth. For the only time 

 in the history of the turf the Doncaster Cup was a match between a couple of ' double firsts.' 

 The odds, laid eagerly by the shrewdest judges, were six to one upon the Flying Dutchman, 

 who jumped off with a long lead, and made running at a pace which seemed to make pursuit 

 hopeless. He passed the stand, and dashed up the hill with a lead of a dozen lengths, and 

 during the first two miles of the race, odds of ten to one were freely offered upon him. Then 

 as he passed the Red House, Flatman upon Voltigeur began to draw up, and, inch by inch, to 

 overtake the leader. At the distance the two horses were close together, and amidst a scene 

 of such excitement as no Yorkshire racecourse had heretofore witnessed, Lord Zetland's 

 gallant three-year-old passed the winning-post first by half a length. Pale, and with tears 

 streaming down his cheeks, the Earl of Eglinton leaned for support against the wall of the 

 Jockey Club stand,* but the story is still told that Marlow, over-confident in the powers of 

 the matchless animal that he bestrode, disobeyed his orders, and made running when he had 

 been told to wait. The Flying Dutchman, for the first time in his life, had been a little off 

 his feed, and showed nervous fretfulness at the post. Fobert's injunctions were peremptory, 

 that Marlow should ride a waiting race, and, had they been obeyed, it is probable that the 

 Dutchman would have retired from the turf without having ever experienced the bitterness 

 of defeat. In the match between him and Voltigeur at York in the following spring, the 

 superiority of Lord Eglinton's horse was incontestably manifested ; and great as is our respect 

 for Voltigeur, we hold beyond all question that the Flying Dutchman was the better animal 

 of the two. 



" At the stud neither of these famous racehorses has added to his laurels. The only Derby 

 winner sprung from the Dutchman's loins is Ellington, a moderate animal ; and in the 

 St. Leger, Oaks, Two Thousand and One Thousand Guineas, no son or daughter of his 

 stands inscribed upon the roll of fame. Vidette is the only first-class performer with Voltigeur 

 for his sire ; and, although nothing is more certain than that in these daj-s of cxtra\-agant 

 prices the Flying Dutchman and Voltigeur would, in each case, fetch, upon retiring from the 

 turf, as much as was. given for Blair Athol and Doncaster, they can lay no claim, as sires, to 

 such lustre as attaches, on the one hand, to Touchstone, to his sons Newminster and Orlando, 

 and to his grandson. Lord Clifden ; or, on the other, to Stockwell, and to his sons Blair Athol 

 and St. Albans." 



GLADIATEUR AND BLAIR ATHOL. 



The career of Gladiatcur, bred in France, by Monarque, a French sire, presents another 

 sample of the uncertainties which attend breeding for the turf He began by winning, in 1865, 



This account of tlio Dutcliman ami Voltigeur is contributed by a VoiWsliireaian who w.as present at the Diitcliman's 

 defeat ami at tlu- iiiatcli wliere he recovered his honours. 



