HANDICAPS 115 



him, he will stop directly," his rider was told again and 

 again by both the Duke and his trainer. The Cob led 

 his field a rare gallop across the flat, and had practically 

 won the race ; but the jockey, believing that victory 

 was secure, dropped his hands as he had been so 

 earnestly cautioned not to do, the result being that 

 The Cob stopped, and Stone Clink crawled home by a 

 neck. The French carried off the race again in 1888 

 with Tenebreuse, and in 1890 Sheen beat all records 

 by winning with 9 st. 2 lbs. in the saddle, though, of 

 course, having regard to the scale of weight-for-age, 

 the success of a five-year-old with this burden was less 

 remarkable than the victories of Robert the Devil and 

 St. Gatien, it being estimated that over this distance 

 in the month of October a five-year-old is a stone 

 better than a three. How greatly owners may be 

 mistaken about their horses is proved by the fact that 

 Red Eyes, who ran a dead-heat with Cypria in 1893, 

 had been given away to his trainer, Joseph Cannon, 

 as worthless, after having been beaten in selling 

 races. 



The Cambridgeshire, run at the Houghton Meeting, 

 was also originated in 1839, and, as has been already 

 remarked, is generally considered the most interesting 

 and important handicap of the season. Until the year 

 1887 the Cambridgeshire was run up the hill to the 

 finish at the Criterion Course post at the " top of the 

 town," and accounts of the race used always to contain 

 a description of what was happening at the " Red 



I 2 



