i82 THE TURF 



attention to the matter that anything over 12 stone 

 was a prohibitive weight for the Grand National 

 course. Cloister proved the fallacy of this. He 

 carried 12 st. 7 lbs. ; he made nearly the whole of the 

 running, and he won in the easiest of canters by forty 

 lengths — had it been worth while, his jockey could 

 have absolutely walked him past the post, and this 

 seems most emphatically to stamp him as a really good 

 horse, as before his success the 11 st. 13 lbs. carried 

 by Cortolvin in 1867 had been the record for this race, 

 with Disturbance 1 1 st. 11 lbs. in 1873 second. Of 

 course those who wish to depreciate Cloister ask what 

 he beat, and make out that he beat nothing ; but a 

 good deal could be said in opposition to this view. It 

 must not be forgotten that he had twice been second, 

 and the late " Roddy " Owen always maintained that 

 had he not been hustled at the last fence in 1891 he 

 would undoubtedly have beaten Come Away, who, 

 there can be no doubt, was at that time a really good 

 horse. It is worth note that there were no fewer than 

 five Grand National winners behind the pair on this 

 occasion ; moreover. Cloister has another creditable 

 second in his record. He may not have been an 

 attractive horse to look at, but his exceptional merit 

 is surely undeniable, and one of the excellent points 

 about him was his temper. The writer of this book 

 was taken to see him in his box two or three hours 

 after his victory. His owner leaned against his hocks 

 while Cloister placidly munched his oats ; indeed, a 



