FAMOUS 'CHASERS 187 



the property of Captain E. W. Baird. Which was the 

 better of the two was purely a matter of opinion before 

 the race ; but Mr. C. W. Waller, who rode Aladdin, 

 was so convinced he would beat the other, from what 

 he had seen while riding gallops at Danebury, that a 

 long time before the event he took a thousand to thirty 

 about his mount, refusing to back Playfair at all ; Play- 

 fair, however, won, and Aladdin could get no nearer 

 than fifth. This was one of the years when the Irish 

 mare Frigate was second, as she had been to Roquefort 

 and to Voluptuary, but she managed to get home in 

 1889. Why Not (Irish) was another horse that came 

 near to success on several occasions before he ultimately 

 attained it, which he did in 1894 with the respectable 

 weight of 1 1 St. 13 lbs. on his back; but the 12 st, 7 lbs. 

 which Cloister (Irish) had won with the year before 

 made this tie with Gortolvin of less note than it other- 

 wise would have been. It is remarkable how long 

 some of these old steeplechase horses last. Come 

 Away (Irish), who was an aged horse in 1891, and has 

 long been forgotten, was found entered again in 1898. 

 The success of The Soarer in 1896 was no doubt due 

 to the number of accidents which took place during 

 the struggle, Mr. D. G. M. Campbell, who rode, having 

 laid to heart the advice as to keeping clear of the crowd 

 and picking his own place at the fences, even if he did 

 not go the shortest way. Manifesto (Irish again) was 

 one of the victims of this occasion, and the ease with 

 which he won the following year (1897) suggested that 



