A PHENOMENAL YEAR. 171 



shire Stakes at Doncaster (all of them heavy bet- 

 ting races, and therefore very acceptable to his 

 Lordship), in addition to many less important 

 stakes, such as the Port at Newmarket ; the 

 Mostyn Stakes at Chester; the Surrey Cup at 

 Epsom ; the Great Produce Stakes and the Fern 

 Hill at Ascot ; the Bretby, Prendergast, and 

 Glasgow Stakes at Newmarket ; and, finally, a 

 great match between Miss Elis and Oakley, which 

 the mare, ridden by William Abdale, won by a 

 head, although the betting enormously heavy- 

 was six to five on Oakley, ridden by Robinson. 

 In fact, the Goodwood stable won eighty - two 

 races in 1845, the collective value of which was 

 31,502 an unparalleled sum for any stable to 

 win in those days when " added money " was an 

 almost " unknown quantity." Lord George as 

 a thorough, uncompromising, unblemished sports- 

 man was always ready to promote sport. At the 

 same time, he steadily kept in view his main 

 design and chief amusement, which was auxiliary 

 betting ; and, to this end, it was his custom 

 whenever possible to try, just before the race in 

 which he was engaged, any horse that he in- 

 tended to back. In those days most of the races 

 for three-year-olds and upwards were over long 

 distances, and it sometimes happened that horses 

 with delicate constitutions were unfavourably af- 

 fected and thrown off their feed by a long and 

 severe trial. I therefore begged his Lordship on 



