304 LORD GEORGE AS A TURF REFORMER. 



of false starts, which delayed the actual start for 

 a very long time. After the race, William Arnull, 

 the oldest jockey who took part in it, and one 

 upon whose word full reliance could be placed, . 

 was summoned by the stewards to explain the 

 cause of the long delay. He replied, " Some of 

 the horses were no doubt restive, but in my 

 opinion the fault lay chiefly with the starter. 

 He is just like an old firelock which fizzles ever 

 so long in the pan before it goes off, and when he 

 did get the word out, there was no knowing 

 whether he said ' Go ' or ' No ' ! " 



One of the most flagrant attempts on the part 

 of jockeys, and of others behind the scenes who 

 bribed them, to defeat a great favourite, was 

 practised at Doncaster in 1827, when Mameluke, 

 who won the Derby, was brought out to run for 

 the St Leger. There were twenty-six starters, 

 some of them having been sent to the post for 

 the express purpose of impeding and delaying the 

 start, and upsetting Mameluke's temper. Re- 

 peated false starts followed each other, in some 

 of which three or four horses ran a considerable 

 distance before they could be stopped and brought 

 back. All these delays and checks had the natural 

 effect of irritating Mameluke greatly, so that he 

 fretted, kicked, and plunged with such violence 

 that Sam Chifney the younger, who was upon 

 his back, had the greatest trouble to induce him 

 to approach the starter at all. After a monstrous 



