24 ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



At Bretby " Old John " had Octavian, then at the 

 stud, under his charge ; also Priam, winner of the Derby 

 of 1830 ; Zinganee, winner of the Two Thousand ; and 

 Moonbeam, a Champagne winner. Mention of these 

 equine celebrities brings to the recollection a crowd of 

 the most stirring episodes in the history of the Turf, 

 many of which are unknown to the present generation. 

 The celebrated brothers Chifney were then at the apex 

 of their fame. At the commencement of the last decade 

 in the eighteenth century the Prince of Wales retained 

 the elder Chifney for life as his jockey at a salary of 

 200 guineas per annum, which appears an insignificant 

 sum compared with the 5000 a year that the late 

 " Squire " Abington gave for the first call on the services 

 of John Watts. Yet at the close of the last century 

 200 guineas a year was a very considerable retainer 

 for even the greatest jockey of the day. A book might 

 be written about the Chifney s, of whom old Sam, the 

 father, was the most notorious, if not celebrated, jockey 

 of his period. " The Druid " relates how, perhaps with 

 the exception of Frank Buckle, no man was so exactly 

 built for his profession as the elder Chifney. About 

 5 feet 5 inches in height, weighing 9 stones 5 Ibs. in 

 the winter months 1 , he could ride, if required, 7 stones 

 12 Ibs. to the last. He unremittingly trained his son 

 Sam in the art of race riding, and evinced a rare industry 

 in teaching the elder brother, William, the minutiae of 

 training and stable practice. But old Sam Chifney 's 

 fortunes decayed with " the Escape affair," which so 

 sickened the Prince of Wales that it caused him to 

 retire from the Turf a second time. Sam went from 

 bad to worse, and in 1805 was arrested for debt and 

 sent into the Fleet. He remained in " durance vile " 

 for two years and a half, breathing his last in his den 



