62 



ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



Such is the bare record of our hero's first important 

 handicap success. A rare outsider, too, was Bon-Mot, 

 starting at 20 to 1. It is curious to note the light 

 weights in vogue in those times, the handicap in this 

 instance, so far as the actual starters were concerned, 

 touching as low as 4 st. 10 Ibs. for a three-year-old, 

 Bon-Mot himself being weighted to carry 5 st. only. 

 Some smart handicap horses were in the field, 

 for it will be observed that Essedarius, Westow, 

 and John Cosser were each penalised for previous 

 successes, the latter having won the Northumberland 

 Plate the previous month with comparative ease, 

 carrying 7 st. as a four-year-old. 



The following day Bon-Mot reappeared for the 

 Bentinck Testimonial, a mile and a half race. Here 

 again " Johnnie " had the mount on Mr. Disney's colt, 

 and, carrying 7 st. 5 Ibs., he beat Westow, carrying 

 7 st. the pair had met at 5 Ibs. in the Cup easily by 

 a length and a half. The judge placed but two, the 

 others (Romance, Keleshea, and Mrs. Walker) did not 

 pass the post. 



This same month George Abdale rode John 

 Osborne, sen.'s, Gilnochie, by Lanercost, to victory in 

 the Ashton Plate at Lancaster, the prize being given 

 by the then Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, and the 

 same jockey won for the same owner the Two-Year-Old 

 Stakes at Harrogate on Acyranthus, by Thirsk, 

 " Johnnie " the following day riding Mr. T. Ellis' Acomb 

 into second place behind Mr. H. Stebbing's Present, 

 by Lanercost, for the Harrogate Handicap. Fame had 

 now spread her wings over the embryo jockey, and his 

 services were in growing demand. The following 

 August he is given a mount by Sir Joseph Hawley on 

 Van Dieman for the Goodwood Stakes, and gets second, 



