294 



ASHGILL; OR, THE LIFE 



sale. Mr. I'Anson purchased Queen Mary for himself, 

 and he bred from her Haricot, and Braxey, by Moss- 

 trooper. Haricot he brought to Spring Cottage, using 

 her as a hack until she was three years old. Her eyes 

 were first opened on a racecourse in 1856, and she won 

 eleven out of the thirteen events for which she started. 



Queen Mary had been lost sight of after Mr. 

 Ramsay's sale, and naturally the success of Haricot 

 led " Old William " to go on a long search to find her. 

 The old mare had drifted into Scotland, and he got her 

 back to Yorkshire for 110. She proved a veritable 

 gold mine, for, after Haricot and Braxey, she threw 

 Balrownie, Blooming Heather, Bonny Scotland, Blink 

 Bonny, Breastknot, Bonny Bell, Bonny Breastknot, 

 Balnamoon, Bab at the Bowster, Bonnyfield, 

 Broomielaw, Bertie, Blinkhoolie, Blankney, etc. 

 Haricot upheld her wonderful dam's merits, as, in addi- 

 tion to winning several more races than those mentioned, 

 including the Cumberland Plate of '53, carrying 8 st. 

 4 Ibs., at the stud she produced rare old Caller Ou, 

 Cramond, Scarlet Runner, Freeman, etc. Another 

 remarkable career was started by Caller Ou. In '61 

 she won the St. Leger; the Northumberland Plate in 

 '63 and '64 ; and beaten a neck only the third successive 

 attempt to win, when conceding 2 st. 9 Ibs. to Brown 

 Bread, a useful horse that day. 



Caller Ou's " Cup " career was quite phenomenal, 

 until she went to the stud in '65. She won no fewer 

 than twenty-nine Queen's Plates from three to six years 

 old, viz., one in 1861, three in 1862, fifteen in 1863, 

 and ten in 1864. Fisherman's victories in Queen's Plates 

 were twenty-six; and Rataplan's, the next highest 

 scorer, were twenty-one, so that, as will be seen, Mr. 

 I'Anson's mare beat both these celebrities. Haricot, 



