AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE 473 



Magazine, of November, 1875. It was in the same year 

 Miss Castling broke down at Eadcliffe Bridge, when 

 Johnnie Osborne had his first leg up, that Mr. Smurth- 

 waite saw him put up on his second public mount. 

 Writes Mr. Smurthwaite:- 



" I can recall a small group on that occasion 

 surrounding the filly and talking about 'Little 

 Osborne.' Old Tommy Lye in a white choker was 

 one of the party. John has told me that Voltigeur was 

 an over-trained horse when he met The Flying 

 Dutchman for the great match, and was beaten from 

 end to end on the following afternoon when J. O. and 

 Nancy defeated him for the York and Ainsty Hunt 

 Cup. His father's filly Exact was one of John's 

 favourites (when she was two years old), and he thought 

 Augury a 'nailer,' until her heart was broken in 

 cutting down Blink Bonny through very heavy ground 

 at York, in August, 1856. Both were beaten, Lady 

 Hawthorn (a daughter, by the by, of old Alice 

 Hawthorn) swooping down upon Augury at the finish. 

 Lord Zetland's Vedette was one of his prime favourites, 

 and he could have won the Ebor Handicap of 1858 on 

 him by a vast number of lengths. Best Xmas wishes 

 I have never been in Newcastle since the week in 

 which Whitelock won the Northumberland Plate." 



The statements above made by Mr. Smurthwaite 

 are duly borne out by John Osborne in the course of his 

 narrative. 



