A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



Although Coleman was the originator of 

 steeplechases in England, he only trained one 

 horse for one steeplechase, and in later years 

 expresses great contempt for the modern 

 steeplechase. He says in his Recollections, ' I 

 established steeplechasing to show which was 

 the best hunter and the best man over a 

 country to run at the end of the season before 

 horses were thrown out of condition ; and 

 hurdle racing as a change at country races to 

 amuse the ladies. Steeplechasing is a farce 

 now over these cut down fences.' 



Some years before the first steeplechase was 

 run at St. Albans, matches across country 

 were common, and we read of one in 1830 

 between Mr. Byles, representing the Hert- 

 fordshire Hounds, and Mr. Hudson, represent- 

 ing the Puckeridge, over six miles of country, 

 finishing at the Monument, Little Berkhamp- 

 stead, which was won by Mr. Hudson. 



Besides the St. Albans Steeplechases, meet- 

 ings were held at Hertford, Ware and Har- 

 penden for steeplechases from the year 1838. 

 The Old Berkeley Hunt have held a steeple- 

 chase meeting intermittently for a number of 

 years at the end of the hunting season. 



The Hertfordshire have for a number of 

 years finished the hunting season with a very 

 popular meeting at Harpendenbury. These 

 races are half steeplechases and half point to 

 point races, that is to say, the race is round 

 three flags which are so placed that the horses 

 have to pass the winning point twice during 

 the race, which gives the spectators a good 

 view of the race, but which would prob- 

 ably have been viewed with contempt by 

 the late Tommy Coleman. The races are 

 limited to horses which have really been 

 regularly hunted with the hounds during the 

 season. 



RACING 



Flat racing has long been popular in this 

 county. The first races we hear of are the 

 Odsey Races, established as far back as 

 James I.'s time, and probably before. The 

 original course was along the level land by 

 the side of the Baldock road near Odsey, 

 but as time went on the course was brought 

 nearer to Royston. In the later years of 

 the last century the course lay just beyond 

 King James's stables, which building was 

 afterwards called the Jockey House. 1 



In September, 1766, we read that 'never 

 was finer sport seen. That betting even 

 then was connected with race meetings is 

 evident, for ' the knowing ones were pretty 

 deeply taken in." Here as elsewhere the 

 patrons of racing often finished up the day 

 with cockfighting or wrestling. Several 

 villages near Royston were famous for these 

 wrestlers. These wrestling matches generally 

 ended in a free fight between the followers of 

 the respective champions. 



The Royston Races were revived in 

 George II. 's reign. In the spring of 1827 

 it is recorded that Royston Heath was 

 much crowded to witness a match between 

 a mare of Sir Peter Soame of Heydon and 

 a horse of Mr. T. Berry of Hertingford- 

 bury. Other matches were run by hunters 

 belonging to those present. The revived 

 races at Royston were held in May, whereas 

 the old Odsey Races took place in September. 



In 1836, when Lord Hardwick and Mr. 

 Brand were stewards, five or six thousand 



1 Fragments of Two Centuries, by Alfred Kingston 

 (Royston, 1893). 



people were present ; and as to the char- 

 acter of the gathering, we are told ' the 

 usual attendants of all amusements of this 

 kind were there, and succeeded in victimiz- 

 ing a few who were green enough to fancy 

 they had a chance of increasing their funds 

 on the race course.' Genteel and respectable 

 at first, these races became of less repute as 

 time went on, and were associated with many 

 disagreeable incidents ; and their abolition 

 about twenty-seven years ago was welcomed 

 by most of the inhabitants of the district, 

 owing to the scenes of disorder and shop 

 robberies in the town which marked the 

 moribund stage of the gathering. 



The Sporting Magazine for 1791 gives a 

 description of some races at Aldenham Com- 

 mon, Herts, at which there was ' excellent 

 sport.' One at least of the events was run 

 in heats, and the winner that year was a 

 horse called ' Smuggler,' belonging to a Mr. 

 Brooks of St. Albans. This horse had to run 

 no less than six heats before he was declared 

 the winner. 



The Barnet race meeting was one of the 

 first held in the county. It was discon- 

 tinued for several years, but reinstituted in 

 1793. In the next year the meeting there 

 appears to have been rowdy beyond descrip- 

 tion. One man for a bet walked out of 

 an upstairs window and was killed, and his 

 widow claimed the money. Another man for 

 a bet galloped on a horse up High Street 

 with his hands tied behind his back, and 

 had his brains dashed out against a lamp-post. 

 The accidents that occurred to drunken 



366 



