400 HEROES AND HEROINES OF 



wing, and effectualiy undoing- what liis admirers 

 declared was the biggest certainty of modern times. 

 Bad luck did not end here, as when Comfit fell, at the 

 fence before V'alentine's Brook, he so badly injured 

 the point of his shoulder that he had to be destroyed 

 — a severe loss to Mr. Bibby. 



One ot the most awkward lences at Aintree is 

 that just before coming on to the race-course. There 

 is a dip on the take-off side, and in order to negotiate 

 it successfully, the jockey ought to sit well back 

 and ha\-e his horse well in hand. We have 

 eminent authority for saying that it was here that 

 Ascetic's Silver may be said to have won his race, 

 all the others hitting it, and nearly unseating their 

 jockeys, with the result that they never got on terms 

 again with Prince Hatzfeldt's horse. It was at this 

 very same fence that Chandos, the favourite in 1S76, 

 and a very hot one too, came down the second time 

 round. 



Mr. Hastings, who had trained as well as 

 ridden the winner, undergoing great privations to 

 enable him to do the weight, had a great reception 

 on returning to the weighing-room. Prince Hatzfeldt 

 being one of the first to congratulate him. The race 

 was run in record time, and there is no doubt that 

 but for an unfortunate propensity tor breaking blood- 



