26 A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



King, and to the jockeys and other officials who were connected with the Royal 

 stables. Among these sporting nobles was Sir Thomas Cheyney, an expert horse- 

 man who had a stud in Kent, and afterwards became Warden of the Cinque Ports. 

 Another was Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre of the South. A third was Gerald 

 FitzGerald, ninth Earl of Kildare, whose stud of Irish hobbies was very celebrated. 

 One of the most interesting was Richard Whiting, the last Abbot of Glastonbury, 

 whose stables at Sharpham were a credit to the countryside. He might well have 

 escaped the barbarous punishment inflicted upon him for refusing to give up to the 

 King the revenues of an abbey which he put to such good uses. In the same gallant 

 company was Sir Henry Norris, gentleman of the Privy Chamber, who literally lost 

 his head some time afterwards, in the matter of pretty Anne Boleyn ; and Charles 

 Brandon, created Duke of Suffolk by his brother-in-law the King, who is not to be 

 confounded with the third duke of the same title, one of the most romantic figures 

 of his time, and known in his exile as " Blanche Rose." Both, curiously enough, 

 were magnificent horsemen, passionately devoted to the Turf. 



Soon after Louis XII. of France had succumbed to his senile affection for the 

 young Knglish Princess, and she had escaped back again to England to marry 

 Charles Brandon, " Blanche Rose " was at Metz living on his pension. He must 

 have felt considerably relieved when Francis I. was on the throne, and his elation 

 took the form of a very sporting wager on the spot. The bet was for eighty crowns 

 a-side with Seigneur Nicolle Dex, owners up, and the money was given to a 

 stakeholder. Early on a May morning in 1517 the two men passed through the 

 Porte St. Thiebault towards the start. The Englishman, riding with a saddle, made 

 the running at once, but was caught before the distance and in spite of using his 

 spurs unmercifully was beaten. His opponent rode in a doublet only, with nothing 

 but a cloth tied round the belly of his steed, which was shod in specially light steel 

 shoes and had been trained on a copious diet of white wine. De la Pole was not 

 more successful when he tried to reverse matters a year afterwards with his page in 

 the saddle. He fell at Pavia, after fighting with distinguished courage, in 1524-5. 



The races which this ill-fated exile's countrymen were watching at home were in 

 all points far more completely organised than has usually been imagined. The 

 King's trainer, called " the Keeper of the Barra or Barbary Horses," was named 

 P;i\vle, and the items of Royal expenditure in 1532 reveal the curious fact that a 

 "bath " for one of his racers cost seven shillings and twopence. It is probable that 

 the term " Barbary " was loosely applied both to pure or imported stock, and to 



