21O 



A HISTORY OF THE EXGl.ISH TURF. 







The Dute of Devonshire's " Lath." 



By permission of II.R.H. Prince Chtistian. 



afterwards produced a splendid lot of foals for the Duke of Devonshire by Flying 

 Childcrs. Crab was the property of Mr. Cotton and Mr. Panton during part of his 



career, and among the 

 many horses he beat in 

 1728 were Lord Milsing- 

 ton's Weaver, the Duke 

 of Bolton's Cleopatra, the 

 Duke of Hambleton's 

 Victorious^ Mr. Williams' 

 Spot, and Lord Halifax's 

 Favourite, nearly all in 

 four-mile races at 8 stone 

 to 8 stone 7. He went 

 lame, but was highly 

 esteemed as a stallion, 

 and died on Christmas 

 Day, 1750. 



I have spoken al- 

 ready of the eccentric Duke of Bolton. His son made capital use of the great 

 wealth bequeathed to him. One of his many excellent racers was Fearnought 

 by Bay Boltoii, bred by Sir William Ramsden in 1725, his dam by the Lexington 

 Arabian, and his pedigree goes back to the Bycrly Turk and Places White 

 Turk. He raced with great success when he was seven years old, beating Mr. 

 Coke's Hobgjblin, Mr. Panton's Mouse (three times), and the same owner's Smart. 

 Another fine son (A Buy Bolton, also His Grace's property, was Starling, a grey horse 

 whose dam was by the Brownloiv Turk, going back to the Lonsdale Tregonwell mare 

 and the Helmsley 7'urk. In 1731 he won the Four-year-old Purse at Black Hamble- 

 ton, beating fourteen others, and in the next year he won the Great Stakes at 

 Newmarket, where he won the King's Plate in 1733, repeating the performance at 

 Lewes and Lincoln. After a brilliant racing career he was sold into the stud of Mr. 

 Edward Leedes at North Milford in Yorkshire, in whose possession he died suddenly 

 in March, 1756, after becoming the sire of the Ancaster Starling (who was only i4'2Jf, 

 and was never beat at 1 1 or 12 st.), of Skim, Torrismoiid, Griscuwod's Teaser, Jason, and 

 many more. Among the best of the northern cracks about this time was Sedbury, 

 who was bred by Mr. Andrew Wilkinson of Boroughbridge, and took his name from 



