402 A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



undoubtedly was, though he took his time, but he learnt a lot after his first 

 set-to with Pierse, in such snowy weather that the other Bill nearly blinded him 

 by taking the lead and pounding slush into his face. 



William Scott came up from Bibury to Middleham about iSn, and was born 

 at Chippenham, near Newmarket. His brother John had made the famous Filho 

 da Puta match, and Bill won the Doncaster and Richmond Cups on' him. John 

 threw in his lot with Whitewall, as soon as Juliana had thrown her Comus filly, 

 and Mr. Petre began his memorable St. Leger trio with Matilda. Bill Scott's 

 St. Leger record of nine has never been equalled since, and it is made more 

 valuable by the addition of three Oaks, four Derbys, and plenty more good races, 

 between 1821 and 1846, when he won on his own horse, having achieved a 

 straight run of four from 1838 to 1841. He always said, and he ought to have 

 known if any one, that the right way to ride the Leger was to make severe 

 running to the top of the hill, for " what's the good of 

 condition if you don't use it?" He insisted that to win you 

 must be able to get a pull and go on again ; and in this style 

 he won on Satirist in the North. Mundig, in the Derby, was 

 his best example on the Epsom course, where he always said 

 that the horse which could stride farthest down hill would win. 

 The picture I reproduce of his Sir Tatton Sykcs, with the real 



Sir Tatton beside him, is a reminder of how hard he had to 



U'illiam Scott 



waste to ride that St. Leger, and his win was remarkable, 



for before the finish he had fairly dropped forward on the horse's neck from 

 exhaustion. Bill had won the Two Thousand, and would no doubt have won 

 the Derby too, had he not stayed too far behind at the post to scold the starter, 

 and even then got to Pyrrhus the First's neck. In the Leger, F. Butler rode 

 Col. Anson's laffo into second place, beaten by half a length, after he had made 

 his effort a hundred yards from home. The stakes were worth ^2,925, and 

 Brocardo, who was installed favourite with Sir Tatton, at 3 to i, came in third, 

 four lengths off the second. 



The hard wasting Bill Scott had to undergo for this race was a conspicuous 

 feature in a jockey's life at that time, and the meeting at Gosforth when Newcastle 

 Races were on was always memorable ; for they all walked out the three miles 

 from the Grand Stand, led by Jack Holmes, Jacques (who once got off 17 Ibs. in 

 24 hours), and Bob Johnson, who was a master of the art. Bob always got third 



