44 8 



A tilSTORy OF THE ENGLISH TURl<\ 



actually pulling Mr. Watts' great bay back to his horses. Tommy Sykes, standing at 

 the distance, settled BlacklocKs chances, for what should have been an easy victory, 

 by shouting, as soon as he saw the three lengths lead, " Pull till 'em, John, pull till 

 'em, thou hast it all thy own way " ; but unluckily Johnson heard as well, and so 

 just caught the winner on the post. Blacklock is perhaps as glaring an instance as 

 any of the best horses in the field not having his name recorded on that special roll of 

 fame; but he made up for it nobly afterwards. It is through his son Voltaire that 

 he is the direct ancestor of St. Simon, and Persimmon, a line of blood that is worth 

 more than many personal victories. 



Other instances of good horses of that time, who are none the worse for similar 



omissions, are Sir 

 Charles Bunbury's un- 

 defeated black, Tiinn- 

 dcrbo/l, by Sorcerer, who 

 only ran twice owing to 

 a broken fetlock ; and 

 Mr. Peirse's Rosette, of 

 whom there is a good 

 engraving by Ward 

 with John Shepherd in 

 the saddle. Her son 

 Reveller, by Counts, 

 another of Mr. Peirse's, 

 won the St. Leger of 

 1818, the same owner's 

 Ranter (another Com/is colt) coming in second after making the running at the 

 start. This was not only a second consecutive win for the same owner, but also for 

 the same jockey, and the first three horses were all sons of Comiis ( The Marshal was 

 a grey) and all trained by W. Peirse. Reveller had a fine record afterwards, 

 his most famous races being his second victory for the Gold Cup, at Lancaster, and 

 his defeat of the famous Dr. Syntax for the Preston Cup, which that wonderful 

 horse had won for seven years off the reel. Like that of Rosette and Blacklock, the 

 name of Rubens does not appear in the St. Leger list, but this fine son of Buzzard, 

 own brother to Castrel and Selim, won the Craven Stakes of 1810, and was one of 

 the best horses Lord Darlington ever bought from the Prince of Wales. Pericles, 



A 



"Barefoot 1 ' (1820) by " Tramp." 



