STEEPLECHAS1NG. 595 



horsemen the match took place in the Quorn Country essayed to ride him, but 

 were powerless to induce him to jump. McDonough had in the mean time left 

 for Ireland, and in sheer despair Lord Howth sent a messeng-er from Melton 

 Mowbray to Wellmont, begging the famous Irish rider to come over and steer 

 his old horse. There were no railroads in those days ; but McDonough arrived 

 at Melton on the Sunday before the match took place, and found that Jem Mason 

 was to ride Jerry. After making the running, to McDonough's delight, Jerry 

 refused ; Sir William, however, went on, and, jumping kindly enough, won very 

 easily. In 1840 Mr. Villebois nominated Jerry for what we may term the Grand 

 National, though the race had not then received the name, and, in the hands of 

 Bretherton, he won. 



The year 1839 is memorable in the history of the Aintree Course, because 

 it then passed out of the private ownership or lesseeship of Mr. Lynn, owing 

 to his bad health, to a kind of syndicate. The Trustees for the Thousand 

 Proprietors with a ^25 share, were Lord Stanley, Sir Thomas Massey Stanley 

 (at one time racing confederate with Sir Joseph Hawley), Messrs. W. Blundell, 

 James Aspinall, and William Earle. The Racing Committee were the Earls 

 of Derby, Sefton, Eglinton, and Wilton ; Lords George Bentinck, Stanley, and 

 Robert Grosvenor ; Sirs John Gerard, T. Massey Stanley, and R. W. Bulkeley ; 

 the Hon. E. M. Lloyd Mostyn, and Mr. E. G. Hornby. These gentlemen 

 had the fixing of all races ; while a third body, called " Directors," who 

 managed the racecourse and its finances, were elected from the general number 

 of the subscribers. Mr. Lynn was a tolerably large shareholder, and continued to 

 assist the company with advice and suggestions. So far as can be ascertained, 

 Aintree was the first proprietary racecourse ever organised. That it was a 

 gate-money meeting may be inferred from the fact that the payment of ^10 

 out of the 25 entitled the subscriber to a silver ticket, admitting him free 

 to course and stand. The first "Great" Steeplechase under the new regime took 

 place on the 24th of February, 1839, when an enormous crowd came together; 

 but though the race was set for one o'clock, it was nearly three o'clock before 

 the seventeen competitors paraded in front of the grand stand, and it was not 

 until that moment that the public knew how many of the fifty-three entries 

 were going to start. Lord Macdonald's The Nun and Elmore's Lottery were 

 the two favourites, and the latter, ridden by Jem Mason, won with great ease. 

 It was in this race that one of the fences became known as Becher's Brook. 



