Captain H. N. Powell 



Vainbroke, Verine, and Volatile. He also raced a bit on 

 the flat. 



In the year 1845 he was presented with a service of 

 plate, not only as a mark of esteem for his many good 

 qualities, but as a token of gratitude for "the spirited manner 

 in which he upheld the pre-eminence of his native county in 

 the contest between the members of the Herefordshire and 

 Monmouthshire Hunts at their steeplechase on the 27th of 

 February, 1845." 



Previously to retiring, in 1848 he was the recipient of 

 a silver tankard, inscribed as follows : " To William Vevers 

 Esq., of Donnington Court, for the best thoroughbred stallion 

 used in the county of Hereford, and also for his spirited 

 exertions in the improvement of the breed of horses in that 

 county." 



It is worthy of mention that George Stevens, the hero, 

 later on, of five Grand Nationals, and certainly the most 

 famous steeplechase jockey of his day, who was in the service 

 of Mr. Vevers at the time, had his first mount in public when 

 only a lad of sixteen or seventeen years old on that gentle- 

 man's Volatile, at Slough. 



After this he repeatedly rode for Mr. Vevers, only leaving 

 him, indeed, when that gentleman gave up steeplechasing in the 

 early fifties, when he retired to Cheltenham, his native place. 



CAPTAIN H. N. POWELL 



One of the first of our military riders to acquire fame in the 

 steeplechasing world was the gallant ofificer named above, who, 

 in the early days of the sport, proved himself capable of holding 



51 



