The Earl of Strathmore 



never was there a more painstaking pupil, and Jim Mason 

 might well be proud of his noble proUg^. 



Switcher, who was undoubtedly a good horse, when in the 

 humour, was originally the property of Lord Howth, in whose 

 colours, and ridden by Wynne, he ran third for the Liverpool 

 of 1846, carrying the substantial weight of 12 st. 4 lbs., and 

 being only a five-year-old at the time. 



He was subsequently sold for a large sum to Lord 

 Strathmore, who was on his back in the Liverpool of 1848, 

 won by The Chandler. 



Fencing brilliantly, nothing in the race was going better 

 than Switcher, until cannoned up against by Sparta when 

 jumping a fence in the second round, the result being that not 

 only was his rider's boot nearly cut off his leg in the scrimmage, 

 but, what was worse, the horse himself, a high-cou raged, 

 nervous animal, was so thoroughly upset by the contretemps 

 that from that moment he seemed to lose all heart, being soon 

 after pulled up. 



Another great disappointment was when, once more 

 ridden by his noble owner. Switcher was beaten in the 

 first great steeplechase ever run in Paris, for which event 

 he was greatly favoured by the English division, who, as 

 might have been expected, mustered in strong force on the 

 occasion. 



Luckily, however, our countrymen had a second string to 

 their bow in the shape of St. Leger, ridden by the redoubtable 

 Jim Mason, who, the moment he saw that Switcher could not 

 win, set his horse going and just managed to pull the race out 

 of the fire. 



His riding career at an end. Lord Strathmore turned his 

 attention to flat racing, and many still alive will recollect the 

 keen disappointment, not only to his noble owner, but to a 



71 



