Gentlemen Riders 



Of his three victories in the Grand National perhaps the 

 most remarkable was that of Pathfinder, who appeared so 

 utterly exhausted on approaching Becher s Brook the second 

 time round, that Mr. Thomas remarked, after the race, that, 

 had the horse been his own property and himself a rich man, 

 he certainly would have pulled him up then and there, for fear 

 he should sustain a fall and injure himself. As it was he got 

 him over all right, and the horse improving as he went on, 

 eventually won, as we know. 



Apart from these, a victory the veteran sets great store 

 by is the Sefton Steeplechase at Aintree in 1866, which he 

 won by a neck on Sprite, after a tremendous set to with 

 George Stevens on Balder belonging to Lord Coventry, and 

 not without reason, for his stirrup leather breaking when 

 jumping Becher's Brook, Mr. Thomas had to carry it in his 

 hand all the rest of the way, a proceeding which became 

 especially awkward when, at the finish, he had to sit down in 

 his saddle and ride for all he was worth. 



A dreadful fall on the flat at Sandown in the April of 1877, 

 when, in addition to breaking his jaw in three places, he lost 

 the sight of one eye and injured the other, eflectually put a 

 stop to the riding career of this famous horseman, and it says 

 a good deal for his constitution that, in spite of his injuries, 

 which would have killed nine men out of ten, Mr. Pickernell, 

 at the age of 75, should be still among us hale and hearty. 



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