Gentlemen Riders 



with a whip in attendance. On one occasion, at Warwick, this 

 precaution was neglected, and he was left two hundred yards 

 behind. 



" For God's sake put your flag in his face ! " shouted Alec, 

 in desperation, to Sam Merry, who was starting ; and this being 

 done, away went Sir Peter at once, and, quickly overhauling 

 the others, eventually won the race. 



Considering the number of falls which fell to his lot, he 

 may be considered to have got off very lightly with only a 

 broken collar-bone as the result, and that out hunting. 



His most unpleasant experience was probably in France, 

 where he had journeyed to ride an English-bred horse called 

 Nom de Guerre, for the brothers Mason. The course at St. 

 Marche was about three miles, and not only was the ground 

 hard, but the obstacles were unusually stiff. These comprised 

 boarded fences, strongly framed ; double posts and rails ; a 

 brook, and a wall. With the exception of one, ridden by Charles 

 Boyce, every horse in the race fell. Alec, when going second, 

 about three-quarters of a mile from home, fell at the wall, 

 and came down in the middle of a road, receiving a bad 

 kick from his horse in the centre of the forehead. He never 

 let go the reins, however, and, remounting, just managed to 

 beat Charles Boyce — his only remaining antagonist — on the 

 post. 



What followed is thus described in Alec Goodman's own 

 words — 



"When I went to weigh in, I fainted, and the French 

 soldiers, seeing my condition — for the blood was pouring from 

 my face — carried me into a tent to the doctor, who had me 

 conveyed to Meurice's Hotel, where the Emperor Napoleon 

 sent to inquire after me the morning after the race." 



Once, when riding a hunter of his own in a steeplechase at 



140 



