Mr. W. H. P. Jenkins 



Accordingly, before very long his now familiar racing 

 colours, dark blue and black cap, were duly registered as those 

 of " Mr. P. Merton," and that done, their sporting owner set 

 the ball a-rolling in earnest. That his appointment to the 

 mastership of the Oxford Drag, which popular institution was 

 described by the late Major G. J. Whyte Melville in his 

 inimitable book, " Market Harborough," as better calculated 

 to make a horseman and spoil a sportsman than anything he 

 knew of, was no empty compliment, the number of steeple- 

 chases he won at Aylesbury at various times, not to mention 

 college " Grinds," were abundant proof. One horse in particular, 

 The Robber, belonging to a fellow undergraduate, Mr. J. 

 J. Atkinson ("Mr. Doncaster"), especially distinguished him- 

 self in these races, winning no fewer than twenty-eight, in 

 nearly all of which he was ridden by " Mr. P. Merton," who 

 had the mount on him at Liverpool in 1869, on which occasion, 

 starting at 100 to i, and carrying i ist. 2 lbs., he finished eighth 

 to The Colonel, whose first victory it was. 



Though this was Mr. Jenkins's solitary mount in the Grand 

 National, he rode and won innumerable races under N.H. rules 

 all over the country. At Aylesbury once he rode five winners — 

 one of them a steeplechase for ponies — during the same 

 afternoon. 



One of his victories in the open Handicap Steeplechase 

 at Aylesbury was on a little horse aptly called The Pony, 

 belonging to Charlie Symonds, the well-known Oxford dealer, 

 by whom he had only been offered the mount at 9 o'clock 

 the night before. As the weight was 10 st. 12 lbs., and 

 ** Mr. P. Merton " could not go to scale with a 4-lb. saddle under 

 1 1 St. 4 lb., it became a question whether the difficulty could be 

 overcome at such short notice. However, a strong dose of physic 

 and a twelve-mile walk with sweaters on top of it, managed 



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