M. Morand 



Military meeting was held at Sutton Coldlield, near Birming- 

 ham, a venue which met with much disapproval, fields ruling 

 small in consequence ; though it was admitted afterwards that 

 the arrangement on the part of the executive left nothing to 

 be desired. 



In 1 86 1, in which year the meeting was held at Cheltenham, 

 Vicomte Talon was once more to the fore, coming in third on 

 his own horse Laudanum — pronounced by the Bookies " Laud- 

 a-num " — for the Gold Cup, which was won by the Hon. F. G. 

 Ellison Inniskilling belonging to himself; Captain Tempest's 

 Warrior, ridden by his owner, being second. 



The Grand National Hunt Steeplechase was run at the 

 same meeting and the Vicomte again rode Laudanum, and 

 finished second to The Freshman, belonging to Charley 

 Symonds, the well-known Oxford horse dealer, and the mount 

 of " Mr. Edwards," just then coming to the front as a gentle- 

 man rider. The Oxford horse, who started favourite at evens, 

 had the foot of his opponents when it came to racing, and 

 eventually won comfortably by four lengths. 



The Freshman was an appropriate name for the winner in 

 more ways than one, for later on in the day he was brought 

 out again and won the Cheltenham Grand Annual, in those 

 days an important affair in the Steeplechase world. 



M. MORAND 



In 1897 the National Hunt Steeplechase was run at New- 

 market for the first time, and the race is memorable if only for 

 the fact that for the first time in its history, it was won by a 



207 



