Captain Wentworth Hope- Johnstone 



enthusiasm he actually wrote some verses descriptive of 

 Revirescat's victory and how it was won, before the race, 

 intending to post it off to one of the sporting papers the same 

 night. 



Captain Wentworth Hope-Johnstone, familiarly known to 

 his many friends as '* Wenty," and allowed by common consent 

 to have been one of the most brilliant horsemen over a country 

 of his time, first saw the light on January 22, 1848. His 

 education over, he called his uncle Bob into consultation as 

 to what his future was to be, his own inclinations pointing 

 slightly to agriculture. The Major's reply was just what might 

 have been expected from Sir James Outram's favourite aide- 

 de-camp. " Farming be hanged! " said he. " Be a soldier first ; 

 you can farm when you are sixty." That settled the question, 

 and in due time, uncles Bob and David had the satisfaction 

 of seeing their nephew gazetted to the 7th Hussars, then, 

 as it is now, one of the smartest and most sporting regiments 

 in the service. 



Captain Hope-Johnstone made his first public appearance 

 in the saddle at Windsor in 1866. Tom Ablett had a bad 

 fall when riding Bandoline, and the horse being due to run 

 in another race and no jockey obtainable, at the instance of 

 his uncle David, who remarked that at all events he wouldn't 

 fall off, the subject of our memoir, who was, of course, burning 

 to distinguish himself, was given the mount. 



After jumping the brook, before passing the stand, he was 

 on the inside, and not being able to get Bandoline quite round 

 on the turn, cannoned against " Reggie " Herbert on Comber- 

 ton, knocking him clean over the chains, amongst the crowd, 

 fortunately, with no bad results, " Reggie " picking himself up 

 and eventually winning the race. 



Needless to say, he was profuse in his apologies, both 



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