Lieut. -Colonel John Watkins Yardley 



whip, after jumping the water first round, to inform his 

 connections that the horse was going strong, but the hard 

 ground was against him and he broke down, as I have already- 

 stated." 



This year Captain Yardley rode the winner of the Aldershot 

 Cup. In 1894, when stationed at Shorncliffe, he won sev^eral 

 races on his own hunters in that district, and was third on 

 Mr. Reid Walker's Monk Lewis, by Ascetic, for the National 

 Hunt Steeplechase run that year at Derby. At this time, 

 thanks to a friend, he came into possession of a really good 

 horse, a three-year-old, Bennitthorpe, by Isonomy — Rudstone, 

 and having permission from the Jockey Club to ride on equal 

 terms with jockeys, rode him in several races under this rule at 

 Sandown, Goodwood, Lewes, etc., winning on three occasions ; 

 and then Bennitthorpe developed a leg, so his owner's intention 

 to train him for a National was abandoned, and he was sold to 

 go to the stud where he soon got winning stock, and was sent 

 to Germany for a large sum. 



The next year being stationed at Liverpool, a brother 

 officer entered a horse, Alec Fraser, in the Altcar four-year-old 

 Steeplechase. Only one other horse, Chair of Kildare, ridden 

 by Arthur Nightingall, turned up to run, so Captain Yardley 

 agreed to ride Alec Fraser on the off chance, as there was a 

 good stake for second. Now Alec Fraser was an unschooled 

 four-year-old that had never seen a steeplechase course, and 

 was fairly puzzled at the race-course crowd. Starting at the 

 water jump he hopped over the little fence straight into the 

 middle of the water. Both horse and rider were hidden in 

 the cloud of water, but came out together and continued to the 

 next fence, which both Chair of Kildare and Alec Fraser 

 refused, but jumped it at the second attempt, and got nicely 

 over the next obstacle and so to the first open ditch, when 



335 



