Gentlemen Riders 



is the best Major Beatty has had under his charge so far ; but 

 Bedford Cottage, at the time of writing, shelters what may- 

 prove to be a worthy successor to Lord Howard de Walden's 

 good horse in the shape of Glasgerian, a prominent favourite 

 for the Derby, with whom we wish his popular trainer all 

 possible luck. 



Mr. JOSEPH WIDGER 



Feeling sure that this celebrated horseman's account of his 

 riding experiences, as related to us, could not possibly be 

 improved upon — att contraire, would lose a good deal in the 

 process — we will leave him to tell the story in his own 

 words. 



" I was born in Waterford on the 21st March, 1864, and am 

 the youngest of the five sons of Thomas Widger, of that city. 

 When only ten years of age I had my first ride, and first win 

 on a pony on the sands at Woodstown, six miles from Waterford. 

 The following year I rode a mare of my father's two miles over 

 the country at a place called Castletown, near Waterford, and 

 won, beating a field of about fourteen runners. I was then sent 

 to school at Mountrath in the Queen's County, and after being 

 there about three months I ran away to ride at a meeting 

 at Bangor, in Wales, and the amazement of my family, when 

 they saw my name in the paper the next morning as having 

 ridden a winner, when they thought I was safe at college, may 

 well be imagined. When at the age of fifteen I rode a good 

 horse called Tom Jones, at Cork, in a three-mile steeplechase 

 in a big field, and after going a mile the bridle broke, and I had 



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