BRITISH TURF. 335 



having met Mr. Ridsdale out hunting, commenced 

 a conversation with him, as to whether he had 

 said that he (Mr. Gully) had won £12,000 on the 

 previous St. Leger. Mr. Ridsdale answered in 

 the affirmative, upon which some words arose, 

 and Mr. Gully, losing his temper, struck him on 

 the back with his whip. The jury found a 

 verdict for the plaintiff, with £500 damages, and 

 it may be remarked, as a singular coincidence, that 

 in the cause " Colonel Thornton v. Flint," tried 

 in the same city in 1808, the same damages were 

 given for the same offence. 



On the 21st of October, the venerable Earl of 

 Derby departed this life at Knowsley Park, near 

 Preston, Lancashire, in the 83rd year of his 

 age, universally beloved and regretted. This 

 veteran sportsman, whose name will ever live in 

 the sporting annals of his native country, as the 

 originator of the Epsom Derby and Oaks' stakes,* 

 made his debut on the turf in 1 77^, when he suc- 

 ceeded to the title on the death of his grandfather, 

 the eleventh Earl. He soon entered with ardour into 

 the exciting business of the race-course, became a 

 member of the Jockey Club, and one of the most 

 distinguished leaders of that most famous circle of 

 sportsmen, whose support of our national pastime 

 has caused that period to be remembered as the 

 " golden age" of the British turf. 



* See page 316, vol. i. 



