SOME MEMORABLE MATCHES 313 



York, and back again to Leeds (no miles) in 

 20 hours. He started at ten o'clock at night,' 

 and * finished his journey with ease in less than 

 eighteen hours.' The only remarkable facts 

 about this match seem to be that the butcher 

 weighed 14 St., and that he rode ' a slender mare 

 not 14 hands high.' But 'light' mares that are 

 ' all wire ' will do wonders ; ask the two sisters 

 Emblem and Emblematic, the steeple-chasers, and 

 La Fleche, the all but invincible flat-racer. 



A.D. 1784: On May 8, at Newmarket, there 

 took place two matches, which are noticeable, 

 because they gave the Prince of Wales (afterward 

 George IV.), who had just come on the turf, an 

 excellent opportunity of observing what a differ- 

 ence it makes whether a gentleman jockey or a 

 professional be upon the back of a given horse (it 

 being taken for granted, of course, that all is ' on 

 the square'). For, after his Royal Highness's 

 horse Hermit (Mr. Panton up) had been beaten 

 by Sir H. Featherstone's (or Featherstone- 

 haugh's) Surprise (owner up), professional 

 jockeys were substituted for gentlemen, and, 

 under precisely the same conditions of weight, 

 distance, and wager (50 guineas), Surprise was 



