330 HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND 



A.D. 1820 : On April 6 the Duke of Portland's 

 Tiresias (by Soothsayer), winner of the Derby in 

 1819, beat {'rising' four years, 8 st. 2 lb.) Mr. 

 George Lane Fox's Merlin (by Castrel), ' rising ' 

 five years, 8 st. 9 lb., A. F., 300 guineas ; the 

 match being remarkable because Merlin (so highly 

 thought of at two years of age that Lord Foley 

 gave 2,000 guineas for him) broke his leg whilst 

 running it, and was so maddened by the accident, 

 the ' slings ' that followed, and the whole process 

 of mending, that he became one of the worst 

 ' savages ' ever known, and murdered his groom 

 with most ghastly accessories. 



A.D. 1824: On November 6, 1824, a Mr. Lips- 

 combe undertook to ride 90 miles in 5 hours, 

 employing not more than eight horses, for a bet 

 of ^500. Odds heavy against him. He started 

 early in the morning from Hyde Park Corner, 

 went to the sixty-fourth milestone on the Bath 

 Road, returned (26 miles) to the 'one mile to 

 Reading ' post from London, and won the match 

 in 4 hours 53 minutes 31 seconds, doing the last 

 io miles on the best and fastest of his eight nags 

 in 32 minutes, out of the 38 minutes 29 seconds 

 left to him. Rider's weight unknown. 



