i6o A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



engaged to ride six days in succession between 

 York and London, and he won his wager." 



The walking matches of Captain Barclay have 

 been so often described that no reference need be 

 here made to them — they were marvels of pluck 

 and endurance. Another of the many curious 

 matches which took place during the last century 

 was that of Miss Pond, brought off at Newmarket 

 in the months of April and May, 1758. That 

 lady's wager was to ride, mounted always on the 

 same horse, a thousand miles in a thousand suc- 

 cessive hours. The stake involved was only 

 200 gs., and she won it easily enough. Miss 

 Pond was the daughter of the compiler and 

 publisher of the Racing Calendar, and some doubts 

 have been expressed as to whether or not she 

 used the same horse throughout. It is worth 

 mentioning that Dr. Johnson wrote a satirical 

 essay on this affair in the sixth number of The 

 Idler (May, 1775), his contention being \}i\2X profit 

 was the sole end in acquiring honour and distinc- 

 tion, and that such events as that in which Miss 

 Pond took part were estimated only by the money 

 gained or lost. 



A Mr. Jenison Shafto, in accordance with a 

 wager of 2,000 gs. between himself and Hugo 

 Maynell, found a person to ride one hundred 

 miles a day " on any one horse each day 

 for twenty -nine successive days, to have any 

 number of horses not exceeding twenty-nine." 

 John Woodcock was selected to perform this feat, 

 and beginning his arduous task on Newmarket 

 Heath on May 4th, 1761, brought it to a success- 

 ful conclusion on the ist of June about six o'clock 

 in the evening, having used fourteen horses only. 



