RACING ADVENTURERS. 255 



had not received his fair share of the cash 

 won over Margrave, stating that Gully had 

 obtained ^12,000 more than he had. Gully, 

 resenting this statement, struck Ridsdale in 

 the hunting-field in a brutal way with his whip ; 

 a trial took place at York Assizes, when damages 

 to the extent of ^500 were awarded to Ridsdale, 

 who had a large number of sympathisers on 

 his side. 



The two men, while their association lasted, 

 effected some bold transactions on what may be 

 called the smaller races of the time, putting large 

 sums in their purses by the exercise of their 

 cunning, or, as it would now be termed, " astute- 

 ness." The monetary details of those transactions 

 have never been made public in detail, but were 

 estimated at the time from the extent of the 

 settlements of the partners at Tattersall's, where 

 both men, so far as their credit was concerned, 

 were held in high esteem. One of their intended 

 " good things," which did not come off, was Little 

 Red Rover's attempt to win the Derby of 1830, 

 which was won by a celebrated racer called 

 Priam. Had Red Rover won, the confederates 

 would have pocketed between them the better 

 part of ^80,000. 



Mr. Gully won the Derby in 1846 with his 

 horse Pyrrhus I., a victory which enabled him to 

 add largely to his bank account. In the same 

 year he was also so fortunate as to win the Oaks 

 with his mare Mendicant, afterwards purchased 

 by the well-known Sir Joseph Hawley, to whom 

 she proved a veritable gold mine, being the dam 

 of a horse which brought to the exchequer of that 

 sporting baronet a sum of ^80,000 ; that animal 



