36 SPORTING STORIES 



good coups, he plunged so recklessly that his losses far 

 exceeded his gains in the long run. 



His partner, Lord Foley, however, was even less 

 fortunate. He commenced his racing career with ;^ioo,ooo 

 in ready money and a clear ;^i8,ooo a year. When he 

 died, in 1793, he was absolutely bankrupt. 



Like Fox, of whom Edmund Burke said that " he was a 

 man made to be loved," Lord Foley was the most amiable 

 and charming of men, and he left behind him the reputa- 

 tion of being one of the finest sportsmen that the Turf 

 has ever seen. Such qualities, however, do not fit their 

 possessor for success at betting, and it would appear that 

 the gentlemen " legs " of that day were too many for poor 

 Charles Fox and his partner: it was a battle between 

 pigeons and hawks, and the birds of prey had, as they 

 always have, an easy victory. 



Another tremendous plunger of that day was Richard, 

 Earl of Barrymore. He began his career on the Turf when 

 he was but nineteen years of age, and he lasted just four 

 seasons, during which period he lost no less than ^100,000, 

 although he was reputed the cleverest Turfite of his day, 

 and, with the exception of Charles James Fox, the best 

 handicapper. But, clever though he was, the reckless 

 young nobleman was no match for his trainers and jockeys, 

 who cheated him right and left. In the famous race for 

 the Oatland Stakes at Ascot in 1791, over which upwards 

 of 250,000 guineas changed hands, his horse, Chanticleer, 

 who was favourite at 9 to 2, would certainly have won but 

 for the foul play of his jockey, which cost him ;^20,ooo ; a 

 large slice of that sum going to the Prince of Wales (after- 

 wards George IV.), whose horse, Baronet, came in first. 



It was not the Turf alone, however, that ruined this incor- 

 rigible plunger — indeed, he might have held his own there 

 had he given more attention to it ; but even when he did 

 pull off a coup he squandered at hazard and faro all that 

 he had won at racing. His many wild eccentricities, his 

 patronage of prize-fighters, notably the celebrated Hooper 

 the Tinman, and his tragic end by the accidental discharge 

 of his fowling-piece, have all been told elsewhere. I need 

 only add that he was in his twenty-fourth year when he 



