218 SPORTING STORIES 



Cup, is still considered by some good judges to have been 

 a better greyhound than Master M'Grath. Her record is 

 certainly a grand one, for she only lost 5 out of 6^ courses 

 she ran, and won £\^\o in stakes. Master M'Grath won 

 36 out of the 37 courses he ran, and i^i/SO in stakes. 

 This makes his record better than Bab's ; but he was only 

 drawn against her once, and then she undoubtedly proved 

 herself the better greyhound, though she had the ill-luck 

 to lose. 



Coomassie's triumph in 1877 ^'^d i^lZ forms the next 

 great sensation in the history of the Waterloo Cup. She 

 was the smallest greyhound that ever won that trophy, and 

 weighed only 42 lbs. — 12 lbs. less than Master M'Grath. 

 She was purchased, after she had won the All- Aged Stakes 

 at Newmarket, by Mr T. Lay, for ;^25o, from Mr R. Gittens, 

 of Buckenden, Norfolk. 



Her first Waterloo Cup was the only one at which Sir 

 John Astley was ever present. He had a i^iooo to £y:yo 

 on the nomination, and afterwards presented Mr Gittens 

 with a gold watch. The following year Coomassie won 

 again. It is possible that she might have placed a third 

 consecutive Waterloo Cup to her credit in 1879, ^""^ ^hus 

 have beaten Master M'Grath's record, but for an unfortunate 

 accident in training for the event. She fractured a small 

 bone in one of her forelegs, and was never able to run again. 



Then came the memorable Fullerton era, when Colonel 

 North's splendid greyhound eclipsed all previous records 

 and made himself an everlasting name. Fullerton came 

 out in 1889, and in the deciding course for the Waterloo 

 Cup was left in with his kennel companion Troughend ; as 

 both dogs belonged to Colonel North, though Troughend 

 was nominated by Mr Badger, he elected to let them 

 divide the stakes, albeit Fullerton could, bar accidents, 

 have beaten the other easily. In the three following years, 

 1890, 1 89 1, 1892, Fullerton carried all before him, and 

 threw into the shade even the triumphs of Master M'Grath 

 by winning the Cup outright in three consecutive years, 

 besides dividing for it in the fourth year. Not even the 

 deciding course between Master M'Grath and Bab-at-the- 

 Bowster was as sensational as the final between Fullerton 



