MATCHES. 95 



used for a few years ; but as the taste for short 

 races increased, the number of courses made by 

 Lord George was found to be confusing, so dolls 

 were put across those which were not used, with 

 a view to guiding and directing the jockeys as to 

 the right track for them to follow. Even with 

 these precautions, mistakes sometimes occurred, as 

 in the case of Ithuriel and Bed Deer. 



Being always ready to make matches and pro- 

 mote sport, Lord George pitted his Captain 

 Cook against Lord Maidstone's Larry M'Hale 

 over two miles and a half at Goodwood, nominally 

 for £100 but in reality for £1000 ; as it was cus- 

 tomary with Lord George to advertise the amount 

 staked in some of his matches as one-tenth of the 

 actual sum. Hence the match between his 

 Bramble and Lord Maidstone's The Caster the 

 same year in the Craven Meeting at Newmarket, 

 over the B.C., was for 1200 sovereigns, 800 forfeit, 

 although advertised at sixty sovereigns each and 

 forty forfeit. Also at Goodwood the same year, 

 in a match between Olive-Oil and Rose of Cash- 

 mere for 500 sovereigns each, the sum was adver- 

 tised at £50. Although gratifying his partiality 

 for long races, Lord George did not profit by the 

 result of his match against Lord Maidstone's 

 Larry M'Hale, nor by the example of the magnifi- 

 cent riding of Jem Bobinson, whose style he so 

 much admired, as there was much more agitation 

 in his Lordship's long arms and legs than would 



