192 LORD GEORGE AS A LETTER- WRITER. 



Years. st. lb. 



Extempore . . . 3 6 3 



Fidelity f. . . . 3 5 11 



Fiddlestring . . . 3 5 11 



Fragrance ^ . . . 3 5 6 



" In handicapping the above, I have put the 

 D.M. Handicap running out of sight as alto- 

 gether wrong, my behef being that St Jean d'Acre 

 ought to have been last instead of second. There 

 is no doubt Canton in private is full 10 lb. better 

 than Rooksnest ! " 



Gaper's next engagement was at Bath, whence 

 Lord George Bentinck wrote the two following 

 letters to my father. I should observe that when 

 " Kent " is spoken of or addressed by his Lordship, 

 it means my father ; and that when " John " is 

 named, it means myself These two letters from 

 Bath reveal the industry with which, in days when 

 newspaper reports of races were very flimsy, and 

 almost confined to ' Bell's Life in London ' and the 

 ' Sunday Times ' (both of which were published on 

 Saturday), Lord George communicated by letter 

 with my father, rarely missing a day, and giving a 

 most exhaustive account of what had taken place 

 on the race-course. 



" Bath, April 26, 1843. 



" Kent, — I had barely time to send you a list 



1 According to her runniug in the Cliesterfield Stake with Extem- 

 pore ; but according to our trials with Elysium last October, Fra- 

 grance's weight ought to be 6 stone 5 lb., and I incline to think that 

 would be nearer the mark. Extempore will have a better day. 



