Royal Ascot ^ 



Father of the Turf," as he has been called, was born in 

 1642, and was keeper of the Royal Running Horses to 

 William III., Oueen Anne, and Georo^e I., and it is more 

 than probable that he occupied a similar position during 

 the reigns of Charles II. and James II, Whatever may 

 be said against his character, the English Turf owes a 

 great deal to his enthusiasm and to his success in improving 

 the blood of the English race horse. He died in 1728, 

 at the Pfood old aofe of 86, and was buried at Newmarket. 



He was the owner of the famous horse Dragon, who 

 ran with great success on several occasions, including a 

 match for ^10,000. Mr. Frampton was the cunningest 

 jockey of his day, but his methods were not always above 

 suspicion. In the celebrated match between North and 

 South, when Old Merlin (by Bustler, son of the Helmsley 

 Turk), represented the North against a favourite horse 

 belonging to Mr. Tregonwell Frampton, a trial match was 

 run oyer the Newmarket Course, when Mr. Frampton 

 attempted to deceive his rival by adding 7 lb. to the 

 agreed weight. In the trial Old Merlin was successful and 

 Mr. Frampton's argument was, therefore, that with a 7 lb. 

 lighter weight in the event, his horse would be a certain 

 winner. The other side had, however, also deputed their 

 jockey to carry 7 lb, extra weight in the trial, and had 

 thereby equalised matters. In the final race, Jerome 

 Hare, of Cold Kirby, rode Old Merlin, and came in a length 

 before his rival, with the result that the biter was bit, and 

 the men of the South suffered severely ; in fact, so great 

 had been the stakes that an enactment was promulgated 

 restricting excessive betting on any horse race. 



In Yorkshire, according to Camden, racing in the Forest 



