SPORT 



by such men as Mr. J. S. Douglas, whose 

 trainer was Drewitt. His horses were gener- 

 ally ridden by Fordham who rode the Squire 

 of Lenham's Derby favourite, Tournament, 

 at Epsom in Blink Bonny's year (1857), and 

 if the horse was unsuccessful on that occa- 

 sion the famous jockey rode him to victory 

 in many another race worth winning. 



Nearer London, flat races took place at 

 Bromley, Eltham, Lee, Sheppey, Meopham, 

 Woolwich, Gravesend, Blackheath, and Farn- 

 ingham, of which meetings, with the exception 

 of Bromley, there is very little to be said. This 

 meeting was at one time one of the most 

 flourishing in the county, its name first appear- 

 ing in the Racing Calendar in the year 1851. 

 In the beginning, however, fortune did not 

 smile upon the venture, and it died an early 

 death, to be revived with better success 

 in 1864. From that year until 1878, when 

 it was finally abolished, the Bromley meeting 

 had a prosperous career, and many a 

 lively scene was witnessed on this popular 

 course. It cannot be said that the horses 

 which figured at the Bromley meetings, 

 either on the flat or in the jumping events, 

 were of exceptional class, and the only Grand 

 National winner that we can discover as 

 having competed on this course was Austerlitz, 

 which won that race in 1877. But the names 

 of well-known owners were always to be found 

 on the card, and some of the best professional 

 and amateur jockeys of the day were usually 

 to be seen at Bromley. As a popular gather- 

 ing this little meeting was always a great 

 success and many were the regrets when, 

 owing to various causes, the Bromley fixture 

 had to be given up. 



The Canterbury meeting always com- 

 manded the best attendance of notable horses, 

 and the King's and Her late Majesty's 

 Plates were, with few exceptions, well sup- 

 ported. These events were the annual 

 autumn attraction on the race-course on Bar- 

 ham Downs, which adjoin the village of Bridge, 

 about a mile and a half from the old cathedral 

 city. We can only discover a single royal entry 

 for the Canterbury Plates, — in 1806, when 

 the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV, 

 won the event of that year by a walk-over 

 with Barbarossa. From 1739 until 1852 

 these royal grants were decided in two or 

 more heats. The first on record, as we have 

 said, was a walk-over ; but Rockingham, the St. 

 Leger winner, won one of these plates in the 

 colours of Mr. Theobald, the owner of Stock- 

 well, in 1834, and walked over for a second 

 prize in the following year. Red Deer, the 

 Chester Cup winner of 1844, was successful 

 in the Duke of Richmond's colours in 1845 ; 



and in 1851, the last year in which the races 

 were decided in heats, a most popular local 

 victory was achieved by Firebolt, belonging 

 at that time to Mr. Richardson and ridden 

 by a son of C. Hornsby, who trained hard 

 by at Bridge. 



The little Kentish village was then and 

 has been since the home of many a famous 

 trainer and jockey. Besides the Hornsbys, 

 there lived there the Tom Browns, father 

 and son, the latter of whom afterwards took 

 up his quarters at Newmarket ; Fred Webb, 

 who is said to have dreamt that he won the 

 Derby in Doncaster's year (1873), and had 

 the satisfaction of seeing his dream realized ; 

 and the Sherrards, of whom the present 

 Whitsbury trainer, after riding with con- 

 siderable success at most of the county meet- 

 ings and elsewhere, prepared racers and 

 steeplechasers at Bridge for Lord Conyngh^m 

 and others. One of Sherrard's most famous 

 charges, the property of Lord Conyngham, 

 \vas a horse called Derby Day, ■svho after 

 winning a number of races on the flat essayed 

 a Grand National, being ridden on that 

 occasion by Richard Marsh, another man 

 of Kent, who is the present trainer to His 

 Majesty the King. Marsh was born at Smeeth 

 on Christmas Day, 1854, ^"'^ Kent may 

 indeed lay claim to him, for the county of 

 his birth saw the opening of his career in 

 the saddle when at Dover races in 1863 

 Marsh won his first race on the old course. 



Kent is also closely associated with another 

 prominent figure in connexion with His 

 Majesty's racing career, for at Chilham 

 Castle near Canterbury, on 7 September 

 i860, was born Mr. T. Lushington, who not 

 only has worn the royal colours on several 

 occasions in welter races, but had the entire 

 charge of Ambush II when he won the 

 Liverpool Grand National of 1900. At the 

 present time (1907) Mr. Lushington has 

 more than one of His Majesty's horses under 

 his care at the Curragh. 



In the year 1852 the Canterbury Queen's 

 Plate was reduced to a single heat, and as a 

 result of this change better horses were seen 

 in subsequent years in the list of starters. 

 Mention need only be made of a few of the 

 more famous winners : Mr. Thellusson's 

 Rataplan won in 1855 ; Winslow, the Royal 

 Hunt Cup winner, was steered to victory at 

 Canterbury in 1873 by Fordham ; and that 

 beautiful mare Lilian, which won for her 

 owner, Mr. Savile, forty-six races in all, 

 including twenty-nine Queen's Plates, had 

 a walk-over at Canterbury in 1874. The 

 next year Lilian was beaten over the same 

 course, with odds of 3 to i laid on her 



495 



