A HISTORY OF KENT 



were Major ' Driver ' Browne and Major 

 Dalbiac. Major Browne met with a fatal 

 accident on the railway while crossing the 

 line at Sandown Park, while a soldier's death 

 in South Africa fell to the lot of Major 

 Dalbiac, who had ridden the winner of the 

 R.H.A. Gold Cup on three or four occasions. 

 Among other military riders who distin- 

 guished themselves in both branches of the 

 sport within the county in those early days 

 when the names of riders first began to 

 find their way into the Calendar, the names 

 of Captain Becher and Captain Little may 



both Jockey Club and National Hunt rules, 

 and though stakes of nominal value only are 

 offered, the Folkestone executive are a very 

 enterprising body and certainly deserve good 

 patronage. Free stabling and fodder, as 

 well as accommodation for stable lads, is 

 provided, and their efforts are ably seconded 

 by the South Eastern and Chatham Rail- 

 way, over whose system horses and at- 

 tendants are conveyed free of charge to 

 and from the meetings. This concession 

 to race-horse ovraers is not in existence 

 on any other railway in the country, and so 



be mentioned, while in more recent times we much is it appreciated that generous entries 



find the names of such good sportsmen as 

 Captain Wentworth Hope Johnstone, the 

 Hon. E. Jervis (afterwards Lord St. Vincent, 

 whose father lives at Godmersham), the Hon. 

 E. P. Willoughby (starter to the Jockey Club), 

 Colonel Knox, Colonel Harford, the Hon. 

 George Lambton, Captain 'Bay' Middleton, 

 Major Hardinge, and Mr. Leveson-Gower. 

 Most of their saddle achievements were 

 scored over fences, as were the successes of 

 civilians like Mr. Arthur Yates, Mr. F. G. 

 Hobson, Mr. T. Bayden, Lord Maidstone, 



and good fields can always be looked 

 for at Folkestone. On the other hand it 

 must be admitted it does not tend in the 

 direction of maintaining a very high standard 

 of competition, for animals are sent for which 

 under ordinary circumstances no great amount 

 of expense would be incurred. During the 

 closing years of the last century an occasional 

 prize of the value of 500 sovereigns was given 

 at Folkestone, but at that period only one 

 or two meetings were held annually. Nowa- 

 days the chief stakes never exceed 300 



Mr. P. Barling, Mr. Reginald Herbert, Lord sovereigns, the majority being of the minimui 



Guilford, Mr. R. Shepherd, and last but not 

 least Mr. William Bevill, always a master 

 hand on the flat, and a favourite horseman 

 in the days when the late Lord St. Vincent, 

 the owner of Lord Clifden, was racing and 

 a great patron of the sport in Kent. Mr. 

 Bevill was not actually a native of Kent, but 

 he spent so much of his time with Kentish 

 folk that he became as popular with them as 

 his father before him, and when he rode a 

 winner at Canterbury his success was always 

 the occasion for a great ovation. 



To present-day racing in the county brief 

 allusion only is necessary. There are only 

 three places of sport, viz., Folkestone, Wye, 

 and Fridge, the last mentioned being con- 

 fined to one day's steeplechasing every 

 Easter Monday. Important meetings being 

 in progress on that day in almost every corner 

 of the kingdom, it is only natural that the 

 Eridge programme, with its modest prizes, 

 does not attract much more than purely 

 local patronage. At Wye, where five one- 

 day meetings are held annually, much the 

 same state of affairs obtains, and pleasant 

 as are the gatherings there, the stakes are of 

 small value and are competed for by horses 

 hailing chiefly from the adjacent counties 

 of Sussex and Surrey, the trainers at Lewes, 

 Alfriston, Findon, Rottingdean, Portslade 

 and Epsom furnishing about 90 per cent, of 

 the runners. 



At Folkestone racing takes place under 



value of 100 sovereigns. In 1906 four meet- 

 ings were held under Jockey Club rules, 

 one day in June, a two-day fixture in August, 

 and two single days in October. The arrrange- 

 ments for 1907 embraced five days again, 

 but whereas the June and August functions 

 were continued, a two-day meeting in Septem- 

 ber was substituted for the two single 

 fixtures in October. Steeplechasing at 

 Folkestone is conducted on much the same 

 lines as at 'Wyt, although the higher scale 

 of stake ensures greater range of competition, 

 and attracts a few useful hurdlers and chasers. 

 The majority of the races are of the usual 

 regulation type, with an occasional hunters' 

 race thrown in. Five days -per annum are 

 devoted to this class of sport at the Westen- 

 hanger Inclosure — one day each in March, 

 April, and May, and two days in December. 



FAMOUS OWNERS, TRAINERS AND 

 HORSES 



Of famous studs Kent has possessed many, 

 but all of the best animals bred at Middle 

 Park seem to have been reared for sale, and 

 those from Sir Joseph Hawley's famous farm 

 at Leybourne, and from the late Lord Fal- 

 mouth's paddocks at Mereworth appear to 

 have fought most of their battles elsewhere. 

 At any rate records of the prowess of Kentish- 

 bred horses on Kentish soil are difficult to 

 discover. 



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