Early Days 133 



vile to ride in a steeplechase and then return 

 to his stone retreat. — 



How our forefathers read the conditions of 

 the race as affecting the status of the riders, 

 is one of those things that " no fellow can 

 understand." " Gentlemen riders," say the 

 conditions. What about Jem Mason, Tom 

 Olliver, Byrne, and the two M'Donoughs ? 



The tape, I imagine, was seldom, if ever, 

 requisitioned in steeplechasing's very early 

 days, and it was left until the year 1847 

 for a " record " feat to be established, which, 

 as far as we know, stands unrivalled to-day. 

 Chandler, owned at the time by the well- 

 known Ousely Higgins, and ridden by Captain 

 Broadley, was running at Warwick when parts 

 of the course were under water, and the 

 " Badminton " book on steeplechasing tells 

 us that " The brook was swollen to the 

 dimensions of a small river — it was impos- 

 sible, indeed, to tell how far on each side 

 the overflow extended ; but Chandler, coming 

 down to the brook at a great pace, cleared 

 the -water at a bound. Onlookers were so 



