400 



year, when he rode Hampton, then a two-year-old. His first big win was 

 the Cambridgeshire of 1853, when for Mr. W. Smith he rode Little 

 David. His next good performance was winning on Epaminondas 

 the Chester Cup in 1854. It was not, however, until at Stamford on 

 Cock Pheasant, when he met Wells on El Dorado, that young George 

 opened the eyes of the public to his merits as a horseman. Wells was 

 then in his zenith, and considered our best light- weight jockey. After 

 a desperate race for the Burgh) ey Stakes, the two ran a dead heat, 

 but in the decider the future " Demon " beat " Tiaey " by a head amidst 

 great excitement. Thenceforward Fordham rose rapidly in his pro- 

 fession, until in a few years he was found at its head. 



Even with a list of his principal winning mounts before me, carefully 

 detailed as they are, I can do no more than summarise them. 



Among the horses on which Fordham from time to time won, I find 

 several of those trained by John Scott and Mat Dawson which I have 

 already mentioned ; also Chalice, Summerside, Formosa, Gamos, Reine, 

 Thebais, Vauban, Petronel, Mayonaise, Nemesis, Siberia, Gabrielle 

 d'Estrees, Suzerain, Fervacques, The Earl, Foxhall, Adamas, Dutch 

 Skater, Lord Clifden, Saucebox, Vigo, Borderer, Epaminondas, Knight 

 of the Garter, Paris, Stampede, Lady Elizabeth, Ecossais, Prioress, 

 Odd Trick, See-Saw, Sabinus, Little David, Hannah, Happy 

 Land, Klarikoff, Flageolet, Beaudesert, Beechnut, Elf King, Opti- 

 mist, Rustic, Martyrdom, Winslow, Horror, Marie Stuart, Lecturer, 

 Mortimer, Doncaster, General Peel, Zaidee, Belladrum, Corisande, 

 Tournament, Lady Clifden, Gomera, Paganini, Rogerthorpe, Starke, The 

 Duke, Termagant, Drammond, Advance, Dollar, One Act, Ivanhoff, 

 Oldminster, Zetland, Inez, King of Diamonds, Sunshine, Welland 

 Ackworth, and nearly all the other great horses of their day. 



