84 THE BLUE RIBBON OF TBIE TURF. 



Mellish. One of the most extraordinary matches he 

 ever rode was that against Mrs. Thornbill, which has 

 been often noticed. His name L''ave rise to a frood 

 deal of punning, says the Old Sporting Magazine : 



' A Buckle large was formerly the rage, 

 But now a small one fills our sportive page.' 



Buckle died on February 7th, 1832, in the sixty- 

 fifth year of his age, leaving his family with all the 

 comforts of life. 



' Oh, where is a match for a treasure ?o rare ? 

 Look round the wide world and you'll ne'er find a pair; 

 For trained to the turf he stands quite alone. 

 And a, pair of such Buckles was never yet known.' 



An examination of the records of the classic races 

 will reveal the names of the famous horsemen of a 

 hundred years ago who won the Derby, St. Leger, or 

 Oaks, but more cannot be done here than make simple 

 references to the names of a few of the more prominent. 

 Marvellous tales have been told of the prowess of the 

 old masters of horsemanship, who won the Derby and 

 other races in the earlier years of their history ; but he 

 must be a clever jockey who can win on a bad horse; 

 and in these latter days we have probably seen as able 

 men, or rather boys, in the saddle on Epsoui Heath as 

 were Avitnessed b}^ our fathers and grandfathers. 



The first rider who won the Derby was S. Arnull, 

 one of a family of horsemen of the period. The 

 Chifneys, father and son, are both on the roll of suc- 

 cessful Derby horsemen, the latter having won the 

 race on two occasions ; so is Buckle. J. Arnull won 

 several 'Blue Ribbons' ; Clift was a quintuple winner. 

 Another of the many famous horsemen of the 



