SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



of more recent times. Here, however, we have a 

 most splendid exception in this horse, Plenipo, who 

 possessed bone and size enough to go between the 

 shafts of a cabriolet. . . . Plenipo was a large 

 horse of such ponderous muscle and carried so 

 much flesh, that he always looked like a pet bullock 

 when in training, but no horse was ever so much 

 admired for his beauty, and his racing points. 



It is a pity that such a horse should 

 have been a stud failure, but the fact re- 

 mains that the mighty ' Plenipo,' about 

 whom an enormous amount of fulsome 

 praise has been written, did very little to- 

 wards transmitting his own excellence to 

 future generations, and was as easily beaten 

 by Touchstone in the paddock as he had 

 been by the same horse in the St. Leger. 



In 1836 Lord Jersey's Bay Middleton, an 

 exceptionally good class Derby winner, was 

 easily successful in a field of twenty-one, and 

 this horse, of the Byerly Turk line, was also 

 a stud success, being the sire of that great 

 horse the Flying Dutchman. In the follow- 

 ing year an outsider named Phosphorus, 

 who started at 40 to i, took the prize, and 

 perhaps the most remarkable feature of this 

 Derby was the prognostication in verse, 

 published in a newspaper a few days before — 



'Tis over — the trick for the thousands is done — 

 George Edwards on Phosphorus the Derby has won. 



The Derby of 1838 was a famous one 

 for the county of Surrey, as the winner, 

 Amato, by Velocipede, was bred by and 

 ran as the property of Sir Gilbert Heath- 

 cote, Bart., of Durdans, near Epsom (now 

 the seat of Lord Rosebery). The colt in 

 question was emphatically a * dark ' horse, 

 the secret of his splendid trial a few days 

 before the Derby being known only to Sir 

 Gilbert, his trainer, and a few friends, who 

 held their peace so well that nothing leaked 

 out, and Amato started at 30 to i. He won 

 by a length, beating Ton (the sire of Wild 

 Dayrell) and a large field, and it is recorded 

 in Orton's Turf Annals that 



the principal winners were several gentlemen living 

 at Sutton or in the neighbourhood of Epsom ; 

 Sir Gilbert Heathcote, who resides in the vicinity 

 of Epsom, never bets. Vehement acclamations 

 took place when the owner of Amato was declared 

 the winner ; and the honest, straightforward, and 

 civil little jock (J. Chappie) that rode the worthy 

 baronet's colt received many sincere and hearty 

 good shakes of the hand from the humble, as well, 

 we trust, more substantial proofs from the winners 

 on this important race. 



Curiously enough this was the only race 

 for which Amato started, and he did but 

 II 



little at the stud to sustain his Derby honour. 

 He was buried in the grounds of Durdans. 



In 1839 the race was again won by an 

 outsider, Bloomsbury starting, like Amato in 

 the previous year, at the long odds of 30 

 to I, While the race was being run a 

 heavy shower of snow fell — the same thing 

 had occurred twenty-eight years before when 

 Hermit won the race for Mr. Henry Chaplin. 

 Two days after Bloomsbury had won Mr. 

 Fulmar Craven, who owned the second horse 

 (Deception), objected to the stakes being paid 

 on the ground that Bloomsbury had been im- 

 properly described when he was nominated 

 for the stake. The stewards, after some 

 delay, found that the nomination was correct, 

 but Mr. Weatherby still declined to pay the 

 stakes, having been threatened with action 

 in the law courts on the subject. Mean- 

 time Bloomsbury followed up his Epsom 

 triumph by winning the Ascot Derby and 

 was again objected to. The dispute was 

 carried on, and finally the case was tried at 

 the Liverpool Assizes on August 22nd, when 

 Mr. Ridsdale, the owner of Bloomsbury, 

 won the action, it being proved that the 

 entries in the General Stud Book were 

 wrong. After his racing career Bloomsbury 

 was sent to Germany. 



In 1840 an even greater outsider than 

 Amato or Bloomsbury won. Mr. Robert- 

 son's Little Wonder, who started at 50 to 

 I, beat the hot favourite Lancelot — a full 

 brother to Touchstone — by half a length. 

 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were 

 present when the race was run, and imme- 

 diately after the weighing-in was accom- 

 plished, Mr. E. Anson delivered to W. 

 Macdonald (the rider of Little Wonder) an 

 elegant riding whip, as a testimonial from 

 Prince Albert of his admiration of his 

 jockeyship. In 1841 Coronation won easily, 

 being the first favourite to win the race 

 since Bay Middleton eight years before. He 

 was owned by Mr. Rawlinson, who, accord- 

 ing to the published reports of the day, won 

 about ;^8,ooo, in addition to the stake. 



Nothing need be said on Attila's victory 

 in 1842, but in the following year when 

 Mr. John Bowes won his second Derby 

 with Cotherstone, the following regulation 

 was agreed upon by the stewards previous 

 to the commencement of the races and a 

 printed copy of it delivered to every jockey — 



TO JOCKETS.— No false start will be allowed. 

 Every jockey attempting to go before the starter 

 has given the word will be considered as taking an 

 unfair advantage, under Rule 57, and fined accord- 

 ingly. 



497 63 



