A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE 



three horses ran for the King's Plate, four for 

 the Woburn Stakes, and the Bedfordshire Stakes 

 fell through altogether. In 1843 the programme 

 was reduced to five races ; of which Mr. E. 

 Ongley won three and Mr, F. Ongley one, in 

 poor fields. The best race of the meeting was 

 the Bedfordshire Stakes, for which four started. 

 In 1844, the last year of the Spring Meeting, as 

 already said, there was no Summer Meeting at 

 all, but in 1845 •' '^^ revived, taking place in 

 September, when ten races were run on the two 

 days. The Preparation Stakes and Stratton Park 

 Stakes were run for the first time in this year, 

 and for a long period had place on the pro- 

 gramme. The Bedfordshire Stakes was growing 

 in popularity by this time, between thirty and 

 forty subscriptions being received each year. In 

 1857 we detect endeavour to attract a moderate 

 class of horse in the Half Mile Scurry Handicap, 

 a ;^io sweepstake with ;rioo added by the 

 Duke of Bedford and Mr. W. H. Whitbread. 

 This race brought out fourteen starters. In 

 1853 Count Batthyany, whose name was so in- 

 timately associated with the English turf for half 

 a century or more, won the Preparation Stakes 

 on his own horse Captain Flash. At the meet- 

 ing of 1856 we find the names of Custance 

 and George Fordham among those of winning 

 jockeys, and in the following year the Royal 

 Plate was won by the famous horse Fisherman, 

 ridden by Wells. Admiral Rous officiated as a 

 steward during the sixties. Mr. W. Bevill, a 

 prominent gentleman rider of his day, frequently 

 rode at the meeting, and among the jockeys 

 engaged since the early sixties were Snowden, 

 Maidment, Bray, Tom Cannon (who in 1868 

 won the Royal Stake on Mr. Parr's Ecart6), and 

 Loates. None of the races was of much value ; 

 the Bedfordshire Stakes, worth ;^I75 in 1868, 

 was the best worth winning from a pecuniary 

 point of view. In 1870 the programme was 

 reduced to seven races, for which only small 

 fields competed. Captain Machell's name occurs 

 among those of winning owners in this year. 

 The meeting of 1872 was more successful than 

 those of the two previous years, more horses 

 running and better sport being the rule ; but 

 Bedford as a racing centre was now on its last 

 legs. In 1873 there was but one day's racing, 

 and the Royal Plate produced only a walk-over. 

 In the following year a difficulty arose, the race- 

 course being required for the show of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society ; this upset arrangements, 

 and the Duke of Bedford withdrawing the ^^50 

 plate he and his ancestors had presented for so 

 many years, a decadent meeting thus received its 

 death blow. None was held in 1 8 74, nor has one 

 been held since. 



STEEPLECHASING 

 The first jump races held in the county, so 

 far as can be ascertained, were those held on 



22 March 1834, the Hon. George C. Grantley 

 Berkeley, who had been master of the Oakley 

 Hunt for four years, being the moving spirit. 

 The programme consisted of two events, and 

 the conditions of the races were framed to appeal 

 to hunting men : the first event was a £^0 

 stake for horses bona fide the property of gentle- 

 men farmers in the county : weight, 1 2 St., 

 distance 4 miles, winner to be sold for £150. 

 Eight horses faced the starter, among them 

 Silver Tail, the property of Mr. Grantley Berke- 

 ley, who officiated as ' umpire ' or judge. The 

 course was flagged, and is said to have been an 

 exceedingly stiff one : the fact that only three 

 horses got round seems to bear out the state- 

 ment. Lord Clanricarde, who rode Silver Tail, 

 came to grief, as he did with frequency during 

 his career as a steeplechase rider ; and the famous 

 Captain Becher, who rode Mr. Higgins's Tom- 

 boy, was one of those who failed to pass the post, 

 his mount being stopped by an open drain a field 

 from home. Mr. J. Walker's Dinman, ridden 

 by Mr. Jenkins, was the winner. The second 

 race, which produced three starters, was won 

 easily by Mr. Francis's Don Cossack. The 

 meeting brought out an enormous crowd, steeple- 

 chasing in those days being a new thing. Some- 

 what curiously, in view of the craze for gambling 

 prevalent at this period, there was very little 

 betting. 



From this time steeplechases were held at 

 intervals ; meetings took place in the year 1841, 

 and again in 1846 or 1847, but no record of 

 these appears to be in existence. Mr. W. Bevill, 

 who did much steeplechase riding in his earlier 

 days, says that the old course crossed Kimbolton 

 Road near Cleat Hill, and the winning post 

 stood on Mr. Higgins's farm (known as Great 

 Jackman's), about two miles north-east of Bed- 

 ford. The Oakley Hunt Steeplechases, held over 

 a course at Clapham Park, about two miles from 

 Bedford, seem to have been established in 1861. 

 The meeting was successful, and became popular 

 with hunting men and farmers, who supported 

 it loyally. Four or five races, of which the 

 principal was the Hunt Cup Steeplechase of 

 j^ioo, ^10 subscription, over a 4-mile course, 

 formed the programme. The meeting was not 

 always well managed, as in 1866 there were com- 

 plaints that wrong colours were worn by the 

 riders, and that punctuality in starting was not 

 observed. These deficiencies, however, did not 

 prevent the National Hunt Committee selecting 

 Bedford for the Grand National Hunt Meeting 

 of 1867, when the Prince of Wales and the 

 King of Denmark were present. The course 

 was an unusually severe one. The riders, on 

 being shown over it, unanimously objected to 

 the double post and rails, and some took exception 

 to the first fence, a * very strong laid hedge with 

 a wide ditch on the take-off side.' The stewards, 

 after consultation, removed the top rail of the 



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