GREAT EQUESTRIAN FEATS OF THE RACE-HORSE. 455 
and was no more than six hours and twenty-one minutes in 
completing the one hundred and twenty-seven miles; of 
course, he had two hours and thirty-nine minutes to spare. 
Mr. Wild had no more than ten horses, hut they were all 
blood ones, and from the stud of Mr. Daly. 
Whilst on horseback, without allowing anything for 
changing, he rode at the rate of twenty miles an hour for 
six hours. He was so little fatigued with this extraordi¬ 
nary performance, that he was at the Turf Clubhouse, in 
Kildare, the same evening. 
1793, October 12th.—A mare carrying ten stone, and 
but fourteen hands high, the property of Mr. Macy, of Bru¬ 
ton Street, London, galloped on Sunbury Common twenty 
miles in fifty-six minutes and twenty-eight seconds. 
1804.—The lady of the late distinguished Colonel Thorn¬ 
ton appears to have been equally attached to the sports of 
the field with her husband ; and the extraordinary contest 
which took place between Mrs. Thornton and Mr. Flint, in 
1804, not only stands recorded on the annals of the turf as 
one of the most remarkable occurrences which ever took 
place in the sporting world, but also as a lasting monument 
of female intrepidity. It arose out of the following cir¬ 
cumstances :— 
A great intimacy subsisted between the families of Colo¬ 
nel Thornton and Mr. Flint, arising from their being bro¬ 
thers-in-law, as the ladies were sisters ; so that Mr. Flint 
was a frequent visitor at Thornville Royal. 
In the course of one of their equestrian excursions in 
Thornville park, Mr. Thornton, Mrs. Thornton, and Mr. 
Flint were conversing on the qualities of their respective 
favourite horses. With the spirit and keenness which gene¬ 
rally exists on such occasions, they differed widely in their 
opinions, and an occasional spurt took place to try the 
