C-2. JOHNA.SEAVERNS TUFTS UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 3 9090 013 419 003 Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medicine CumiTiings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts Univrirsity 200 Weslboro Road North Grafton, MA 01536 CHASING AND RACING BY THE SAME AUTHOR THE AMATEUR'S DERBY A NOVEL [/« the Press THE BODLEY HEAD CHASING AND RACING SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES BY HARDING COX NEW YORK E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY 1922 The Portrait of the Author is from A Photograph by Messrs. ELLIOTT & FRY. PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS. LTMITKD LONDON AND BBCCLES 14, Carlton House Terrace, Pall Mall, London, S.W. z(^th October^ 1921. My dear Harding Cox, You ask me to write a " Foreword " to your " Reminiscences," but I fear I have so little literary talent that 1 should only disgrace the pro- duction. But I am sure your " Reminiscences " will be most interesting, for nobody has a greater experi- ence in all the sports of the world than you have, and whether you are the champion of the lot or not is, to my mind, a very small point. It is the interest people take and their insight into the various branches that count, rather than what they do themselves ; and certainly you have always taken an advanced position in that from your early days of Terriers at the Crystal Palace to riding in the Polo Pony Races at Hurlingham, and under Jockey Club and National Hunt rules. Wishing you all the best of luck, Believe me, Yours very truly, LONSDALE. (Signed.) PREFACE IN setting forth my reminiscences of Chasing and Racing, I have taken a rather bold step, inas- much as my personal experiences as a Master of Harriers and Foxhounds, and as an amateur rider, have been confined to *' provincial " packs, and for the most part, as regards race riding, to very moderate specimens of the equine race ; but as one who loved the hounds which he hunted, and the "blood '' which carried him under Jockey Club and National Hunt rules, I venture to hope that the idiosyncrasies, and what I may term the " personalities," of these incon- spicuous animals, will appeal to those who take a real interest in hounds, hunters, and racehorses, apart from their face value as means to an end only — as pawns in the great games of the hunting-field and the racecourse respectively. I had hoped that the portraits of some of the canine and equine heroes and heroines which figure in these pages might appear in this volume ; but, by an evil stroke of luck, all my albums containing these counterfeit presentments were, a few years ago. VII viii PREFACE destroyed in a devastating fire, which levelled to the ground the repository in which they had been stored during one of my many migrations. And with them perished all those notes, diaries, and cuttings, on which I had relied for my data ; so that only the ashes of memory remained to stimulate my pen. On this ephemeral faculty of memory, therefore, I have had to rely entirely ; so 1 trust that such readers as I may have will make due allowance for any inaccuracies or anachronisms which may appear in the following pages. I had set forth on my labour of love to chronicle my rambling reminiscences in many connections besides Chasing and Racing, such as coursing, shooting, angling, rowing, and various other experiences ; but I soon found that the great games of hunting and racing exhausted the space allotted to me. If the fates are propitious I may yet have an opportunity for dealing with these other ventures in which 1 have exploited my sporting tastes and ambitions. HARDING COX. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PACK My first mount — My first sight of " colours "" — Two turf yarns — Sir George Chetwynd and the sneak-thief — " The Mate " holds his own — " The Boys " at Buntingford ..... i CHAPTER II Death of my beloved father — My inheritance — Edward William Jaquet — Fidus Achates — Our menage at Twickenham — My first real race meeting — My canine shadow — Ted and I marry two sisters; a double wedding — My first racing pony and a bad start at Hurlingham — Jesse Winfield sets me on the right track — A fine average — The peerless Catona — An Irish excur- sion — " Rough stuff " which misfired . . . . .12 CHAPTER III " Be thou pure as ice and chaste as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny ■" — Etna the double of Catona — The Usher, a rusher ! — An oversight leads to legal action — Lord Finlay of Nairn and Lord Russell of Killowen — The National Pony and Galloway Club — Harry de Windt — Innocence invites suspicion — Ted's tits — Virtue its own reward — " Charlie " Beresford — ** Harry " Bentley — A trial and its sequel — Some conspicuous riders . . 28 CHAPTER IV We establish ourselves at Missenden Abbey — A scratch pack — I inaugurate the Missenden Harriers — The Belhus hunters — Yeoman and Melbury — A strange coincidence — I absorb the Hambleden Vale Harriers — William Snaith and the Cripps' family — The ethics of stag-hunting — The wild and the carted stag — A kill in the open — " He laughs best who laughs last l" — First words about "Roddy " Owen ...... 46 IX CONTENTS CHAPTER V PAGE Back to pony racing — A home meeting — "Bunny" Leigh — " Gratty " Blagrave and Charlie A'Court (Col. Repington) — Missenden trout : a three-pounder — A glorious evening's sport — The Misburn dries up — Chequers Court — A prepos- terous claim that failed — Vale ! Missenden Abbey and the M. & H.V.H.— The O.B.H. East and West—" Uncle Punch " — I am offered the Mastership of the whole country — Lord Lonsdale, a friend in need — The " Gay Gordons " — Mr. Chaplin lends me the Blankney pack ..... 64 CHAPTER VI Cubbing — My Curraghmore bitches — Blanche, Lady Waterford — "Dear old Bricket " — Tom Firr — "A bad huntsman cannot make a good pack " — Lord Chesham — A cabal — Bob Webber — Fishing in the Chess — The Drakes of Shardeloes — " Mr. Ekard " — A close contest ...... . . . 'j6 CHAPTER VII Outlying foxes — Peter Chutterbuck — Stanmore Common^ — A by-day and the run of my life — Brother Irwin " gets the wind up " — All my eye — " For it ! " — A general meeting — Defeat of the Committee — I am too magnanimous . . . . -91 CHAPTER VIII Social strictures — The O.B.H. country again divided — "Mutey" Drake — Pity the poor M.F.H. — The debacle : Hounds and horses under the hammer — Samson and Trimmer — Rare old Landsman, an ideal hound — A forgotten tragedy . . .100 CHAPTER IX A* rash wager — " AlFs well that ends well " — The huntsman hunted — Happy days at Brigstock — " Rock " and " Tony ^ Burghersh — A hunting tour in the shires — The Fitzwilliam and Bache Cunards — " Sugar Candy " — A duchess in embryo — The stone walls of Blankney — Another " busman's holiday " — " A pushing young particle " — Purblind and almost dislocated — Neck or nothing !, . . .. , . . . . .110 CONTENTS xi CHAPTER X PAGE The curse of versatility — My first winner under "legitimate " rules — A Chester Cup veteran — Lady Frederick — Racehorse 'v. Pony ! — Left at the post — My new colours — Enter Weasel, " the wonder worker !" — A rare bargain — Guinevere " the genuine " 122 CHAPTER XI More about Weasel — My first mount on him — Misplaced gallantry — "Bonnety Bob" — Armada — "There's many a slip " — So near and yet so far — A dead heat — Class must tell — " Geoie "" Gunnis and his Mongrel — Listeners hear no good of themselves — Never say die— A sensational race and a priceless protagonist" . . 129 CHAPTER XII The sportive double — "The Boden Eccentric" — My first ride on Latimer — The first barrel of " the double " scores an easy win — Latimer, proxime accessit at Lewes — A promising hurdler comes to a sad end — A nice wager — Weasel and I opposed by the crack amateurs — A tortoise and hare race — Weasel gets home by a short head and " clicks the double " — A hundred to one chance in a field of three scores — The fatal policy of over- confidence .......... 146 CHAPTER XIII My last ride on Weasel — The best of friends must part — Stable companions of equal prowess — Weasel and Hugger Mugger, "fifty-fifty" — A crack amateur in opposition — A desperate finish between four — Weasel obliges for the last time — His otium cum dignitate — The " undefeated Tommy Lushington " ■ and hefty " Bill " Moore — Weasel's understudy — Not an arm- chair ride — I " ride " a Grand National and a Derby winner ! — I am installed at Headbourne Worthy — My Jidus Achates as manager — W. H. Manser and his family — " Woggy " . .156 xii CONTENTS CHAPTER XIV PAGE George Thursby makes his bow — " An unequal match " (alleged) — Trelaske nj. Foghorn — George fails to take revenge at " the doves " — Roscidus, " the prince of rogues," takes on St. Bede and chucks up the sponge — Another " unequal match " — Trelaske nj. the Pusher — An impertinent comment and a humorous one ! . . . . , . . . .166 CHAPTER XV The purchase of Dornroschen at the Doncaster sales for " a song " — Gurry is contemptuous but Davis is wise to merit — She wins when pig fat and I buy her in — An historic match and amazing wagering thereon — The Ring hilarious — Doinroschen lowers the mile time record when winning the Nottingham handicap — Purchase of Blankney — A colossal steed — Blankney 'V, Macun- cas — " Jimmy "" Duke in the cart again . . . . .176 CHAPTER XVI Our little lot at Headbourne Worthy — The High Peak Welter — Trelaske a stayer — Speed and stamina — The wonderful memory of the equine race : two striking examples — A fatal bolt from Heaven — Chevy Chase, amiable but unlucky— An error of judgment — I breed a winner and annex a prize for nomenclature — " Picking 'em up cheap ! " — My '* skins "" win five times their purchasing price ! — I pay four figures for a filly who never wins me a brass farthing — Marcus Beresford has "not time to look !" . . .185 CHAPTER XVn A sad disaster to Dornroschen — An official handicapper " side-slips," but I fail to take advantage — The Jockey Ring — A funny favourite " clicks " — An old head on young shoulders — Honesty rewarded and the biter bit — The dying jockey's admonition . 195 CONTENTS xiii CHAPTER XVIII PAGE "The Jubilee Plunger" — His love for children and dogs — A "fly flat " — A try out at pyramids — A side-slip and a prison — Undefeated spirit — Tod Sloan not the first " croucher " — The advantages of '* the crouch " and its faults — The ivorst seat and the best hands — Tod demonstrates — No advocate of catgut coercion — Tod the philosopher — The pot boils over — Never "v^^arned off," but "advised not to apply" — Tod's sun sets — A beautiful wife and a spectacular cropper — Captain Roderick Owen —The resourceful Roddy — His sad end .... 208 CHAPTER XIX Thrilling finishes — Melton 1;. Paradox — The mighty Ormonde — The Bard — The unlucky prefix " The " — The homeric struggle between Ormonde and Minting — Ard Patrick ^. Sceptre — Alsopp, Madden, Bradford, and Calder — Bradford's first mount — H.R.H. puts me wise — So does Jack Gubbins — Galtee More's super-excellence — Unbeaten horses — "The Spotted Wonder'' — Would he have won the Derby ? — The weak link in his heredi- tary chain — Isonomy and his lazy but brilliant son Isinglass — The best I have seen run — The best looking — The ugliest . 218 CHAPTER XX Mr. Jersey and Jeanne — A musical amanuensis — Open house at Regal Lodge — Captain Machell — A welcome " retriever " — A Very- Great Personage — The perfidious Peter — Putting my foot in it — The Prince's tip — Jeddah disappoints, but pops up unexpec- tedly — A himdred to one winner of the Derby — Mr. Jersey's foresight — Merman makes good but Aurum misses fire — Lady Rosebery, a welcome legacy — Amberite "no gentleman !" . 237 CHAPTER XXI Arthur Coventry — Blankney takes revenge — Dornroschen and I slam Blanc and Arthur — " Tommy " Lushington undefeated — " Bill " Moore, George Baird, Bobbie Fisher, and " The Child " — XIV CONTENTS PAGE "Roddy" and "Rock"— The Earl of Dudley— " Wengy," Charlie Cunningham, Dan Thirlwell, and " Mr. Charles " — Major Frank. Atkinson, " one of the best " — A plethora of tips — Humphries'' day out — A colossal " win," but no cash ! — A catch bet ........... 247 CHAPTER XXII Dreams ! — A very vivid one which materialized— A cryptic dream which left me guessing — The Animals' Derby — The Squirrel ** home " first ! — The right colours but the wrong colt ! — George Fordham's only Derby triumph . . . . . .256 CHAPTER XXIII Jockeys of the old school — Johnny Osborne does me a service — So does Tom Cannon, senior — I patronize the apprentices and prove a mascot to them — The Chaloner and the Loates' families — Jesse Page — George Fordham "quite understands" — "I shall never get home by a nob " — " Phwat detained yez ? " . . 262 CHAPTER XXIV Presentiments ! — Cabin Boy's victory foretold — The mystery of Medora — I am warned that Persimmon is destined to beat St. Frusquin — La Fleche's downfall, not her true form — St. Simon to the rescue — End of my racing reminiscences . . .267 ENVOI finger in every pie — I could not specialize — The curse of ver- satility — Sport and sportsmen — Field sports proper — The cant of cruelty — Falconry — A natural flight — Sparrow hawks