Match-making, and the running-off of matches, was in the beginning
of racing, and in later times as well, a favourite mode of sport; a
volume, indeed, and an interesting one, might be written on that branch
of the history of horse-racing, which is still to some extent carried
on, matches being occasionally resorted to as one means of settling
which of two is the better horse. It is not my purpose to do more at
present than chronicle, by way of "sample," half-a-dozen of the more
memorable matches, two or three of which may be said to have become
historical.
Matches, as they were made some hundred years ago, or in earlier times,
were always arranged to be run over a distance of ground, the courses
never as a rule being shorter than four miles, and sometimes extending
far beyond that distance. In the years 1718-9-20-1, to go no further
back, upwards of eighty such contests took place--that is to say,
races between horse and horse. In those days, and for long afterwards,
other kinds of matches were made, which do not, however, concern this
history; and at one time it was a fashion to arrange different exploits
as matches. Many such might be referred to--shooting matches, cocking
matches, racket matches, and sometimes even mail coaches were matched
to run one against the other. A contest of this description may just
be mentioned in passing, as an example of what was called sport ninety
years ago. In the year 1802 the London and Plymouth mails raced for
a sum of 500 gs. from St. Sydwells to Honiton, a distance of sixteen
miles, when the London coach, driven by Mr. Browne, won the race, doing
the distance in one hour and fourteen minutes.
Fifty-two years previous to the decision of that match, a still more
curious event of the kind occurred at Newmarket, when a wager of 100
gs. was made that a carriage with four running wheels, to be drawn by
four horses and driven by a man, would run nineteen miles on Newmarket
Heath within one hour. A vehicle was made expressly for the occasion
by a London coachmaker of celebrity, and when all was ready this race
against time began at seven o'clock in the morning, and finished in
fifty-three minutes and twenty-seven seconds, so that backers of the
horses won their money.
Captain Newland's wager to ride one hundred and forty miles in eight
successive hours on hack horses excited much attention. The event took
place on the 2nd of April, 1801. The captain won, as he performed the
distance in seven hours and thirty-four minutes. Many matches, or
rather wagers to ride horses against time, might be recorded of even
earlier date, as for instance one which took place in the year 1606,
when "John Lepton, Esq., of York, for a considerable sum, engaged to
ride six days in succession between York and London, and he won his
wager."
The walking matches of Captain Barclay have been so often described
that no reference need be here made to them--they were marvels of
pluck and endurance. Another of the many curious matches which took
place during the last century was that of Miss Pond, brought off at
Newmarket in the months of April and May, 1758. That lady's wager
was to ride, mounted always on the same horse, a thousand miles in a
thousand successive hours. The stake involved was only 200 gs., and she
won it easily enough. Miss Pond was the daughter of the compiler and
publisher of the _Racing Calendar_, and some doubts have been expressed
as to whether or not she used the same horse throughout. It is worth
mentioning that Dr. Johnson wrote a satirical essay on this affair in
the sixth number of _The Idler_ (May, 1775), his contention being that
_profit_ was the sole end in acquiring honour and distinction, and that
such events as that in which Miss Pond took part were estimated only by
the money gained or lost.
A Mr. Jenison Shafto, in accordance with a wager of 2,000 gs. between
himself and Hugo Maynell, found a person to ride one hundred miles a
day "on any one horse each day for twenty-nine successive days, to
have any number of horses not exceeding twenty-nine." John Woodcock
was selected to perform this feat, and beginning his arduous task on
Newmarket Heath on May 4th, 1761, brought it to a successful conclusion
on the 1st of June about six o'clock in the evening, having used
fourteen horses only.
Coming now to matches more suitable to be recorded in this work,
one affair of the kind run at Newmarket between two horses deserves
notice. It was that of Mr. Blake's Firetail and Mr. Foley's Pumpkin,
"the hardest race almost ever known," and remarkable for the wonderful
time in which it was run; the horses, it is said, did the Rowley
mile (one mile and thirty yards) in one minute and four seconds! An
interesting match was run in the year 1773, the course being from York
to London; the one horse was a hackney gelding, the other a road mare.
The distance was done in forty hours and thirty-five minutes, and the
winning mare, it is related, drank twelve bottles of wine during her
journey, for which she was nothing the worse; the beaten horse died the
day after the contest was finished.
The great struggle between Hambletonian and Diamond, which took place
at the Newmarket Craven Meeting of 1799, is well worthy of notice; it
was regarded by sportsmen of the time as a race to determine which
was the better sire, Eclipse or Herod. The match is recorded in
_Baily's Register_ in the following bald way: "Sir H. T. Vane's b. h.
Hambletonian, by King Fergus, 8st. 3 lb., beat Mr. Cookson's br. h.
Diamond, 8st., B.C., 3,000 gs. h. ft." A more detailed account has,
however, been preserved and is given in Whyte's "History of the Turf,"
from which the following narrative has been taken: Previous to the
time fixed for the match, which was run between one and two o'clock on
Monday, 25th March, 1799, a great crowd of persons had assembled--"one
of the greatest crowds ever witnessed at Newmarket"--to see the race.
Hambletonian, it is related, started with the lead and maintained it
till the last half-mile of the course was entered upon, when Diamond,
stealing up, challenged. The struggle for victory was a keen one; each
jockey rode his very best, Hambletonian being ridden by the famous
Buckle, while Dennis Fitzpatrick had charge of the other horse. As the
animals neared the winning-post it looked all over as if the contest
would end in a dead heat, but almost in the last stride Buckle nerved
himself for a great and final effort, and won the race by little more
than a head. According to the best authorities, the four miles were run
in about eight minutes and a half.
Large sums fell to be paid and received over this event, the betting
having ruled high, Yorkshire to a man supporting Hambletonian, and the
Newmarket people backing Diamond. When the horses started the state of
the odds was about "even money," either you liked. Hambletonian was
foaled in 1792, and won almost every race for which he was entered,
including the St. Leger and the Gold Cup at Doncaster; indeed, he was
only beaten upon one occasion when he unfortunately ran out of the
course at York August Meeting, 1797, when running against Deserter and
Spread Eagle. This famous animal, after a fairly successful time at the
stud, died on March 28th, 1818, in the twenty-seventh year of his age,
having begot Norval, Camillus, Joan of Arc, and many other high-mettled
steeds that have figured in turf history.
Another match that excited almost as much attention as the struggle
between Hambletonian and Diamond, was arranged between Sir H. Vane's
Cockfighter and Mr. Johnson's Sir Solomon for 500 guineas, which took
place at Doncaster on the 19th September, 1801. The horses ran the
Doncaster course twice, and the first two miles were said to have
been covered in three minutes, whilst the four miles were done in
seven minutes and ten seconds: the distance run was three miles, six
furlongs, and thirty-two yards. The betting at starting was 6 to 4 and
11 to 8 on Cockfighter, and a sum of £50,000 is said to have changed
hands on the occasion. Sir Solomon took the lead at the start and,
never being headed, won by about a length and a half. The winner was
got by Sir Peter Teazle; Cockfighter was got by Overton, and was thus
descended from the Godolphin barb.
The most noteworthy match--"the most interesting race ever run upon
Knavesmire"--recorded in the annals of the turf is that in which Mrs.
Colonel Thornton and Mr. Flint took part. The excitement which attended
this affair may be guessed from the fact that upwards of £200,000
was depending in wagers on the event--the betting at the start being
at the rate of 5 to 4 and 6 to 4 on the lady, who, however, lost the
day. The affair was fully recorded in the sporting periodicals of the
period, from which the following particulars have been gleaned. The
match originated quite in a friendly spirit; the parties being out for
a ride discussed and, of course, praised the merits of their respective
horses, and on the spur of the moment indulged in a trial gallop, the
lady being at once victorious. A formal challenge was the result of
this extempore gallop, which ended in a match for 1,000 gs. This event
was brought to a consummation on the 25th of August, 1804, and for some
weeks before that date nothing else was talked about; over sporting
Yorkshire it was a common topic of conversation, all sorts of notions
being entertained as to how the lady would ride and how she would be
dressed, and as the time drew near it became quite evident that Mrs.
Thornton possessed the entire sympathies of the horse-loving people of
the greatest county of England.
On the appointed day the horses were duly prepared for the struggle.
Mrs. Thornton's horse was Vingarillo and Mr. Flint's was Thornville; in
accordance with the conditions of the match the lady was to ride her
weight against the weight of Mr. Flint. According to the newspapers of
the day such an assemblage of the people on a racecourse had never been
seen as on the occasion of riding this match; it was estimated that
at least a hundred thousand persons were present on the Knavesmire,
expectation being raised to the highest pitch from the exceeding
novelty of the event.
The story of the race was told in _The York Herald_: "About four
o'clock Mrs. Thornton appeared on the ground, full of spirits, her
horse led by Colonel Thornton, and followed by Mr. Baker and Mr. H.
Boynton; afterwards appeared Mr. Flint. They started a little past four
o'clock. The lady took the lead for upwards of three miles in most
capital style. Her horse, however, had much the shorter stroke of the
two. When within a mile of being home Mr. Flint pushed forward and got
the lead, which he kept. Mrs. Thornton used every exertion, but finding
it impossible to win the race, she drew up in sportsman-like style,
when within about two distances. The course was four miles."
The riding of the lady excited admiration, and it was difficult to say
whether her horsemanship, her dress, or her beauty was most admired,
the _tout ensemble_ being considered unique. The sympathy extended to
Mrs. Thornton because of her defeat was universal, and there seemed to
be a feeling on the part of all that Mr. Flint acted most ungallantly
in not allowing her to take the honours of the race; in plainer
language, he should have made her a present of the stake--£1,000!
That some bad blood resulted over the affair was soon known. The lady
herself, who is reputed to have been as clever at her desk as she was
in the saddle, wrote a letter on the subject complaining of having
been ungallantly used in various ways on the course, and concluding by
challenging Mr. Flint to ride the same match in all its terms over the
same course next year.
The appetite of Mrs. Colonel Thornton appears to have been whetted by
what had taken place for further exploits of a similar kind; at all
events, in the next year, 1805, her name crops up in two matches, one
for 2,000 gs. and four hogsheads of Cote Roti, as also a bet of 600 gs.
p.p. Mr. Bromford, her opponent, however, declined to ride, and Mrs.
Thornton, after doing the usual perfunctory walk over, bagged £1,000
of forfeit, the bet of 600 gs. p.p., and presumably contributed to her
stock of wine half of the supply of the Cote Roti. No sooner had the
walk, or rather canter over taken place, than the lady, "dressed in a
purple cap and waistcoat, nankeen-coloured skirts, purple shoes, and
embroidered stockings," appeared to ride against Buckle, the famous
jockey, a match of two miles. The start for this contest was made at
half-past three o'clock, when the lady went off with the lead and
managed to keep in front for some distance, when Buckle forged to the
front and kept there for a dozen paces, "when Mrs. Thornton, by the
most excellent, we may truly say horsemanship, pushed forward and came
in in a style far superior to anything of the kind we have witnessed,
gaining the race by half a neck; her bold and steady jockeyship,
indeed, amazed one of the most crowded courses ever witnessed.
On her winning she was hailed with the most reiterated shouts of
congratulation."
It has been hinted, with regard to this race, that the lady owed her
victory to the gallantry of the professional horseman, Buckle. The
match is thus given in the "Annals of the Turf":