Famous Grand National Riders.
To design a picture, and then be able to write personally of the
subjects contained therein, is certainly a pleasant phase of magazine
work; at least, in illustrating this article and telling all I know of
those who hold the best riding records in connection with the still
greatest of all steeplechases, so I take it to be. Proud indeed am I to
claim either a friendship or marked acquaintance with those gone to the
great majority, as well as those remaining with us. The former in my
picture consist of Tom Olliver, Mr. Alexander Goodman, George Stevens,
and Mr. T. Beasley; of the latter I am pleased to think that Mr. Tom
Pickernell, Mr. J. Maunsell Richardson, John Page, Mr. E. P. Wilson, and
Arthur Nightingall are very much in the land of the living. I find that
in riding in the National my nine friends or acquaintances can boast of
accomplishing feats which have not fallen to the fortune of others
engaged in the chase. Men like Lord Manners, Captain H. Coventry, and
Mr. F. G. Hobson, it is true, were successful in their first and only
mounts, a great thing to tell of; then Mr. J. Maunsell Richardson
certainly goes one better in scoring two wins on Disturbance and Reugny
in his only four efforts. But to stand by my picture. Besides Mr.
Richardson, it contains men who have triumphed twice or more, and
otherwise figuring at the head of the Liverpool riding records. In my
table the amateur, it will be seen, has just a slight pull over the
professional. There are five of the one and four of the other, but the
professional really comes out on the top, for George Stevens out of
fifteen mounts won five, was third once, and never met with a fall,
while Tom Olliver and Arthur Nightingall, like Mr. Tom Pickernell and
Mr. T. Beasley, have won it three times. It will be seen by the little
tabulated figures that in attaining his three victories Olliver rode no
less than nineteen times; that is in itself a record.
Won 2nd. 3rd. Unplaced Total of Mounts
G. Stevens 5 0 1 9 15
T. Olliver 3 3 1 12 19
Mr. Thomas 3 0 2 12 17
A. Nightingall 3 1 4 7 15
Mr. T. Beasley 3 2 1 6 12
Mr. Richardson 2 — — 2 4
Mr. E. P. Wilson 2 1 0 13 16
Mr. A. Goodman 2 1 1 7 11
J. Page 2 1 1 7 11
The space allotted to me for this article naturally compels omission of
a wealth of detail I possess of these splendid records, either left by
my father or since collected by myself; indeed, it was my father who
introduced me to each of the three riders at the head of the table. Tom
Olliver I never saw ride, but it was in the early sixties I first saw
him at the side of Fairwater as the winner of the Worcestershire Stakes.
He trained the mare, and the portrait here given of this hitherto famous
horseman recalls indeed other happy times at Pitchcroft, and of those
who then, summer and autumn, visited its races. Tom Olliver must have
been a wonderful man. In 1839, the inauguration year of the Liverpool
Steeplechase, he was second to Jem Mason on the famous Lottery, which
belonged to Mr. Elmore, who likewise owned Gay Lad. The latter gave
Olliver his first win in 1842, and the next season, the first year it
was transformed into a handicap, he was on the back of the hero
Vanguard. His third win, in 1852, was on Peter Simple, in the colours of
Captain Little; and when the latter won the chase on Chandler in 1848,
Olliver was second on The Curate, half a length dividing the pair.
Another of his three seconds, St. Leger in 1847, was only beaten a
length, but neither of his three victories, it seems, were close
fighting. In his nineteen rides, he only came to grief three times. The
result in one of these was a broken collar-bone. The late William Holman
once told me that an arm in a sling in later times due to Olliver’s
just-referred-to Liverpool fall, prevented his piloting Freetrader, the
victor of 1856. Holman, who trained the winner, likewise gave me the
information that in seeking a fresh jockey the late Fred Archer’s father
was offered the ride, and it was his refusal that gave George Stevens
the first of his five Liverpool wins. The last time Olliver, however,
rode in the Liverpool was in 1859, so in one-and-twenty years he missed
riding only twice. Claudian his final mount, was unplaced; Half Caste
won. In or out of the saddle mirth and wit was characteristic of Black
Tom, as Olliver was often termed. Indeed, many good stories of his
private and public life are recorded in the earliest numbers of BAILY.
To reproduce them here would fill pages.
It was at Worcester, as I have said, I made the acquaintance of Tom
Olliver, so at the “faithful city” in those youthful days a friendly
relationship sprang up in my home, and that which sheltered Edwin Weever
at Bourton-on-the-Hill, and that of George Stevens and the Holmans at
Cheltenham. Then again of my picture: among my father’s friends were Mr.
Pickernell, more publicly known as Mr. Thomas, and Johnny Page. Mr.
Alex. Goodman I never shook hands with until at a later period, the
veteran then loving to chat of his recollections of Miss Mowbray and
Salamander. That was in my early reporting days, which likewise brought
me into contact with Mr. J. M. Richardson, at those University grinds
some seasons before his most successful Disturbance and Reugny double
was accomplished. He was always most kind in imparting information as to
his race riding to me. The same I can say of Mr. E. P. Wilson, at a
period when he was associated with now almost forgotten chasers bearing
names like Starlight, Nebsworth, late Jacob, late Titterstone, and so
forth, all before the great striding, but perhaps non-staying, Congress
gave him his first four successive Grand National rides. Then of my two
other portraits, associations remain of more than ordinary racecourse
knowledge. Mr. Beasley is the one, and Arthur Nightingall the other.
Indeed, I was pleased to see the last-mentioned put a cap and jacket on
for the first time, I think, this season at a recent Kempton meeting.
Nightingall, well aware of my being full of National records, jocularly
reminded me of the fact that he was “still at it,” only, as he said, “to
pass the winning score of Mr. Thomas, Tom Olliver, and Mr. Beasley,”
even if he did not last long enough to catch up George Stevens’ five
wins.
When George Stevens first won the Liverpool on Freetrader, he had only
ridden once previously. That was on Royal Blue, who was unplaced in
1852, and in the three year interim he had no ride prior to his
so-called chance winning mount. But of his other victories. When the
Colonel won the last of the five, that was his hardest bit of riding,
and the only time onlookers in the National saw him fight like grim
death and by a neck dispose of his friend and saddle contemporary,
George Holman, on The Doctor. On Freetrader I have heard it said he was
lucky to win a length from Minerva, as the latter badly over-reached
herself at the last jump. When he piloted The Colonel to victory the
first time, he won by three lengths, a distance by which he, singularly
enough, beat Arbury on Emblematic in 1864. Emblem’s success the year
before was quite a runaway victory. Even with her 10 lb. penalty, Arbury
there had less chance than with Emblematic. Stevens, of course, thought
much of the great double he accomplished for Lord Coventry, but in later
years I am inclined to think for “greatness” he leaned more to the side
of The Colonel’s repetition. Be that as it may, he was naturally very
proud of both, and unfortunately was not spared very long to enjoy a
well-earned retirement. For Baron Oppenheim he tried to surpass his
already earned record a third year on The Colonel. The weight, however,
was too much, and in the position of sixth the second year The Lamb won
Stevens rode his last National mount.
It was indeed only a few months after this that his life was cut short
by a fall from his cob while riding to his cottage called Emblem,
outside his birthplace, Cheltenham. Sad indeed is the story, too long to
repeat here, but to commemorate his great Liverpool name and fame, there
still exist of him at his native Cheltenham certain mementoes. The house
he was born in I believe has vanished, but on the footway by the
road-side where he met his death there is a little stone with the plain
“G. S., 1871,” upon it to indicate the spot of so sad an end.
Furthermore, there is another mark of esteem in the public cemetery.
Here is a more conspicuous erection in the shape of a grey granite
monument, included in the inscription on which are the names of the four
horses upon which he triumphed at Aintree. He married the niece of Mr.
Mat. Evans, once part owner of The Colonel. The widow is no more, but I
believe the only son is alive and doing well at Derby in a very
different calling from that of his father. Those who remember Stevens
when he won the Liverpool twice for Lord Coventry, will recall his face
beneath a cap he put on as a help to the artist who painted him on
Emblem in Lord Coventry’s famous picture. The vignette I place in the
centre of my group is, in fact, the original, and was kindly lent me by
one of the deceased’s friends, Alfred Holman, who still keeps up the old
family training traditions at Cheltenham.
When George Stevens was beaten on The Colonel in 1871, the year proved,
perhaps, the most famous of Mr. Thomas’ three victories. It was The
Lamb’s second success, and associated with this beautiful little chaser
was the fact that Lord Poulett, his owner, had dreamt in the previous
December he had seen his horse win with “Tommy,” as he called Mr.
Pickernell, in the saddle: and he at once asked the pilot of a previous
heroine, Anatis, to ride. The original letter making mention of this
successful dream I have seen in Mr. Pickernell’s well-preserved
scrap-book, containing much of his riding and other exploits. One of
course there finds a deal about The Lamb. Besides the story of the
dream, one can glean much of the many efforts of Anatis besides her win.
There is plenty, too, of other sporting qualities of her owner, Mr. C.
Capel, who, only about twelve months ago Mr. Pickernell followed to his
last place of rest. I think Mr. Capel lies in the same cemetery as
George Stevens. Now, concerning Mr. Thomas’ third successful ride in the
National, well preserved in his book is yet another letter. This is not
one of dreams; it is that of congratulation in the hours of Pathfinder’s
glory, and is from the pen of none other than the late Admiral Rous. Mr.
Pickernell once told me he had few keepsakes of his successful Nationals
except those two letters, and to which he then added, “are _they_ not
enough to be proud of.” Only twice in nineteen years did Mr. Thomas miss
a ride in the Liverpool. His first mount was Anatis, the year before she
won; his last occurred in 1877, when he was third to Austerlitz on The
Liberator, two years before Mr. Garry Moore won on the last named. The
years Mr. Thomas missed mounts in the Liverpool were when Emblem and
Emblematic won; not through spills or broken bones, or anything of that
sort. Just at that time he became a benedict, and it was family
persuasion kept him out of the saddle. Not for long, however, for what
he picked up from Tom Olliver was well in the flesh, and of one
reception he met with on his return to the pigskin he is quite as fond
of talking of as of his three Liverpool victories. And well he might be.
The calendar records tell that in 1866 he won all the three
steeplechases run at Aintree’s autumn meeting, and they, of course,
included the Sefton on Sprite. Here, with a broken stirrup leather
carried in his hand, by a neck he beat Stevens on Lord Coventry’s Balder
amid great enthusiasm. Mr. Thomas, who lives at King’s Heath, near
Birmingham, last September attained his seventy-first birthday, and
although if now never seen on a racecourse, he enjoys fairly good
health. He likes to compare the old with the new; he knows, too, in his
retirement all about regulation obstacles. Did he not give up the
official berth of inspector of fences before the National Hunt placed
Mr. William Bevill in that position. Mr. Bevill never knew what it was
to taste the sweets of a Grand National victory. He is, however, one of
those named in its records in connection with many luckless efforts.
Pathfinder’s victory saw the final National ride of another of my
subjects, Johnny Page. He there was on the back of Baron Finot’s La
Veine, and the French Baron being offended with not a very pleasant
greeting at Bristol, curiously enough never tried his luck in the
National again. Page, back in England many years ago from France, and
down Henley-in-Arden way, is still alive to tell of his experiences of
the Liverpool Steeplechase. He won it on Cortolvin and Casse Tête, was
second on the former to Salamander, and third, as already said, to
Pathfinder. In 1871 he was fourth on Pearl Diver to The Lamb, and all in
eleven rides. He had early tuition as a jockey on the flat, for as a
lightweight he steered First Lord (5 st. 8 lb.) when he won the
Northumberland Plate. This, no doubt, assisted him in being so fine a
judge of pace between the flags, and likewise gave him the ability in a
finish, so much feared by his pigskin contemporaries. For this most of
them gave him praise. One of the number, however, is Mr. Richardson,
who, with Capt. Machell, so well managed the Disturbance and Reugny
Limber Magna coups. Indeed, at the quiet little Lincolnshire nook even
their near neighbour, the late Sir John Astley, according to his own
words, hardly reckoned on their achievement. He tells us so in his book,
and if he did not participate very much in their sweets he got up a