CHAPTER VII.

THE GOODWOOD STABLE IN 1844.

WITH the year 1844 we enter upon a period when Lord George Bentinck became more than ever engrossed in his stud, which now began to realise his expectations, and to compensate him for his previous heavy expenditure. It was most satisfactory to witness his Lordship's delight and the enjoyment that racing, upon which his whole thoughts were centred, afforded him. Much of his time was spent at Goodwood. He stayed with the family when there; and when the Duke and Duchess of Richmond were absent he slept at the Swan Hotel in Chichester, breakfasting and lunching at my father's house. When the Duke was at Goodwood, nothing gave Lord George more pleasure than to take the house party over the stables, and to show them the horses. He was ever ready to encourage and induce others to take interest in the sport he enjoyed so much; and it afforded him no slight amusement to elicit from the ladies who accom

panied him an expression of their opinion as to the merits of the horses which they inspected. If, as sometimes, but not often, happened, their guesses were correct, he never failed to reward them by putting the successful guessers on some small sum "to nothing," in case the horse of their choice should win an engagement. So extensive, however, was the Goodwood establishment, between 1841 and 1846, that it would have puzzled not only ladies, but also some of the keenest male judges of racing in England, to make a selection among the horses in the stable, or to read his Lordship's intentions aright. One of his most marked characteristics was, that he was always ready to make matches. At and about that time it was most unusual for a large party of noblemen and gentlemen who owned race-horses, to sit down to dinner without matches of all kinds being proposed before the party broke up. It was his Lordship's custom to note down the weights at which the horses of his friends were pitted against each other; and when a match was proposed to him, he rarely agreed to it until he had sent for me, and consulted me upon it. If I thought that his horse would win, he would go back and make the match; and his first question when I met him next morning would invariably be, "How much of the match money will you stand, John?" It was his express wish that I should have a money interest in every match made by him under these circum

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stances; but I seldom stood more than £10, and very rarely indeed £25. It was always a disappointment to his Lordship if I refused to stand anything, or reduced my venture to £5 or £10. On these occasions he would inquire of me, "Why will you not stand more on this match which you advised me to make? Surely, if it is not worth your money it cannot be worth mine?" To say the truth, I was never fond of betting on my own account, and was always glad to discourage his Lordship, who was apt on all occasions to bet too much rather than too little. No accountant could be more accurate and methodical than he was in recording every bet made by or through him. If I was a winner, a cheque was invariably sent to me on the following Monday. In all other matters his Lordship's attention to detail was equally minute. Nothing escaped his observation. I once had occasion to foment a horse for many days which had met with an accident, and it struck Lord George that the sponges used were not large enough. Upon returning to London, he instructed Gardner, his valet, to buy some big sponges, and have them sent to Harcourt House, Cavendish Square. When they arrived, they did not satisfy his ideas of magnitude. "Go again," he said, "and search London until you can bring me six sponges half as big again as these." Gardner again sallied forth and returned with six enormous sponges, for which he had paid £15 or £16. "There! ex

claimed his Lordship, "I told you you could succeed if you would only try." The sponges were sent down to Goodwood, where they were kept as curiosities, being useless for the purpose contemplated by his Lordship, as their size and the weight of water which they held made it almost impossible to handle them. The story is indicative of his Lordship's determination to get the best of everything—or what he thought the best—if his horses required it.

Never was there a man in any class of life less liable to be daunted or intimidated by difficulties than Lord George Bentinck. The word "impossible" mentioned in his hearing served but to intensify his determination not to be beaten; and I have often thought that, had his lot been cast in stormy times, he would have gained the greatest distinction as the commander of a large army. Nothing could frighten him; nothing could tire him, or exhaust his resources. He delighted in details, and it was hard indeed for anybody to outwit him or take him in. Mr Greville never made a truer remark than when he observed in his Diary,' "Lord George did nothing by halves, and was afraid of no man." But for Lord George's indomitable energy and indefatigable perseverance, the notorious Running Rein case would never have been thoroughly investigated, and the fraud exposed. When Running Rein ran, nominally as a two-year-old, at Newmarket, in 1843, for a two

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year-old plate which he won, beating the Duke of Rutland's Crinoline and ten others, the Duke objected to him on the ground that he was three instead of two years old. The case was investigated by the Stewards, who dismissed it with the remark that the Duke of Rutland had not proved Running Rein to be three years old. When, however, the same horse started subsequently for the Clearwell Stakes, in which, although backed heavily by the public, he was beaten, Lord George's keen and vigilant suspicions were aroused by something that reached his ears. During the winter, therefore, he quietly obtained information which greatly strengthened his doubts as to Running Rein's real age. Scarcely had the horse been placed first for the Derby of 1844 before Lord George mentioned the facts which he had accumulated to Colonel Peel, the owner of Orlando, who finished second to Running Rein, and advised him strongly to make an objection, which he did at once, and claimed the Derby Stakes. The Stewards of Epsom Races directed Messrs Weatherby to pay the stakes into the Court of Exchequer, and to leave the law to settle who was their rightful owner. Under these circumstances an action was brought by Mr A. Wood, the nominator of Running Rein, against Colonel Peel in the Court of Exchequer, to decide who was entitled to receive the Derby Stakes. It was tried on the 1st and 2d of July 1844, and resulted in a verdict