| Colonel Thornton's br. m. Louisa, by Pegasus, | |
| 6 years old, 9 st. 6 lb. | Mrs. Thornton 1 |
| Mr. Bloomfield's ch. m. Allegro, by Pegasus, | |
| 6 years old, 13 st. 6 lb. | Francis Buckle 2 |
The pleasures of victory were greatly marred by an incident which occurred in the course of the afternoon, and that was the horse-whipping of Colonel Thornton by Mr. Flint, who had never received payment of the stakes lost by the lady in her first match. Law proceedings ensued, but these need not be detailed here; there can be no doubt Flint was rather ill-used throughout, and that Mrs. Colonel Thornton's views were entirely mercenary. And who was the lady who thus made herself so notorious? Orton, in the work already referred to, says she was not the wife but only the chère amie of Colonel Thornton, her real name being Alicia Meynell, the daughter of a respectable watchmaker of the city of Norwich, and was then about twenty-two years of age, very handsome, and of fascinating manners, with fair complexion, light hair, and blue eyes. Captain Flint was a well-known sportsman of those days, and well known as the author of "A Treatise on the Management of the Horse." He died from an over-dose of prussic acid, which he was in the habit of taking in order to relieve the attacks of asthma from which he often suffered.
Next in interest to the great match between Hambletonian and Diamond, a giant struggle of modern times may be referred to. It took place on the Knavesmire at the York Spring Meeting, May 13th, 1851; the names of the two horses which gave renown to the match were Flying Dutchman and Voltigeur, and there are many alive who looked on at the race, and talk of it as the one sight of their lives.
The following description, written immediately after its occurrence, will afford readers all necessary information: "And now we have arrived at the race of the meeting—if not indeed of the century. As we have no means of measuring the properties of race-horses—at least none that are put into effect worthy of acceptance as authority on point of speed—we must take it for granted that the Flying Dutchman and Voltigeur are about the best horses that the modern turf has seen. Upon this conventional estimate, the contest, the issue of which is about to be disposed of, created more interest than any match between horses within my memory. The weighing had been adjusted to a grain; and thus the runners were set down: Match for £1,000, half forfeit, two miles over the whole course; Lord Eglinton's The Flying Dutchman, by Bay Middleton out of Barbelle, 5 yrs., 8 st. 8½ lb.; Lord Zetland's Voltigeur, by Voltaire out of Martha Lynn. The pair were at even betting almost from the period when the race was publicly announced up to the day on which it was run, and as they went to the post. When the flag fell, Voltigeur went off with the running at the top of his pace, taking a lead of at least three lengths, and making very severe play, the heavy state of the ground being taken into account. In this way they rounded the last turn, when Marlow, the rider of the Dutchman, called upon his horse with a request very pointedly urged. As they passed the stand it was stride for stride, and a struggle of desperate effort. It was too much, however, for the young one—he tired the sooner, and the Flying Dutchman passed the winning-chair first by a short length. Both horses showed marks of the keenness of the contest."
After winning the match, Lord Eglinton announced that his career on the turf had ceased.
It would not be difficult to fill a few pages of this work with accounts of several other matches of more or less interest, but those already given are sufficient to give the reader a fair idea of that description of racing, which, except in particular instances, is not of great interest. One other match, however, is worth referring to—the match between Lady Elizabeth and Julius, both in their day horses of celebrity. The death of Julius, whose career was terminated by a friendly bullet, was the means of directing public attention to the feats and failures of that excellent horse.
The sporting papers of the day contained the following obituary paragraph: "The son of St. Albans and Julie was bred at Her Majesty's stud at Hampton Court, and became the property of the late Duke of Newcastle, in whose colours in 1866 he won a couple of races as a two-year-old. The following year he won several races, but was defeated in the celebrated match with Lady Elizabeth, the latter (then a two-year-old), in receipt of 9 lb., only winning by a short head. The match was for 1,000 sovs., run over the Bretby Stakes Course, Fordham riding the victress, and Daley Julius. The Duke of Newcastle's colt ran third to Achievement and Hermit for the Doncaster St. Leger, but perhaps his most notable performance was winning the Cesarewitch in the same season with 8 st. on his back—an impost that had not been carried first past the post in the race since Faugh-a-Ballagh's victory in 1844. In 1868 the Duke of Newcastle's colt beat both his St. Leger conquerors. Hermit went down before him in the Newmarket Biennial Stakes in the Craven Meeting, and the pair were subsequently matched for 1,000 sovs. over the Two Middle Miles. The event came off at the first Spring gathering, and Julius (8 st. 10 lb.), in the hands of Daley, beat his opponent by a couple of lengths, Hermit's weight being 8 st. 9 lb. The Beaufort Cup (about two miles and a half) at Bath he won by fifteen lengths from Achievement, the latter presenting him with 6 lb., Gomera and Goodwood finishing behind the pair. Julius afterwards won the Warwick Cup, but in the Doncaster Cup he met his conqueror in Mandrake, who defeated him by a length. The son of St. Albans did not run afterwards, and was relegated to the stud."
In taking leave of the subject this much may be said, that matches were the means of evincing men's love of the sport for its own sake. There was a stake of money in risk, of course—it is the fashion—but some years ago, in the days of Lord Glasgow, George Payne, and "the Admiral," matches were not so much ventures in gambling as tests to find out the better horse. Speaking generally, matches are not popular with the general body of race-goers, who delight more in those contests which are competed for by a crowd of horses, and where fair odds can be had about any particular animal. Laying odds on or taking even money is unpalatable work to the great majority of those who attend race meetings, and, moreover, in few instances—not ten times in twelve—do we see the real merit of a race-horse when it runs in a match. Very often the jockeys have a private understanding with each other that they will only race for a given portion of the distance, and often enough the struggle is won by the finesse of the rider, and the victory won or the defeat sustained has no bearing on the merits of the horse.