CHAPTER II.

NEWMARKET AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CENTURY.

A FEW words explaining how I came to be a trainer of race-horses may perhaps be not unacceptable to those of my readers in whom a taste for the past predominates over (what is far more usual) a taste only for the present. It would by many be deemed a sufficient reason for me to say that I was born at Newmarket, and that my father and grandfather had lived there for more than sixty years before I came into existence. My grandfather was a builder by profession, and constructed a considerable number of the principal houses and other buildings, including stables, in what has long been erroneously called, "The famous little town in Cambridgeshire" — erroneously, because only half of it is in Cambridgeshire, the other half being, as every one knows, in Suffolk. Among the buildings for which my grandfather was responsible may be included "The Rooms," of which a Mr Parrs, who also kept a school, was for a long

time lessee and manager. In addition to "The Rooms," my grandfather also built what is now called the "Rutland Arms Hotel," on the site occupied by which another inn (of far inferior size and pretensions, and called "The Ram") formerly stood. I have often been told by my old friend Mr J. F. Clark, the ex-racing judge, that viewed as an edifice, the Rutland Arms is well calculated to confer credit upon its builder, as the brickwork is a very excellent specimen of neatness and stability. Mr J. F. Clark's authority on everything connected with Newmarket has long been acknowledged to be quite unexceptionable; and the fact that, in addition to being a racing judge, he has for many years followed the profession of an architect, lends additional weight to his opinion on such a subject. Previous to the erection of the Rutland Arms, which was commenced a few months after the battle of Waterloo, the Ram Inn, its predecessor, took its name from an incident connected with the strange, eventful history of the eccentric Earl of Orford, about whom so many queer tales were told. It is well known that on one occasion Lord Orford drove his favourite team, consisting of four stags, from Houghton Hall, his country seat in Norfolk (after which, by the way, the Houghton meeting is called), into Newmarket, a distance of about twenty-nine miles. When he was approaching his destination, the Essex Hounds chanced to cross the road along

which he had passed just before, and catching up the burning scent of the four stags, they immediately gave chase. As they drew near to the vehicle, their loud notes, or what fox-hunters call "their music," alarmed the stags, which galloped at full speed into the little town, and dashed into the wide-open portals of the inn which stood on the site subsequently occupied by The Ram. The doors were immediately closed, and the lives of the stags saved from their eager pursuers. This occurrence happened about the middle of last century, and was the cause of the name, "Ram Inn," being bestowed upon this noted hostelry and postinghouse. In 1775, it was kept by a Mr Barber, who hailed from the Bull Inn at Barton Mills-the last stage on approaching Newmarket from the Suffolk side, and close to which Sir Charles Bunbury's seat, Barton Park, was situated. Many famous race horses were bred there by the Baronet in question, who lived to be the senior member of the Jockey Club, and Father of the British Turf. Sir Charles Bunbury, who was an excellent sportsman, died in 1820, and owned in his time some famous horses, such as Bellario, Eleanor (winner of the Derby and Oaks), and Smolensko, the winner of the Two Thousand, the Newmarket stakes, and Derby. I have often heard Admiral Rous recount that the first race for the Two Thousand ever seen by him was that won by Smolensko, in 1813. It is a thrice told tale that, after the Derby, Sir

Charles gave Goodisson three ten-pound notes for winning the three races; remarking to him that he could not afford more because Brograve, a celebrated bookmaker of that day, had committed suicide, from inability to meet his Derby losses, including a large sum due to Sir Charles.

Mr Barber was succeeded, in 1778, by Mr Daniel Potter, who reigned for many years, and did not die until 1813, after which date his widow continued the hotel until 1828, when Mr Ratcliffe took it. It was in the hands of Mr Daniel Potter and his widow for thirty-five years. Mr Potter was an extremely stout man, and in his day there resided at Newmarket a man of the name of Robert Bones, who was very tall, and as thin as a rail. These two notabilities were talking together at the entrance to the Rutland Arms, immediately opposite to the shop of Mr Rogers, the stationer and printer, who was also a clever sketcher. With a few skilful touches of his pencil, Mr Rogers took the portraits of these two eccentric individuals, and a few hours afterwards placed the sketch in his shop - window, with the words "Flesh and Bones" inscribed beneath. I remember hearing my father say that for a short time this caricature afforded intense amusement to passers-by.

My grandfather resided in a house, which he built for himself, on Mill Hill, Newmarket. Close to his house stood the residence and stables of

NEWMARKET WORTHIES.

29

"old Mr Prince." After my grandfather's death, his house was occupied for many years by James Robinson, and then by Frank Butler, two of the very finest jockeys that I ever saw. The workshops and business premises occupied by my grandfather were, on his decease, taken by Mr John Clark, the father of the present much-respected ex-judge. They remained in the hands of the elder Mr Clark and his sons for many years. It is not generally known that, despite my lifelong connection with Newmarket and Goodwood, my great-grandfather was a native of Wantage, in Berkshire, where some of the best training-grounds for race horses that England contains may not improbably have given him a taste for racing. Anyhow, it is certain that his son, my grandfather, took up his abode at Newmarket, and was greatly interested in racing for many years. I find that "Mr Kent of Newmarket, Cambridgeshire," was a subscriber to the Racing Calendar' in 1775, and has continued, with slight intermission, since. It will thus be seen that the surname by which I am known was borne by people associated more or less with horse-racing for a hundred and seventeen years. In my father's lifetime, no less than in my own, a vast number of changes have occurred in the noble sport, which is now more popular than ever among Englishmen, and, I must add, among Englishwomen; nor can I be blind to the fact that to the influence of the latter such "drawing