Bretby Hall: Racing elite rode at Bretby

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Stuart Haywood looks back to the days when Bretby Hall played host to leading jockeys.

Another leading jockey, Fred Archer, on Iroquois, America’s first Derby winner in 1881

Jockey John Wells, a leading light in 19th century horseracing. Rode at Bretby

Jockey Nat Flatman, a leading light in 19th century horseracing. Rode at Bretby

Looking north along Bretby Gallops, which were created by the 6th Earl of Chesterfield who was a lover of gambling and horse-racing

IN 1840, the sixth Earl of Chesterfield turned his back on the bright lights and aristocratic society in London and returned to Bretby. Born in 1805, he had inherited the title at the age of 10.

In 1830, he married Anne Forester, the daughter of Lord Forester, of Willey Park, Shropshire.

Lord Chesterfield was renowned as a generous host who loved to give lavish parties.

He was also a sponsor of the arts, in particular, opera and the theatre.

Both he and his wife enjoyed gambling at dice and cards, usually intemperately.

Lord Chesterfield also hunted with the Pytchley where he kept 50 horses for the purpose.

It was, however, horseracing that almost cost him his fortune by 1840.

The best horse Chesterfield ever owned was a splendid filly called Crucifix which was unbeaten in 12 outings, winning the 2,000 guineas, 1,000 guineas and Oaks in 1840.

Chesterfield had, however, sold the filly to Lord George Bentinck as an unraced two-year-old for only £60.

Bentinck was one of the first great administrators of the turf. The son of the Duke of Portland, he introduced the parade before the race and starting the race by means of dropping a flag.

He also planned Goodwood Racecourse and started transporting his horses to the races rather than walking them there.

During this period, a lot of wealthy men frittered away fortunes by injudicious gambling.

Sir Roger Gresley, who died in 1837 and was said to have an annual income of around £10,000, had to sell most of his assets to remain solvent.

The 4th Marquis of Hastings is reputed to have lost £120,000 on a single race and also to have been “diddled” out of £35,000 in the 1868 Derby.

Chesterfield set up a breeding establishment in 1840 at Bretby, where a series of paddocks, complete with loose boxes, were provided for the brood mares, with no expense spared.

In addition, he created some gallops, a course of almost two miles on which his horses could exercise.

The course started near the old mill, ran to the west of Hoofies Wood, almost to the main road (now the A511). It then went parallel to the road as far as the Chesterfield Arms and finished close to the house in Wagon Lane called Four Winds.

It ran through beautiful countryside, particularly by Hoofies Wood to the east and the six lakes to the west, with the gallops on the ridge between.

Chesterfield also installed his trainer into Geary House and extended his stabling.

In the 19th century, many wagers were settled in matches.

“My horse is faster than yours.” “No it’s not.” “Bet you £500 it is over a mile.”

A bet would be struck and the wager could be decided as a straightforward match or at a race within a race.

A course, such as that provided at Bretby, was the perfect place for the arguments to be resolved.

It was also perfect if a horse was being prepared specially for a race and the owner wanted it to be “kept dark”, a dark horse in fact.

There was a shortage of racecourses in the area. Burton races were last run in 1840, just off the Trent Bridge on the Meadows.

They had been transferred to that site in 1811. Derby Racecourse did not open until 1848.

Lord Chesterfield wined and dined eminent owners at his home at Bretby.

Tom Taylor was an early trainer who had a maximum of 70 horses in his charge at Bretby.

Sir Henry Des Voeux had horses at Bretby including Taje and Roly Poly, both winners.

Lord Londesborough was also a patron. He is important in Bretby history because it was at his house, just outside Scarborough, that the 7th Earl of Chesterfield visited in 1871.

The Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, broke his journey from Balmoral to Sandringham at the same time.

Both Chesterfield and the Prince caught typhoid fever. Although the Prince’s life was despaired of, he finally recovered but Chesterfield died, bringing an end to the dynasty.

Lord Newport also placed horses at Bretby. Newport is the courtesy title of the eldest son of the Earl of Bradford.

Lady Chesterfield and Lady Bradford were sisters. The latter, the much younger of the two. As is commonly known, Benjamin Disraeli was a regular visitor to Bretby after the death of his wife and is said to have proposed marriage to Lady Chesterfield.

She refused him but it is said, in some quarters, that Disraeli’s real interest was Lady Bradford.

Several well-known jockeys went to Bretby to ride, work or even to take part in unofficial races.

The principal jockey was Henry Custance who, on retirement, became a starter and who wrote a book about racing and Bretby around 1870.

George (the demon) Fordham was a regular who was champion jockey on 13 occasions between 1855 and 1871, and had 16 victories in classic races.

He was the third great jockey in history, preceded by Nat Flatman and superceded by Fred Archer.

John (Brusher) Wells was an outstanding jockey who visited Bretby. He was very tall but, in his first season, could make six stones riding weight.

Wells was champion jockey in 1853 and 1854, the two years between the long reigns of Flatman and Fordham.

Most jockeys in those days died young because of the continual wasting they had to undergo to keep their weight down to as near six stones as possible.

Added to this, successful men led riotous lifestyles.

When the 7th Earl of Chesterfield died of typhoid in 1871, he was without issue and so the estates devolved to Lady Chesterfield’s (the 7th Earl’s mother) grandson.

Her daughter had married the 4rth Earl of Carnarvon and the estate devolved to their eldest son. He held the courtesy title of Lord Porchester and did not become Earl Carnarvon until his father’s death in 1890.

Lady Chesterfield continued to live at Bretby Hall until her death in 1885.

The Carnarvons did not live at Bretby, preferring their ancestral home of Highclere, near Newbury. They visited regularly, however, especially for the shooting.

They had a platform built on the branch railway line at Stanhope Bretby in order that their aristocratic guests could travel in comfort from Burton. Keeping up the racing tradition, the 7th Earl of Carnarvon was our current Queen’s racing manager for 30 years until his recent death.

One character I have omitted was one of the most colourful men of his time.

In 1896, there was an invasion of this country by many American jockeys.

One of the first was Tod Sloan, who came to ride at Bretby before he was widely known.

He is famous for the introduction of the “monkey crouch” or “monkey on a stick” style of riding to this country.

He rode with a very short stirrup and very short rein, and crouched over the horse’s head, hence the “monkey crouch”.

It was claimed that he had based his style on the method adopted by American Indians.

He was also a master of pace, judging how fast he could let his mount run while conserving enough energy for the horse to quicken over the final furlong.

The English riding style was long reins and stirrups, and sitting in an upright position and riding flat out over the course.

When he arrived in England, he was said to weigh no more than six stones and someone observed that he “did not appear to have legs, only stumps”.

He was very successful from the start. In four seasons he rode 254 winners out of 800 mounts.

In 1899, he became the first American to ride 100 winners in a season.

But Sloan had gangster connections, having been discovered by a man rejoicing in the name of “Pittsburgh Phil” and being an inveterate gambler, found it difficult to throw off those associations.

He was also a very aggressive man with an extremely sharp tongue. He led a lifestyle which could only be described as brash.

Large cigars, the very best Champagne and much jewellery was his style.

In 1901, a steward overheard him confessing that a race he had tried to fix had gone wrong and it had cost him £60,000.

This was the final straw for the authorities. He had antagonised many of the racing aristocracy with his acid tongue and arrogant ways.

In 1901, his application for a jockey’s licence failed and he was also informed that he would be wasting his time if he ever again applied. This he did on 15 occasions, all of which resulted in failure.

He rode in a few races in 1903 in France, but was quickly told that he was not welcome in that country.

The man that had been offered a retainer by the Prince of Wales of £6,000, died in 1933 in a charity hospital in Los Angeles, destitute.

He has, however, left a memorial with which to remember him.

It is in the saying “on your Tod”, Tod Sloan – alone.

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