The Stakes Were High by Keith Baker

Author:Keith Baker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pitch Publishing
Published: 2017-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Partnership

The link-up between Gully and Ridsdale proved very successful. They had plenty of rich clients and they made some shrewd and clever gambles. ‘How much they won no two chroniclers seem to agree, but it would have been a significant amount of money.’ 86 An old stableman of the time wrote, ‘When John Gully and his pal Ridsdale were a-carrying all before them, I can mind when pails of champagne wine were stood by the winners and stable boys turned up their noses at it. [The] Gentlemen would think nothing of giving me a sovereign for a-holding their hacks for 10 minutes.’ 87

It was joked, too, that when Gully and his friends descended on the Cheltenham racecourse, they so completely cleaned out the local betting Ring that they did not even think it worthwhile stopping for the second race day! One of the lesser legs was found later wandering moodily about the ring, and remarked to a sympathiser that he was looking for the few half-crowns which Gully had condescended to leave. 88

Their network of racing informers was second to none. They paid handsomely for information, and were probably not above using a little bribery to grease the palms if necessary. When they stood cheek by jowl with each other in the grandstand at races the contrast was stark – Gully, in an open waistcoat and frock cloak, a somewhat crumpled diamond studded shirt and a not too scrupulously brushed hat, while his partner Ridsdale always dressed immaculately from the tips of his brilliantly polished boots to his shiny hat and in clothes, ‘cut such as a duke might affect, but nothing more’. 89

Gully was never going to try to make himself quite so agreeable with everyone as Ridsdale, and may even have been a little jealous and in awe of him. But for the moment differences could be put aside and they soon showed that they could work very successfully together for mutual advantage.

Although Gully had become a highly respected racehorse owner and had been successful in several minor races, he had never won any of the most important races, especially one of the Classics. His overriding ambition was to win the Derby – the Blue Ribbon of the Turf – and his partnership with Ridsdale was very much focused on that objective.

Their first serious attempt was made in the 1830 Derby when they entered their colt Little Red Rover in the race and backed him heavily. If the horse had carried off the race, it was reckoned that the pair would have won upwards of £80,000.

In a field of 23 horses the favourite in the Derby was Priam at odds of 4/1. He was ridden by the veteran jockey Sam Day. The race was run in heavy rain, but attracted the customary huge crowd. There was a suspicion that there was an attempt to unsettle Priam by a succession of false starts reminiscent of what had unsettled Mameluke at the St Leger in 1827, but Priam – a most docile and tractable colt – remained unruffled.

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