The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-08-16
KING EDWARD HIS
OWN JOCKEY IN A
RACE ON CORRAGH
Forbidden by Queen Victoria
. to Ride Fast Horses the
Future Monarch Rode and
- Won in a Contest With His
: Brother Officers.


Special Foreign Service.
LONDON, Aug. liking Edwards
intense love for all forms of sport has
by no means rendered him anything
approaching a capable performer in
any branch of It himself He never
oeould learn to play cricket, which,
strangely enough, was a pecullarlty
also of both of his brothers, the Duke
of Connaught and the late Duke or
Edinburgh. lTs
. His majesty has done more than
any man in Europe to promote ana
encourage horse racing, yet he is no
toriously poor horseman, and during
his military career he had many
nasty tumble. In his subaltern days
IN the crack regiment. the Henth Hus-
sars, he was continually falling out of
the saddle, and if9it had not been for
his rank and position the riding mas
ter of his. company would have pro-
nounced him a hopeless failure.
No one ever doubted his courage,
however, and blythe advice Of the late
Queen. Victoria, who was made ac-
quainted with his, incapacity in the
saddle, he was forbidden to mount
anything but the quietest horse that
could be procureds The queen also
insisted that he must take no part in
Hunting or in nany form of sport in
which there was an elennest Of danger.
The army, especially in the crack
regimentsss was not altogether free
from Tagging" ip the Sos, and the
subjected to much, banter on account
of his bad horsemanship, What Is
called point to- point, races among off,
GERS in the army f1ourished then as
they; do now, and as the date ap-
preached for the holding Of one Of
these meetings on the sCurragh-the
chief military depot~fn Ireland-specu-
lation was rife as to whether the
Prince of. Wales, whose official posi-
ton was what would now be called
second lieutenant, would be one Of the
competitors
In spite Of the instructions given by
his mother the young princes cour-
age ,revolted against the prevailing
opinion that he should not cross his
legs on anything that could travel
faster than a donkey. The queen
Scanned the papers carefully for any
item. of news where the princes name
was likely to appear, more particularly
in matters relating to hunting or
horse racing. The prince knew this,
and SO that he might escape obserya-
ton he adopted the Fuse Of riding his
horse under the name Of Capt. Mel
Vile. Whether through luck or by ar
rangement With his brother officers, he
won the race, but those who saw him
in the saddle swore it was not through
good jockeyship.
-. 1t was some time afterwards before
the fact leaked out that Capt Mel
vile" was no~other than the Prince of
Wales. 1t came to the knowledge of
members of her majeStys household
and finally to her majesty herself.
Whatever may have been the nature
of the ensuing reprimal1, King Ed
ward never after that disobeyed his
mothers instructions with regard to
his saddle efforts.
The late Capt Matchell, who was
one Of the finest judges of horses and
horsemanship in Europe, was fond of
relating his experiences of the prince
eas a, jockey. He saw him before the
start, in the famous race, looking as
pale las sheet, probably not so much
through his knowledge of his own in
capacity as asjoeiney as the dread of
his disobedienee to his mother reach
ing her. He was determined, however,
not to submit iany longer to the gibes
of his brother subalterns. and it was
universally believed, when the Secret
leaked cut that ssaGa pit. M elville''s%svas
the Prince of Wales, that he was al
lowed to win the race out Of admira-
,tien for his pluck
He cut a serryf figure in the sad
die said Capt. Matchell. His lovely
white jacket showed the perspiration
long before hesemerged from the pad
dock, and wheni heipassed the winning
post he was too excited to know