The history of the St. Leger is distinguished by many curious events and circumstances, one or two of which may be alluded to. Yorkshiremen of all grades have recollections, pleasant or otherwise, of the annual race for the Blue Ribbon of the North, and of the curious characters who appeared at Doncaster to assist at its celebration, such as the eccentric James Hurst, who came to the paddock dressed from head to foot in sheepskin garments and drawn in a carriage of his own make by his tame dogs, or occasionally by an ass, and sometimes attended by a few tame foxes! On one occasion ten false starts took place before the genuine race was run; that was in Altissidora's year (1813), when seventeen horses came under the charge of the starter. A speculative occupant of the grand stand, after the eighth false start had taken place, laid 100 to 20 against the next attempt being successful and also 100 to 30 against the tenth, and won his money. In the year 1819 the great Doncaster event was run twice! Two years afterwards, Gustavus, which had won the Derby, was expected to win the St. Leger also, but he was defeated by Jack Spigot, a northern horse. This was the first great struggle between the southern and northern trainers, and the latter, who entertained a profound contempt for Newmarket men and their modes of training, prophesied that they could never win a St. Leger--a prophecy that was speedily shown to be erroneous--and the race is now seldom won by a horse trained in the northern stables, the latest Yorkshire-trained winner, if I am not mistaken, being Apology. Large amounts of money usually change hands over the race for the St. Leger, the horse-loving Yorkshiremen being fond of making a bet; many sums of considerable amount are risked by persons who habitually speculate on the race. It was recently calculated by a gentleman well versed in such matters that during the St. Leger week, over fifty thousand individual bets would be made in Doncaster alone, the amount standing to be won on the various horses in a good year for betting--when, for instance, there is a strong run on five or six animals--being not far short of a quarter of a million sterling, the stake ranging from a shilling to five hundred, or even a thousand pounds.