The Athlete for 1866

102 THE ARISTOCRATIC HANBICAPS. After the declineof the Red House, little pigeon shooting ofany im­ portance took place for a considerable period.Two or three matches and small sweepstakescame off,but in i860 itoccurred toMr. Frank Heath- cote that the sport might be revived by a judicious system ofhandi­ capping. He fixed one ounce andan eighth as his standard, with the proviso thatany increase of charge should be penalized half-a-yard for one-eighth of shot. The firsthandicap obtained 44 subscribers, ofwhom 29 came to the post. It was won by Stirling Crawford (31 i yards), who killed all his birds (6)in good style, R. Bateson ^31yards) was second,C. Molyneux (29 yards) third, and A.Walsh (29yards) fourth. In the second handicap the same year, Colonel Annesley (29^yards) won, killing eight out of nine birds; F. Craven (30 yards) second J D. Damer(21J yards) third, andLord Millbank (29 yards) fourth The last handicap of i860 took place inJuly, with60 subscribers, of whom 50 shot. This was won by Captain Wyndham (28i yards), G. Craven (26i yards), Lord Bective (27 yards) third,and F. Milbank (29 yards) fourth. Subjoined are the winners of the handicaps from 1861 to 1865, and the full score ofthe matches in 1866 :— Vear. 1801—1st Hanilicap „ 2n(l „ 3rd „ 4th 1802—1st Handicap ,, 2nd (Derby) 3rd (July) 18G.;—1stHandicap tf 2nd 8rd Winners Yards rise. Col.Carleton ... 26 A. Walsh 30 Col. Hon. A. Fraser 25 Lord Bective 27 Hon. Percy Barrington 28 Marquis of Hartington 20J Marquis of Beaumont 26 Colonel Astlcy 24 I'ercival Hambro 24i Captain the Hon. H. Campbell 23 Weightof Shot. u li u u 14 18G1—1stflJerby) Handicap Colonel Soamcs Jenyns 26t 2iid „ ... Captain the Hon. H. Campbell 27^ „ 3rd „ ... A. L. Ricardo 24i 1865—1st (Derbjf)Handicap G. Johnstone 24 „ 2nd (Summer) „ ... Sir J. Blois 24 U n u u