Race of the century: When The Flying Dutchman of Middleham went up against Voltigeur of Richmond

It was held on May 31, 1851, and it pitted The Flying Dutchman of Middleham against Voltigeur of Richmond, the two greatest racehorses of the day, and although Voltigeur lost, he still has a grand gate in a triumphal arch in his honour to this day.

The Flying Dutchman was the best horse of the late 1840s. He was bred at Kirkleatham, near Redcar, owned by Lord Eglinton – a Scottish Tory who was one of the biggest turf enthusiasts of the time – and trained by John Fobert at Middleham.

He triumphed in the 1849 Derby, winning a £30,000 bet for Lord Eglinton, and Fobert celebrated by putting on a feast for 100 poor families in Middleham. The Flyer also carried off that season’s St Leger.

But in 1850, Voltigeur matched The Flyer’s achievements. “Volti”, as he was known in Richmond, was bred at Hart, near Hartlepool, and owned by Thomas Dundas, the 2nd Earl of Zetland. He was trained at Aske Hall by his lordship’s private trainer, Robert Hill.

But on Derby day, there was a mix up on Volti’s entry forms, and Lord Zetland wanted to withdraw the horse rather than pay a £400 special fee. However, his tenants at Richmond told him they faced ruin because they had backed the horse so heavily and so his lordship paid up.

Volti romped home at 16-1.

In 1898, the D&S Times looked back on the victory and said: “What a furore! What revelry! How strong liquors flowed like water when Lord Zetland’s horse won the Derby. A pot of money made, maybe a wagon load came into Richmond, for everybody had backed their local favourite, and didn’t they spend it. It was told that about eight or ten of the old hands died off within 12 months of this great haul being made. They liquored day and night for weeks and their constitutions, not being as stable as the walls of Richmond Castle, gave way under the strain.”

Indeed, Lord Zetland celebrated by commissioning the grand iron gates to go in the Voltigeur Arch on the road that runs down the steep bank from Richmond to Gilling West.

The Voltigeur Arch on the road between Richmond and Gilling West

Volti was obviously stronger than the old hands of Richmond because in September 1850, he won the St Leger at Doncaster after a re-race with Russborough. The two horses had been inseparable in a dead heat in the first race and so had to run it again.

This perfectly set up the Doncaster Cup two days later. It was to be a two horse race: Volti, winner of the 1850 Derby and St Leger, against The Flying Dutchman, winner of the 1849 Derby and St Leger, and never beaten in his career.

But as they came to the starting line, it was clear that Flyer’s jockey, Charlie Marlow, was “drunk out of his mind”. He set Flyer sprinting off with the result that the horse tired and Volti was able to pull passed and win. A pro-Volti poet wrote:

The ring stands pale. Forth speeds the tale, which many a doubt inspires

From east to west, from north to south, it glances o'er the wires.

From Richmond unto Middleham this message quickly passed

Your conqueror of conquerors has bowed his head at last

It was agreed that the two horses would meet again the following spring for “the Great Match” at York for a prize of 2,000 guineas. A pro-Flyer poet wrote:

Ye backers of Aske’s Voltigeur, boast not too much of his strength

Though The Flying Dutchman lost the race, ’twas but by half a length

Doubt as ye will, his heart is still as strong as Spanish steel,

And o’er Knavesmire 'gainst that verdict he will enter an appeal.

Those who had not drunk themselves to death celebrating the 1850 Epsom victory walked from Richmond to be among the huge crowd. This time Volti, ridden by champion jockey Nat Flatman, who was the Frankie Dettori of his day, went off in front, but The Flyer reeled him in until they were neck and neck into the final furlong.

Voltigeur in his box having won the 1850 Derby

Then Flatman dropped his whip. The Flyer flew past and won by a short length.

With The Flyer’s reputation restored, he was immediately retired to stud, and ended his days working for Emperor Napoleon III in France, where he died in 1870.

Volti raced another season without huge success before retiring to stud at Aske Hall, where he became the only racehorse to be painted by Edwin Landseer, the famous animal painter. Landseer became interested because he heard that a tortoiseshell cat always slept on the horse’s back, and the painting shows two cats at the horse’s hooves.

On February 21, 1874, Volti was kicked at Aske by a horse called Time Test which shattered a hind leg. “Mr John Hedley, of Richmond, was sent for and the 27 years’ career of the famous Yorkshire racehorse was put an end to,” said the D&S.

How the D&S Times reported the death of Voltigeur in February 1874

The Northern Echo – now the D&S’ stablemate – said bluntly: “Poor Voltigeur was shot in his box at Aske. His legs and tail were taken off, and will be cured and kept in memoriam.”

Both papers hailed the animal as “the pride of Yorkshire sportsmen and one of the best and most popular horses that ever ran”. They said: “The late Earl of Zetland took a great pride in his favourite Voltigeur, and when well and at home, his lordship scarcely ever missed a day without paying a visit to his pet.”

The horse was buried in the grounds of Aske. His cannon bone is still in a frame in York racecourse, but his 40 inch tail seems to have disappeared.

• VOLTIGEUR’S name literally means “acrobat” or “vaulter”. The Voltigeurs were French foot soldiers who would jump onto horseback to speed up their advance.
• THE FLYER’S trainer, John Fobert, also trained Underhand, the horse which won the Pitman’s Derby in three consecutive years at Newcastle, 1857, 1858 and 1859. We met Underhand a couple of weeks ago as he is buried behind the Croft Spa Hotel where he was put to stud.
• THE Voltigeur Arch is an extraordinary thing to find on the B6274. It was built as the town entrance to Aske Hall in 1847 – one of the lodges behind it bears that date (the second lodge is dated 1897). It is the huge iron gates that Lord Zetland commissioned in tribute to Volti’s 1850 Derby victory.
• THE story of the Great Match is included in the new book A Short History of Richmond Racecourse and its Grandstand, by Professor Mike Huggins and the Richmond Burgage Pastures Committee, which we featured here last week. Amateurishly, we didn’t say where the book is available from.
• It costs £10 and is splendid, and can be bought from Castle Hill Bookshop, Richmond Post Office, the information centre in Richmond Market Hall and online from richmondinfo.net/shop