Great North Road (Great Britain) not compete with the new railways. The last coach from London to Newcastle left in 1842 and the last from Newcastle to Edinburgh in July 1847. The highwayman Dick Turpin's flight from London to York in less than 15 hours on his mare Black Bess is the most famous legend of the Great North Road. Various inns along the route claim Turpin ate a meal or stopped for respite for his horse. Harrison Ainsworth, in his 1834 romance "Rookwood", immortalised the ride. Historians argue that Turpin never made the journey, claiming that the ride was by John Nevison, "Swift Nick",
Dick Turpin (horse) was sent to France again for the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat over 1600 metres at Chantilly Racecourse on 4 July and started at 5/1. Lope de Vega started favourite, while the other six runners included Siyouni, Xtension and Hearts of Fire (Gran Criterium). After racing in third place behind the pacemaker Altair Star and Lope de Vega Dick Turpin took the lead 400 metres from the finish and accelerated away from the field to win "easily" by four lengths. Richard Hughes commented "You get some horses like that which never get to win one and finish second all the