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) Cliffs in third, Xtension fourth and the favourite St Nicholas Abbey in sixth. Fifteen days later the colt was sent to France for the Poule d'Essai des Poulains at Longchamp finished second of the fifteen runners, beaten half a length by Lope de Vega with Buzzword, Siyouni and Poet's Voice unplaced. In the St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot Dick Turpin finished runner-up in a Group 1 race for the third time in a row when he was beaten a length by Canford Cliffs with Siyouni, Beethoven and Makfi finishing behind. Richard Hughes resumed the ride when the colt