His 1874 obituary writer, styling himself as 'The Sportsman', tells of him learning to ride at a very early age 'whipped in to his father' who hunted a pack of harriers across the 'enormous Fen drains'.
[2] Chris Green soon obtained his first 'place' on leaving home with Lord Berners but, according to his obituary writer, when he thought it was he that was entitled to the mount (and not George Edwards, the nominated jockey) of Phosphorus, the eventual but unfancied winner of the 1837 Derby, he threw up his engagement.
Bailey's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes illustrates Green's work ethic with three rides in two days for William Rowland Sandiford at the Norfolk and Norwich Steeple Chases on 10 & 11 September 1839 on the 4yr-old bay colt Oliver Twist.
At the Waltham Abbey Steeple Chase on 9 April 1840 he came second to Jerry, the 1840 Grand National winner, ridden by Jem Mason in a duel that was a credit to both riders, even if the race itself was mismanaged.
[5] His return in 1849 was marked by a second and a first place at the same meeting on 2 April on Mr Abel's grey mares, Present and Novice, at Stallinghall, just outside Norwich (although Chris Green's name as rider does not appear in contemporary reports).
[5] Chris Green had ridden well enough, though, to confirm to his Irish owner and trainer, Joseph Osborne[note 3] that he was the rider for Abd-el-Kader in the Grand National in a few days time.
[note 4] He did indeed win, leading from the front, by about a length, in a record time of 9min 57.5sec 'taken by three watches', and Green had ridden the gelding masterfully: 'The judgment with which he steered Abd-el-Kader for this great event betokened an ″artiste″ of no little merit, for he rode throughout with indomitable resolution, steadying the little horse when necessary, and keeping him going in that part of the line where his superior jumping soon made the heavy weights tell.
Prince Charlie, Camel, Hester, Avenger, Gownsman 'and other good horses' were all descended from Tomyrus and gave Jones fame and success.
Half Caste, ridden by Green, started second favourite at 100:15 (nearly 7:1), and won 'a most exciting race' from the French horse Jean du Quesne by only a neck and Huntsman was only a length behind them.
[27] Green then went on to win twice at the Warwick Spring Meeting which led 'Touchstone', The Era columnist, to say that he 'was extremely fortunate in the steeple chases, having ridden the winners of the two in which the professionals were entitled to ride on Thursday, and as he has undoubtedly placed himself at the head of cross-country riders, having won on three out of the last four different horses he has mounted, only one of which was the favourite'.
[28] [note 8] By 1860, his stud was very well respected with the Sporting Life highlighting Abd-el-Kader, Lord Oswald, Sepoy, Dutch Drops, Physician, King William and, especially, Miss Harkaway as representing 'the stable which is usually as formidable, in cross-country events, as John Day's in the Derby'.
[30] For the 1860 Grand National Green rode Sepoy for Captain White (1790–1866),[31] but even though they were backed to 20:1 (largely on account of his celebrity), they were not mentioned in the race commentaries.
[36] Later that year saw him training and riding Cockatoo (another Leigh/Sheward horse although run under the nom de course of Mr S Gooderham) in the 1861 Grand National (third favourite at 6:1), but it fell on the second circuit and led to Green being struck and again he was left 'much shaken'.
[37] He also trained Yaller Gal for the 1863 Grand National which was seen as being 'not the worst outsider in the world" and could cause a betting upset but in the event, ridden by Mr Dixon, she came third.
[49] As it was, Green stayed in Newmarket at that stage (Ben Land sen. went to Droxford) but got immediate charge of all the Poulett horses including Cortolvin (who he then trained to be second in the 1866 Grand National).
[53] They were obviously very extensive as they included a vast half-mile wide straw-bed circle which, in hard frosts, other trainers (Blanton, Godding and J Wood are mentioned) he allowed to use.
[57] The rest of the year was very quiet as well and Green was realising that 'however fit the [Newmarket] Heath might be to train horses for the flat, there is no rough-and-ready country sufficiently near the metropolis of the Turf to keep steeple chasers au fait to their business'.
[58] Ben Land snr., private trainer to Lord Poulett at Droxford, had decided to retire in 1870, and Chris Green was persuaded to take his place in Hampshire in September 1870 where he took charge of such horses as Benazet, Cortolvin and The Lamb.
This testament to Green's work continued in the race as The Lamb kept ahead of the pursuing horses to finally win by a couple of lengths in 'a desperately exciting finish'.
Notice the jerry-hat, the open but determined, never-say-die, countenance, the polished boots, the burnished spurs, the tight-fitting breeches, the long waistcoat, creaseless coat, and general ′get-up′ of that wiry-looking, ten-stone, five-feet-five specimen of humanity, and tell me if he is a ′character′ when once seen that will never be forgotten.″[53] Charlie Canavan differs on one point - he states his weight 'when at man's age' did not exceed 9 stone (126 lb or 57 kg).
An engraving of this (to match one already made of Raby) was advertised and prints were to be sold for one guinea (21 shillings or £1.05) each through Mr John Moore, publisher and bookmaker.