Sherlock Holmes and the Sport of Kings

Before Rending

1 Read the back cover of the book, and the introduction on the first page. How much do you know now ahout the story ? Yes or No:
YES / NO
1 Silver Blaze is a racehorse.
2 Sherlock Holmes is the owner of Silver Blaze.
3 Racehorses make money when they win races.
4 Silver Blaze’s trainer is dead.
5 Mr Ross found John Straker’s body.
6 John Straker’s body was in the stables.
7 Inspector Gregory knows all the answers.
8 Sherlock Holmes goes, down to Dartmoor.
2 Some of these things are helpful for finding the answer to the mystery. Can you guess which? l ick nine of the sixteen boxes.
? a betting book                         ? some hair
? somebody’s dinner               ? a horseshoe
? somebody’s breakfast          ? a chicken
? a box of matches                    ? a dog
? a woman’s shoes                     ? a cat
? a woman’s hat                         ? some sheep
? a man’s hat                               ? a knife
? a man’s shoes                          ? a letter

While Reading

Read Chapters 1 and 2. How much do we know now about the mystery? Which of these sentences are true, and which are possibly true, but we don’t really know yet?
1 Someone killed John Straker on Monday night.
2 Silver Blaze disappeared the same night.
3 Silver Blaze is dead.
4 Before Monday, Silver Blaze was the favourite to win the Wessex Cup.
5 Ned Hunter did not take Fitzroy Simpson’s money.
6 John Straker found Fitzroy Simpson in the stables in the middle of the night.
7 Fitzroy Simpson put opium in Ned Hunter’s curry.
8 Edith Baxter put opium in Ned Hunter’s curry.
9 Ned Hunter slept all night because of the opium.
10 Fitzroy Simpson killed John Straker.
Before you read Chapter 3, can you guess what Holmes does
next? Choose one answer for each question.
1 Which of these people does Holmes talk to?
a) Ned Hunter b) Mrs Straker c) Fitzroy Simpson
2 What does Holmes find in the mud on the moor?
a) an envelope b) a horseshoe c) a broken match

Read Chapters 3 and 4. We can answer some of these questions now, but not all of them. Answer the questions when you can, and write ‘Don’t know yet’ for the others.

1 Why did Simpson have a ten-pound note in an envelope?
2 Why did John Straker take a doctor’s eye knife with him that night?
3 What was the dress-maker’s bill for?
4 Why did Mr Darbyshire’s letters come to Straker’s house?
5 How did Holmes know that the tracks on the moor were Silver Blaze’s?
6 What did Silas Brown do to Silver Blaze?
7 Why did Holmes want to go back to London that night?
8 Why wasn’t Mr Ross happy with Holmes’s promise?
9 Why did Holmes want a photograph of John Straker?
10 What was important about the lame sheep?
11 What did the dog at the stables do in the night-time?
12 Why was that strange?
Before you read Chapter 5 (A day at the races), can you guess
what happens? Choose one answer for each question.
1 What happens in the Wessex Cup race? Silver Blaze. ..
a) wins the race. c) comes last. b) comes second. d) falls and breaks a leg.
2 Who docsn’r go to the races?
a) Sherlock Holmes. c) Inspector Gregory. b) Dr Watson. d) Mr Ross.

3 Where is John Straker’s killer on that day?
a) In the Dartmoor stables b) In a police station. c) At the races. d) In London.
Read Chapter 5. Choose the best question-word for these questions, and then answer them.
What / Why
1 … was Mr Ross very pleased with Sherlock Holmes?
2 .. . was the name of John Straker’s killer?
3 . . . did Holmes want to talk about it later?
How does the story end? Before you read Chapter 6, look at these sentences. Can you guess how many are true? Choose as many as you like.
1 The dog did not bark because it did not hear the midnight visitor.
2 The midnight visitor to the stables was John Straker.
3 John Straker wanted to kill Silver Blaze.
4 John Straker wanted Silver Blaze to win the Wessex Cup.
5 John Straker wanted to win a lot of money on the Wessex Cup race.
6 Straker used the eye knife to cut Silver Blaze’s leg.
7 In London Holmes visited a dress-maker.
8 Mr William Darbyshire was a good friend of Straker’s.
9 Sherlock Holmes tells Mr Ross all about Silas Brown.

After Reading

1 Match the names with the sentences. Then use the sentences to write about the people. Use a pronoun (he) and linking words (and, but, so, because) where possible.
Mr Ross / Silas Brown / John Straker / Fitzroy Simpson
Example: Mr Ross wanted Sherlock Holmes to find his horse, but he did not understand detective work and .. .
1 ____ changed the colour of Silver Blaze’s coat.
2 ____ made his money taking bets at the races.
3 ____ needed money for the expensive Mrs Darbyshire.
4 Mr Ross wanted Sherlock Holmes to find his horse.
5 ____ went down to King’s Pyland stables.
6 ____ tried to make Silver Blaze a little lame.
7 ____ was afraid of the police.
8 Mr Ross did not understand detective work.
9 ____wanted to ask the stable boys some questions.
10 ____ went to the stables in the middle of the night.
11 ____ told Sherlock Holmes everything.
12 ____ took Silver Blaze out onto the moor.
13 ____ wanted answers to the mystery at once.
14____ took Silver Blaze to Winchester races.
15 ____ never came home again.

2 Here is a new illustration. Answer the questions, and then find
a good place in the story to put the picture.
1 What is happening in this picture?
2 What is not happening in this picture?
3 What does the answer to the second question tell us?
A good place for the picture is on page ____.

Now write a caption for the illustration.

3 What did Sherlock Holmes say to Silas Brown? Put their conversation in the right order, and write in the speakers’ names. Sherlock Holmes speaks first (number 3).
1 ____ ‘A different colour? The police are going to find that very interesting, Mr Brown.’
2 ____ ‘And how do you know that?’
3 ____ ‘Now, Mr Silas Brown, I want to see Silver Blaze.’
4 ____’Yes, I have. He’s round the back. He’s . .. er .. . well, he’s a different colour now.’
5 ____ ‘Yes. And he must win it! With your help, Mr Brown. Now, listen carefully,..,’
6 ____ ‘The tracks … Oh. Oh dear.’
7 ____ ‘My name is Sherlock Holmes, and I know that the horse is here.’
8 ____ ‘Don’t tell the police, sir. Please! I can change the colour back very quickly.’
9 ____ ‘Yes, Mr Brown, oh dear! Now, have you got the horse here?’
10 ____ ‘Yes, very well. He’s a wonderful horse, sir. He can still win the Wessex Cup, you know.’
11 ____ ‘Because I found the tracks of your shoes on the moor, next to the tracks of Silver Blaze, and the tracks came here.’
12 ____ ‘He’s not in my stables! And who are you}’
13 ____ ‘Then you must do it today. Is the horse well?’

4 Here is a newspaper report about Silver Blaze. Use these words (one for each gap) to complete the passage.
before, bets, cut, disappeared, found, good, horse, horseshoes, kicked, killed, killer, knows, leg, mystery, owner, races, where, won
At Winchester ____ today Silver Blaze ____ the Wessex Cup — ____ news for the ____ Mr Ross and all the people with ____ on the horse. The detective Sherlock Holmes ____ Mr Ross’s horse, and he ____ the name of John Straker’s ____ too. So who ____ John Straker? The_did! Straker tried to make a ____ in a tendon in Silver Blaze’s ____, and the horse _____ out. The ____ hit Straker on the head and killed him. The horse then ____ until today. And ____ was Silver Blaze in the week ____ the Wessex Cup race? That is still a ____.

5 Find the fourteen words (three letters or more) in this word search. Words go from left to right, and from top to bottom. Which four words make a headline for the newspaper report?