152 SOLDIER AND SPORTSMAN 



that his interest in horses and training was beinor 

 supplanted by his zoological collection. His good 

 health and longevity are due not only to the 

 great moderation in his manner of living but 

 also to the never-dying interest he takes in 

 animals. 



I can recall the open house he kept for the 

 officers at Aldershot in the days when first we 

 met. Everyone was welcome, whether he was 

 an owner or merely a friend of one. There is 

 the old adaofe, " That which is bred in the bone 

 comes out in the flesh," and that applies to Mr 

 Yates and his love of steeplechasing. His father 

 had shares with Mr Elmore in Lottery, the winner 

 of the First Grand National, 1839, and he can 

 remember how when a small boy he was taken 

 down to Neasdon by his father and saw Jem 

 Mason ride the old gelding over the luncheon- 

 table, spread with viands, on the lawn. Singularly 

 enough, although he rode the winner of 460 races, 

 he never succeeded in riding the winner of the 

 Grand National or National Hunt Steeplechase. 

 In traininsf he was successful in the former with 

 Cloister, and as a trainer also took great honours 

 in preparing no fewer than four winners of the 

 Grand Military Gold Cup. The first three of 

 these were in succession. The four winners were 

 Scorn and Standard respectively ridden by Mr 



