MORE RACING 199 



invitation, with the result that, instead of .s^oinor to 

 Africa, I agrreed to q-q and orjve him a hand at 

 Langton, doing odd jobs, and, as he ironically 

 said, giving him tips as to training. I was well 

 aware that what he did not know about horses 

 was not worth knowing. It was generally be- 

 lieved that the South African War would be 

 finished in a matter of three months, or less. 

 We certainly made a bad guess as to the duration 

 of that war, but a much worse of this last one. 

 "It is never safe to prophesy unless you know." 



I can conceive no occupation more alluring or 

 more interesting- than the training, breeding and 

 development of the thoroughbred horse, albeit 

 disappointment and blighted hopes are more pre- 

 valent in everything connected with horses than in 

 any other industry. I have heard a distinguished 

 owner say when he purchased a yearling : "Ah, more 

 trouble ! " Even so, with certain disappointment 

 and trouble staring one in the face, one cannot 

 shake the sporting Britisher in his taste for horses. 

 Some thousands of yearlings come up for sale 

 annually, and the majority are purchased ; every 

 buyer is convinced that he has succeeded in ac- 

 quiring a winner ! What a game it is ! What a 

 glorious triumph when success is acheived ! 



During the year and a half when Mr Gilpin 

 was at Langton I had many opportunities for 



