A DERBY FAVOURITE MISSING 25 



at nothing, or at nothing that could be seen. Generally 

 of a docile disposition, he now became suddenly un- 

 manageable, and dashed off at a furious rate down a 

 steep hill, little short of a precipice. The boy in a 

 fright threw himself off, and the horse was left to pursue 

 his headlong career. Goater on his hack and the gentle- 

 men in their carriage went madly after him. But all to 

 no purpose. Belgrade soon outdistanced them and was 

 lost to sight, after divesting himself of his saddle and 

 bridle and every particle of clothing except his boots. 

 As nothing could be seen or heard of him, Goater re- 

 turned in the evening to relate the catastrophe to my 

 father, intending the next morning again to scour the 

 country in search of the missing Derby favourite. This 

 trouble he was, however, saved; for someone called to 

 know ' if a horse had been lost, as one was caught in 

 his yard late last night, and was now in the end of the 

 barn tied up with a halter.' A man was soon sent with 

 clothing, and the horse was brought back in a terrible 

 plight. 



Thus ended Mr. Padwick's attempt to show off a 

 Derby favourite on a Sunday, with a view to his ad- 

 vantageous sale, simply preventing a result he could 

 easily have attained on any other day. Whether the 

 horse was good for anything before, or whether the 

 Sunday gallop ruined him, I never heard ; but certainly 

 he was never good for anything after. It was Mr. 

 Padwick's last visit to Findon on a Sunday whilst my 

 father trainee!, for him. 



Padwick was at heart a gambler. He was as great 

 an adept at cards, betting, or dice as he was at racing, 

 or even in his special business. Of this gambling pro- 

 pensity he gave sufficient proof on one occasion. He 

 won on Virago as a three-year-old 80,000 in bets, and 



