' BRIG A NTINE'S ' CONDITION 1 27 



afterwards heard others say, when the horse came into 

 the enclosure his coat was staring or reversed, which 

 made him look bad to a non-professional eye. Gentle- 

 men can understand a horse setting up his coat ' like 

 quills upon the fretful porcupine ' in cold weather ; but 

 they do not know that the hottest sun has often just 

 the same effect on the animal when in the best of health 

 and fit to run. 



The same thing exactly happened to Brigantine at 

 Ascot, when she won the Cup. People said even to 

 myself that ' they did not think she looked very well.' 

 To which I replied : 



1 Mine seldom do in other people's eyes.' 



Sir Frederick Johnstone himself, at the last moment, 

 came to me and said : 



' William, is the mare all right ?' 



' Yes, Sir Frederick,' I replied ; and he went straight 

 again to the ring and backed her for more money. After 

 the race he came to me, and, looking at the mare, said 

 he could not think how so much fault could be found 

 with her condition, as he thought he never saw her 

 looking better. And so did everyone else then ; but, 

 before the race, his friends and the busybodies had told 

 him that she looked wretched, and was overdone. In 

 fact, they discovered that she had had a tremendous 

 gallop, two miles and a half, the day before, with 

 Cornet, a horse that could never get over a mile in his 

 life. It turned out all very well, as she won ; but 

 what would they all have thought if she had been 

 beat? and what kind things would they not have said 

 of me? 



Before concluding my account of Joe Miller's per- 

 formances, I may perhaps relate how he went to 

 Chester, and what befell him on his return journey 



