1 70 MEN OF MY TIME 



of the proverb, ' Save me from my friends ;' although I 

 may doubt if, in this case, it would have made much 

 difference, for Mr. Trelawney's nature was the last to 

 stand upon his rights, or take advantage of a mere 

 technical error. 



It was at the Bath meeting, previous to the race, when 

 Topsail had beaten Eleus at the odds of 3 to 1 on the 

 latter, that Lord Maidstone wrote some derisive poetry, 

 commencing : 



'John Davis looked up ; John Davis looked down,' 



referring of course to John Day, and to the perilous 

 position in which this and other catastrophes had placed 

 Coldrenick in the market. In fact, he would have been 

 driven from favouritism to obscurity, had it not been for 

 my father's firmness. Owing to his attitude, they could 

 not do what they would shake the horse's position ; 

 and he remained favourite to the finish, thus enabling 

 the stable to hedge all the money. In reality, the mis- 

 take about him was due to the badness that year of 

 Pelerine, Eleus, and other of his trial horses. But the 

 mistake had been found out, and all hope of his success 

 given up since his trial a fortnight before the race. 



I have previously referred casually to Mr. Wreford, 

 another supporter of Danebury. He was, when a young 

 man, a leather-tanner, and a sharp, shrewd man of 

 business. He was fond of field sports, a good shot, and 

 kept a pack of harriers. But racing was the one en- 

 grossing object of his life, and in it he was decidedly 

 successful. He first trained with Mr. John Dilly, but 

 soon left him and came to Danebury, which he never left 

 till he gave up racing altogether, which he was obliged to 

 do through the extravagance of his family. I never 

 heard that he did much good for himself on the turf 



