SIR JOHN B. MILLS iyjr 



Sir John Barker Mills, Bart., was another faithful 

 adherent of the Danebury stables. He was remarkably 

 vivacious in manner and disposition. He lived at Mottis- 

 font Abbey, not far from the Stockbridge racecourse, a 

 good part of which he owned and leased to my father, 

 and afterwards to my brother John. Like Sir Edward, he 

 cared not a fig where his horses ran in the race. He 

 was not, comparatively speaking, a rich man ; but kept a 

 good house, and was quite one of the old style. Once, 

 after a long run of ill-luck, of which he never complained 

 (in fact, I should think such a thing never entered his 

 head), on his winning a little race at Stockbridge, he 

 hastened from the stand to meet my father, as the latter 

 was returning from the scales, and greeted him with a 

 cheery : 



' Hallo, John ! we have won again !' and received the 

 congratulations of his friends with unfeigned delight. 



Sir John's patience was certainly unexampled in my 



experience, except in the case of Mr. A , a proctor of 



Doctors' Commons, who trained with my cousin, Sam 

 Scott, son of Mr. Scott of Ascot Heath. Sam was a 

 trainer at Houghton Downs, Stockbridge. He never 

 had many horses or employers, but in the patron I have 

 named he had one who made up in goodness for the 

 paucity of numbers of those who honoured him with 



their confidence. Mr. A , after training with him for 



fifteen years without winning, came to Stockbridge to 

 see his mare La Malheureuse run in the race next day. 

 In the evening Mr. A said to my cousin : 



' I hope we shall win, Sam, to-morrow.' 



1 Oh yes/ was the reply; 'we shall win, but you are 

 always in such a hurry,' an answer which I need not say 



caused hearty laughter. As Mr. A raced in Sam's 



name, I don't know what horses he had, nor is it im- 



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