218 TRAINERS WITHOUT TRAINING 



Bath, I claimed Truant, the last in the race, of him for 

 50 ; and ran him twice at Newmarket, winning both 

 times. He was claimed in the last race by Mr. Munday, 

 and from him passed into the hands of Mr. Hodgman, 

 without winning a race for either of them. But as they 

 sold few, the mistakes made by the confederates in this 

 way were not so numerous as in running their horses 

 unfit, by which they lost their money. 



In the year 1861, in winning the Oaks with Brown 

 Duchess, they reached the zenith of their fortune, and, 

 like Brutus, were ' ready to decline.' For though subse- 

 quently they ran horses with varied success, both in 

 quantity and quality, their stud dwindled down till 1870, 

 the last year in which I see Mr. Saxon's name recorded 

 in the list of winning owners, and Mr. Barber's in the 

 year 1873, and then only credited with 50 which he 

 won with Lothair at Liverpool. Thus a racing career of 

 some twenty years was brought to a conclusion, anything 

 but fortunate. Their aim and delight was to win small 

 stakes ; and in this capacity they were, in the North and 

 Midland counties, as much a terror to their opponents 

 as Mr. Parr was in the West and Southern districts. 

 But after many years of patient endurance they had to 

 succumb. 



Mr. Saxon had his watch taken from him at Egham, 

 one year ; but he caught the thief, and in true Lancashire 

 fashion, in an instant, tripped him on his back and rifled 

 his pockets, finding on him sixteen watches besides his 

 own, which alone he kept, and let the ruffian go. Saxon 

 was fond of good living, and indulged his appetite, which 

 was voracious. His favourite dish was a rump steak. 

 This he preferred very tough. As he would say, ' There 

 was something to bite at.' Though once favoured by 

 luck, as we have seen, and possessed of a fortune, he died 



