THE TWO THOUSAND 235 



would have won, as he stayed so well. But knowing 

 Mr. Merry had backed Lord of the Isles for a great stake 

 for the Derby, we that is Mr. Parker and myself told 

 him our horse should not run in it. As Noisy went a 

 roarer after Chester, and could not beat anything after- 

 wards, this happened to be of little consequence. Yet 

 our intention of serving him was the same. Why we 

 should put Harry the Great in 7 Ib. above Lord of the 

 Isles will seem strange, unless I explain that he was 

 thought to be a good horse, and we wanted him beaten 

 that the boys might see it ; and this was the best way of 

 managing it. The running of Nabob deserves notice in 

 relation to the subsequent performance of Kingstown. 

 How he could have given Kingstown 2J st. in the Trial 

 Stakes at Salisbury and a 5 Ib. beating, and then the 

 latter within a few weeks run within three lengths of 

 Lord of the Isles at Newmarket for the Two Thousand, 

 and beat him in the Derby, is what I could never under- 

 stand unless he, Kingstown, was not half prepared in 

 the first instance. 



So much for the trial. Now for the race itself the 

 Two Thousand which was one of the most interesting 

 on record on account of the wagering upon it, which far 

 exceeded anything I remember to have heard of either 

 before or since. Three powerful stables were engaged in 

 it, and all sanguine of success, and noted for the stanch- 

 ness of their followers. Mr. Merry, the owner of Lord 

 of the Isles, in my hands, was a heavy bettor, who when 

 sanguine stood a very large stake. His opponents, 

 Messrs. Padwick and Hill, who had not at that time 

 become confederates, the owners respectively of the two 

 other favourites, St. Hubert and Kingstown, also betted 

 largely, though not to the same extent. My father 

 had Scythian, Little Harry, and many of the best horses 



