300 CAMBRIDGESHIRE TRIALS 



suppose, in St. Albans being out of form on the Friday, 

 thus proving the correctness of Mr. Chifney's remark 

 that ' horses cannot be made to keep their form from one 

 day to another.' Still, it was ' public running.' 



In 1863 another of mine, Catch 'em Alive, won as a 

 four-year-old, carrying 7 St., and beating thirty-two 

 others. To the dispute as to his carrying the proper 

 weight and the fortunate termination of it, I will refer 

 later. I will only say that in his trial he had shown 

 himself as good as Johnny Armstrong at even weights, 

 and 2J st. better than Muezzin. For the purposes of 

 comparison we find Johnny Armstrong on the same day, 

 and in the race immediately preceding the Cambridge- 

 shire, winning the Eowley Mile Plate, beating Croagh 

 Patrick, Caller On, and five others. Caller Ou had that 

 year won seventeen races, including the Northumberland 

 Plate, carrying 8 st. 8 lb., beating fourteen others. Now 

 this was equivalent to putting Caller Ou in the Cam- 

 bridgeshire at 6 st. 10 lb., and Johnny Armstrong at 7 st. 

 or thereabouts, or with some- 2 st. less on them than 

 they would have carried had they been entered. This 

 made Catch 'em Alive' s chance on paper a moral, if not 

 an actual certainty. Yet he, like Weatherbound, only 

 won by a head ; though, like her, from an accountable 

 reason losing so much at the start, and neither being 

 able to catch the other horses until the last few strides. 



In 1855 Sultan, as a three-year-old, carrying 7 st. 

 6 lb., won the race very easily. He had been tried with 

 Nabob two and a quarter miles at 10 lb. and beat him, 

 and it was thought that the Cesarewitch as well as the 

 Cambridgeshire would fall to him. But in the long race 

 he appears, for some reason or other, to have tired after 

 passing the Bushes, when he had the best of everything 

 in the race, but was soon after beaten easily. This I could 



