74 Among Men and Horses. 



frequently said a good word in its columns for my Veterinary 

 Notes. Mr Comyns Cole, its chief racing reporter and * Van 

 Driver' of Bailey, has often given me a helping hand. He 

 is a charming writer, accomplished scholar, and polished 

 gentleman of the stately old school. Another able man on 

 the splendid staff of The Field is Mr Blew, who is a capable 

 horseman, as well as as a clever journalist. 



A journalist for whom I had a sincere friendship, was poor 

 William Martin, the late 'Special Commissioner' of The Sport- 

 ing Life. His father was Mr Martin, the old Newmarket trainer 

 who used to look after the famous Tim Whiffler. His brother, 

 Edwin Martin, won the Cambridgeshire on Bathilde, and now 

 trains for Mr John Corlett and ' Mr Morton,' who owned 

 Dalmeny. Poor Bill Martin was as fine a fellow as ever 

 walked in shoe leather ; ' straight,' independent, and bright. 

 He had been brought up among horses and knew their 

 * points ' to perfection. I saw a great deal of him and his 

 worthy brother Edwin, both of whom were kindness itself 

 to us when we lived in Newmarket. In connection with 

 Edwin, who is a careful and able trainer, I may mention the 

 following incident which is illustrative of the way in which 

 trials sometimes go wrong. Having Dalmeny ready for the 

 Goodwood Stewards' Cup of 1885, and wishing to find out if 

 his candidate was in form, he * put him together ' with the 

 Russian-bred horse, Perkun. Between two animals there 

 could hardly have been a greater difference. Dalmeny was 

 a small horse, all wire and whipcord ; while the foreigner 

 was of great height and substance. In the trial over a short 

 distance, the big horse so effectively 'smothered' the little 

 one, that Mr Martin naturally advised the owner and Mr 

 Corlett not to back him. ' Mr Morton ' is one of those fine, 

 stubborn Englishmen who would sooner lose money than 

 have a horse of his run unbacked for a big race. He was 

 rewarded for his pluck; for his 'got on' his ^"300 (I believe 

 that was the amount he wagered) at a good price, and Dal- 

 meny won cleverly. The explanation of the misleading trial 



