GREEN; YELLOW SLEEVES, BELT, AND CAP 



elsewhere his jockey, to have an excellent chance. Some 

 idea of the circumstances surrounding the race may be 

 gathered from what I wrote about it in my book, and 

 I am tempted to quote. 



" Cushendun's owner really took very little interest 

 in his horses ; more often than not he failed to attend 

 the meetings at which they came out, but we did go to 

 Liverpool to see Cushendun run for the National of 

 1 901. We left Euston at an early hour, breakfasting 

 in the train, and I congratulated my companion on the 

 brilliance of the weather, for the sun was shining 

 brightly. I explained that the horses in the great 'chase 

 went a long way off into what is called ' the country,' 

 and unless the atmosphere happened to be clear, as it 

 was evidently going to be on this occasion, one missed 

 much of the spectacle. Before we reached Liverpool 

 the sky clouded over, sleet began to fall, presently 

 turning into snow. As we drove to Aintree it was 

 coming down in large flakes, and at three o'clock, when 

 preparations were being made for the event of the day, 

 there were some inches of snow on the ground. A 

 regular blizzard developed. It was almost impossible 

 to see across the course, and some of the owners and 

 trainers hastily got up a petition to the Stewards begging 

 them to postpone the race. Postponement leads to all 

 sorts of inconveniences, for in the racing season every 

 day is occupied, and the Stewards decided that the race 

 must be run. Mr. Saunders-Davies rode Cushendun, 



40 



