THE FETISH OF NEWMARKET 



it. There are so many sets that the place is rendered 

 impossible socially. There are those immediately 

 surrounding the King, such as Lord Fitzwilliam, Mr 

 Leopold de Rothschild and Sir Ernest Cassel. There 

 are always one dinner during a royal visit at the house 

 of these three. Mr Leopold de Rothschild lives at 

 Palace House — a former residence of royalty, hence 

 the name. Those who are privileged to stay there 

 are very well entertained, for each guest not only has 

 a bedroom with bathroom, but a sitting-room which 

 is his own private quarters. Mr Leopold de Roths- 

 child usually hacks out to the course or to the Bury 

 side in the morning to see the work, but his guests can 

 do as they please. He entertains as befits the environ- 

 ment, and is a prince of good sportsmen. He trusts 

 implicitly his trainer, Watson, but makes all his own 

 engagements for the horses in his stable, taking his 

 own judgment absolutely in this respect. He is a 

 keen reader of character and has few prejudices. 



When Mr Rothschild won the Derby with St Amant 

 one of his first cares was to send a wire off to his sons 

 at Harrow telling them of the victory. It was his 

 common-sense of giving Kempton Cannon an absolutely 

 free hand as to how he rode the colt that perhaps 

 won him the coveted honour. Kemmy told me about 

 it afterwards. " Having no orders to obey Mr Roths- 

 child, and Mr Watson having absolutely left it to me, 

 I let him slip to the front the moment I got a chance, 

 fifty or a hundred yards after he left the gate, and, as 

 you know so well, after this he was never headed." 

 Perhaps he was lucky to beat John o' Gaunt, who was 

 ridden by Mr George Thursby, who by the by was also 

 second on Picton to Spearmint in 1906. Mr Thursby 

 never realised his ambition of winning a classic race, 

 but it is doubtful whether any living professional 



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