50 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



Buckle, by chance, saw her, and, with that quick de- 

 cision which so strongly marked his character, asked 

 the groom her price. " I'ifty, sir." " I'll have her," 

 was the reply. The mare was accordingly in the 

 very act of being led to Buckle's stable when her 

 noble owner appeared. " Hallo ! " addressing the 

 groom, " who has bought that filly ? " " Buckle, my 

 lord." '' Ho ! Buckle bought her ? She sha'n't go; 

 there must be something more about her than we 

 think ; take her back." And back she went, but 

 only to come forward as the best mare that ever ran 

 in England. Although no explanation or acknow- 

 ledgment ever followed this novel mode of being off, 

 Buckle never grumbled.' ^ 



Indeed, he was one of the coolest men that ever 

 mounted a horse, and to the fact that he never lost 

 his composure may be attributed many of his vic- 

 tories. A jockey who loses his nerve at a critical 

 moment in a race had better give up riding. 



Buckle's chief competitor was Dennis Fitzpatrick, 

 and ae:ainst him some of Buckle's best riding^ was 

 called forth. In the race between Hambletonian 

 and Diamond for 3,000 guineas he is acknowledged 

 to have displayed the most consummate skill, and to 

 have won the race by manoeuvring between the ditch 

 and the turn of the lands, so as to have gained 

 considerably u]3on his antagonist ere they pushed up 



* New Sjportinff Magazine, 1832. 



