132 THE POST AND THE PADDOCK. 



Mr. Thornhill, when he was a yearling ; and such 

 was his strange prejudice against Priam, that he can- 

 didly said he " could not bear the horse/' and not 

 only lost 7,000 about him for the Derby, but backed 

 Wat very heavily for that event. The two were never 

 put together either in private or in the race, as Wat 

 broke down at Mickleham, a few days previous, and 

 it was all Crockford could do to get off Lord Dar- 

 lington's money. The faulty leg which gave way 

 had been a source of uneasiness for some time, and 

 began from the very smallest pea-like spot, on a 

 small tendon, that ever fell under veterinary eyes. 

 The Chifneys examined it anxiously morning after 

 morning, and could hardly persuade themselves that 

 it boded such deep mischief. Swiss was also another 

 of his lordship's expensive 2,500-guinea fancies. Bill 

 Scott had won the Champagne as far as possible with 

 him, as his owner (Peirse, of Richmond) wanted to sell 

 him, in consequence of his Derby nomination be- 

 coming void by Lord Clarendon's death. Colonel 

 Cradock, who had the refusal of him, and also trained 

 with Peirse, pressed his lordship very much to buy 

 him, but Will Chifney was very much against the 

 purchase, and took care that his lordship should see 

 the horse before he had been out in the morning, in 

 order that he might not "walk fine." Eventually, 

 declining the Colonel's offer to stand half, Lord Dar- 

 lington bought the horse outright, and had the mor- 

 tification of seeing him break down so seriously on 

 the near fore- tendon (which was slightly enlarged), 

 in his next gallop, that it was not only six weeks 

 before he could be removed, but he was never saddled 

 for a race again. He was a slashing, attractive- 

 looking animal, of the Whisker get ; lengthy, with a 

 deep shoulder, big ribs, and a very coarse head and 

 neck. 



It is no part of our purpose to give an invoice of 

 the victories which Sam gained in the "pink-and- 



