LORD DARLINGTON AND MR. THORNHILL. 135 



devilry when a Derby winner came to the post in 

 a fret." 



There were those who thought that Sam had 

 waited too long with the magnificent Voltaire, in 

 Rowton's year, and that if he had come sooner, or 

 if the race had been fifty yards further, he would 

 have won. The latter notion is probably correct, 

 but no man with Chifney's fine knowledge of pace 

 dared hurry his horse, and try to live with Rowton, 

 at the tremendous bat at which Scott sent him along, 

 without the semblance of a pull, from the hill. All 

 he could do was to keep creeping up inch by inch, 

 and trust to the little chesnut " coming back " 

 under such terrible treatment, and then catching 

 him close at home. It was one of Bill Scott's 

 bruising days ; and when he and Sam talked over 

 the matter privately, he confessed that he was so 

 confident that he could win by twenty yards, that 

 he c( drove the horse till he was fairly drunk/' The 

 Voltaire party, headed by John Smith, his trainer, 

 who was always very jealous of the Duke's southern 

 division, were anxious to have a match, and to put 

 John Day up; while the Chifneys and Bill Scott 

 were so eager to bring them up to the scratch, that 

 they offered, with Mr. Petrels permission, and through 

 Col. Cradock, to lay 2,000 to 1,000, and run the 

 two at even weights, or to lay 1,000 even, and give 

 71bs., on the following Friday. Chifney was to have 

 ridden Rowton in the second bout, as it was his 

 riding which had been so especially attacked ; but 

 Lord Darlington, seeing that Scott and Sam were 

 so perfectly agreed as to the St. Leger running, 

 declined to lend his horse, and defeated Laurel, 

 Fleur-de-lis, &c., with him for the Cup on the 

 Thursday. 



In the case of Marcus, Sam's St. Leger luck was 

 more gloomy than ever. This son of Emilius who 

 was purchased by the Duke from Mr. Thornhill, 



