BLOOD SIRES. 207 



also returned to the place from whence he came for 

 1,600 guineas. Then the lengthy Woodpigeou ar- 

 rived, whose gentleness well beseemed his name, and 

 was quite atoned for by the luckless Ambrose, who 

 over and over again beat Stockwell in private, and 

 yet could never win a race on his private account, 

 though Camel and Priam have left their undeniable 

 traces on his quarters and head. He seemed by no 

 means to feel his position, as, after clearing the 

 Ring, and driving Mr. Tattersall with a Chifney rush 

 from his box, he performed three or four distinct 

 pas-seuls on his hind legs. There he was like a great 

 black fountain of animal spirits towering over every- 

 thing ; a sight enough to make old Ducrow's dust 

 " start and tremble under his feet, and blossom in 

 purple and red." 



West Australian is not deficient in quality, though 

 he is not indebted for that to his sire ; and if you go 

 into a paddock, and see a lengthy plain-headed foal 

 with lop ears gazing at you, it may be safely set 

 down as a Melbourne. The Bay Middletons are 

 generally easy to pick out, by the black speckles on 

 one of the front coronets ; the Alarms by their flesh- 

 coloured noses, and peculiarly indented-in-the-middle 

 outline of head; the Orlandoes by their tapering 

 heads, and tendency to white on the legs ; the Cowls 

 by their round quarters ; the Birdcatchers by their 

 smart airy look, low-set-on tails, and rich golden 

 chesnut ; the Touchstones by their black-brown skins, 

 intelligent white-reach faces, and peculiarly high-bred 

 nostrils ; and the Sweetmeats by their " clear-cut 

 icily-regular" foreheads, which caused a trainer to 

 exclaim one autumn, as he looked over Mr. Cookson's 

 lot in the Salutation yard, " Dear me ! I wish I 

 showed half as much breeding about the head as 

 you do." 



The pervading fault of modern horses is, that they 

 are as beautiful as a picture before the saddle, and 



