38 REMINISCENCES OF SONEPORE. 



Iy she broke down half a mile from home, and then Curran and 

 Barker fought out a desperate and unnecessary finish, the re- 

 sult a dead heat. Of course a walk over with Roebuck 

 settled matters, but either Mr.McLeod must have forgotten to 

 tell the jockeys of his declaration to win with the Cape, 

 or he should have carpeted Curran for running the risk 

 of breaking down his horse for no benefit to public, owner, 

 or himself ; perhaps Curran had had a wee drappie. The 

 Welter brought out Mr. Wallace's Legerdemain ridden by 

 Mr. Stocks, a new Cape horse called Cossack of Mr. Mc- 

 Leod's, and the ever ready to fill a race Mr. Simmy weighed 

 in with Boomerang, but the Lower Bengal planter once 

 more bested young Tirhoot, and Legerdemain won by 

 three lengths cantering. A race for Arab hacks was won 

 by Simmy, on Mr. Pilgrim's Jacob Faithful, after a really 

 good race with Mr. Fraser McDonell on Rector, a game Arab, 

 the property of Frank Vincent, who had bought him from 

 Colonel Blood of Bombay, the Colonel gave Rs. 2,500 for him. 

 As an untried four-year-old, he won the Lahore Derby, and 

 several other races, but became such a confirmed puller that he 

 was sold, and bought by Mr. Vincent for Rs. 700, he won the 

 ten mile race at Sonepore, and several others for his new owner. 

 Eventually Rector became the property of an officer named 

 Wyld, nicknamed ''Jonathan" Wyld, of the 4Oth N. I., and 

 during the Mutiny bolted right into the enemies' ranks while 

 charging, his rider finding he could not pull him up, drew his 

 revolver, shot the horse, and flung himself off, unhurt ; Rector's 

 after fate is unknown. Little interest was evinced over the 

 Galloway race, only a pony of Simmy's daring to try con- 

 clusions with the crack Chocolate, on whom Mr. Hudson 

 had an easy win. On the fourth day, the big thing was the 

 Sonepore Cup, and Diana, Helen, and Sir Charles Oakley's 

 Mercury, declared to start. Helen was not fancied at all, but 

 the betting on the English and Australian competitors was very 



