REMINISCENCES OF SONEPORE, 45- 



Abdobj tihyafe, who rode 'the brute, used to complain-bitterly 

 of the old gentleman's behaviour; he said he didn't mind the 

 cuts from the whip, which as often reached him as the horse, 

 nor the frequent spills, but it was the fluent native abuse 

 fired at him, to which he objected. Henry Hudson bought 

 Chocolate, and many a good race he used to fight out in these 

 years with Simmy on Indigo, and Frank Vincent on Diamond. 

 Ned Urquhart was no mean rider, nor was his brother Alec ; 

 in -fact Behar could boast the'n of at least a dozen really good 

 men, second to none of whom was Paddy Hudson, though he 

 had had the advantage of having ridden from childhood, which 

 many of the others had not; at a finish he was the master 

 of them all. One of the most amusing sights at Sonepore 

 in the fifties and sixties, used to be old Mr. Kenneth McLeod. 

 Never was ancient border chieftain a greater stickler for 

 dignity, than was the indigo king of Sarun, He used to strut 

 about dressed in full Highland toggery, looking at his horses, 

 and surrounded by a mob of sycophantic satelites. The 

 Laird of Cockpen wasn't in it with him, but though a little tin god 

 in Chupra, the Chumparun boys cared not a jot for his airs, 

 and only laughed at his harmless vanities. One day on the 

 Chupra race-course, a youngster, one of our most promising 

 G. R's., got up to ride a sulky, hard-mouthed brute called Bob, 

 jn a race in which Kenneth had entered a moderate enough 

 nag called Exshaw-No.- 1 ' t the old man asked the youth 

 what chance he thought Bob had. " Well," was the answer, 

 ".I doubt if I shall keep the brute on the course, but if I do 

 I shall" be near winning." As it happened Bob was in a good 

 humour kept, .straight, and won, though he swerved round and 

 bolted through, the opening, when still going full split, just 

 after passing the winning post. As the rider brought -Bob back 

 into the paddock, the Laird said to him in a most dignified 

 but reprehensive tone, "I thought you said young man you 

 couldn't keep that horse on the course." "I never thought 



