1 64 CHASING AND RACING 



a very high opinion of Woggy's ability as a stableman 

 and jockey. I received instruction and hints which 

 subsequently served me in good stead. Whilst my 

 horses were under the care of his excellent Dad he rode 

 many of them to victory. He just missed, by half a 

 length, winning for me " The Queen's Prize " at 

 Kempton, on Trelaske. Strange to say the winner 

 was the top weight, Chesterfield, who-^-so his owner, 

 my friend Mr. " Cleveland " Davis, solemnly informed 

 me after the race had not been off the road or out of a 

 walk for three weeks prior to the event. As the horse 

 started at extreme odds, there are good grounds for 

 accepting the owner's statement, apart from his reputa- 

 tion for unimpeachable veracity ; but it was a tall 

 order ! 



I have often wondered why " Woggy " Manser 

 was not more freely patronized by owners and trainers, 

 for he could ride round about seven stone. He never 

 put on weight, and his contemporaries " had nothing 

 on him " as regards style, strength, and general 

 efficiency. Just before the Derby of 1919, Woggy 

 (who had been given the horses of Sir Wm. Black to 

 train) wrote to me enthusiastically about that arch 

 impostor, The Panther, expressing his great affection 

 for the ungrateful animal and his complete confidence 

 in his ability to lift the blue ribbon. Apparently 

 he was a smasher at home ; but on the race- 

 course ! Oh, what a change was there ! Perchance 

 he had had a sharp reminder with the whip in that 



