84 ashgill; or, the life 



kicked the j^oor brute in a delicate private part, thereby 

 causing the lameness which hitherto had baffled the 

 most anxious search to discover. The news was, of 

 course, speedily communicated by Mr. Colpitts to " Old 

 William," who, on hearing it, was driven almost to 

 distraction. The culprit was brought before him, duly 

 interrogated, and the confession of guilt made. The 

 recreant was thrashed alm^ost within an inch of his life 

 by the pardonably irate trainer, and then driven 

 headlong from the stables. Needless to add that, with 

 the cause removed, Blair Athol's lameness soon dis- 

 appeared, and that he became thoroughly sound. But 

 for Mr. Colpitts' luck}^ discovery, it is quite probable 

 that one of the grandest horses of the century — poor 

 Jim Snowden always averred he was the greatest horse 

 he ever rode — ^would have been robbed of Derby and 

 St. Leger honours by a wretched, inhuman stable lad. 

 After his racing career, Blair Athol became the property 

 of John Jackson, and he stood as a sire at Fairfield, 

 near York, a place which Jackson purchased and 

 directed as a breeding establishment up to the time 

 of his death. 



