AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE 317 



Voltigeur was very fond of cats. I fancy if you 

 were to ask, there is a life-likeness of Voltigeur 

 by Landseer, and the cat is taken with him. 

 Voltigeur always had a cat with him, and his cat 

 travelled with him to the meetings. Ormonde, 

 they say, had his cat ; and The Flying Dutchman 

 had his at home. So far as concerns myself, I 

 have not had an extraordinary case of cats being 

 partial to horses." 

 His ideas on breeding are curtly expressed as 

 follows : — 



" I have no pet theories about breeding. I 



generally study the ' crosses ' over before I send 



my mares away to what I think will suit. I 



have never studied the ' figure system.' I see 



the ' Special Commissioner ' in the S'portsman 



thinks that, according to his ideas, one ought not 



to make a mistake. Of course there has been a 



lot of people mating their mares through his 



advice, and we shall see how they turn out. I 



suppose there is a bit luck in breeding. For 



example, take the case of an own brother and 



sister: one may be a bad 'un and the other 



a good 'un. When I have known a horse of a 



good strain I have hung to him, independent of 



fashion." 



Some few years ago General Owen Williams 



brought before the notice of the Jockey Club the much 



discussed question of the age-date of racehorses. John 



Osborne's views on the matter were expressed in the 



following interview with Mr. T. W. Gale, one of our 



leading and most respected sporting journalists, whose 



writings on Turf and Boxing matters have constituted 



him a high authority. The interview, which is repro- 



