AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE -109 



CHAPTER XXI 



" He kept a stud of horses ; 'twas his pride to see them run, 

 And his sideboard was covered with the trophies they had won." 



Actuated by a fine sentiment and a full appreciation 

 of his all-round merits, the friends of John Osborne 

 determined in 1892, he then being in his fifty-ninth 

 year, to raise a national testimonial to signahse the 

 close of his career as a jockey. It was only too 

 apparent in that year — ^he had not long recovered from 

 the terrible accident at Hull — that Time was making 

 inroads upon his strength, if not his skill as a horseman. 

 Nor had his business as a trainer been so flourishing 

 as could have been desired, for Brecongill was not now 

 furnished with so many good horses. Though not a poor 

 man by any means in the sense that he was actually 

 dependent upon his fees as a jockey for the wherewithal 

 to exist, it was known that he had a large family to 

 maintain, and with a generous, kindly, and appreciative 

 spirit the movement for raising a Testimonial Fund 

 was quietly and effectively worked. Aided by the 

 sporting Press, which embraced most cordially the 

 opportunity to do honour to a worthy man who had 

 been a central figure in the strife and struggle and 

 excitement of Turf life for nearly half a century, the 

 Testimonial soon accumulated into a substantial amount 



