AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE 



461 



at the same time he had a nice gauge of the merits of 

 his own mount." Often enough he looked " out of it " 

 as the distance was reached, but then he made "the 

 Chifney rush," which often enough turned an apparent 

 forlorn hope into a real triumph. Chifney 's method 

 was explained in his own words. " Suppose a man had 

 been carrying a stone, too heavy to be placed in one 

 hand, would he not find much ease by shifting it into 

 the other? But in this, caution is required to preserve 

 a due equihbrium, so as not to disturb the action of a 

 tired horse." 



A contemporarv^ of Chifney's was James Robinson, 

 whose early experience was gained in the stable of Mr. 

 Eobson, whose talents were only eclipsed by the super- 

 excellent ones of Chifney. He rode the winners of the 

 Derby and St. Leger of 1823, and got a douceur of 

 £1000 from the Scotch gentleman who was a great 

 winner over the two victories. The following year he 

 won the Derby and Oaks, and was married the same 

 week, thus consummating, so the tale goes, "a pre- 

 diction — according to another — a bet, which is much 



the more likely." 



As a contemporary horseman with Osborne, 

 Fordham, and Archer, the opinion of a highly intelh- 

 gent member of the fraternity like the now retired 

 Tommy Heartfield is not unworthy of being introduced 

 into our pages. Casually coming across " Tommy " in 

 the first-class refreshment room of York station, we 

 tapped him in regard to horsemen who had come under 

 observation in his time. " Well," he said, entering con 

 amove into the spirit of the subject, " in regard to John 

 Osborne many opinions prevail. He rode in the old- 

 fashioned style of coming with a long run at the finish. 

 Sometimes he won and sometimes he lost by adopting 



