THE NOBLE ART OF BACKING WINNERS 229 



Everybody has heard of Hackness 

 Cambs. day, or rather the day on which 

 it was postponed owing to the storm, 

 and of Robert the Devil's Leger, when 

 a boat would have floated comfortably 

 in the paddock, on both of which occa- 

 sions I was present ; but for swallowing 

 pure oxygen and catching all the winds 

 that blow, commend me to Lewes downs 

 or Cannock Chase, where once at a 

 coursing meeting we experienced the 

 worst tornado I ever was in. 



What charming training-quarters one 

 sees at Newmarket, and dotted about all 

 over the country ! There is, however, no 

 prettier or more cosy little spot any- 

 where than Tom Cannon's little castle 

 at Danebury, the scene of so many 

 grand coups in the high gambling 

 Hastings era. Tom Cannon lays his 

 grounds out in flowers of his own 

 racing colours, red and white stripes, and 



