SIXTY YEARS ON THE TURF 



But to return to Mr. Drinkald. Anxious as he 

 may have been to get 1000 to 800 about Boiardo 

 for the St. Leger of '54, when three years later it 

 came to one of his own horses in the Derby he 

 preferred to have the market to himself I must 

 say that nobody but himself believed in his Black 

 Tommy, so Mr. Drinkald escaped interference. 

 Such a contemptuous opinion had Harry Hill of 

 the Derby pretensions of the son of Womersley 

 that he laid the owner a genuine bet of £10,000 

 to a suit of clothes ! I was at the moment of 

 the finish of the race standing with Mr. Drinkald 

 in Tattersall's enclosure. His Black Tommy, on the 

 upper ground, flashed past looking all over a winner. 

 In truth, it seemed any odds on him. Thinking the 

 stake in his pocket, Mr. Drinkald shouted out. 

 *' Thank God ! I've won the Derby, and not a soul 

 is on but myself ! " 



" By heavens ! " I said, " they haven't put your 

 number up, Drinky ! They've put up Blink Bonny 's." 



I never saw a man turn such a sickly colour. 

 His swarthy cheeks seemed blanched ; and he gasped 

 as if he had received a heavy punch under the heart. 

 By a neck had the spoils gone to Malton, and 

 instead of receiving £10,000 from Harry Hill, Mr. 

 Drinkald was the loser of a suit of clothes. Black 

 Tommy, I may add, started at 200 to 1. 



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