SIXTY YEARS ON THE TURF 



"Well," I said, " one of the men you betted with 

 came to me, and asked me to have a ' monkey ' of 

 your bet. So, you see, you might have been throwing 

 a chance away." 



" Ah, Hodgman, I shouldn't have done it except 

 for Rous. He had seen you, and I knew by that 

 that everything was right." 



The next race of Victorious was the Chilli ngt on 

 Stakes at Wolverhampton, in the month of August. 

 Herein he had only to give The Grappler, ridden by 

 Fordham, 3 lb. As in the Goodwood Nursery he 

 had beaten that horse anyhow at 21 lb. disadvan- 

 tage, the affair seemed a "soft one." At exercise 

 that morning I met Fordham. 



" You will walk over for the Chillington Stakes," 

 he remarked. " Wadlow tells me The Grappler 

 doesn't run." 



So I said to my trainer, Balchin, " You may let 

 Victorious have what he wants. He walks over." 



Being a bit of a glutton, he did himself royally 

 well. Just before weighing out time, Fordham ran 

 to me with, " Oh, I'm so sorry. Wadlow this 

 moment has had a message from Captain Christie, 

 saying he must run The Grappler, and of course I 

 have to ride him." 



I was in a nice fix, but thinking Victorious had 

 such a deal in hand, I determined on a fighting 



184 



