SIXTY YEARS ON THE TURF 



finished the jar they were so seriously amiss that 

 " for the stomach's sake " they needed a little 

 brandy. We let a great number of people into the 

 secret, and the repeated flights over the heath to 

 get from sight of the three ale drinkers were 

 punctuated with roars of laughter. After that 

 neither Mr. Jackson nor his friends tampered with 

 our ale. They never knew when the " Shorthouse 

 brew" was on tap. 



I have mentioned in connection with Vision how 

 little intention at times I had of dealing in blood- 

 stock till the accident of situation prompted me. 

 An even more striking case, I think, was my pur- 

 chase of Victor in 1861. The February of that year 

 was an awful time ; indeed, so bad were the condi- 

 tions that the Lincoln races had to be postponed, 

 a start not occurring till Friday, February 15, the 

 Lincolnshire Handicap being run on the Saturday. 

 Sportsmen " in residence " by the Cathedral were 

 naturally hard pushed for ways to spend their time, 

 and the general resort was to cards. I was not 

 much given to that diversion, and used rather to 

 stroll about the town and beyond. When starting 

 for one of my jaunts, I happened to pass the yard 

 of the " Saracen's Head," and, glancing in, found a 

 rough sort of a countryman holding a horse. At 

 the moment I had no more idea of making a deal 



187 ,-.• 



M 1 V 



