CHAPTER XI 



Blair Athol's first Runner wins The Fairfield Sale, 1868 Blair 

 Athol in the Ring Foreign Buyers Mr Blenkiron beats 

 them all The Fish Fight at Whitby How Sir Harcourt 

 Johnstone was defeated " King " Hudson in York Castle 

 Our Dogs at Rugby Their Life with the Pastrycook 

 Horrible Story of a Bagged Fox Fags and their Duties 

 A Duplicated Supper Moberly's goes one better 



SO long as Jex-Blake remained at Rugby I never 

 really lost interest in work, and the year 1868 

 passed reasonably well, so that details of it are 

 needless, as regards the school life. At home, however, 

 there was a great event on 2ist April for on that day 

 Fitzwilliam, the first two-year-old runner by Blair Athol, 

 made his debut at Thirsk and, with odds of 6 to 4 on him, 

 won the Mowbray Stakes in a common canter by five 

 lengths. He was ridden by Tom Chaloner, arid I shall 

 never forget the unadulterated joy which I felt as I saw 

 him win, for I loved Blair Athol, as did many another 

 Yorkshire man and woman. What a brilliant augury 

 this was for his future success at the stud ! 



In point of fact it was not so brilliant as it seemed, 

 for Fitzwilliam, who was a bloodlike dark bay colt, took 

 a dislike to racing after that first race, and never won again. 

 A year later he was in the hands of Blakey, a most capable 

 breaker and rough-rider at Coxwold, who schooled him 

 well over fences and rode him to hounds from time to 

 time, but he was a faint-hearted beast and sadly dis- 

 appointing. 



However, Blair Athol was not dependent on Fitzwilliam 



for his early stud fame, for he had other two-year-olds 



that year, among whom Scottish Queen and Ethus were 



notable. Scottish Queen ran only twice as a two-year-old, 



117 



