AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE 497 



where the winning post was. You never saw him until 

 he almost came close to the finish." 



" In judging a race, and the placings in a close finish, 

 how did you come to your verdict ? " 



" I could tell pretty nearly fifty yards from home 

 which was winning; but sometimes Archer used to 

 come in the last three or four strides, and then you had 

 to look mighty quick. Practice does wonders. You 

 have nothing to go by but the colours." 



" Did you ever make a mistake in your life ? " 



" I am not aware that I did. Some people might say 

 so : I can't say. I never made one, knowing it to be a 

 mistake. You see the crowd and the judge are often 

 placed at different angles in judging a race, and that 

 is very likely to cause a difference of opinion in a close 

 finish. Now, Archer, I tell you, he used sometimes to 

 come in in the last three or four strides; it was done 

 in a twinkling, and John Osborne used to do the same 

 thing. He had a terrible rush with him at the finish, 

 had John. Like Archer, he was a terrible strong 

 finisher, and so was Aldcroft." 



''' Whom do you think the finest finisher you ever 

 saw?" 



" Jim Robinson was a grand finisher, but none of 

 them better than John Osborne. Of the latter-day 

 jockeys I have not seen any men better than those I 

 have named. Ah, yes, I had forgotten George 

 Fordham; he was a real good jockey. Watts, in the 

 present day, is a fine horseman, and so was Tom Cannon. 

 I should think Jim Robinson as great a jockey as I ever 

 saw, and after him would place Archer, George 

 Fordham, John Osborne, Aldcroft, and Watts. I don't 

 know which to pick out as the very best of the lot. One 

 was just about as good as the other. 



2K 



