362 KINGSCLERE 



quarters of a length behind Stinger. A stable-lad with 

 curly hair and a fresh complexion rode the latter, and blew 

 his nose twice before starting. At J to 1 1 Mr. Goater took 

 a glass of sherry wine: and at io m. to 1 1 called for a 

 biscuit (one of Huntley and Palmer's).' 



' Information ' not very much unlike that which the 

 next on the list supplies (from Wroughton and Bourton) 

 has occasionally been given by the gentry whose communi- 

 cations are mocked at in these ' reports.' The reference to 

 Mr. Cartwright will be enjoyed by those who were 

 acquainted with that gentleman. 



1 It is a delightful privilege for a member of my pro- 

 fession to wander through the enchanting scenery which 

 not unfrequently surrounds the training grounds of England 

 during the present enjoyable weather. I commenced my 

 tour of visits to the stables in the midland district by 

 taking the rail to Swindon, whence I proceeded to 

 Wroughton Downs, where Tom Oliver trains his horses. 

 By good fortune Mr. Cartwright happened to be there 

 when I arrived, and with that frank and disinterested 

 openness of character which so endears him to all who 

 know him, he opened his stables to my inspection, and in 

 a few brief, concise sentences, put me in possession of all 

 his racing secrets. Fairwater looked blooming, and her 

 owner thinks highly of her chance for the Oahs, for which 

 race she is already a prominent favourite. Scamander had 

 just returned from Northampton, where he had been 

 running in the stakes — unsuccessfully, of course, for his 

 conformation and general appearance indicate speed, and 

 his best distance is obviously half a mile. I was shown a 

 good-looking two-year-old called Penarth, but he has got a 

 slight splint inside one of his hocks, which I at once detected. 

 Tom Oliver smiled when I pointed out this defect, and 

 was evidently surprised at my sagacity. But nothing can 

 escape an eye so sharpened as mine is by experience of 

 a thoroughly practical nature. I next went on to Bourton, 

 near Cheltenham, where I saw Weever, who appears to 

 have wintered well, superintending the exercise of his 

 string. Emblem looked and went well. Thalestris went a 

 little short, perhaps from a cold which she caught during 

 the winter. This illness was severe for a time, but the 

 usual application of a mustard plaister on the small of her 

 back, and a bandage of brand)' and water (cold; on her 



