240 SAM DARLING'S REMINISCENCES 



surely better to retire before you begin to fail, 

 and not to " lag superfluous on the stage," as so 

 many do after they have seen their best day. 



Were it not for my somewhat extensive farming 

 operations, I might still have felt able to carry on 

 the training stable for some years to come, but the 

 two responsibilities combined seemed rather too 

 much ; and as my son Fred was available to take 

 over the stable, I thought it best for all concerned 

 to arrange that he should do so. Needless to say, 

 this does not mean that I have ceased to be in- 

 terested in the stable. My new house is only a few 

 hundred yards away from the old one, and Fred 

 can always count on me for any advice I may be 

 able to give him — not that he wants much, for he 

 has had a lot of experience. I have a horse or 

 two of my own in the stable, and shall hope to 

 see my colours — black body, harlequin sleeves, 

 gold tassel on cap — to the fore in races to come 

 throughout several years yet ; but the continuous 

 pressure of training and racing is now relaxed — 

 not by any means so that the wheels may run down, 

 for I have still plenty to do. 



A twelve-hundred-acre farm affords amply suffi- 

 cient occupation for any one who is determined to 

 get the best possible results from it, and I suppose 

 there is no more healthy life than that of a farmer, 

 who spends so much of his time out of doors. Any- 



