96 IRiMuG IRecollections an^ Zxwt Stories 



" Mr. York," Joseph Dawson training for him. Mr. 

 Formby made so certain of winning this Cup that he 

 paid the two other horses' stakes, and gave them a 

 consideration to start, as the conditions that year 

 were that four were to start, or the Cup would not 

 be given. Hunt, the present steeplechase rider — 

 then a boy, living with Mr. Joseph Dawson— 

 rode ' Kennington ' in the Northumberland Plate, 

 and he was so certain about winning also at Brighton 

 that he thought he had only to let his horse canter 

 in front and go and win as he liked ; but ' Border 

 Knight,' although he made a slight noise, was a very 

 speedy horse. The distance was two miles, and we 

 used to start almost at the Rottingdean road, and 

 run nearly straight — in fact, it was quite straight to 

 the mile-post. I waited behind ' Kennington,' and 

 Hunt seemed quite content to let his horse canter 

 along, so I thought to myself, "If you will only go 

 like this a little more than half-way it will be all 

 right ;" and so it was. When we got to the bottom 

 of the hill, Hunt looked round, but couldn't see what 

 1 was doing, as I was right in his track. The proper 

 place to get, if you are riding a very handy horse 

 like ' Border Knight,' is about three parts of a length 

 from the other horse's quarters, so as to let all the 

 dust or dirt, whichever it may be, thrown up from 



