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bought him, and he turned out to be a good stayer, 

 capable of winning several races over a distance of 

 ground, amongst them being the Town Plate at 

 Doncaster, over two miles, Her Majesty's Plate at 

 Newmarket, the Brighton Cup, and the Queen's 

 Plate at Lincoln as a three-year-old. 



A great many years ago — it must be about twenty- 

 five — the late Mr. Verrall brought out a very 

 good idea, and instituted a peculiar race. It was 

 called the Eccentric Plandicap, for supposed non- 

 stayers. I think it was a Free Handicap, and he 

 used to put in all the short-course horses, and handi- 

 cap them to run two miles at Lewes. This brought 

 out s:iveral horses that it was supposed could not 

 stay a mile. Another reason why I think it necessary 

 to try two-year-olds twice — of course I mean in the 

 spring of the year — is, that they get used to the 

 colours, and are better at jumping off at the start. 



Many a time I've seen a youngster, making its 

 debut, just as the other horses are in a line, and the 

 jockey tries to jump him in between two others, 

 stop and whip round, sometimes being left at the 

 post. This is solely through being afraid of the 

 colours, especially on a windy day. Of course, on 

 such occasions the starter is generally blamed, 

 although it is no fault of his, as the animal is quite 



