128 MEMORIES OF MEN AND HORSES 



15 h. 3! in. With the most perfect shoulders and depth 

 of girth, she has, also, extreme length of hind stroke 

 from hip to hock, with great width and sinewy, 

 muscular development all down. Best of all, however, 

 it was to see her so absolutely settled and "happy" 

 I can use no other word to express what I mean, but 

 she has evidently profited greatly by her two easy 

 victories at Newmarket. Yet it is not so long ago 

 when she would break out and shiver all over when 

 going near any of the gallops, and those who saw her 

 brought into the paddock on the Two Thousand Guineas 

 day are well aware that at that time she had by no 

 means forgotten her troubles. 



I wrote when I first heard that Mr Sievier was 

 taking on the training himself that he is a know- 

 ledgable man in most ways, but I could hardly see 

 how he was to develop right off into a capable trainer 

 of first-class thoroughbreds. However, he has already 

 falsified that prediction. ... As a matter of fact, 

 common sense will carry you a long way in most 

 affairs of life, and it has enabled Mr Sievier to rescue 

 Sceptre from what in 990 cases out of 1000 would 

 have been certain jadiness and failure. Those who 

 stand on stereotyped rules would be amazed at the 

 way in which the filly has been handled. For ex- 

 ample, on Wednesday she did no work of any descrip- 

 tion, but was simply taken out to eat grass and enjoy 

 the sun and fresh air. Moreover, there had been, 

 some little time after the return from Newmarket, a 

 period of desperate anxiety, and it speaks volumes 

 for the loyalty of the boys in the stable that this was 

 never reflected in the market. The mare either trod 

 on a stone or hurt her foot in some other way ; any- 



