28o MEMORIES OF MEN AND HORSES 



class, was Carlton, who won the Manchester November 

 Handicap over the old course in 1887, with 9 st. 12 Ib. 

 in the saddle. That was a record which has not been 

 approached since then Ravensbury, 1894, and St 

 Maclou, 1902, coming nearest to it, with 9 st. 4 Ib. each. 



Many of us remember Carlton's owner, Count 

 Mokronoski, a garrulous old sportsman, with many quaint 

 ideas, one of which was that puffiness or gumminess of 

 joints betokened a horse's descent from Young Gouty, 

 on whom that name, in his opinion, was bestowed 

 because his knees or other joints were affected in a 

 manner similar to the legs and feet of gouty old 

 gentlemen, who at that period were very numerous. I 

 think it was in reference to Old Petronel that he first 

 propounded to me this remarkable theory. Certainly 

 Petronel was puffy about his knees and joints, and he 

 transmitted this fault to some of his stock, as also did 

 other horses, but it needs rather a stretch of imagina- 

 tion to assume that Young Gouty (foaled in 1805) was 

 caput horum et causa malorum, or that he received 

 his name for any such reason as that which Count 

 Mokronoski alleged. The eccentric old Count thought 

 no end of Carlton, whom he eventually sold to his friend 

 Prince Lubomirski, for, I think, 5000 guineas, and the 

 horse finished his stud career in Poland. 



I cannot recall that he ever had any success at the 

 stud in England, except when he sired Kozak, who did 

 Sir Claude de Crespigny many a good turn. 



Some people attach undue importance to the time- 

 test as proving the merit or demerit of horses, and 

 certainly since Sloan taught English jockeys how to 

 ride races as races all the way much more can be 

 learned from the time than used to be the case ; but it 



