BRITISH STABLES AND FOREIGN METHODS. 



553 



East Ilsley was luckier in 1866, when they tried Achievement at lolbs. with the 

 seven-year-old Grisette, half a mile and a hundred yards, and the young one came in 

 six lengths ahead. The year before both Grisette and Riistic had beaten Lord Lyon, 

 the mare carrying gst. ylb. to the 8st. of both the two-year-olds ; and in spite of 

 Lord Lyons wonderful showing as a yearling against Uzabel in 1864, his later 

 trial evidently made Sir R. Sutton think that Rustic was the better horse. On 

 August 3 and 17 in 1865 Lord Lyon beat the three-year-old Gardevisure with 

 considerable ease, receiving iSlbs. and i7lbs. on the respective occasions. 



The authors of the "Badminton" volume on "Racing" give another very 

 interesting instance of a 

 misleading trial which 

 took place on the Mon- 

 day in the Epsom sum- 

 mer week of 1867. Sir 

 Joseph Hawley believed 

 so strongly in the merits 

 of The Palmer that, in 

 the winter before, he 

 betted Mr. Chaplin 

 ,40,000 that his horse 

 would beat Hermit for 

 the Derby, and was 

 apparently confirmed in 

 his opinion by a trial in 

 which The Palmer beat 



three other three-year-olds on May 20 over a mile and a half. When he tried 

 Rosicnuian on May 12, 1868, the brown's victory over Blue Gown and The Palmer 

 settled all his chances for racing immediately afterwards, and in another trial nine 

 days afterwards he came in last of four. Scarcely less disastrous was Sir Joseph's 

 trial of May 20, 1869, when Lictor and Morna, the two winners, were placed second 

 in Derby and Oaks respectively. Few owners can afford, as Lord Falmouth 

 enjoyed doing, to see their horses race without a trial at all, and only find out 

 their form at the finish of a classic race. He probably lost far less by it than 

 many would imagine, and even he could not resist the temptation, now and then, 

 to see whether he had really got hold of a good thing or not, if only to gratify 



VOL. III. N 



By permission of His 

 Majesty the King. 



" Nunsuch " with filly by " Persimmon " 

 at Sandringham. 



