JAMES MERRY 



for sale at Doncaster. He had been named " All 

 Heart and No Peel," in spite of which terrible 

 appellation Peck took a very strong liking to him, 

 and pressed upon Mr. JNIerry the extreme advisa- 

 bility of buying him. The latter did not exhibit 

 any very great enthusiasm in the matter, as by this 

 time he was really ill, and the great interest that he 

 used to take in his horses had waned considerably. 

 However, he at last gave way to the urgent repre- 

 sentations of his trainer, and said, " You can go to 

 a thousand, and no more," adding almost immedi- 

 ately, " I'll bid for him myself," being evidently 

 afraid that Peck, in his desire to secure a yearling 

 for which he had such a great fancy, might forget 

 the Uinit as to price that had been imposed. Don- 

 caster — to give him the name that he received very 

 soon afterwards — was one of those big commanding 

 yearlings that invariably excite great admiration in 

 a sale ring, and the competition for him was brisk. 

 Mr. James — better known afterwards as "Rose- 

 bery" — Smith bid 900 guineas, and then INIr. 

 Merry, instead of going boldly to a thousand in 

 his old style, merely advanced another fifty. This 

 was an anxious moment for Peck. One more bid 

 and he knew that the colt was lost to him, but no 

 happy inspiration came to JNIr. Smith, and a Derby 

 winner in jjosse went to Russley at 950 guineas. 



At that time it was far too frequently the custom 

 to send yearlings into the sale ring as much loaded 

 with fat as though they had been prize beasts 

 intended for a cattle show, and Doncaster, being 

 always a very gross horse, was even worse in this 

 respect than the general run of youngsters. Peck 

 made every attempt to train him as a two-year-old, 

 but he was so hog fat that it was absolutely im- 

 possible to get him into racing condition at that 

 age. Each time that he was tried the result was 



53 



