VII 



MR. HENRY SAVILE 



It is by no means the best and most desirable 

 patrons of the Turf who, as a general rule, seem to 

 enjoy the best luck — indeed it appears to me that the 

 converse is often the case, — and Mr. Henry Savile 

 had been racing for some years before his " yellow, 

 scarlet cap, gold tassel " became really famous. He 

 certainly picked up a fair number of minor events, 

 and in 1868 his home-bred Ryshworth, by Skir- 

 misher out of Vertumna, won seven of the fifteen 

 races in which he took part as a two-year-old. His 

 head defeat of Belladrum in the Troy Stakes at 

 Stockbridge was a trifle lucky, as I have explained 

 in another chapter, but he fought out a couple of 

 other close finishes with that celebrity, and was 

 very smart indeed in his first season. Unluckily 

 he then trained off, and though he earned several 

 brackets as a three-year-old, and remained in work 

 for some seasons afterwards, he cannot be described 

 as having been more than useful on the flat, and 

 will probably always be best remembered as having 

 finished second to Disturbance for the Grand 

 National of 1873. When at last, however, capri- 

 cious Fortune granted IMr. Savile a share of her 

 favours, she did it in no half-hearted fashion, and 

 Cremorne, Uhlan, Lilian, and JNIodena were all 



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