THE DUKE OF PORTLAND 



ceedingly irritable, and then the man at his head 

 had a very uncomfortable time of it. The use of 

 a muzzle counteracted his trick of occasionally 

 biting, but, if Fordham happened to be called 

 away for a moment, on his return he would 

 usually find the colt chasing the man round the 

 box. The end of it was that lads would not stop, 

 and two or three threw up their places rather than 

 continue to assist at St. Simon's toilet. Even 

 when he was in the best and most amiable of 

 humours, it was a wearisome business. He would 

 come in, sweating freely, after a good gallop. 

 Fordham would start perhaps on his ofF-side, and 

 get him thoroughly dry and comfortable, but by 

 the time he had finished the near- side, the off 

 would be as bad as ever, and he could only begin 

 the work all over again. Even in the winter his 

 rug was often wet through in the morning on the 

 side on which he had lain, and, in summer, he 

 would occasionally not be really dry for a week 

 together. On my remarking to Fordham that it 

 must have required a good deal of patience to look 

 after him, he replied, " Patience ! Talk about Job, 

 sir. Job never done a St. Simon," a quaint speech 

 which struck me as being well worthy of preserva- 

 tion. St. Simon was always a difficult horse to box 

 when starting on a railway journey, and Fordham 

 found that the easiest way to manage the operation 

 was to back him in. He never gave quite so much 

 trouble in this respect as on the occasion of his 

 travelling from Newmarket to Welbeck to begin 

 his duties at the stud. It really seemed as though 

 he understood that his racing days were over, and 

 resented the fact of such an early retirement. He 

 entirely declined to be backed in, and treated the 

 exhibition and cracking of a whip behind him with 

 utter contempt. At last, when fully four hours 



172 



