Gentlemen Riders 



found, on trying her with Express, over four miles, that the 

 latter could gallop right away from her in the last mile, though 

 the other had a stone the best of the weights. 



At Oswestry, in the same year, I bought a very good- 

 looking mare — but for curby hocks. She was own sister 

 to Old Oswestry, and was very game and generous, but too 

 slow for racing. I named her Lady Pigot, and I won only 

 one steeplechase with her. 



Nevertheless, she ran far better than I thought possible 

 in the Grant National Hunt race at Wetherby. There were 

 twenty-nine starters ; and, not being fast enough to race to 

 the front, she was seriously interfered with for the first three 

 miles ; and, though she made up a great deal of lee way after 

 that, it was too late to make any impression on the leaders, 

 and she had to be content with the barren honours of running 

 home in the sixth place. 



However, she made amends at the stud ; being the 

 granddam of that useful horse, Midshipmite, who literally 

 " farmed " the military races for some years. 



The only flat-race horses that I trained for steeplechasing 

 were Nil Desperandum, Emily Harris, Nereus (winner of the 

 Rous Stakes at Epsom), and King Charming, a horse that 

 I bought at the low price of fifteen guineas at Tattersall's. 

 He was put up for sale (in November), and no one would 

 bid more than ten guineas for him, as his only description 

 was " a black gelding." 



Mr. Tattersall, after asking whether any one in the yard 

 was the owner or represented the owners, and no response 

 being made, refused to take the bid of ten guineas. On 

 looking the horse over and being satisfied as to his apparent 

 soundness and hunting-like appearance, I bid fifteen guineas ; 

 and, after a long pause, he was knocked down to me. 



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