Colonel R. F. Meysey-Thompson 



mounts in the Peninsula was W. Everitt, whose h'sfht weieht 

 gave him many additional chances. 



Two years afterwards, when waiting to mount for a race at 

 Sandown Park, Mr. Meysey-Thompson heard a low voice say 

 behind him, " The best jockey who ever rode in Spain ;" and, 

 turning quickly round, saw Mr. Oliviera Davies — the secretary 

 of the races at Jerez de la Frontera, and brother of the famous 

 owner, Mr. Henry Davies, the employer of W. Everitt — gazing 

 at him, together with a friend, but not intending his remark to 

 be overheard. 



Going to Dublin in 1878 as A.D.C. to Major-General Sir 

 Julius Glyn, who commanded the Dublin district, Mr. Meysey- 

 Thompson purchased as chargers two highly bred young horses, 

 which had never been trained, and at once began to prepare 

 them for racing. Though illness caused him to go from Ireland 

 for a while, he was able to leave them in the charge of a man 

 who had been with him all the time in Spain, so the animals 

 were in capable hands, while the famous Alan McDonough 

 gladly kept an eye upon them in their work. The horses were 

 trained in the Phoenix Park, and great was the amusement at 

 the Curragh when it was reported that a staff officer in Dublin 

 was training his own horses, and actually intended to run them 

 at the Curragh, and ride them himself. Before the races took 

 place the Dublin staff moved to the Curragh for the drill season, 

 so the two horses finished their preparation on that famous 

 turf. By way of bravado, the day before they ran Mr. Meysey- 

 Thompson rode them both at a short Field Day, riding one 

 during the preliminary drill, and the other in the march past. 

 The next day when at the post on La Marchesa for a five- 

 furlong race, there was a false start, and the starter called to 

 the jockeys to come back. All pulled up and wended their 

 way towards the starter except one — which it afterwards 



287 



