154 ^^^ Scarlet and Silk 



him," for nobody else seemed to understand 

 how to ride this good but eccentric horse. 



Old Joe was essentially of the slow, stay- 

 ing "hunter" type, and had not a very good 

 field to tackle when he won in 1886. Game- 

 cock, an immense favourite with oi polloi, 

 took the race the following year, and then 

 Tom Cannon sent out a winner, in Playfair, 

 from the famous stable at Danebury in 1888. 



As I before said, Frigate's turn to win came 

 at last. She was a wonderfully clever fencer, 

 never made mistakes, and could stay, at her 

 own pace, for a week. The mare was very 

 wiry, but a bit too light, apparently, to be 

 in the very first class. Ilex was a good 

 horse, but "no catch" to train, and never 

 (speaking from memory) did any good after 

 winning the Liverpool. Come Away again 

 put the Irish on good terms with themselves 

 in 1 89 1, and, caught at his best, he was an 

 out-of-the-common good horse. Captain (now 

 Major) E. R. Owen rode his first Grand 

 National winner in the queer-tempered little 

 Father O'Flynn, which had not long before 



