"II 



ex 



dam, as to whom I possess no information. My 

 idea is that she must have been a rare good sort. 

 Some of the superfine critics, who ride well in a 

 Pullman car with a rug over their knees, objected 

 to " Ilex " at first on the ground that he showed 

 a lack of quality, whilst a few alleged that he 

 was not a thoroughbred horse, but they changed 

 their note appreciably when they saw what he 

 could do. He was as game as a pebble right 

 through. He never made a mistake with me in 

 any of those " Nationals " in which I rode him ; 

 he finished the last time resolutely as ever on 

 three legs ; he always did his best. The " short 

 uns" he could put in at the fences, if neces- 

 sary, were marvellous. As an admirer affirmed : 

 " He's a horse and a half, and the last half is the 

 best bit of him." When shall we — or, at least, 

 I — look on his like again ? As honest as a 

 Christian, if not more so than some of them, with 

 a heart as big as a mountain, never throwing up 

 the sponge until he could stagger about with it 

 no longer, so to say, a magnificent " lepper," and 

 a noble " doer," " Ilex " — I shall never forget 

 him, never ! — was certainly the ideal 'chaser. He 

 was a gentleman from the tip of his nose to the 

 top (or end) of his tail. 



83 



