My Racing Adventures 



Steeplechase at Manchester in the same year, 

 when, unfortunately, though I finished the course, 

 he broke down. He was going great guns at the 

 time, and it seemed to me that victory was fairly 

 within my grasp. He only ran once afterwards 

 (1902), in the Middlesex Handicap Steeplechase 

 at Kempton, where, trying to give some good 

 horses weight, he finished nowhere. I may also 

 mention that prior to my success on him in the 

 principal event at Aintree, " Grudon " had run 

 without distinction in that race — once ridden by 

 the Australian jockey, James Hickey, who trained 

 " Moifaa " at Epsom to win the " National," and 

 once by his owner's son, Mr Morgan Bletsoe. 

 When Hickey rode him I fell at the brook on 

 " The Soarer," as to which an amusing anecdote 

 will be told in its proper place. How is it these 

 good things keep surging up in one's mind when 

 we ought to be thinking of more important 

 subjects ? If one could only muzzle one's brain 

 as well as one's mouth, many idle words might 

 go unspoken. 



Now at the stud " Grudon " is sure to be, 

 according to my judgment, a pronounced success. 

 Much depends, of course, on whether he has the 

 right sort of mares ; we cannot expect to make 

 silk purses out of sows' ears. On his own merits 



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