120 Indian Racing Reminiscences. 



I must pick up now the thread of my narrative. On 

 my return to Cawnporc from Calcutta during the rains 

 in 1872, after having got the money for the High Pro- 

 ficiency prize in Hindi, I received a letter from Captain 

 Maxwell asking me to lend him Brown Duchess, on 

 racing terms. I assented to this, and despatched her off 

 to Uehra Doon to him. She won, for the second year 

 in succession, the Dehra Grand Annual Steeplechase, 

 ridden by Captain Papillon, and beating War Eagle and 

 some other good horses. That fine horseman, Charley 

 Bailey, of the 20th Hussars, not satisfied with his defeat 

 in the Doon, carefully schooled War Eagle over the 

 Umballa course, and got him so fit and clever, that 

 he beat his former double victress, after one of the 

 finest races over a country ever witnessed in India. 



When the mare came back to me, I found that the 

 people of Cawnpore were willing to make an attempt 

 to revive the glories of that old racing centre, so I 

 asked some of the local swells to be stewards, sent 

 round the hat, drew out a prospectus, and advertised 

 the races to come off, just before the Soncpore fixture. 

 We added five hundred rupees to the steeplechase, and 

 got a large number of entries, though the flat events 

 were not well patronised. "Bricky" Collins brought 



