Mr. " Tnr' Baker. 217 



owner, who took him down to Secunderabad and won a 

 mile and a half race against Arabs with him, then ran 

 him in a handicap with eleven stone up, with the result 

 that the colt dropped dead. 



From the effects of the Umballa Chase, Freetrader 

 went lame in one of his fore-legs, which had for some 

 years before been " dicky," so I sent him back to Calcutta. 



Taking the meetings one after another, I went to 

 Meerut with Jovial on the sick list and Sikundur in rare 

 trim. As the latter did not belong to me, and as there 

 was no betting on his race, I did not feel justified in 

 paying Mr. Short Rs. 200 for a winning or Rs. 100 for a 

 losing mount, so put up Mr. "Tim " Baker of the Royal 

 Scots, whom I told to let the Arab have his head, and 

 not to touch the plain snaffle which I had put into his 

 mouth. Mr. Baker having had a previous " school " 

 on Sikundur, was quite willing, at first, to follow my 

 instructions, but was over-persuaded by some would-be 

 good advisers to demand from me a snaffle in which to 

 ride him. I begged that the gear might remain as it 

 was ; but a lady, who is the finest horsewoman 1 have 

 ever seen in India, came up while the discussion was 

 going on, and begged that I might not sacrifice Tim's 

 life for a " fad " of my own. To prove my point, I 



