52 SPORTING STORIES 



never be started ; but started he was, although the stable 

 lad told Mr Blenkiron, " He canna rin, sir, for I've baith 

 fed and watered him myself." Yet run he did, and came 

 in second, and next day saved the stakes by coming in 

 third for the Gimcrack event. This all helped to make 

 the owner very sweet upon the colt ; so much so, that 

 when John Gill was asked his price the reply was, " Noa, 

 I'se sure a' Lunnon wadn't buy him. " 



Next spring, however, he unfortunately got loose to a 

 mare, and from that day would never pass one afterwards 

 in a trace, so he was swapped away for three mares to 

 Jemmy Messer of No-Man's-Land — a spot, by the way, 

 where many a prize-fight came off in the palmy days of 

 the P.R. — and that was the ignominious end of the wonder- 

 ful first foal of Glance. 



Among the Yorkshire trainers of the early Victorian era 

 there was none more amusing than " Billy " Pierse. Billy 

 owed the greater part of his prosperity to his wife. "If 

 ever I saved a shilling, my wife saved sixpence of it," he 

 used to say. Mrs Pierse took an active part in the manage- 

 ment of the stable, and it was said she had the quicker eye 

 of the two for discovering anything wrong in a horse. 

 With a walking-stick in her hand and an old crunch bonnet 

 on her head, she would stand at the door of the house every 

 morning and watch each horse as it left the yard ; and if 

 she called out, " I say, turn him back, mun ; that horse is 

 lame," there was no mistake about it. 



Billy's only interference in household matters was to 

 insist upon a roast goose every Sunday during the season, 

 and to buy twice as much meat as was required, the 

 overplus of which his good-hearted helpmate gave to 

 the poor. 



In his earlier days Billy was in the front rank of jockeys, 

 and renowned as a powerful finisher and fine judge of pace. 

 He hated quarrelling, and was a wonderful peacemaker. 

 Mr Tomline, the judge at Richmond (Yorks), used to tell 

 how cleverly Pierse stopped a quarrel between two jockeys 

 who had ridden a punishing finish and got to high words 

 about the issue. Trotting back past the chair to weigh-in, 

 he called out, " How far did I win, Mr Tomline?" 



