TJIFFICULTY WITH MR VILLIERS. 267 



the Duke of Kichmond, and unbosomed myself to 

 him. His Grace received me with his usual kind- 

 ness, and asked me what I myself considered the 

 best course to pursue. " Wait, your Grace, until 

 the two horses have been fairly and regularly 

 tried over the distance, and, my word for it, there 

 will not be much difficulty about deciding what to 

 do then." The Duke assured me that he was en- 

 tirely satisfied ; and although my anxiety and sense 

 of responsibility were, of course, very great, I con- 

 tinued to train both horses to the best of my 

 ability, and to await the issue. 



About a fortnight before the Derby, Mr Yilliers 

 and Colonel Anson prevailed upon the Earl of 

 Chesterfield, with whom they were very intimate, 

 to lend them his five-year- old mare, Lady Wildair, 

 in order to try Loadstone and Surplice with her. 

 Lady Wildair was known to be a very true run- 

 ner, and not long before she had won the North- 

 amptonshire Stakes (2 miles), carrying 8 st. 5 lb., 

 giving Mr B. Green's Sylvan (3 years) 2 st. 11 lb. 

 Mr Villiers had ascertained through Mr Harry Hill 

 the relative merits of Sylvan and his stable com- 

 panion, Flatcatcher, wdio had won the Two Thou- 

 sand. He therefore regarded Lady Wildair as a 

 very valuable trial horse, and through her he felt 

 sure that he should be able to ascertain whether 

 Surplice or Loadstone, or either of the two, could 

 have won the Two Thousand. In addition, I put 

 Mr Mostyn's Sagacity, 4 years, in the trial, making 



