'BIRD ON THE WING: 173 



This led to Mr. Milner laying Mr. Merry the heavy 

 wager of £5,000 that Bird on the Wing beat Sally in 

 the next year's Oaks. Afterwards she appears to 

 have run quite as badly in several races, but finished 

 up by winning a little race at Northallerton Autumn 

 Meeting, beating three others, with odds of 7 to 4 

 on her. 



Early the next year she came to me through Mr. 

 Parker ; and her doings whilst in my hands are of 

 special interest, as exhibiting the eccentricities, to use 

 a mild term, of your fashionable jockey. She was a 

 nice clever mare, rather small ; and, if she had a fault 

 in shape, stood rather upright on her pasterns. We 

 tried her just before the Oaks, and she beat Joe 

 Miller a mile and a half at even weights, and two 

 others ; which made her look to have a good chance 

 for that event. Sam Rogers rode her in it, and, as 

 was evident to many, lost the race. As the prevalent 

 belief was that he did this purposely, he was mobbed 

 on his return to the weighing-stand, and with difficulty 

 got safely into the enclosure. He told me he had lost 

 the race by not making use enough of the mare. But, 

 as my instructions to him were to make a good pace 

 the whole of the way, he could give no satisfactory 

 reason why he should not have made the best of her. 



The story then pretty freely circulated, but with 

 what truth I am unable to say, was to the effect that 

 Frank Butler had, in the winter, taken a very laro-e 

 bet that he won both the Derby and Oaks that year. 



