• MR. THOMAS PARR. 287 



doubtedly peculiar in his method of training his 

 horses, both in their exercise and in the management 

 of his stables ; peculiarities which have been described 

 and criticized in • The Racehorse in Training;.' Asrain, 

 contrary to the received opinion, after his consider- 

 able successes, commencing at or about the time of 

 Rataplan, he had a very large string of horses. But 

 many of them never saw a racecourse, wherein he 

 showed his wisdom, which indeed, in its way, was 

 not often wanting. I never remember seeing him 

 with more than two or three horses at any meeting. 

 This may partly be accounted for by the fact that he 

 mostly bought old horses without engagements, and 

 only entered them a short time before the event, in 

 any race in which he thought they would be likely to 

 win — and no man did this better. It may, no doubt, 

 have been pleasant to see them victorious, but it 

 would not have satisfied me ; for as to any tangible 

 results, it was but ' grasping the shadow without the 

 substance.' How strange is the contrast of so 

 meagre a string, with the numbers that some of our 

 best trainers have at different meetings ! I remember 

 sixteen or seventeen from one stable running at 

 Ascot, and some thirty at Goodwood. But of course 

 these were horses engaged a long time before, and 

 taking their chance of success. Mr. Parr had no 

 such inducement, as he preferred to keep running his 

 horses at all sorts of places for the smallest of stakes. 

 Mr. Parr commenced his racing career auspiciously 



