PURCHASE OF < WEATHERGAGE: 295 



Weathergage was the property of Admiral Pous. 

 And the Admiral said he had tried him fourteen 

 times and could never get him first. In consequence, 

 he was sent to Northampton with orders that if 

 he did not win, or get claimed, he was to be got rid 

 of in some way. Frank Butler, the jockey, brother 

 to William Butler the trainer, would not allow his 

 intimate friend, Sam Scott, to buy him at any price ; 

 and as no other purchaser could be found, the horse 

 returned to Xewmarket with the rest of Butler's 

 string ; and here he was bought for £10 by Mr. 

 Armstrong, and sent to Mr. Parr with the following 

 message : ' I have bought you Weathergage, and 

 think he will do you some good.' These are the 

 actual circumstances under which he came into Parr's 

 hands, the latter probably never having seen or heard 

 of the horse before in his life. About a fortnight after 

 winning a first race with him at Lewes, Parr takes 

 the horse to Bath, well knowing him to be a good 

 one. He meets the Admiral there and tells him so, 

 but is only laughed at for his pains. However, 

 Weathergage won, and Parr again assured the Admiral 

 that he was a good horse; but the more he told him 

 so, the less he was believed. 



What the horse subsequently did — how amongst 

 other races he won the Goodwood Stakes and the 

 Cesarewitch the same year, is a matter of turf history. 

 But the most curious part of the whole business is 

 that Parr did not give himself time to prepare the 



