4 i6 CAMBRIDGESHIRE TRIALS. 



if I say the winner, though running 1 in my name, 

 was the property of Mr. Gerard Sturt (now Lord 

 Alington), who had but a few days before the race 

 purchased Sir William Codrington's interest in him. 

 Mr. Sturt was not at the meeting, and I represented 

 his interest in the affair, and, I hope, to his satisfac- 

 tion ; for on the happy termination of the case he 

 very kindly gave me an excellent gold watch and 

 chain, in token of his esteem, with an appropriate 

 inscription, a gift which I accepted with thanks and 

 greatly value to this day. 



As in this chapter my reminiscences have taken 

 the form of recording my experiences in the technical 

 matter of trials, I may, perhaps, be forgiven if I am 

 induced to say a word on another subject, intimately 

 connected with my profession, which has often given 

 me food for rumination. I have previously con- 

 demned, with all the severity at my command, the 

 evil practice of employing light-weight boys, not only 

 utterly incompetent, but also physically incapacitated, 

 and calling them 'jockeys.' But I would here say a 

 word of deserved praise of experienced men, who, 

 under the name of ' stable boys ' or ' lads,' often do 

 good service in the saddle. I do not use the term in 

 any way in a disparaging sense, or to give offence to 

 eminent jockeys, who, to their credit, have once been 

 ' stable-boys,' and have risen to their present rank ; 

 but using the term to distinguish between the 

 experienced horsemen who do stable-duties, and the 



