MY START AS A TRAINER 79 



him appear. He was powerfully built on long 

 and low lines, standing 15.3. A fine-tempered 

 horse, he was very sound and had a hardy con- 

 stitution. As a racehorse he improved steadily 

 as he grew older. He won the first time out as 

 a two-year-old, but ran unplaced in each of his 

 three other races that season. That we had 

 reason to believe him a good colt may be inferred 

 from the fact that Sir Joseph Hawley had a big 

 bet with Mr. Chaplin that The Palmer would 

 beat Hermit in the Derby, one to win. Eventu- 

 ally Sir Joseph hedged a portion of his bet, but 

 he had, of course, to pay the balance.^ And yet 

 how good the wager looked before the race, for, 

 at 7 to I, The Palmer was second favourite to 

 Vauban, whereas Hermit was quoted at 66 to i. 

 I dare say The Palmer could not have beaten 

 Hermit under any circumstances, but our horse 

 ought not to have finished so far behind the winner 

 as he did. It was not altogether his fault, for 

 he got badly knocked about during the race. 



I have always looked upon Hermit as a good 

 Derby winner, but he might have failed had not 

 Captain Machell been compelled to give him an 

 easy time for ten days or so owing to the breaking 

 of the blood-vessel. Hermit was a delicate 

 horse, and did not require much work. This 

 was the case with most of Newminster's sons and 



^ It is alleged that the bet was one of ;^5o,ooo, and that Sir Joseph 

 Hawley had to find ^30,000. 



