1 84 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



call on his services was ;^ioo a year. Retainers 

 ten, and even twenty, times as big are paid 

 jockeys to-day. The agreement I made with 

 Sir Joseph when I became his private trainer 

 provided that I was to receive a salary of ;^ioo 

 per annum and a house. Before long the salary 

 was raised, and of course I received handsome 

 presents when we won a big race. It will 

 therefore be gathered that in the middle of last 

 century a trainer's lines were not always cast 

 in profitable places. We had to work hard — 

 much harder, I often think, than the modern 

 trainer — for very little money. At any rate, 

 the assured income was modest enough, especi- 

 ally when there was a wife and family to provide 

 for. 



Though the ground at Manchester was as 

 hard as iron, Isonomy was none the worse for 

 his effort there, and was ** as fit as a fiddle *' 

 when he essayed the task of winning the Ascot 

 Cup a second time. His opponents were 

 Chippendale and Zut. The latter represented 

 Count de Lagrange instead of Rayon d*Or, 

 the winner of the St. Leger the previous year. 

 The hopelessness of opposing Isonomy was 

 evidently realised by Tom Jennings, who trained 

 for the Count, and so Rayon d*Or was reserved 

 for the Rous Memorial, decided an hour later, 

 a race he duly won. In the contest for the 

 Cup, Chippendale was allowed to make the 



