236 In Scarlet and Silk 



rich their vocabulary may, and probably will, 

 be under such circumstances, the flow of 

 language is not half so effectual as a quick 

 snatch at the reins ! Nowadays, we get such 

 wonderful " class " horses running in hurdle 

 races, that the old saying of, "Oh, he's use- 

 less ; put him into a selling hurdle race," 

 has pretty well died out. Chandos, Hesper, 

 Hampton, and Lowlander, a few years back, 

 didn't read like being beaten by the ordinary 

 "leather flapper" ; and Stourhead, winner of 

 the Goodwood Stakes ; Benburb ; Cornbury, 

 winner of this year's Metropolitan at 

 Epsom ; Pitcher, and others of the same 

 sort, too numerous for mention here, that 

 have l)een at the timber-topping trade, would 

 all take some catching l)y the average 

 " rip," which in times past was wont to find 

 a last "refuge for the destitute" over the 

 sticks. 



An incorrigible joker once said to me as 

 we watched the horses gallop on Newmarket 

 Heath — 



" There f?oes one that ouo^lit to make a 



