TOD SLOAN 



There was one race I rode for the King in which he 

 thought I must have brought him luck, for the animal 

 I was on might have been beaten many a length by the 

 best horse I think I ever saw up to seven furlongs. It 

 was in the Portland Plate at Doncaster in 1900. 

 Morny Cannon rode Eager, the horse I have just re- 

 ferred to, and I was on Lucknow, owned by the Prince. 

 We swept along together in the last hundred yards. 

 I was on the rails ; " Morny " and I were neck and 

 neck : Eager, his mount, was full of running ; in fact 

 he had pounds in hand. Perhaps " Morny " wanted 

 to make a fancy finish of it and to win by a narrow 

 margin. He didn't exactly squeeze me on the rails, 

 but certainly I was hampered a bit. However if his 

 idea was just to win it was upset, for as we passed the 

 judge's box Lucknow's nose happened to be just in 

 front. Frankly, I was not sure of it myself but I hoped 

 it was so. The judge gave it a short head. I am 

 afraid " Morny " was very upset. I dare say it was 

 one of the greatest disappointments of his riding 

 career. There was for a few minutes a talk of an 

 objection, but in the end nobody said anything, and 

 certainly there would have been no grounds for it. 



It has often been said that one of the reasons for 

 my getting such a swollen head was that I was above 

 myself altogether from the fact that the Prince spoke 

 to me so amiably. On the contrary, looking back to 

 the past I certainly believe that in every respect he 

 lifted me up and put me at my best with my own 

 thoughts and made me hope to live up to what I 

 ought to have been but what I Avas not. Had I been 

 able to fulfil the contract for the Royal stable that had 

 been made with me for 1901 1 am sure I shouldn't have 

 given way to the temptation to get about so much and 

 — w^ell, back horses. Two blacks do not make a white 



100 



