How Races were Won and Lost 185 



professionals, of whom the jockey of the former was going 

 at his ease, and holding the latter on the rails. " Solitario " 

 was coming up fast, hand-over-hand, and when well inside 

 the " distance " we were level with the others, though 

 Blanchard, on " The Eush," was so busy in watching the 

 other that he never noticed us draw up. " Look out for 

 Mr. Thompson," yelled the jockey of "Aquila," and, 

 glancing over his shoulder, Blanchard began driving his 

 horse to the utmost ; but " Sohtario " won by a length, 

 with a length and a half between second and third. The 

 rest of the field were beaten off. Yet it was an unsatis- 

 factory win after all ! All our money was on the second 

 horse, and how easy it would have been to have lost the 

 race ! " Solitario " proceeded to win a match the same 

 afternoon, in which I rode him again, and the following 

 afternoon won two more races, though, as the weights were 

 too low to allow me to ride, Adams had the " mounts " on 

 him. From Cadiz we travelled to Seville, and as the races 

 at the former place had been postponed for a few days, on 

 account of bad weather, we had to leave by the late train, 

 after the races were finished, in order to get to Seville in 

 time. We were travelling a considerable party of friends 

 — about sixteen in all — consisting of married couples, 

 young ladies, and officers from Gibraltar, besides jockeys. 

 Our rooms had been ordered beforehand, and when we 

 arrived at Seville Station, at 2.30 A.M., we anticipated no 

 difficulty, as arrangements had been made for conveyances 

 to meet us. On arriving at the private lodgings, however, 

 we were very much taken aback by finding one long room 

 set apart for us, with sixteen beds side by side, and no 

 screens whatever between them ! Such was the difference 

 between Spanish and English customs. It had especially 



