Anecdotes of Former Days 241 



was rather troublesome. He would be riding hard apparently 

 at the distance, and then come and win by a head, with 

 7 lb, in hand. Was Archer the best jockey I ever saw ? 

 Oh dear no. Archer was good, and so was Fordham, but 

 Frank Butler was the best, and Tom Aldcroft was very 

 good. Are the horses different in shapes from what I 

 first remember ? Yes, very different, but they do not 

 stay nearly so well now. No doubt they are faster than 

 ever they were, but they are taller and longer, and much 

 more leggy. I remember ' Blacklock ' and ' Altisidora.' 

 They would not be many crosses from the Arab, great- 

 grandsons and so on, and much resembled them. How 

 much weight did I allow when handicapping ? Well, 

 generally 2 lb. for a head, but if the race had been 

 very severe, or the weights very high, perhaps only 1 lb. ; 

 1 to 2 lb. would be about right. Five lb. would go to a 

 length, for say a mile, or a mile and a half. Undoubtedly 

 you must take into consideration if the pace was good all 

 the way, and if the horses were carrying nearly as heavy 

 weights as they could race under." 



Poor Judge Johnson. He is sadly missed at the 

 councils of the York Eace Committee, and by his many 

 friends all over Yorkshire. 



There is one remark of his that requires to be well 

 weighed, and coincides, too, with the opinions of the 

 practical men I have met, who lived in the early days of 

 the century. I mean that the racehorses in old days 

 were much better stayers than they are now, and at the 

 same time were shorter-legged and more compact. All 

 have attributed it to the same cause — the nearness of 

 their descent from the Arabian. In these days when 

 many are complaining that the thoroughbred horse, as a 

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