46 RECORDS OF OLD TIMES 



instance hard measures were unnecessary. It should 

 be stated that Little Wonder stood only 14.3 hands 

 high. Some years afterwards, when commenting 

 on this race, ill-natured people always asserted that 

 Little Wonder was not a four-year-old, but was Sijive- 

 year-old\ The horse had only appeared once before, 

 and, I believe, only ran once or twice afterwards. 

 For some years after I rode my horse to Kingston 

 the night before the race, stopping once or twice on 

 the road for refreshment ; the distance was nearly 

 fifty miles from Aylesbury. After the race I was 

 accustomed to ride into London, enjoying a few 

 days' stay there, and returning home by the end of 

 the week. It is not generally known that at that 

 time the Derby was run on the Thursday, and only 

 changed to Wednesday when it was found to be 

 very unfair to mares who ran for the ' Oaks ' 

 on Friday, which practically prevented them from 

 running, without a day between the races ; so that 

 the authorities changed from Thursday to the 

 Wednesday, thus giving a chance for a mare to run 

 for the two events. 



There are probably very many visitors to 

 Epsom who could give their experiences of chances 

 thrown away on races. Yet I cannot refrain from 

 mentioning a very strange fatality, and, I may 

 so term it, a silly refusal to avail myself of a really 

 good ' tip ' for this great race. Once, when at the 

 Haymarket Theatre on the eve of the Derby, I left 

 the auditorium and strolled into a bar on the 

 opposite side of the street for my glass of 



