134 THE PURCHASE OF YEARLINGS. 
degree. A capital lunch and a “pitcher of ale” were always 
partaken of before going round the paddocks ; and the very 
last time I traversed them in company with Sir Tatton, then 
about eighty years of age, he stopped suddenly and turned 
round saying, “I hope, Mr. Day, I don’t walk too fast for you.” 
To ease his mind on the point I walked beside him whilst 
trudging through the remainder of the paddocks, agreeably 
discussing the breed and merits of the several occupants. 
I cannot account in any other way for the superiority of 
horses bred in private studs over those bred in large breed- 
ing establishments, than by the advantage of air and exercise 
the former have over the latter. The defunct Rawcliffe and 
others may be cited as instances of gigantic failures, whilst 
the following private breeding establishments may be pointed 
to as so many successes: those of the late Lord Jersey, 
the Duke of Grafton, and Mr. Thornhill; and later we have 
that of Mr. Wreford, whose great success was equal to that 
of the preceding, carrying everything before him in his day. 
Again, if I mistake not, Mr. Bowes has bred no less than 
four winners of the Derby, a thing unprecedented in the 
annals of racing. And if reference be made in addition to 
the late Sir J. Hawley’s and Lord Falmouth's studs, it will 
be sufficient to show the difference that exists between horses 
bred for racing and those that are bred only to sell, and the 
superiority of the former. 
We see the advantages the companies enjoy in the enor- 
mous sums which they give (as occasionally, too, do private 
individuals) for stallions and mares (as much as £12,500 for a 
horse, and 3,000 guineas apiece for mares). It cannot, there- 
fore, be said they start on a bad foundation; yet with all 
these “appliances and means to boot,” they are unsuccessful 
in the attempt to breed the best horses. For this there must 
