THE STORY-TELLER.

Waikato Times, Issue 3204, 7 January 1893, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE STORY-TELLER.

II HARROW SQUEAK, Moving about in racing circles, both, on the green turf and olsewhore, ono often has a chance of coming across older men of a past gouoratiou, from whoso variod oxperioneo of tho days gono hy there is much to he learned that is both curious and interesting. This has often happened to myself, and I have invariably endeavoured to improvo such occasions as much as possible, for a knowledge of the past, in such a subject as racing, is always a help to a hotter understanding of the present, Quite a quarter of a century ago it was my good fortune to come across and make a friend of a vory fine specimen of tho old school of race-goers. He used to livo at St. Albans, and attended most of the meetings within a hundred miles of tho Metropolis and as I at the time did the same, we were continually meeting, and many were the talks we had about racing, past and present, both being enthusiasts on that fascinating subject. Ho was a vory jolly old boy, ruddy as an apple, and his cherry aspect was good for the eye-sight in these bilious days. His 78 years sat lightly on him, and he was full of anecdotes and stories of the owners, trainers, jockeys, and horses of b3'goue days. Nothing appeared to give him greater pleasure than to retail his many experiences, &c, to an appreciative listener like myself. " Our Nestor," as I christened him, on one occasion related to me tho following curious circumstance in connection with tho Derby, won by Dangerous in 1833. As it is a perfectly true story, it is worth recording, and I will tell it as nearly as possiblo in his own words. '' You see, I and Isaac (tho owner and trainer of Dangerous) were brought up together from our boyhood, and wo wero vory fast friends indeed. I took a great interest in racing that year, and was puzzling my head to see if I could spot the winner of the coming Derby. I wouldn't havo tho favourite OHaucus at any price, for my friend .Tern Eobinson, the great jockey, had told me at Newmarket that Glaucus was no Derby horse, for ho was sure he couldn't stay. He had ridden the horse in the only race he had won, and was more likely to know what he was capable of than anyone else, for Jem Eobinson was as good a judge of a hovso as ho was a jockey, and that's saying a good deal, for a better never threw leg across a racing saddle. I had also heard that the favourite would run untried, as hi 3 party were afraid to put him through the mill, for fear a log should give way; in fact, Glaucus owed his position outirely to his two-year-old form, and it was an open question as to whother ho had retained it. So 1 determined to wait for a day or two before the race ere I made any investment on tho ' Blue Eibaud.''

''About a fortnight before Epsom I was much pleased at receiving a letter from Sadler, asking mo to come down to his trainingquarters to see his outsider, Daugorous, take his finishing gallops, and to give him my opinion of the horse's chance. Of course, at thattime I little thought the Derby would fall that year to my worthy friend, Isaac Sadler; but at the same time, from what I had seen of the Newmarket horses, I felt convinced, that there never had boon a more favourable opportunity for a country horse to put his head in first thau ou the present occasion, so I packed my portmanteau, and lost no time in getting down to my friend's comfortablo homestead.' Hero I was received m ith open arms aud a hearty welcomo, such as you can only got in good old England. "Next morning wo were up with the lark, and I accompanied Sadler to tho downs, and had the pleasure of seeing Dangerous put through his paces, and right gallantly did the bright cliostnut lay himself down to his work whon his rider gave him his head, and ho sped over tho springy turf with a beautiful oasy elastic action that spoke volumes for tho care and skill that had been bestowed on his preparation. ' "Isaac.could see the loot of admiration on my face as the bonny chestnut swept past us, "Well! what do you think of him, lad! Do you like him?" said ho, with a look of pride on his face and a bright twinkle in his eye. " By Jove! if he's only as good as his looks and actions.proclaim him, Isaac, you'll have a " good look : in " for this year's Dorby, and no mistake," "' Well, old man, I don't mind telling you, I-fancy him a bit .myself—just a little big bit, you know—and the beauty of. it is, noltody. else has the slightest suspicion that there is any danger to be anticipated from this here quarter. You can get any price you like about my horse, for they all think he hasn't got over the distemper that settled him as a two-year-old. Oh! you bet. I had the devil's own trouble with him, and I thought I should never, get him round again to his two-year-old form. You recollect, I tried him then to be about as good a one as I: ever trained, until that cursed distemper pulled him all to pices, and ho .became only a ishadow, of, InV former self. However, I'm bad to! beat when I set my mind on anything, .for I'm not a man to. be; geared; by .difficulties, so I set to

work, and by dint of assiduous care and unremitting attention, I got him through his trouble, and, on the quiet, I've give him one of the best and strongest preparations a horse can have, and if lie don't win it won't be my fault, Come along, my boy, let's get home to breakfast; we'll put him through the mill tomorrow, and before twenty-four hours are over we shall know the best or the worst of what is in stove for us."

"So the next morning, at dawn, the chestnut was tried over the Derby distance, with some good old ones, and he answered the question put to him in the most brilliant fashion,

"Old man,"said Isaac,jubilant, " between you and me and the bedpost, I guess we've got a good thing and we must improve this here occasion.

" * All right, I'm on the job if you are;"and then I told what Jem Robinson had said about Glaucus, and what a poor lot I thought the Newmarket horses were. So you may guess we slept the sleep of the just that night, broken only by happy dreams of the coming events that were casting their shadows before.

"I arranged with Sadler to accompany him to Epsom, and in due time we arrived safely there. Then we put our heads together, and, with the aid of some other friends, we cautiously took all the long prices that were goiiw bessins about Dangerous, so that when the morning of the race arrived we found ourselves in the pleasant position of standing to win a large stake with a very moderate outlay, and without excitins the slightest suspicion in the market, for Sadler's stable was only a small one, and the horse was the. trainer's own,

"Sadler had been much put about as to what jockey he should get to ride his horse (who was not an easy mount), but he was lucky enough at the last moment to secure Chappie, whose patient and cool style was exactly what was wanted for a horse of Dangerous' temperament.

"The field for the Derby of 1833 was a very good one, twenty-five horses going to the post. MY Risdale's Glaucus was a hot favourite till the fall of the fhg; but the despised outsider, Dangerous, was left quite out in the cold, 40 to 1 going begging.

"Ah! what a day of hopes and fears it was for us.

"When the preliminary canter was taken some good judges noticed that Dangerous was evidently cherry ripe, and he gave palpable signs of his fitness to run, for he was as playful as a kitten, and made several sly attempts to unseat bis pilot, but Chappie was as cool as a cucumber, and let him dance about and frolic at his ease. He knew the sort of horse he had to deal with.

"Notwithstanding the largeness of the field, the starter had but little difficulty with them, and there were only a couple of false starts to increase tliG excitement of the anxious spectators, it the next attempt the Hag feli, and they were sent on their journey. "After running all in a cluster for the iirst few hundred yards, Catalonian broke the line and went to the front, and carried on the running at a clipping pace, closely followed by the favourite Glaucus, with Lord Versey's Glenmore, the Duke of Grafton's Esjyptus, and Lord Verolam's Little Cassino at their heels, with Dangerous lying handy a couple of lengths behind. With, little change the race was run until Tattenham Corner was reached when a loud shout from the Ring proclaimed the fact that the favourite was in trouble, At this point of the race Catalonian was going great guns, and on entering the straight was still in front, Here Connoisseur, Revenge, and Dangerous begun to close up with the leader, and at the beginning of the Grand Stand Catalonian's bolt was. shot, while Chappie, with fine judgement, took a gentle pull at Dangerous to steady' him for the final effort, and biding his time with matchless patience till within fifty yards of the chair, came with one run, landing the despised outsider, amid the uproarious cheers of the Ring, a gallant winner by a length, Connoisseur second, and Revenge third.

:" Up in the air went our hats, and I and- Sadler and our. friends congratulated each other to'our hearts' content, and the champagne corks were flying to celebrate the good turn Fortune had done ns as soon as the magic " all right" was heard.

was personally known, you can well imagine our drive became a triumphal progress. At every inn that we stopped champagne flowed and overflowed, and Isaac's excited friends would take no denial. Drink we must, and drink we did, with the result that when we arrived home late at night we were liotli drunk as lords, hopelessly and speechlessly so; indeed, had it not been for our man, who was not quite so drunk as ourselves, we should never have got home at all. As it was we had to be carried into the house and straightway put to bed, for we were past tho stage when anything else could be done ior us,

The rest of the story was told to me by Sadler on the afternoon of the following day, as both of us were trying to restore our shattered nerves and aching heads with the cup "that cheers, but does not inebriate."

"' My God! old man, I never had such a fright in my life, the very thought of it, even now, makes me shudder, You recollect, or have been told, in what a state we arrived here last night. 1 " Yes. I'm beginning to realise we must have been pretty bad.'

" Bad!—there isn't a word for it —I haven't the slightest recollection of having been put to bed, or indeed of anything at all, until I woke this morning about live o'clock. I had the most splitting headache, and I felt as if the roof of my head was inclined to fly off, I got hold of the waterbottle and drained it, and then I began to try and collect my scattered thoughts, All of a sudden it flashed upon mo—was my mndle of bank notes all right? My greatcoat was by my bedside on the chair, and I fell out of bed, and on my knees tried the pockets ono after another—but tho notes were not there, I came all over with a horrible faintness and broke out in a cold, clammy sweat, Good God ! had I in my drunken folly lost them all—tho very thought seemed to paralyse me. What had I done with them t All at once it flashed upon me—yes! now I recollect, the bundle of notes was so large and bulged out so much, that I remember taking them out and putting them in the little box under the seat I was driving on—intending to take them out when I got home—a box without any fastening whatever save a button.

" When it was clear to my mind that I was right in my effort of memory, I thought I should have died. I felt almost paralysed at my folly, and I was totally unable to get up and walk, so f crawled on all fours out of the room, just as I was, in my night-shirt, and down the stairs and out into tho yard. There in the morning sunshine, outside the shed, right in the open, was our trap, covered with mud, just as it had been left the night before. As 1 dp not know how I managed to get to it, for I could not raise myself to save my life, but I succeeded somehow, and climbing;up into the seat with my heart in my mouth, I lifted the lid of tho box, and thank God I there was the great bundle of notes just where I had placed them. I clutched theni; to my breast and screamed out' for. assistance, and my wife rushing out came to my help, and I taken into the house and put to bed again, It was a'narrow squeak, and 'no mistake, and I shouldn't care to pass through that quarter-of-an-honr again: no, not even for such another

bundle of notes,"—Abridged from the Licensed Victuallers' Gazette. 1

" On the following Monday—settling day—l accompanied Sadler to the " corner," and my friend collected the money due to him without a hitch.. When we came out, it vvas with a great buiulln. of notes to the tune of £24,000, which Isaac carefully placed in an inner pocket of his:.driving-coat, We had made up our minds to make straight tracks for Sadler's home, as it would not be wise to ■ stay another night in London with such a a large, sum in our possession, and my friend was one of the old-fashioned sort' who hadn't the faith we now ,have in ■banks, but preferred keeping his cash in his own' strong box, So we 'jumped into the trap that was waiting for us with the groom, and set •out on our journey. ; " As wc neared home and began! to get into the district where Sadler