MR JOHN PORTER.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7573, 9 June 1890, Page 6

MR JOHN PORTER.

Lianstd 7ictuaU*rt Qasett «, There are few prettier spots in the Sk> nth of England—at least in that quiet style of undulating pasture and arable land, luxuriant in vegetation, and flowers, and noble trees, and sleepy farm houses, and browsing cattle, and hawthorn hedges, which we call home scenery—than the pleasant Hampshire valley In which Kingsclere is situated. It lies almost at the foot of Cottington-bUI, from the summit of which quite another kind of landscape is obtained, a splendid panorama, famous throughout the country, embracing nine counties. Tradition aays that King John had a hunting seat here, and an avsnue of fine beeches is pointed out as the site whence this most pitiful of tyrant kings used to isaue forth with horse and hound to hunt the stag over moorland and through forest. Ou theadjoinlng Cannon-heath it is said Eclipse was trained; at all events, it Is a flue ground for horses to exercise upon. Below is the splendid mansion of the Earl of Carnarvon, Hlghclere, and Sydmonton, i a pretty village—on the downs of which | all the winter work of Mr Porter's horses ! is done, safe from the prying eyes of touts I —Burghclere aud Kingsclere, with its I picturesque Norman church, and, just I under tbe bill, Park House, the residence of the worthy trainer, Mr John Porter, who, during the last twenty-seven years, has contrived to rival the old glories of Whltewall, and emulate the past and present fame of Danebury. Nothing can be more unlike the popular idea of the appropriate surroundings of a great racing centre than this bucolic region, and Park House Itself, handsome and refined, burled in charming grounds and beautiful gardens, glowing In summer time with the choicest flowers, might be the residence of a poet or an artist, asi far as outward appearance goes—another proof of the folly of attempting generalisations on a man's pursuits in life, Step inside the house, and all Is equally refined; here, however, the owner's tastes and profession are in evidence: the hall Is hung with the portraits of stable celebrities by i the famous Harry Hall; here we have the ] counterfeit presentments of most of those splendid horses that carried the crimson jacket and blackcap of Sir Joseph Hawley I —Musjid, Blue Gown, Asteroid, Pero j Gomez; here, also we have the Oaks and Derby winners of 1882 and 1883— Shotover, Geheimnlss, and St, Blaise. Entering the dining-room, another feast of j equine portraits Is provided for the gazer, t calling up hosts of recollections of some of the most stirring events of more recent Turf history. Here Is a picture of the celebrated Lottery, by the no less celebrated artist John Herring, greatest of equine painters of the past. Lottery, Mr Porter says, was one of the founders of j tbe greatness of the stable through Beadsman, Sheet Anchor, and Weatherblt, and ! this picture is especiaUy prized. Here are t two more portraits, on a more elaborate I i scale, of Shotover and Geheimnlss, . by Sextle, but the somewhat hea\ y-iootong mare impressed upon the canvas gives but an erroneous Idea of the light-formed winner of tbe Oaks; the portrait of her jockey, Torn Cannon, is much more faithful. Upon the sideboard is an interrestlng memento—one of the feet of Blue Gown, mounted as a silver inkstand, _Ihe career of this, the first of John Porter's Derby winners, was a chequered one; when he had done his work here he was sold for 5,000 guineas to go to Germany. He did not stay there long, however, being bought back for the Cobham Stud. Still, be was not to be left at rest; at the break up of that stud he was bought for America, and died before be reached his destination; the surgeon of the ship, having sporting sympathies cut off the feet of the famous horse and sent one to Kingsclere. Poor Blue Gown's lot from the first was scarce a happy one; his owner, Sir Joseph Hawley, took a violent andabsurddisliketohim, why or wherefore, perhaps, the baronet himself could not have explained; and so far did this illogical feeling extend, that though Wells, the jockey, a good judge, rode him by S reference for the Derby, he would not aek him for a penny, laying his money on Bosicrucian and Greensleeves, a very in. ferior pair, with what result everybody knows. But not even his Derby victory could change Sir Joseph's sentiments towards the horse; indeed, they most probably aggravated them, through his having puthis owner so entirely in the wl*ong. But Mr Porter's favourite horse was Isonomy, in whose honour a splendid tablet has been erected over the mantelpiece; in the centre is a photograph of tbe horse, and beneath his exploits are recorded in letters of gold. Until Ormonde came under his care Mr Porter regarded Isonomy not on y as the best horse he ever trained, but as second to none that ever galloped oveJ a racecourse; and in support of this he will quote Isonomy's Ascot victory, three weeks after winning the Manchester Cup, over ground so hard that it shook the horse to pieces, more especially as he galloped under an Impost of 9st 121b. Yet without any intervening training, br. it is said, even a gallop, he could carry off the Cup.at Ascot. It was only through another caprice of ownership that Isonomy was not enrolled in the immortal Epsom scroll, Mr Grefcton preferring the Cambridgeshire to the Blue Riband, though Isonomy could have given Sefton, tbe~ winner, 2ilb. Isonomy was purchased by the late Mr Crawfprd for 10,000 guineas, and what a splendid bargain he made is proved by the fact that Isonomy's fees amount to about £9,000 per annum, and he is now engaged three years in advance. In the drawing-room are other mementos of John Porter's successful career: here are portraits of the Prince and Princess of Wales, tbe Duke of Westminster, Lord Stamford and Lord Alingtoo,—all gifts of tbe orlgtualStjmarka of their respect and friendship. With a house so perfect, one may easily imagine that the stables, which afford accommodation for sixtyeight horses, are a sight Worth seeing; that they are lofty, well ventilated, and built ana fitted up with the latest improvements for tho comfort and health of the horses, goes for tbe saying; and the temperature is so admirably regulated tbat the animals experience no shock when taken into the open. What a change (rom the old. study, close, low celled boxes in which the horses of yore were kept I The same care which is bestowed upon all the other arrangements of the establishment is extended to the employes and the boy who has the good fortune to get into these stables may think himself lucky. John Porter began bis career under old John Day— '* Honest John," as Lord George Bentlnck, we think it was, christened him, and the phrase has ever since been quoted; it was at the time that Goater was bead lad at Danebury. It was a school of tbe {good old sort; no namby-pamby with a ot of lads tbat were as hard as nails and as Wild as colts; no snuffing humbug about tbe wickedness of corporal punishment, as though rough healthy boys were amenable to anything else! All John's lads were kept in the highest state of discipline. -Every Suoday afternoon he assembled them all in the dining-room, and read them one of Blair's sermons. We have no doubt it gave them a violent distaste for sermons for the rest of their lives; but tbe discipline was wholesome, and woe to the lad who yielded to the somnlierous Influence of the,once famous Scotch divine's heavy discourses on; the top of a hearty dinner. John had a whip hungup at his back, and at the first snort, the first nod,' down came the lash, upon the offender with a force that left its mark behind, and It would have been no use for the lad to have rushed to a magistrate for a summons—indeed, he would have scorned such an action if he had been half killed. English boys had more grit in them in those days; they bad not been so coddled, and they grew up into men—like the master of Park House. One of the first famous horses John Porter rode was Virago ; he could then scale at fist,! In John Day's employ at this time Was "Tiny" Wells, one of the worthiest and cleverest jocks that ever donned silk; a great friendship sprang tip between the two youngsters, a friendship that only death put an end to. It was at the age of twenty-five, in the year 186% that that keenest eyed of sportsmen, whether for a man or a horse, the Late Sir Joseph Hawley, engaged young Porter as his private trainer and established him at Kingsclere, which from that day to this has been his home. But it was a very different Kingsclere to the one we know, for the stables could only receive fourteen horses, and It was only with some ingenuity that this much could be accomplished 1 There were no beautiful conservatories, no elegant house—the old school would have despised such artistic luxuries. By this time he had pretty well given up riding —Carmel was his last Derby mount —and concentrated himself entirely upon training operations. In the old days Blue Grown, Greensleeves, Roslcrucian, Pero. Gomeis, The Palmer, Morna, Sedereolite, and many others were prepared here. After Sir Joseph Hawley—Sir Joseph Scratch Hawley, Dr Shorthouse called him in the Sporting Times ; and " dangerous " Sir Joseph, as some one else nicknamed him, made the doctor pay very stliay for his little playful auuaton to. the baronet's proclivities—came Mr Fred Gretton, and with him Isonomy. To wr*to 1

ahiatoey of Mr Porter*e eucceasea would be to write a history of tho Ttarf tor the last flve-and-twenty years. At tbe time that Mr Gretton went over to Alee Taylor, the Bake of Westminster had lost the services of Robert Peck, and arranged with Mr Porter: and soon afterwards Lord Stamford, having returned to the Turf, entrusted his horses to the same trusty hands. Park House started well for its new patrons, Shoto**** _r winning the Two Thousand and the Derby, and Geheimnlss the Oaks. It waa tbe beginning of tbat phenomenal success of the Kingsclere stable which, as we bave said before, was raised Into a glorious rivalry with the traditions of Danebury and "Whitewall, Ihe year after Shotover's 'Derby came another Epsom winner, St. Blaise; and then the crowning glory, Ormonde, who has almost, if not quite, superseded Isonomy in John Porters estimation as being the greatest horse of tbe century. "We have all our disappointments, however fortunate we may be on the whole; aud Mr Porter's great disappointment has been Friar's Balsam, of whom such great things were anticipated. But if he lost with what he considered a big thing, he won with inferior animals; as an instance, when Orbit carried off the Grand £10,000 Prize at Sandowa. Ben Strome {was another disappointment. Bat then how much there has been to counterbalance these slight checks 1 Mr Porter's clients at the present time are the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Westminster, the Earl of Portsmouth, Lord AUngton, Sir Frederick Johnston. Mr Mackenzie, Mr J. Gretton, (of Bass and Co.), Captain C. Bowling, Mr W. Low, the American millionaire, and—his noble self. There is a list of patrons that any man might be proud of. But there Is nothing of the swelled head- to use one of the last new slang expressions to denote uppishness—about John Porter; you could not meet a quieter little man or one with a more subdued air. A stranger might guess at his profession many times before he arrived at the truth; he might be aa oldfashioned country doctor, so imperturbably serene and reflective Is the expression of his features; or a solicitor who loved to follow the hounds, for there Is naturally a sufficiently horsey flavour about him to denote that he isOu Intimate terms with " the noble animal," though it might be only for pleasure; or a gentleman farmer, or a country squire—to any or each of these characters his personality would appropriately fit, rather than with that of trainer; that is to say, with the popular idea of a trainer, popular Ideas upon such subjects being Invariably false. Men take their tone Involuntarily from their associates and associations, and from constant communion with princes, and dukes, and lords, Mr Porter has acquired that great sign of high breeding iv the animal man, perfect coolness; for whether he is leading back some mighty victor amidst the enthusiastic cheers of tbe multitude, or standing by when some horse upon whom be nad built great hopes, and who has carried bis patrons, the public's, and his own money! bas failed to gain a place, not the slightest outward sign of emotion is visible.