A NOTABLE BOOK.

Taranaki Daily News, 2 January 1926, Page 8

A NOTABLE BOOK.

“1 RAINER TO TWO KINGS.” A COLLECTION OF REMINISCENCES. WRIT PEN BY RICHARD AIARSH. J here has just been published a notable book, the coming of which has been awaited with more than ordinary interest by all interested in the breeding, training and racing of the thoroughbred horse—“A Trainer to Two Kings,” being the reminiscences of Richard Alarah, A1.V.0., with a Foreword by the Right Hon. the Earl of Durham, K.G. Importance and distinction, such as could not have been produced in any other way, are imparted by the fact of His Afajcsty having graciously accepted the dedication, writes "Hotspur” in -the Daily Telegraph. It will be recalled that the author relinquished his position as trainer to the King at the end of last year, having uninterruptedly, since the beginning of 1893, trained for King Edward (first, of course, as Prince of Wales), and then for his present Alajesty. Here, then, is an all-sufficient reason for the title which Air. Alarsh, with natural pride, has been able to attach to his book of reminiscences. That long stretch of time of over thirty years, including the winning of three Derbys for King Edward, quite properly takes up the major part of the volume. When, however, we remember that Air. Alarsh rode his first winner at the age of fifteen years, and did not quit active service until the seventieth milestone had been well passed, it will be understood that he has had much of interest to relate to the present generation of his life as a steeplechase jockey, then as a leading trainer of steeplechase and hurdle horses, and especially during a particularly bright patch in his life when he trained for that rather remarkable character, the Duke of Hamilton, who ranked as the premier peer of Scotland.

The reader of to-day will doubtless be more interested in those of the reminiscences dealing with what may be called the Egerton House period at Newmarket. As briefly as possible, however, one or two incidents of note may be picked out from the earlier period. For instance, we find that the author is a man of Kent, and that he rode his first winner at Dover. He served some time in the stable at Newmarket of the brotl'ers Bless, in a day when things were done in a far rougher way than now, and when the lad in stables would not recognise the stable d lad of to-day and vice versa. The everfamous Derby winner, Hermit, was in

the stables at the time. Mr. Marsh’s weight would only permit of a brief career as a flat-race jockey, though he rode the winner of the New Stakes at Ascot. For years afterwards, however, lie was a front-rank rider over fences and hurdles. KEEPING THE PRINCE WAITING. I would like to linger over the pages which tell of those years, but the reader may be assured that the pleasure will be his. Mr. Marsh tells of the amiability of the Duke of Hamilton, and yet ■there was always at the back of his mind a sense of his high social position, reminding one of his magnificent descent from Princess Mary, daughter of Robert the Third of Scotland. lie even appeared to claim equality with, if not superiority to, our own Royal family, in which connection Mr. Marsh tells a story of how he kept waiting King Edward, then Prince of Wales. "He was to meet the Prince of Wales at Egerton House about 5 o’clock one afternoon and accompany His Royal Highness round the stables. Five o’clock came, but no Duke, though the Prince arrived with his usual punctuality. We waited, and the minutes dragged.' All this time the Prince chatted on the lawn with those in his party. After an awful half-hour I saw the Duke in his pony-cart coming leisurely in at the gate. "Your Grace,” I said, “is half an hour late. The Prince has been waiting for you on the lawn.” “Oh, that’s all right, Marsh; don’t worry. I thought I would look in at the sale paddocks, and I bought a yearling. Anyhow, take me into the house and give me a whisky and soda first.” “But, your Grace, 'the Prince ” , “Well, that’s all right,” he rejoined, "but I must have a drink before going round the horses.” So we passed into the house, and hurriedly I helped him to a whisky and soda. Never did I see a man dally so with a drink. I felt as if I could have accounted for half a dozen in the time. It was for the Duke of Hamilton that Mr. Marsh trained his first classic winner. That was Ossian, who won the St. Leger of 1883, a classic triumph, which was followed up in\the same colours when Miss Jummy won the Oaks. The Duke was still alive when Air. Marsh moved from Lordship, on the outskirts of Newmarket, to Egerton House. He may be said to have been the creator of the latter estate in 1802, for in order that he should go there aa tenant the Earl of Ellesmere, as the owner of the property, laid out a large sum of money, which had accrued through the earn-

ings at the stud of the famous sire Hampton. Tn a very few weeks after entry had been made there came from Kingsalere the few horses owned by the Prince of Wales. They Jeanie through Lord Marcus Beresford, who at that time was acting as manager of the Prince’s horses. It was a meeting at Challis’s Hotel in London between Lord Marcus and Mr. Marsh that started the association with two Kings at Egerton, which remained unbroken until the end of 1924. During the period four Derbys were won. THE PERFECT RACEHORSE. What will especially strike the reader will be the changed- methods of training in order to bring out the best in those four horses, though Air. Alarsh, modestly enough, is the last man in the world to boast of his achievements. Yet we must give him credit for what he did with these four widely-d’fferent horses. Persimmon was a splendid specimen of the big horse of exceptional merit that required much work but close watching. Jeddah is an example of the horse that was late in maturing, for less promising material never showed itself as a yearling and two-year-old—-except to the skilled eye. Diamond Jubilee was possessed of a fiendish temper, and yet his trainer held it in check, so that the splendid powers of the racehorse were brought out. Minoru was a delicate individual that required light work and the utmost understand-

in.g, so that he should not be “overdone.” Some of the author’s recollections are delightful, and. deal with people who were very much in the limelight at one time. He recounts how when going round the stables with King Edward the late Lord Chaplin said there was no such thing as a horse without a fault of some kind. Air. Marsh goes on: I demurred. Then, turning to him, I said: “There is a horse in the stable now which cannot be faulted.” “Oh, nonsense,” came the reply from him; “there’s no such thing as a horse t'hat cannot faulted.” “Well, Squire,was my comment, “I will bet you a fiver you cannot fault this horse.” “Done with you, Alarsh. I'll bet you a fiver. But who is to be the judge between us?” “You can be your own judge,” I said. In due course we arrived at Diamond Jubilee’s box. Of all the horses I have ever known, in all their classes and of all degrees, he stands out as touching perfection in the sense that I could never turn to one part of him and say, “He is weak here, or he is deficient it'here.” Diamond Jubilee was the most perfect horse in all my experience, and, be it added, I write only of his conformation and not of hie temperament. That is another story. “There is your perfect horse,” I remarked to Mr. Ohaplin, at the same time pointing to the horse that was winning all the classic races for colts. “The Squire” stood gazing at him, running him over and over again with his eyee until the King and his party moved on to other boxes. We had looked at quite a number of other horses before Air. Chaplin, overtook us. He had in his hand a £5 note. Without saying a word he simply handed it to me, much to the amusement of the King and other members of the party. It certainly does not detract from the value of “A Trainer to Two Kings” that the volume is not wholly concerned w r ith reminiscences. What Air. Marsh has to say of the modern thoroughbred and the training and riding of him are vastly interesting, as well as instructive, because he can draw on his unique experience and make comparisons, which, on the whole, are not unfavourable to the* present day. But he has noticed the growing nervous strain on- the horse himself, due either to the strain of racing, to the fashionable lines of breeding in vogue in these later years, or to both. He suggests, in fact, that the racehorse is having more, to live and race on his nerves.

One can honestly say that this is a splendid book and a most notable contribution to the best literature of the Turf. We may congratudate the author on having given th" world the. story of his wonderful life with the thoroughbred and on having extracted from Lord Durham that delightful foreword.