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LAMBTONS FIRST BIG JOB Trainer Tells How He Was En ¬ gaged to Handle Derby Horses Exploits of Grey rcll Over the Aintree Coorst Coorstat at Liverpool How Dingle Bay Uncovered UncoveredQuality Quality His Trainer Had Xot Suspected In tlie following article reprinted from the London Weekly Dispatch the Hon George Lambton tells of his first engagement as trainer for Lord Derby DerbyEarly Early in the summer of 1893 I had a ffreat surprise and a pleasant one I was stay ¬ ing at Ascot with Leopold de Rothschild and Lord Stanley the present Lord Derby who had just come back from Canada was also there He told me that his father intended to start racing the following year and hoped to revive the old prestige of the Derby stable stableGreatly Greatly to my surprise he asked me if I would train for him On thinking it over I did not feel that with my little experience I was equal to taking on a job of this sort and I suggested that he should let Toe Can ¬ non train the horses and that I should man ¬ age them but this he would not have and stuck to his original proposition So there began my association with the Stanley family and for thirty years I have trained for father and son sonAt At that time I did not know the late Lord Derby If I had known him I do not think I should have been so diffident in accepting the offer of training his horses I have had many good friends in my life and known many delightful men but the most per ¬ fect gentleman of all was Lord Derby DerbyA A SHY MAX MAXIn In some ways he was rather a shy man but he had which is unusual when com ¬ bined with that trait such a delightful charm of manner that everyone no matter what his station in life at once felt at ease with him A more modest man never lived yet his opinion when he could be induced to give it was always worth having on any sort of question and his store of information on all subjects was wonderful wonderfulHe He took a great interest in his horses and the breeding of them and there was nothing he enjoyed more than coming to Xewmarket when there was no racing and when he could see his horses peacefully without any fuss or bother On these oc ¬ casions when he stayed with me he was never in a hurry to go to bed and as long as there was anyone who would sit up with him lie would talk and smoke cigar ¬ ettes till any hour of the night But no matter what time we went out next morn ¬ ing he always put me to shame by being down before anyone else and walking about in the garden with the inevitable cigarette in his mouth mouthI I thought at first that he did not know much about racing but I soon found out that little escaped his notice As a young man he had been fond of it and had seen a great deal of John Scott of Whitehall who trained for his father What he had learned there he had not forgotten forgottenIt It is impossible to give any idea of his extraordinary kindness to me for on more than one occasion my health was so bad that I had to give up and go abroad for two or three months Also I was not a good bull ness man and things certainly did get infli rather a muddle at times but he always rri le allowances for my shortcomings I wi devoted to him and would have done an thing in the world for him and I do not think any young trainer ever started with a better chance chanceBefore Before the Liverpool summer meeting of that year Lord Stanley asked me to find him a horse to win some little race there I bought him Greywell a horse belonging to Charles Kinsky for there happened to be a race with conditions which I thought would suit him well Greywell by Marden Sea kale was a dear old horse and had done us in his time some good turns although he badlyBut had on occasions let us down badly But this time when carrying the Derby colors which had not been seen on a race course for many years he did his part nobly In a great finish for the first and last time he ran as game as a fighting cock and won setting an example which has been followed by many another bearer of the black and white It is really quie extraordinary how many horses I have had which have loved that peculiar tricky course and show far better form at Liverpool than anywhere else elseyOT yOT A CLEVEIl HOUSEMAN HOUSEMANI I am proud to say that I have never had the reputation among racing people of being clever but I think that some people may have thought that I almost deserved the title over many of my Liverpool successes It is remarkable when horses have once shown a liking for the Aintree course what big things they can accomplish there thereOld Old Greywell led off well and then Hettie Sorrel emphasized the beginners luck As I have said Lord Stanley bought her from Mr Brett and she won for him at Kempton and Newmarket NewmarketThe The first yearlings I bought for Lord Derby were Dingle Bay a bay colt by Minting Ole ¬ ander a bay colt by Isonomy and Propeller by Ayshire AyshireI I bought them privately from Sir Daniel Cooper and useful horses they were al ¬ though neither of the two former won as twoyearolds Propeller ran second at As ¬ cot and then won the Mersey Stakes at Liv ¬ erpool beating Mr Fairies Coxs Solaro which afterward won the Champagne Stakes but did no good after that thatOleander Oleander was a big fine horse but split a pastern in a race at Sandown as a two yearold Nevertheless he afterward won the Dee Stakes and was second for the Good ¬ wood Stakes then he broke down and was sold soldDingle Dingle Bay was a big heavy horse and about as bad as he could be as a twoyear old He was always beaten off in any sort of gallop and yet he had good action As a threeyearold in the early part of the year he was no better and appeared to have no course courseBy By that time although I still had to wear a kind of plaster jacket my back was better I was able to ride and sometimes rode a gallop Dingle Bay being quiet as a sheep up to any weight and no good I used to amuse myself on him I thought I would like to have another ride so I entered him in the Bibury Stakes at Stockbridgc Ilia weight was 143 pounds and it shows what illness had done for me that I could do the weight easily when formerly I used to waste to ride 150 pounds poundsOn On the morning of the race Tommy Lush ington who was the crack amateur of the day came to me and said I have not got a ride do let me ride yours I said I would if the hcrse bad any chance but that I thought he was no good At that moment my jockey Kickaby came up and I asked him if he thought there was any hope what ¬ ever as Mr Lushington wanted to ride rideHe He would not win if you started him over ¬ night said Jkick so I decided to stick to the mount myself myselfDingle Dingle Bay jumped off first called along in front with his head in his chest and won by four lengths starting at 100 to 7 This was a great surprise I rode him again later in the week with a lot more weight and was second After this he improved at the rate of about five pounds a week won again at Liverpool and the next year won some good races including the Kbor Handicap after first running a dead heat and a two mile race at Ascot AscotHe He also won the Whip at Newmarket and this race was a great affair The other runner was a horse called Bevil belonging to Leopold de Rothschild and was ridden by Morny Cannon CannonDIXGLE DIXGLE BAY A GKEAT STAYEK STAYEKThe The race finished at the old Cambridge ¬ shire stand Dingle Bay being a great stayer Rickaby forced the pace from the start and came a rattling good gallop After they had passed the Cesarewitch stands Morny Can ¬ non drew up and lay just in his heels so that Rickaby could not see what he was doing missing his horse for one of his famous runs runsComing Coming to the old Red Post Rick who was up to all the tricks of the trade just left room for Cannon to come up on the inside hoping to tempt him to make his effort sooner than he should do But Morny resisted the temptation so Rickaby went back again Still Morny did not come to him so Rick tempted him with an opening again this time with success but the open irg was narrow and Dingle Bay just hap ¬ pened to roll a little back again so Morny changed his mind and delivered his challenge on the other side Again Ricks horse just rolled the other way threw Bevil slightly out of his stride with the result tha Jie was beaten a head headLeo Leo Rothschild good loser that he was nat ¬ urally was rather cross and said he ought to object but he did not and Morny Cannon declared that he had been trying every sort of trick on Rickaby and that the latter was quite right to look after himself There was no bumping or boring but it was as fine an exhibition of the craft of riding as I have ever seen Gameness in a horse was a quality that Lord Derby greatly appre ¬ ciated He was fond of old Dingle Bay and i no money could have bought him
