Hardwicke Stakes
therefore, it was supposed that his old rival Minting would have a great chance against him; and for the first time for more than a year Ormonde started at reasonable odds, 5 to 4 on, 7 to 4 being taken about Minting. They carried even weights, 9 st. 10 lb. each; but, hampered as he was by his infirmity, Ormonde held his own, only winning by a neck, it is true; but Tom Cannon, who rode him, has told me that he could have increased the distance had it been necessary, the not having been quite. so close a race a 1 RACING] thing as it appeared to spectators. His final appearance was made at the Newmarket July Meeting, over the last six furlongs of the Bunbury mile, for the Imperial Gold Cup, and this time, though the verdict was in his favour, he had to be driven in order to shake off Whitefriar, who was in receipt of only 4 lb. So ended the turf career of what is regarded by many as the best horse that ever ran, though, of course, there is no possibility of getting a line between him and St. Simon. The Duke of Westminster sold him for 17,000 guineas, and he stayed for some time in South America; subsequently he was brought back to England, and again sold to an American, to whose establishment in California he was taken.
It was a sad drop from 1886 to 1887, from Ormonde to Merry Hampton, the latter colt carrying off the Derby on his first appearance on any racecourse, and beating The Baron, a moderate animal, on whom odds were laid; but happily the twoyear-olds for this season were more promising, one in particular seeming likely to rival the deeds of Ormonde himself.
This was Friar's Balsam. The colt made his first appearance at Ascot in the New Stakes, for which a horse of the Duke of Portland's called Ayrshire, and a mare of the late Lord Calthorpe's called Seabreeze, both of whom were highly esteemed, went to the post; but Friar's Balsam won with the most consummate ease, following up his success by a career of six uninterrupted victories, in the Hurstbourne Stakes at Stockbridge, the July Stakes at Newmarket, the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood, the Molecomb Stakes at the same meeting, the Middle Park and Dewhurst Plates; all, it will be seen, except perhaps the Molecomb, races of the highest class, the seven wins crediting his owner, Sir Frederick Johnstone, with a total of £8,666. It was supposed that he could not be beaten for the Two Thousand Guineas next year, and he started a very hot favourite; but on the way to the post Tom Cannon, who rode him, discovered that something was wrong; in fact, a large abscess had formed in the colt's mouth and broke under the pressure of the bit. It was supposed that his boy, while dressing him some time before, had irritably jerked his mouth; but however it arose this misfortune had befallen him, and Friar's Balsam was for the time at any rate practically ruined. This cleared the way for Ayrshire, a son of the once little esteemed Hampton, who was thus enabled to make a great name for himself.
He won the Two Thousand Guineas, the Derby, and started first favourite for the St. Leger, which led to the contest which is always desired in the great Doncaster race, a fight between the winners of the Derby and the Oaks; and here the filly had the better of it. Both of these, it will be seen, figure in the list of horses that have e won over £20,000 in stakes. Luck, of course, greatly aided Ayrshire in achieving this result. His weak point, doubtless, was that he was not a genuine stayer, but over a mile or a little more he was a really good horse, and it happened, fortunately for his owner, that this was a time when great stakes were to be won.
GLADIATEUR.
After the age of three years no horse ever won as much money as was won by Ayrshire, for at this time there was a £10,000 race at Kempton Park called the Royal Stakes, as well as the Eclipse at Sandown, and this latter, though nominally worth that sum, in reality credited the Duke of Portland with £11,160. Friar's Balsam, now a four-year-old, was supposed to have recovered his form sufficiently to give him a very good chance for the Kempton Park Royal Stakes (he having indeed beaten Minting in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket the previous autumn), in which, however, he did badly, finishing last of the seven competitors with the exception of The Baron. The Duke of Portland had another horse in this race besides Ayrshire, a colt called Melanion, who was believed to be better than his stable companion. One friend of the Duke had rather a disagreeable experience on this occasion, which is perhaps worth recording. He had invested £1,000 on Ayrshire at odds of 6 to 1; but hearing that Melanion was superior to the four-year-old, he gave the bookmaker with whom he had made the bet £100 to let him transfer it to Melanion, thus losing £1,100 instead of winning £6,000. Ayrshire won EE2 by a length from his old opponent Seabreeze, reversing their performance in the valuable Lancashire Plate, another £10,000 race, which has since been dropped, as in ACHIEVEMENT. that the filly beat the colt by three-quarters of a length.
The Duke of Portland was in the heyday of his wonderful success, for whilst Ayrshire was doing great things, his colt Donovan, a son of Galopin, was carrying well-nigh all before him as a two-year-old.
Donovan came out in the Brocklesby Stakes, and, as already remarked, was one of the few good animals who have won that race.
Going on to Leicester he very appropriately secured the Portland Stakes, then worth £6,000; but on his third appearance he met with one of the three defeats which marked his career. Chittabob, a son of Robert the Devil and the Oaks winner Jenny Howlet, who had 13 lb. the best of the weights, won by four lengths, and there can be little doubt that Chittabob was a really good animal, though he suffered during his career from constant lameness in the shoulder, and so was very rarely in a condition to do himself anything like justice. Donovan resumed his victorious career in the New Stakes at Ascot, following it up by taking the Homebred Foal Stakes at the Bibury Club meeting, and next day won the Hurstbourne, thus carrying on the traditions of good two-year-old racing at Stockbridge.
He only found one opponent, Prince Soltykoff's Gold, in the July Stakes at Newmarket and beat him. Going on to Goodwood he won the Ham Stakes, and for the Prince of Wales' Stakes on the Thursday started favourite at 2 to I on. The going at Goodwood is generally excellent, but this year there had been torrents of rain, and the course was almost a morass, with a great pool of water standing at the end of the lawn; such a state of things had not been experienced within living memory, and [RACING it may be that Donovan fell a victim to the consequences of the weather, for here he met with his second defeat, El Dorado winning by six lengths from Gold, with Donovan another six lengths behind. That the horse had not deteriorated in any way was made plain enough subsequently. He cantered away with the Buckenham, having there nothing to beat, however, and a similarly easy task was before him in the Hopeful Stakes; but the Middle Park Plate was, of course, a different matter. Here he met thirteen opponents, including Gold, and Donovan won comfortably, Gold not being in the first six; he ended the labours of the season by taking the Dewhurst Plate, having secured in all eleven races, worth £16,487, the largest sum ever won by a twoyear-old.
Donovan wintered well and started next season brilliantly by winning the Prince of Wales' Stakes at the Leicester Spring Meeting, then worth £11,000.
Nothing had seemed much more ever 66 certain than that he would win the Two Thousand Guineas; but how Enthusiast beat him, or rather how Tom Cannon beat F.
Barrett, has been described in the division of this article on Jockeys." Of course, it was an accident, and Donovan never again knew defeat. In the Newmarket Stakes he beat Enthusiast and fifteen other horses without the least difficulty, Enthusiast, indeed, not being in the first four, and continued his victorious career by winning the Derby from Miguel, with El Dorado a bad third and Enthusiast eighth; the Princess of Wales' Stakes at Ascot with the full penalty and with odds of 9 to 2 on him; the St.
Leger with Miguel again second and El Dorado fourth; the Lancashire Plate with Chittabob second, beaten two lengths, and the French mare Alicante, a two-year-old, third; Seabreeze, winner the year before, as just mentioned, unplaced. The Royal Stakes at the Newmarket Second October he had won for his owner the sum of of Meeting was Donovan's last appearance carrying a silk jacket, but in his two seasons £54,935, not counting what he secured by running second on the occasion of two of his three defeats, and until Isinglass topped this record, Donovan's winnings had been nearly £20,000 more than had ever been won by any other horse, Ayrshire coming third on the list with under £36,000. He was. of course, a very good horse indeed, though the disposition is not to rank him with Ormonde and St. Simon, and whether he or Isinglass was the better is a subject on which opinions are and always must be divided. At the stud he has not so far .
RACING] proved notably successful, Velasquez having been by far his best son. od totoni ed to A two-year-old who it was fondly hoped by his friends would rival Donovan's achievements was running when the Duke of Portland's colt was a three-year-old.
This was Surefoot, a son of Wisdom and of an unnamed daughter of Galopin and Miss Foot, the property of Mr. A. W.
Merry, a son of the owner of Doncaster, Thormanby, MacGregor, Marie Stuart, and other famous animals. Surefoot came out in the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom, and won from a very speedy mare called Heresy in a style which evoked general admiration, but at Ascot he just failed by a head to beat one of the Duke of Portland's St.
Simon fillies named Semolina, though in the New Stakes he had things all his own way, and won the only other race for which he ran, the Findon Stakes at Goodwood, with odds of 10o to 6 on him. St. Simon fillies soon began to make great names for themselves, and as regards speed there are many impartial judges who believe that no horse ever went faster than Signorina, who was now a two-year-old. She was the property of an Italian gentleman, the Chevalier Ginistrelli, who had raced in England with a persistence which was very little rewarded for a number of years. His colours had been registered for something like a quarter of a century, but the Turf world in general knew very little of them until he had sent his mare, Star of Portici, to St. Simon, and Signorina was the result. The owner, an enthusiast, but not a rich man, gave her an excellent chance by entering her liberally, and she abundantly repaid him. As a twoyear-old she ran eight times and won all her BLUE GOWN. races, beating, moreover and a test of high success is not how much or how often an animal wins, but what horses of reputation he defeats-notable opponents. Martagon, who won fame as the sire of Champ de Mars, Cap Martin, and Wool Winder had been tried a good horse before the Whitsuntide Plate at Manchester, and with 6 lb. the best of the weights, carefully handled, moreover, by Tom Cannon, he ran Signorina to a head; but that was the only time she really came ST. SIMON. near to defeat. One has to beware of the critics, and it might, for instance, be pointed out that Signorina only beat Orwell a head at Sandown, to which, however, it may be remarked that she was giving Orwell 15 lb., including sex allowance, and that the head might have been extended. The stable over which Ryan presided hoped to wipe out the defeat of Martagon by the victory of Alloway at Kempton, but Signorina gave him 7 lb. and no chance; and later on she did something much more noteworthy. Her relative, the Duke of Portland's Memoir (St. Simon-Quiver) subsequent winner of Oaks and St. Leger amongst other races, had been tried a really good filly, and at Derby Signorina was set to give her no less than 16 lb.; but the result was never in doubt, and the seal was set on her fame in the Middle Park Plate. There she met Le Nord, a horse of brilliant speed, Semolina (better than Memoir as a two-year-old) was in the field, as were her old opponents Martagon and Alloway, both in receipt of 7 lb., and she ran right away from the lot of them. The race was won in the first two hundred yards; she "squandered her field" as the phrase goes, and came in at her ease. What she did for Signor Ginistrelli is best shown by his position in the list of winning owners. 1886. £ 251 1887. 1888. 1887. £ £ 1889. £ 11,867 Of this Signorina won all but £162.
It is the custom of writers on turf affairs to waste much time and ink during the winter and spring in weighing up the form of the two-year-old fillies (as well as of the colts), and in endeavouring to deduce from it the probable winner of the Oaks. As a matter of fact, two-year-old fillies lose their form as often as they retain it; and after her extraordinary succession of victories in her first season, Signorina, as a three-year-old, ran five times and won only a single race worth £200, her one victory having been ORMONDE. in a match with a filly (Susiana) who displayed an amazing aptitude for running second, as in the nine races she ran that year she was second on eight occasions.
How Memoir must have come on to beat Signorina in the Oaks, or how Signorina must have gone off to be beaten, is obvious.
Next year in four attempts she again won a single race; but it was a valuable one, the Lancashire Plate of £8,971, which raised her total to the sum that gives her admission to the select list of winners of over £20,000; but it was generally agreed that she owed her success here to the unsatisfactory performance of G. Barrett, who rode Orme. Like so many other horses that did great things on the turf, she was for a long time a failure in the paddocks. Of her daughter Signorinetta I shall speak presently.
Another of the Duke of Portland's St.
Simon fillies, Memoir, did not very greatly distinguish herself this year, though she won three of the six races in which she took part, events of no great importance, however, three of them being worth only just over £1,300; but she was a filly who made great improvement with time. There was another very good two-year-old also this year, belonging to the Duchess of Montrose, who raced under the name of "Mr. Manton," in Riviera, a daughter of St.
Simon and Marguerite, who won ten races in thirteen attempts, worth altogether £12,237, and that she would have made a [RACING great name for herself is probable, in spite of the fact of her having failed in the Oaks, but she had the misfortune to break her back while at exercise on Newmarket Heath..
She had met Signorina at Manchester and ran unplaced to the flying filly.
Surefoot, to return to him after the digression necessitated by the mention of Signorina, came out and won the Two Thousand in brilliant fashion. He started the hottest favourite for the Derby that had ever been known up to that date, odds of 95 to 40 being laid on him; but he could not stay for one thing, and he was an extremely bad-tempered horse for another. Coming round Tattenham Corner he devoted himself to savaging his opponents, and only got fourth to Sainfoin, who has been already described as an indifferent Derby winner.
Surefoot's penalty and the distance stopped him in the Prince of Wales' Stakes, and that beautiful horse Amphion easily beat him in the Hardwicke Stakes, where also Sainfoin had four lengths the best of him.
Surefoot had by this time lost much of his character, but over a mile he had extraordinary speed, and carried off the Prince of Wales' Stakes at Leicester, a race worth £7,750, beating Memoir by two lengths.
He was also to have one other success of a very surprising character during his career, in the Eclipse Stakes. Common, a horse that was probably a good deal overrated in his day, was supposed to be a "certainty" for the Eclipse; odds were laid on him, and Surefoot was going so badly as they turned into the straight, that 20 to I was offered against him by the ring. The mile and a quarter round the turns was, however, just within his compass, and, coming up the hill with an amazing flash of speed-speed being what Common lacked-he secured this valuable prize. He was a comparative failure at the stud.
Had the Leicester race been over a mile and a half instead of a mile, Surefoot's chance of beating Memoir would have been remote. She did not win the One Thousand Guineas for the reason that the Duke of Portland had declared to win with her stable companion Semolina, having a natural preference for an animal he had bred over one he had bought, for Memoir was purchased by auction at a Royal stud at Bushey Park for 1,500 guineas, little more than a quarter of the sum which was paid two years after for her sister La Flèche. In the Oaks, however, no declaration was made, it being obvious that Memoir was. the better of the pair, and she won this race, following it up with the St. Leger, a success which may or may not have been affected RACING] was by a scrimmage which took place at the bend-a rare event in the great race at Doncaster. She was a good mare; but if she is so rated, Amphion must be accepted as a very good horse, in spite of the fact that he never took part in any of the classic races, for which his owner, General Byrne, had not entered him. Amphion trained for his first races at Stockbridge on ground leased from Tom Cannon, and a more charming horse has rarely been seen.
It was not often that such animals as he ran at the Croydon meetings, where "class" was seldom well represented, and it is a somewhat curious fact that he and L'Abbesse de Jouarre, who won the Oaks, should have made their first appearance there in the same race. Amphion's total of winnings gives him a place in the list, but he cannot be rated as a stayer in view of the ease with which Sheen beat him over the last two miles of the Cesarewitch course, giving him a couple of pounds, moreover, when there is no doubt Amphion was very well and greatly fancied by his friends. Common, who never ran as a two-year-old, carried off the three classic races next season, but failed as just described in the Eclipse Stakes.
Whilst he was running, another colt from Kingsclere, and a filly from the same stable, were distinguishing themselves.
These were Orme and La Flèche. Perhaps some tendency existed to overrate Orme, it being natural to make much of a son of Ormonde, but he was a very good colt, as his two-year-old success sufficiently proved.
That he would win the Derby was generally assumed. In the spring of 1892, however, a sensation was created by the report that Orme had been poisoned. Possibly this may have been so, for John Porter, who must know more about it than any one else, maintains the fact in his "Kingsclere"; but it is a strange circumstance that Orme's symptoms, which led to the supposition of poisoning, were that season found in several other stables where horses were attacked with a similar complaint, though in other cases no suspicion of a malicious origin ever gained the slightest ground. Orme, however, could not run for the Two Thousand Guineas or for the Derby, for which race it seemed that a fourth filly was to be added to the list of winners, in La Flèche. Fillies are, how ever, notoriously uncertain in the summer, and she was beaten by Sir Hugo, a most unexpected result, for that she was a vast deal the better of the two subsequent running, both in the St. Leger and in the Lancashire Plate, most unmistakably demonstrated. Orme was sufficiently recovered by July to take part in the Eclipse Stakes, which he won, his victory producing a great burst of enthusiasm; but in the St.
Leger La Flèche-who had meantime narrowly escaped defeat in the Oaks from a moderate mare called The Smew, thus strengthening the supposition that she was ISINGLASS. not herself at Epsom-won with considerable ease, Orme never looking in the least dangerous from start to finish. There was an Orme party and a La Flèche party, between whom feeling ran very high, each eulogising the animal of its choice and endeavouring to depreciate the performances of the other. The truth appears to be that over a mile the colt would have beaten the filly; but Orme apparently did not stay, and in contests of a longer distance the filly would have had probably little difficulty in defeating the colt. She ran in all sorts of races, some of which are mentioned in the chapter on "Handicaps.” She was sold for 12,600 guineas to Sir Tatton Sykes, and became the dam of John o' Gaunt, by