12 PRETTY POLLY 



It will be well within the memory of those that read 

 these pages that M. Blanc was the purchaser of this 

 famous horse when, on the death of the late Duke of 

 Westminster, he was put up for sale and realized the 

 record price ever paid for a racehorse. It is perhaps 

 beside the point to descant on the pity it was that such a 

 stallion was allowed to leave the country, but our loss was 

 the gain of France. With the sons of this sire, Ajax, 

 Gouvernant, Adam, Val d'Or, and Jardy, his owner has 

 since swept the board in his own country, and he stood 

 a very good chance of being the first owner to emulate 

 the performance of Count de Lagrange's Gladiateur in 

 the Derby. 



Gouvernant, whether owing to the elements or to the 

 journey, failed to make his mark in St. Amant's Derby, 

 although his subsequent performances stamped him as 

 a real good horse. 



It had been his owner's intention to send Ajax to 

 Doncaster, but he succumbed to the exigencies of train- 

 ing, as did the Derby runner-up, John o' Gaunt. 



The field was consequently left to the English horses, 

 and only those who still doubted the staying qualities 

 of Pretty Polly could imagine that the Derby winner 

 would reverse the two-year-old form between the pair. 



Consequently Pretty Polly became a strong odds on 

 favourite and eventually started at 5 to 2 on. 



The St. Leger is to us, who dwell in the north, and 



