MINORU'S FIRST RACE 



realised, and there must be a terrible sense of responsi- 

 bility. He wants another year like Minoru's. 



I wish to be modest, but the victory of that horse 

 in the Two Thousand and Derby was another big 

 score for the paper I was attached to. I had men- 

 tioned Minoru back in the winter and was strongly 

 of opinion that he was a much better horse than his 

 two-year-old running had shown. His first outing 

 as a three-year-old was to be in the Greenham Stakes 

 at Newbury, a race for which Valens was expected 

 to be a warm favourite ; nevertheless, I napped 

 Minoru ; he won comfortably. Of course there was 

 nothing else to do but to follow up Minoru in the rest 

 of his engagements. Bayardo had been a wonderful 

 two-year-old, but had not, I hear, trained on, and gone 

 the way his many admirers had hoped for. 



I was down at Newmarket at the Craven Meeting 

 and then followed the First Spring Meeting. On the 

 Tuesday I had met several of those who supply news- 

 papers with information, and among them were several 

 very argumentative beings. They were Bayardo-mad, 

 and I have found from many experiences, sometimes 

 costing me dearly, that the only way really to squelch 

 an unusually dogmatic man is to bet him something 

 which shall for the moment appease him. Thus it 

 came about that there were many side wagers, Minoru 

 V. Bayardo, one in particular with Schultz Lyndall, and 

 a few bets taken straight out about Richard Marsh's 

 horse. Of course on paper it seemed a gift for Bayardo, 

 but Alec Taylor had experienced various difficulties 

 with him. Minoru won comfortably from Phaleron, 

 with Louviers third and Bayardo fourth. The rest 

 never did anything, and, all things considered, Bayardo 

 must be esteemed a very unlucky horse. 



Then came the Newmarket Stakes, which Louviers 

 217 



