MINORU'S YEAR 



latter was not headed. I am not one of those who are 

 eternally quibbling at the judge's verdict, especially 

 when it goes against the pocket. Minoru and Louviers 

 raced home together in a race never to be forgotten. 

 Sir Martin had fallen coming down the hill to Tatten- 

 ham Corner, and William the Fourth had lost ground 

 by having to stop and jump over the sprawling body 

 of the American candidate, and yet he was only half- 

 a-length behind Louviers, the judge's verdict being a 

 short head victory for Minoru. Valens was fourth and 

 Bayardo fifth. 



There never were so many hard-luck stories told 

 afterwards. Martin says that Sir Martin was going 

 better than anything when he slipped up. Although 

 I know Mr Raphael by sight so well, and have had 

 the casual word at the ring-side, he is not a personal 

 acquaintance. He took the defeat of Louviers like a 

 strong man ; his only idea was to interview his jockey, 

 George Stern. The latter told him what he told me 

 afterwards, that he was certain he was not beaten ; 

 in fact, he thought that he had won. I shall never 

 cease thinking that Louviers caught Minoru, and that 

 the King's horse did not have any margin in front of 

 the other. 



But what a newspaper story it was, the King of 

 England winning the Derby ! I had to stay for the 

 Juvenile Selling Plate, in which there was something 

 good to bet on in ^Villiam Penn, and then hurried 

 back to do the biggest Derby story one had ever had 

 to write. It was a three-column record, one that I 

 shall ever be pleased with, because the facts were 

 marshalled so concisely and gave me the utmost satis- 

 faction the next day when it all appeared in print, 

 a little less than a year before the King died ; it set 

 up a record for a king. 



