"POLAR STAR" 



idea — he trained him — but Mr Hall Walker has ever 

 had his own views where and when his animals shall 

 be sent. I am quite aware that the excuse may be 

 made on occasions that it may be an owner's fault, 

 and I must tell a story apropos of this which is a bit 

 against myself. 



I had written in the Evening Standard in 1906 

 when Polar Star was winning all his two-year-old races 

 that it was a thousand pities the colt had not been left 

 in the Derby after being entered, and that Mr Hall 

 Walker had not " exercised a wise discretion in this 

 respect." The owner wrote to me from the House 

 of Commons a private letter, but there is no breach 

 of confidence in saying that he stated if it had not been 

 for him Polar Star would have been gelded ; instead 

 of that he finished up his turf career brilliantly and is 

 now siring many winners out in the Argentine. He 

 added that Polar Star when a yearling was such a 

 weed that his trainer thought nothing of him, hence 

 the suggestion which was not carried out that the colt 

 should be " added to the list." At the same time it 

 was deemed useless to keep him in the classic races. 

 My criticism therefore — or rather lament — was un- 

 deservedly directed against the owner. It wasn't a 

 question of blame, it was simply an error of judgment 

 which in the circumstances was perhaps no error at 

 all on the part of either owner or trainer. 



If ever a man deserved to win the Derby it is Mr 

 Hall Walker. He has won three classic races, but has 

 yet to win the Derby and Two Thousand. I suppose 

 Black Arrow was his greatest disappointment. He 

 did extraordinary things at home, and he told me, in 

 the same letter I have just referred to, that he con- 

 sidered him the most wonderful animal he had ever 

 owned, and nearly the best he had ever seen. 



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