PRINCE PALATINE 



manger and almost groaned with pain. Suspicion 

 arose that he was suffering from his teeth, and in 

 examination it was found that an abscess had formed 

 under one of them. The trouble was soon rectified 

 by the trainer's brother, an efficient horse dentist; 

 but it was considered advisable not to run the colt 

 for the first of the classic races, the Two Thousand 

 Guineas, which was very easily carried off by St. 

 Frusquin. I may here observe that Persimmon, 

 great horse as he unquestionably was, failed on 

 occasions just as his son Prince Palatine did. For 

 one reason or another it is rare to find a horse always 

 at his best, and in the case of this family, it may be 



in fact there is little doubt about it — that the 



shiftiness of the dam, Perdita II., was unfortunately 

 at times liable to affect her descendants. 



That Persimmon would recover his form Marsh 

 did not doubt. Before the colt had ever been sent 

 to Newmarket his trainer, who was accustomed to 

 visit Sandringham and see how the foals were pro- 

 gressing, had allowed himself to grow hopeful that a 

 very good, if not actually a great, horse had been 

 produced there, and of course his two-year-old 

 running, only confirming his trials as it did, had left 

 no question. Still there was always a certain cause 

 for apprehension. It is an established truth that Per- 

 dita II. was the main factor in the successes of the 

 stud, but she herself had been hopelessly jadey when 



