AS A THREE-YEAR-OLD 



in which he was opposed by Pietri, whose name 

 is mentioned on a previous page, and Sir John 

 Thursby's Athelstan, a son of John o' Gaunt and 

 Lady Disdain, Stedfast started at 7 to i on. 

 Nothing ventured to oppose him for the Doncaster 

 Stakes, and in the Jockey Club Stakes, a race 

 worth £784.1, he beat Lemberg by no less a 

 distance than four lengths, Mr. Fairie's colt, how- 

 ever, carrying a 12 lb. penalty which Stedfast 

 escaped. He had thus, it will be seen, won 

 seven consecutive races before opposing Prince 

 Palatine for the Kingsclere Stakes. Here Mr. 

 Pilkington's horse had a penalty of 7 lb., mak- 

 ing his weight 9 st. 10 lb., against Stedfast s 

 9 St. 3 lb. 



I may recur to my Sporting and Dramatic 

 " Circular Notes," written when the race was fresh 

 in my memory : 



" How nearly opinions were divided between the 

 two three-year-olds in the Kingsclere Stakes is 

 proved by the betting. I was going to say it 

 could not have been nearer, but of course it might 

 have been 11 to 10 on one and against the other, 

 whereas it was the least fraction more, 12 to lo 

 on Stedfast and against the Prince. I do not think 

 either side was confident, and so far as I could 

 make out very little money was betted on the 

 result. Personally I was so undecided that I 



57 



