AS A FOUR-YEAR-OLD 



That Prince Palatine should have been favourite 

 was natural. Stedfast in receipt of 7 lb., as described 

 in the last chapter, had beaten him half a length for 

 the Kingsclere Stakes, which, according to ordinary 

 calculation, made Mr. Pilkington's colt fully 4 lb. the 

 better. Of the other runners the fact that 5 to i 

 was offered against Mr. Baring's Mushroom on a 

 course over which he had specially distinguished 

 himself by winning the City and Suburban as a 

 three-year-old with 7 stone afforded proof of the 

 conviction that the running in the Midsummer Stakes 

 the previous summer might be altogether dis- 

 regarded. Charles O'Malley was also at 5 to i ; 

 and Willonyx had only beaten him a neck for the 

 Ascot Cup. Odds of 8 to i were offered against 

 Mr. J. R. Keene's Castleton, and in the circumstances 

 they appear to be unduly short, for though this 

 American-bred son of Peter Pan and Mintcake was 

 a colt of extraordinary speed he had never shown 

 ability to stay a mile and a half, indeed it was 

 strongly doubted by most people that he could do so. 

 A mile was understood to be his limit. Prince 

 Palatine was favourite at 2 to i, followed in the 

 market by Stedfast, 11 to 4, and I think it may be 

 said that Prince Palatine was beaten at the fall of 

 the flag. The statement that he "dwelt at the start 

 and lost ground " is taken from the Racing Calendar. 

 My comment at the time ran, " When I saw Stedfast, 



63 



