CHASING AND RACING 227 



Sandown in 1913. On this occasion "The Spotted 

 Wonder/' or " Rocking Horse," as he was some- 

 times called, reared on end as the tapes flew up. This 

 lost him several lengths, but such was his great stride 

 and terrific speed, that he was able to make good, 

 though only by a neck ! 



There was a general bewailing when, in the follow- 

 ing spring, it was announced that Captain McCalmont's 

 flyer had done his last gallop. That same expansive 

 stride was his undoing, for when at full stretch he was 

 apt to strike one of his fore-fetlock joints with his hind 

 hoofs, so that in the course of time the inevitable 

 happened and the British public saw their idol no more. 



There were those at that time, and now there are 

 more, who declare that The Tetrarch would under no 

 circumstances have won the Derby. Their argument 

 was that no colt with such phenomenal speed could 

 possibly possess stamina sufficient to enable him to stay 

 the Derby Course. Now, without admitting the 

 cogency of this theory, I myself have reason to doubt 

 if, had he run, The Tetrarch would have triumphed at 

 Epsom. My reason being based on his pedigree, not 

 so much on the side of his sire, Roi Herode (for the Le 

 Samaritain, Le Sancy line of " Greys," could be 

 depended upon to stay a mile and a half, and often up 

 to two miles), but because there is a blemish in the 

 escutcheon of his dam Vahren, who was out of Catania 

 a daughter of Rose Garden the dam of my brilliant 

 but non-staying Dornroschen. Catania never won a 



