CHASING AND RACING 235 



towards the wing-footed Mercury ; though when he 

 took it into his head to pay attention to racing, rather 

 than to savaging others, he took a deal of beating. 

 . That he could have won the Derby of his year is 

 practically certain, had he not been seized with an 

 overwhelming desire to make a meal off an unfortunate 

 rival who came within reach of his teeth, and in so 

 doing seemed to forget what the order of the day was. 

 This was in 1890, when Sainfoin won. The following 

 year, after a most astonishing display of erotic irre- 

 sponsibility in the paddock at Sandown, Surefoot was 

 induced to win The Eclipse, by the use of his heels 

 (laid to the ground and not as was usually the case, 

 against the ribs of a rival) rather than his teeth. He 

 scored in a very tight finish, when the proverbial table- 

 cloth would have covered four of the runners. 



Despite Surefoot's constantly recurring and public 

 demonstrations of his amorous proclivities, he was a 

 comparative failure at the stud. 



As a third side of the beauty triangle I should name 

 Ard Patrick, with Minting close up. 



All these were of the massive and imposing type, 

 yet full of that elusive asset termed quality ; so easily 

 understood by judges of horse and dog flesh, and yet 

 so difficult to define or describe. I have seen hundreds 

 of really charming racers of both sexes, built on the 

 medium or small model ; but it would require a very 

 intense application of mind to recall and " place " a 

 dozen of them as hyper-beautiful specimens. Glancing 



