270 CHASING AND RACING 



Grandfather's death * I began to pay more heed to the 

 oracle of fate and hedged a bit ; but I was a loser on 

 the race. 



When presentiments materialize in any event, one 

 is apt to regard them with more veneration than 

 perhaps they deserve ; but how often is it that these 

 same presentiments turn out to be mere nervous 

 hallucinations. In such cases one sits tight and 

 says nothing about them. 



My bad luck over St. Frusquin was an echo of 

 what occurred in 1892, when half of every bet which I 

 landed went on La Fleche for the Derby. I had a 

 wholesome dread of Orme (for I held a very high 

 opinion of the Duke of Westminster's champion), and 

 was prepared to cover on him. When the numbers 

 went up, the unfortunate and suspicious occurrence 

 which had placed him hors de combat left, as I 

 figured it, a very easy journey open for Baron Hirsch's 

 flyer. But on arriving at Epsom she went all wrong, 

 and was a shadow of herself, which was revealed in 

 the preliminary canter. 



History relates how Sir Hugo took her number 

 down. What a lucky gee ! What a lucky owner ! 

 That poor La Fleche was stones below par, was proved 

 when a moderate filly, such as The Smew, got to her 

 head in The Oaks. At her best, the daughter of 



* From this it would seem that Mr. Leo Rothschild " had a 

 hunch " that his colt was doomed to defeat by the Prince's 

 champion. 



