220 CHASING AND RACING 



seen. I am afraid I cannot agree ; true the roan- 

 chestnut was well knit, symmetricalj and full of quality, 

 but he was only a little chap after all, and lacked the 

 impressive grandeur of some of his kind. 



Watching the race for the Derby very carefully, it 

 seemed to me that, just for a moment, Archer had to 

 shake up Ormonde in order to stall off his diminutive 

 rival, and this view the jockey endorsed when I asked 

 him what he considered was the greatest racehorse he 

 had ever ridden. His answer was in words to this 

 effect : 



** It is hard to say, sir, but it is between St. Simon 

 and Ormonde. I did have to ask the latter a little 

 question when we were alongside The Bard, but St. 

 Simon was never out of a hand canter in any of his races. 

 Still, I should not like to say he was a better horse than 

 Ormonde, who had some very hot stuff to beat, whereas 

 St. Simon I doubt was ever up against anything extra 

 special." 



But I am not quoting the Ormonde-The Bard 

 incident as an example of a real nerve-racking finish, 

 for once Ormonde's great stride had asserted itself the 

 race was all over. By the way, I think there must be 

 something unlucky about the pronoun " The " as 

 regards The Derby. I believe I am right in stating 

 that no horse with that prefix has ever annexed " The 

 Blue Ribbon.'' The Bard and The Baron failed, 

 whilst, alas. The Tetrarch yielded to the exigencies of 

 training before he had a chance of demonstrating 



