222 CHASING AND RACING 



run over one of the severest one and a half miles in the 

 country, and that poor Ormonde was by then terribly 

 afflicted in the wind, it will be realized what a tre- 

 mendous flyer he was in every particular. No horse, 

 unless possessed of unflinching courage and perse- 

 verance, could have thus triumphed over such a smasher 

 as Minting, who the following Spring carried lo stone 

 to victory in The Kempton Jubilee, and, what is more, 

 galloped clean away from a big and representative field. 



My third nerve-twister occurred at Sandown in 

 1903, when the great and glorious Sceptre, Ard 

 Patrick (the Derby winner of the previous year), and 

 Rock Sand (the then latest winner of the world's 

 greatest race) were in opposition. In the paddock the 

 Oaks heroine and Derby hero of 1 902 quite threw into 

 the shade the last named, who appeared mean and 

 undersized in comparison with the slashing four-year- 

 olds. 



There is a well-worn aphorism which says, ** hand- 

 some is as handsome does.'' In this case handsome is 

 did it handsomely, for poor little Rock Sand had to be 

 content with a view of the tails of his giant rivals from 

 start to finish. Madden rode Ard Patrick, and Frank 

 Hardy Sceptre. Without in any way challenging the 

 efficiency of the latter jockey, those best qualified to 

 judge all agree with me that it was Madden's supreme 

 effbrt which landed Jack Gubbins' handsome colt a 

 winner by the shortest of heads. When I state that 

 Hardy had been far from well for some time before the 



