228 CHASING AND RACING 



race, and Rose Garden was little more than a pony. 

 Dornroschen was by Prism (a son of Speculum), a re- 

 markably handsome horse, but only a sprinter ; whilst 

 Catania was by Speculum himself ; and though it may 

 be urged that the substitution of the father for the son 

 should have ensured stamina, the fatal female line 

 betrays the weak spot which caused the eighth furlong 

 of the mile to be a sore trial and tribulation to Dorn- 

 roschen, and one which more than once proved her 

 undoing. It is therefore possible that her " nephew " 

 may have inherited a similar failing. 



This supposition is emphasized by the fact that 

 The Tetrarch*s son, the brilliant Tetratema, was one of 

 the Dornroschen kidney. He could " catch swallows,'* 

 as the saying goes, at six and seven furlongs, and 

 though he did manage to win " The Guineas,'' it took 

 him all his time to peg back Silvern, whom he could 

 have lost over a shorter cut. Rose Garden was by 

 Kingcraft (winner of the Derby, 1870) — Eglantine by 

 Hermit; a pedigree which does not suggest lack of 

 stamina ; but the kink must be there or thereabouts; 

 though it maybe due to some remote atavistic influence.* 



There are many cases of great racehorses which have 

 been beaten but once. Two conspicuous examples are 



* Since these remarks were written two sons of The Tetrarch 

 have won the St. Leger — to wit Caligula (1920) and Polemarch 

 (1921) ; whilst another son, Chand, won an important 2j-mile 

 race in France, besides several big lepping events over a dis- 

 tance of ground. So it seems as if the suspicion of lack of 

 stamina in " The Spotted Wonder's " stock was ill founded. 



