CHASING AND RACING 229 



Isonomy and his son Isinglass. I was near to writing 

 down the former as one of the select order of the un- 

 defeated, but then remembered that though he won 

 the Cambridgeshire in 1878; the following year, carry- 

 ing a prohibitive burden, he could do no better than 

 register " a place " in a field of thirty-one runners, 

 when La Merville won. Isonomy was undoubtedly a 

 great horse, one of the greatest ever seen on the Turf. 

 The last glimpse I had of him was when he was sent up 

 for sale to — of all places in the world — Albert Gate 1 



To begin with, he was not a great success as a sire ; 

 but as time went on he altered that, and has become a 

 veritable pillar of The Stud Book. His son Isinglass, 

 who was a triple-crowned hero in 1893, was likewise 

 defeated once, and once only. 



He was a great, good-natured beast that delighted 

 in making a race with anything ! I think he must have 

 derived some telepathic amusement by racking the 

 nerves of those supporters who were not aware of this 

 idiosyncrasy. Tommy Loates was his usual, maybe 

 his only, pilot, and he understood the hefty bay 

 thoroughly. In nearly every race the horse ran, the 

 cry would go up " Isinglass 's beat ! " when Tommy 

 was seen hustling Mr. McCalmont's steed for all he 

 was worth (apparently) ; but. Lord love you ! not a 

 bit of it ! When the psychological moment arrived, 

 or when it suited his fancy, the *' bit up the sleeve " 

 would pop out, and in a few strides the race would be 

 won ! 



