26 THE TURF 



despair of subsequent development. 1 1 is an extremely 

 rare thing to find a horse entered for, say, the 

 Brocklesby Stakes, run towards the end of March, and 

 the Middle Park Plate, run in the middle of October, 

 though at the same time, Donovan, in 1888, actually 

 won both. As a general rule, however, when October 

 comes the winner of the Brocklesby is very lightly 

 esteemed and the chances are that before June the 

 winner of the Middle Park has not been seen on a 

 racecourse. The winner of the Brocklesby "may be 

 anything," as the phrase goes. The Bard won in 1885 

 and held his own next year, running a good second to 

 Ormonde for the Derby ; in four years out of six The 

 Bard would doubtless easily have won the great race. 

 In 1886 April Fool won and soon sank to "plating." 

 In 1887 Volcano won, and not long afterwards was 

 being badly beaten in selling handicap hurdle races, 

 the lowest form of contest the Turf knows. In 1888 

 Donovan won and subsequently proved himself one of 

 the most successful horses ever known on the Turf. 

 But The Bard and Donovan were notable exceptions 

 to the average run of Brocklesby winners. 



It is seldom that two-year-olds destined to attain to 

 the front rank are out before, at any rate, the Wood- 

 cote Stakes at Epsom. The Woodcote was originated 

 in 1807, and with the exception of the July Stakes at 

 Newmarket, first run in 1786, is about the oldest two- 

 year-old contest now surviving. Derby winners have 

 won the Woodcote- Cremorne (1871) and Ladas 



