CHAPTER III 



FAMOUS HORSES 



Some few years since, a journal devoted to racing 

 sought the ideas of a number of authorities as to the 

 names of the best ten horses of the century. Great 

 difference of opinion prevailed, there being general 

 agreement about only a few animals. Ormonde and 

 St. Simon were in all the lists, and they could not 

 well have been omitted, seeing that neither had ever 

 been beaten ; and, indeed, except when Ormonde, 

 after he had become a roarer, was pressed by Minting 

 in the Hardwicke Stakes of 1887, all their races had 

 been won with ease, though, if I remember correctly, 

 T. Cannon, the jockey who rode Ormonde in his last 

 race, told me that he touched the horse with his spurs. 

 This, however, was a six furlong scurry. The Flying 

 Dutchman, Voltigeur, and West Australian were 

 usually included. Blair Athol had supporters, not- 

 withstanding that doubts were expressed as to whether 

 he was really a stayer ; and Gladiateur was not for- 

 gotten. Galopin was almost the first choice with a 

 band of enthusiasts who chanced to know how greatly 



