56 THE TURF 



by the looks and action of the son of Stockwell ; so 

 much so, indeed, that, having had a great fancy for, 

 and having backed, another horse in the race, he 

 straightway went to the ring, and took care that Blair 

 Athol's victory should not be unprofitable to him. 

 The colt had great speed and a certain amount of 

 stamina, but, as already remarked, he was not 

 universally accepted as a stayer. When a handicap 

 horse called The Miner beat him at York, excuses 

 were made, as they always are in such cases, for his 

 defeat ; but John Osborne, who rode The Miner, 

 states that he was not at all surprised at his success, 

 and, indeed, expected to win. Two of Blair Athol's 

 sons won the St. Leger, but neither Craigmillar nor 

 Silvio (who also won the Derby) was a good horse ; 

 indeed, it is demonstrable that Craigmillar was vastly 

 inferior to Galopin. 



This is somewhat overshooting the mark, however, 

 for Blair Athol's year was 1864, and there was a 

 three-year-old in 1863 who had and has staunch 

 admirers. He did not win the Derby either, having 

 been just beaten in that race ; for reference is made to 

 Lord Clifden, who — possibly by ill luck, but the point 

 does not now need argument — succumbed at Epsom 

 to Macaroni. There are some animals that, for 

 reasons not very easy to trace, firmly win a place in 

 the affections of lovers of the horse, and Lord Clifden 

 was one of these, possibly because this idea of his 

 bad luck in the Derby so strongly prevailed. He 



