74 KINGSCLERE 



their consternation that during their absence at the 

 Birdcage two of the upper rows of 'dolls' had been 

 placed across the course. The horses had then gone 

 to the post, and there was scarcely time for Porter 

 and Mr. Gretton to jump out of the trap and remove 

 the two centre 'dolls' before the quartette got 

 home. The upper row of ' dolls ' was left standing. 

 At the finish, closing a most unsatisfactory test, 

 Fordham and the others were pulling up. Needless 

 to observe that the trial, such as it was, left a wide 

 margin for guesswork. It, at all events, prevented 

 Mr. Gretton from backing his horse as he would 

 otherwise have done, although he did land 40,000/. 

 on the race. There were no fewer than thirty-eight 

 runners in that particular Cambridgeshire, which 

 Isonomy (3 yrs., 7 st. 1 lb.) won by two lengths. 

 Speaking generally of Isonomy, Porter assigns no 

 small part of the horse's extraordinarily successful 

 career to the fact that he was not over-raced as a 

 two-year-old ; and, by the way, it is remarkable that 

 the Cambridgeshire was his only race at three. The 

 trainer has strong views on the folly of racing young 

 horses during their most tender period, as other pages 

 of this volume testify. The stable record of 1879 is 

 largely monopolised by the exploits of Isonomy, 

 who, with Westbourne, kept Kingsclere most 

 prominently in the winning list. A mere recital of 

 Isonomy's performances discloses his greatness. 

 He, now four years old, won the Gold Vase at Ascot, 

 beating Silvio (5 yrs.) by half a length, and also the 

 Gold Cup at the same meeting — the latter by a 



