PORTER'S DISAPPOINTMENT in 



appointment in racing he had ever experienced. 

 ' If the horse had broken down I should not have 

 cared, for we might have patched him up again : but 

 a roarer — Ormonde a roarer ! All his prospects 

 of a great future at the stud destroyed ! It was too 

 sad for words.' Well, a short time before the 

 horses were saddled for the Hardwicke, Porter met 

 Matthew Dawson, who said, ' I shall beat you to-day.' 

 There had been occasions when such a cheerily 

 confident prediction would have provoked a corre- 

 sponding retort, but the foreboding mind of the trainer 

 of Ormonde kept him silent. It seemed no fitting 

 occasion for an interchange of good-humoured badi- 

 nage. The impending issue was too grave. In his 

 heart of hearts he feared that his friend Matthew 

 Dawson was likely to turn out a true prophet. ' How 

 could Ormonde, handicapped as the horse was by his 

 growing infirmity, beat Minting over that course ? 

 The feat appeared impossible. Ormonde won ! Won, 

 too, in despite of his being hampered by Phil, who 

 struck into him at the turn and cut his leg severely, 

 and after almost carrying the horse for a long way. 

 The excitement caused by that prodigious perform- 

 ance will never be forgotten by those who were 

 present, and who, as it were, shared in it — and who 

 could help but cheer ? It was a proud moment for the 

 Duke of Westminster, who led the horse back into the 

 paddock after his victory, and who seemed reluctant 

 to part with him. Proud, too, with a feeling of 

 unspeakable sadness, was Ormonde's trainer, John 

 Porter, for he of all men best knew what a oreat 



