138 KINGSCLERE 



by La Fleche in the Oaks when The Smew ran her 

 to a short head is easily accounted for. She had 

 been ridden with great severity for the last five 

 furlongs in the Derby. She was asked to do an 

 impossible thing, and she nearly did it with that 

 unflinching gameness which was not the least 

 remarkable characteristic of the gallant little mare ; 

 but the strenuous endeavour took a lot out of her. 

 Between the Derby and the Oaks there was not 

 sufficient time for her to recover. Another day 

 between the two races would have made all the 

 difference in the world. Like all the St. Simon 

 progeny, La Fleche was of a highly nervous and 

 excitable temperament. Taken to Manchester to 

 run in the Lancashire Plate of 10,000 sovereigns, 

 the noise, the traffic, the crowd — in short, the 

 general tumult incidental to one of the greatest days 

 of that immense meeting — completely upset her. 

 When Porter went to get the mare ready for the 

 race he found her trembling all over, and sweating 

 so profusely she looked as if she had been dragged 

 through a pond. Nevertheless, she ran one of the 

 best races she ever ran in her life, beating Orvieto 

 (4 yrs., 9 st. 10 lb. ) by three lengths, while she, a three- 

 year-old, carried 9 st. 81b. Weight is weight anyhow, 

 and here she was conceding a year to the second 

 favourite — there was very little between them on 

 the market score, 6 to 4 against La Fleche and 

 2 to 1 against Orvieto — and receiving, as it were in 

 compensation, 2 lb. John Porter, dwelling upon it, 

 declares this to be one of her greatest achievements, if 



