ORMONDE'S WORSHIPPERS 339 



sister, Farewell (the dam of Regret), won the One 

 Thousand Guineas, and ran respectably once or twice 

 afterwards, though she could scarcely be called a high- 

 class race-horse. The Duke of Westminster was of 

 opinion that Doncaster did not nick with the Agnes mares, 

 and tried Bend Or. This infusion of Melbourne blood 

 proved the greatest success. Ormonde's long string of 

 victories, all but one of them obtained with the greatest 

 ease, stamp him as undoubtedly the best horse of the 

 century, and are a splendid tribute to the judgment of the 

 Duke. It should be borne in mind that Ormonde had to 

 meet some exceptionally good horses, The Bard, Minting, 

 and Bendigo having all beaten the record, and indeed, the 

 former two have never suffered defeat save at his hands 

 when running in a weight-for-age race.' Mr. Dixon 

 adds, writing in 1888, ' Mr. Snarry has now seven mares 

 descended from Agnes at Newstead House and Norton, 

 and the most careless observer can scarcely fail to be struck 

 with the strong family likeness which exists among them, 

 and how remarkably they all favour their ancestress, 

 Agnes.' 



THE WORSHIP OF ORMONDE 



Even America admitted the greatness of this son of 

 Bend Or and Lily Agnes. A writer in the ' New York 

 Sun ' pays his tribute to the famous horse in the following 

 glowing terms : ' Is there an uppermost "pedestal in the 

 horse world Ormonde is entitled to stand upon it. He 

 seems to possess every gift that can be bestowed on a 

 racer, and in the highest possible degree. His temper is 

 perfect. He marches to the post like a parading veteran ; 

 troubles no one during the fretful manoeuvres of the start, 

 and when once off, seems to have no other will but that 

 of his jockey. He does not have to be nursed here and 

 there according to the lay of the land, like Gladiateur, 

 whose fore-legs were so poor that he had to be taken back 

 at every descending slope. Ormonde can gallop down hill 

 and up. He is as good before as behind. He has the 

 grand speed, the tireless power of the greater racer, an 

 unequalled style of galloping, a flawless set of legs, and a 

 first-rate constitution. One might almost credit the writer 



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