322 THE ENGLISH TURF 



only thirteen years old. Another useful colt by St. Simon 

 foaled about the same time was Simonian ; and Bill of 

 Portland, though a roarer, could travel at a tremendous pace. 

 Nevertheless the rather unlucky Signorina and La Fleche 

 were far the best of his stock until Persimmon and St. 

 Frusquin appeared, and then after a couple of quieter 

 years he had in 1900 the five winners of the classic races 

 of which I have just made mention. Two or three years 

 ago all was not well with the Welbeck paddocks, and 

 the stud was removed while certain alterations took place. 

 To this cause is generally attributed the comparative 

 failure of St. Simon in 1897 and 1898. Even if St. Simon 

 has seen his best days as a stud horse, there are Persimmon 

 and St. Frusquin to carry on the line, to say nothing of 

 St. Serf, Raeburn, and that fine performer Florizel II., 

 who ran up a splendid record of victories in important 

 races, who could stay as well as his more famous brother 

 Persimmon, and who in 1900 had a wonderful season with 

 his first crop of two-year-old runners. 



In Persimmon the Blacklock blood is much more plentiful 

 than it is in his sire St. Simon, for his dam, Perdita II., has 

 five strains of it. The Prince of Wales' horse has yet to 

 prove himself at the stud, but it is any reasonable odds on 

 his being a success, for perhaps this particular line of Black- 

 lock, handed down through Voltaire, Voltigeur, Vedette, 

 Galopin, and St. Simon, is more full of vitality and more 

 prolific than any other line of the day. As something has 

 been said of the rival merits of Ormonde and St. Simon, it 

 may be added that there are those who consider Persimmon 

 to have been quite as good a horse as either, in spite of his 

 two defeats. I need not enter at length into such recent 

 running beyond mentioning that both of those defeats were 

 administered by St. Frusquin, and all the running of the pair 

 suggests that there was nothing between these two up to a 

 mile. Both were very successful two-year-olds, though St. 

 Frusquin was just beaten when trying to give a lot of weight 

 away at Kempton Park. In the Middle Park Plate each 

 carried the full penalty, and Persimmon started favourite. 

 Practically he had nothing to do with the finish, which was 



