134 MEMORIES OF MEN AND HORSES 



but I put it on record meanwhile she did not give her 

 true running to-day. 



There is no need to enlarge on my opinion as then 

 given, for it proved to be a correct one. Sceptre won 

 the Oaks easily, thanks to her gallop in the Derby, 

 and it was soon discovered that she needed strenuous 

 work even on the morning of a race to clear her 

 pipes. Her only other defeat, from lack of such work, 

 was when she had been given an easy time after Ascot 

 and was defeated by the moderate Royal Lancer at 

 Goodwood. After that race she blew like a grampus, 

 and people said how unfortunate it was that she had 

 gone wrong in her wind ; but Mr Sievier, who by that 

 time understood her thoroughly, brought her out next 

 morning and gave her a racing pace gallop over the 

 Craven course. He started her that same afternoon for 

 the Nassau Stakes, and she won in a common canter, 

 beating Elba, to whom she conceded no less than 21 Ib. 



These initial facts in the history of Sceptre are in- 

 teresting because they really are facts, and to the 

 end of her career she needed abnormal work even on 

 the morning of a race to clear her pipes. When she 

 was sold to Sir Wm. Bass for ,25,000, Mr Sievier 

 galloped her two miles in the morning while Mr E. H. 

 Leach was ' on his way to examine her. She passed 

 quite sound under those conditions. 



These facts should for ever dissipate any lurking tradi- 

 tion that Sceptre did not run on her merits for the Derby. 

 In point of fact, I think that Mr Sievier, taking the 

 training job on as he did, did wonders to win four out 

 of the five classics with her. 



