CHAPTER XVIII 



CLASSIC WINNERS CONTINUED 



A Classic Constellation George Thompson and Minting Ormonde, 

 Minting, Saraband and The Bard American Possibilities 

 Hanover, good Concerning Surefoot Why did he not win the 

 Derby? Sainfoin greater by sequence Sir Hugo not great, but 

 lives in Australia Isinglass for ever ! Ladas must survive 



THE year 1886 was one of the best ever known 

 as regards classic three-year-olds, for Ormonde, 

 The Bard, Minting and Saraband were all good 

 enough to win a Derby, and there was Breadknife 

 almost equally good. They were of strangely different 

 types : Ormonde a big, commanding bay, of heavy, 

 almost lumbering substance, but framed on the best of 

 lines ; Minting even bigger and more bulky, with 

 shoulders almost suggestive of harness, and fore-joints 

 none of the best, with a tendency to hairy heels. Poor 

 little George Thompson, who rode him in his first smart 

 gallop as a yearling, told his owner, Mr Robert Vyner : 

 " You need not trouble to put this beast in training." 



Yet Minting was really one of the horses of the 

 century, and, though he could not beat Ormonde, was 

 well able to win the Grand Prix. The Bard, as a 

 multum in parvo, was a marvel. He was a silver-shot, 

 muscular chestnut, moulded to perfection, and I stood 

 on the spur of the hill at Epsom watching him hunt 

 Ormonde home for the Derby quite vainly, but with 

 unflagging courage. Saraband showed the best quality 



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