208 MEMORIES OF MEN AND HORSES 



had been. From him, however, we passed on to some- 

 thing vastly better in 1896. 



This was Persimmon, whose only fault was that 

 he needed a terrible amount of work to get him fit, 

 and, like his daughter, Sceptre, he was thick-winded 

 until he got it. He made a quite considerable noise 

 when he was finishing third for the Middle Park Plate, 

 and at the Newmarket Craven Meeting the following 

 spring he performed so ingloriously in a rough gallop 

 with two Platers that he was forthwith struck out of 

 the Two Thousand Guineas. All the same, after a 

 course of strenuous work he won the Derby by a 

 narrow margin from St Frusquin. It was a great 

 event indeed, and the scene when the Prince of Wales 

 led him in will never be forgotten by those who were 

 present. Persimmon's true greatness was not proved 

 until his Ascot Cup victory the following year. That 

 was a really magnificent performance, and the horse 

 was individually a grand one, if with a slight tendency 

 to lumber. There was little to choose between him 

 and St Frusquin as three-year-olds, but Persimmon's 

 four-year-old season entitled him to the supremacy. 



In 1897 Galtee More carried all before him, and 

 this was another Derby winner of the highest class. 

 From the moment I saw him as a two-year-old at 

 Goodwood I made up my mind that he would surely 

 beat Velasquez, who was then the favourite two-year- 

 old. Galtee More was out by himself the best of his 

 year, and but for being rather high from the hocks 

 to the ground he was almost faultless in conformation. 

 He ran an exceptionally great race for the Cambridge- 

 shire at the end of a very hard season. 



Jeddah, the 1898 Derby winner, cannot be considered 



