210 MEMORIES OF MEN AND HORSES 



had scrupulously kept out of the Goudie machinations. 

 Nevertheless Volodyovski was a dead failure at the 

 stud, and this may be stated as a problem to which 

 no one will ever supply a solution. 



Ard Patrick, the 1902 winner, was a great horse 

 beyond all question, though his neck was turned up 

 the wrong way and his hocks were away from him. 

 There was a general grandeur about him despite 

 these faults of conformation, and the Derby has never 

 been won in better style, though I doubt if he was 

 really better than Sceptre when fully "keyed up." 



The difficulty of comparing classic winners may be 

 illustrated by Rock Sand, who came next and won all 

 the three great races. Had he then retired, he might 

 have ranked with the very best, but in an evil hour 

 for him he encountered Ard Patrick and Sceptre the 

 following year, when they showed themselves to be 

 of at least 14 Ib. superior class, and not once only 

 for Sceptre did it twice. Nevertheless Rock Sand 

 became a first-rate sire and got Tracery, a much 

 better horse than himself. 



St Amant owed his Derby victory, in a blinding 

 storm, to his hood and blinkers, for John o' Gaunt, who 

 would not face the rain, was certainly the better horse, 

 and has made a permanent mark in the Stud Book. 



Cicero, the 1905 winner, is a beautiful horse, rarely 

 bred and a successful stallion, but not a great Derby 

 winner. 



Spearmint, however, who won in the following year, 

 was in my opinion one of the very best, as proved by 

 his trial with Pretty Polly and Hammerkop, the high 

 class of the field behind him in the Derby, and the 

 smashing style in which he won the Grand Prix. 



