6i.6 A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



Newmarket July Meeting, over the last six furlongs of the Bunbury Mile, and 

 he had to be driven to shake off Wkitefriar. He only just left the Turf in time 

 to save his shield untarnished, and was sold into South America, leaving, in Orme, 

 a son well worthy of so great a sire. 



The cheers over that sensational struggle for the Hardwicke Stakes will not 

 easily be forgotten, for there was behind them just that touch of sadness for both 

 owner and trainer which they alone were able fully to appreciate at the time. 

 Perhaps Porter was the only man who realised the full risks that splendid horse 

 was running. The period was a memorable one in several ways. In 1886 the 

 King, then Prince of Wales, had joined the Kingsclere stables. In 1887 the 

 Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Victoria was celebrated. It was at one time 

 suggested that Ormonde should carry the Duke of Westminster in the procession. 

 Eventually it was decided to bring him quietly up to London to a garden-party 

 at Grosvenor House. He was unboxed at Waterloo, walked deliberately across 

 Westminster Bridge, and by special permission across the Parks. A cabman with 

 an eye for horseflesh was the only ordinary Londoner who knew what was passing 

 through the capital, and he would not believe the short reply his question received 

 " Ormonde." That gentlemanly thoroughbred enjoyed his Mayfair garden-party 

 as if he had been used to such functions all his life, and travelled just as contentedly 

 back to Kingsclere when the last orchid had been handed him to nibble by the 

 ladies. 



Ormonde was selected as a type by Major-General Sir John Hills, in his 

 interesting book, " The Points of a Racehorse," to illustrate the quite unique and 

 extraordinary length of his humerus, which is nearly as long as the shoulder-blade, 

 and also the remarkable uprightness of its slope. With his grand quarters and 

 loins, short back, excellent low stifle, straight hind legs with powerful gaskins, 

 and deep barrel, Ormonde at his best showed every point of racing excellence 

 remarkably displayed in spite of having a plain head and a rather short neck. 

 His splendid framework he no doubt inherited as much from Bend Or as from 

 Lily Agnes, and he handed it on to Orme, his famous son from Angelica, who 

 is a pattern of good looks with scarce a blemish on him, truly and perfectly built 

 for a combination of strength and speed, with wonderfully developed style, no 

 lumber in front, splendid slope to the shoulders, and excellent loins and quarters. 

 Ormes son, Flying Fox, though not built on such powerful lines as those of his 

 sire and grandsire, shows even finer quality, and all his good points harmonise 



