"'SCEPTRE' WINS!" 697 



he was unable to ride again till the York meeting in August, and Blackwell had 



to put up J. H. Martin on Sir James Miller's colt. The meeting of Ard Patrick, 



Sceptre, and Rock Sand was certainly the finest race seen since Voltigeur and 



The Flying Dutchman fought for supremacy ; and between the three cracks at 



Sandown there were no less than seven classic races, rising to eight later in the 



year. Of these the winner had only one, but that was the Derby. This struggle, 



and that for the Jockey Club Stakes the same season, remind me that, besides 



St. Frusquin s victory in the Princess of Wales's Stakes already mentioned, there 



are other famous fields that deserve comparison with them. In the Ascot Cup 



of 1874, Boiard, the French Grand Prix winner, beat the winners of the Derby, 



Oaks, St. Leger, and 



Two Thousand, besides 



Flageolet, who alone 



smashed up Cremorne 



and Favonius so badly 



in the Goodwood Cup 



that they never started 



again. Lecturer beat 



three Oaks winners in 



the Ascot Cup. Bees- 



wing had Charles XII. 



and Attila behind her 



in the Doncaster Cup 



I n the Champion Stakes ^^ . (i ^ by ^^ Birtkday? 



at Newmarket, Jannette 



beat two St. Leger winners, one of whom had won the Derby. St. Gatien 



squandered Melton when they met. At Kempton Park Epsom Lad ("the 



Friponnier of his day ") beat a Derby winner and a St. Leger winner. In the 



Jockey Club Stakes Persimmon anticipated his daughter's performance by coming 



home in front of a Derby winner and a Two Thousand winner. 



There is no doubt that Rock Sand would have ranked as an undoubtedly first- 

 rate Derby winner but for this race for the Eclipse; and with the exception of 

 course of Zinfandel, he may be something more than "a long way the best of 

 a very bad year ; " but in any case the fact that he was well beaten by first and 

 second at Sandown a quarter of a mile from home shows the very exceptional 



