DANEBURY DAYS 



and then he carried all before him, winning twelve 

 out of the sixteen races in which he took part. His 

 opening essay scarcely foreshadowed this result, as 

 Regalia beat him by three-parts of a length in the 

 Trial Stakes at Northampton. This was a weight- 

 for-age race over a mile, and the other runners 

 were Elland, Saccharometer, King Charming, His- 

 torian, and Amazon. Then came a sequence of 

 eight victories off the reel, the particulars of which 

 it is unnecessary to give here, though they are 

 worth looking up in the Calendar. Cannon rode 

 him in most of them, though Fordham was up 

 when he brought off the " double " of the Good-* 

 wood and Brighton Cups, and all courses seemed to 

 come alike to him. One day he would be cantering 

 home lengths in front of his field in a two-mile 

 race, or receiving forfeit from the sturdy Elland in 

 a match over the B.C., and, on the next, he might 

 be seen cutting down Breadalbane over the T.Y.C. 

 Yet I think there is not the least doubt that a mile 

 was his best course, and that, in a race that was 

 really run from end to end, he did not care to travel 

 much farther. He was a horse of exceptionally 

 fine speed, and it was this quality which pulled him 

 through in his cup races. The majority of these 

 were not more truly run in those days than they 

 are now, and a canter of a mile and three-quarters, 

 followed by a race for three-quarters of a mile, 

 suited The Duke to a nicety, or he would do the 

 distance "at twice," getting a nice pull in the 

 middle of the race. At the stud he did not prove 

 a conspicuous success. Somerset was, perhaps, 

 his best son, but, though he won the July Stakes, 

 and showed a considerable amount of promise as 

 a two-year-old, he could not stay, and was of no 

 use after his first season. The name of The Duke, 

 however, still lives through his daughters, the best 



69 



