DANEBURY DAYS 



he scratch him ? " ^\^hat can the poor fly demand from the 

 spider in whose web he is enveloped ? — I am, sir, your 

 obedient servant, H. J. Rous. 



13 Bei-keley Square, June 15, 



It may, perhaps, be as well to give the 

 quotation from the Pall Mall Gazette, which 

 was the immediate cause of the Admiral writing 

 the above letter. It ran as follows : — 



A week has now passed since the paying and receiving on 

 the Derby account of 1868 was brought to a close at Tatter- 

 salPs, and it would appear that the settlement has been 

 effected with less than the usual number of defaulters. We 

 can now, therefore, look with calmness at the result of the 

 race itself, and see if any light can be thrown on the extra- 

 ordinary performance of a mare, considered to be one of the 

 finest racers in England. Without going minutely into the 

 steady advance in the betting since the mare's earliest per- 

 formances, we come to the fact that the day before the race 

 (and, indeed, on the day itself) the odds against her were 

 but a trifle more than 2 to 1 ; and this confidence appeared 

 to be justified by outward appearances. The mare was 

 brought to Epsom somewhat ostentatiously, in a van with 

 one or more of the Days, her trainers seated on the outside, 

 and it was stated in all quarters that they themselves were 

 bent heart and soul on securing her success. It is melancholy 

 to recur to the miserable exhibition the poor animal made 

 in the race ; her unwillingness to start, her incapability of 

 action, and her sluggishness Avhen her jockey attempted to 

 rouse her (all so contradictory of the mare's antecedents) 

 strongly suggested to many competent observers that she 

 had been poisoned, or in Turf phraseology, had been "got 

 at." Yet, with these staring facts before the world, we hear 

 of no indignation, no inquiry even. The principal writer on 

 sporting matters, "Argus," just intimates that the Days will 

 doubtless institute a searching investigation into the affair, 

 but, afterwards, ventures to throw out the suggestion that 

 the mare might have been over-trained. The Sporting' Life, 

 with more audacity, mentions what Admiral Rous said on 

 the course, " that if he had taken as much laudanum as had 



96 



