THE DUKE OF PORTLAND 



had been wasted in vain attempts, an old brood 

 mare was sent for, and he finally condescended to 

 follow her into the box. 



It is somewhat cnrious that St. Simon, like 

 Ormonde two years later, was beaten in his first 

 trial. Archer rode him, and he failed by a neck 

 to give 17 lb. to Clochette, a fairly smart two-year- 

 old filly by Camballo, belonging to Lord Lascelles. 

 As all his entries were void it was not an easy 

 matter to make satisfactory engagements for him, 

 and he made a very modest first appearance in the 

 Halnaker Stakes at Goodwood. Nothing of any 

 note was opposed to him, and, backed against the 

 field, he won by half a dozen lengths, supplement- 

 ing this by beating a single opponent in a maiden 

 stake later in the week. There was no particular 

 merit attaching to either of these performances, but 

 he was pretty generally known to be something 

 quite out of the common, and was accordingly 

 allotted 8 st. 12 lb. in the Devonshire Nursery 

 at Derby. There were nineteen runners for this 

 race, and the Duke of Portland's colt was giving 

 away all sorts of weights from 9 lb. to 40 lb. Mr. 

 Peck's Archer (7 st. 9 lb.) started a very hot 

 favourite at 7 to 4, but St. Simon was well backed 

 down to 11 to 4, and "won in a canter by two 

 lengths," was the verdict recorded in his favour. 

 Then came the Prince of Wales's Nursery at 

 Doncaster, in which he showed a performance 

 that stands out as one of the best ever accom- 

 plished by a two-year-old. He had 9 st. in the 

 saddle, and the other twenty runners carried 

 weights ranging downwards from 7 st. 11 lb. to 

 5 St. 12 lb. Archer was never partial to winning 

 by more than was necessary, but on this occasion 

 he presumably found it impossible to hold his 

 horse, for he passed the post eight lengths in front 



173 



