THE DUKE OF PORTLAND 



ing no ill effects. The Iliddlesworth Stakes at 

 the Craven JNIeeting was a virtual walk over for 

 him, and the style in which he came home by 

 himself merely showed him to be fresh and well. 

 It was, of course, impossible to fancy him for the 

 Two Thousand in the face of the unbeaten Friar's 

 Balsam, and the very healthy odds of 8 to 1 were 

 obtainable about him at the tall of the flag, backers 

 of the favourite having to lay 3 to 1 on. How- 

 ever, an abscess in the mouth, the presence of 

 which appears to have been unsuspected until 

 after the race, prevented Friar's Balsam from 

 making even a respectable show, and Ayrshire 

 won very comfortably indeed, whilst, to make 

 assurance doubly sure, the despised Johnny 

 Morgan carried the Duke of Portland's colours 

 into second place. There were only nine runners 

 for the Derby, and the slight odds that were laid 

 upon Ayrshire were never in doubt, but, a day 

 or two after his return from Epsom, he pulled 

 up very lame after a good gallop, and it was found 

 that he had thrown out a splint under one of his 

 knees. This naturally interfered seriously with 

 his work, and, although he went to Ascot, the 

 ground was so hard that it was considered judicious 

 to send him home again without allowing him to 

 fulfil an engagement there. Indeed he was not out 

 again until the St. Leger, when the fact of his 

 starting favourite at 2 to 1 shows that he must 

 have been thought to be all right again, but he 

 cut up very indiflPerently, failing to get a place to 

 Seabreeze. The fact was that he could not com- 

 fortably compass a mile and three-quarters in this 

 sort of company ; he could stay fairly well, but a 

 mile was really his best distance. This was pretty 

 well demonstrated by his running in the Lancashire 

 Plate at Manchester, which took place only ten 



179 



