THE DUKE OF PORTLAND 



confined entirely to three-year-olds, and, as there 

 were no penalties or allowances, it was surprising 

 that there should have been seventeen runners. 

 Odds of 13 to 8 were laid on the Duke of Port- 

 land's champion, and " won very easily by two 

 lengths " was the official verdict. Pioneer, Minthe, 

 and Enthusiast finished next, in the order in which 

 I have placed them, the last-named being more 

 than six lengths from the winner, but as there 

 were substantial sums for second and third, and 

 JNIinthe only kept Enthusiast out of third place by 

 a neck, there is no doubt that both were ridden 

 right out. I have emphasised the form of 

 Enthusiast, because, to my mind, there is no 

 doubt that the running in the Two Thousand, in 

 which he upset the odds of 85 to 20 on Donovan 

 by a head, was all wrong. In the first place it was 

 a slow muddling race, and, in the second, Tom 

 Cannon accomplished one of the most brilliant 

 feats of all his memorable career in the saddle, and 

 completely outrode F. Barrett. Corroborative 

 evidence is given of the correctness of this view 

 by the fact that Pioneer, whom Donovan had 

 beaten by a couple of lengths in a canter less than 

 a month previously, now ran him to three-parts of 

 a length, though the Duke's colt was ridden clean 

 out. George Dawson was perfectly convinced 

 that the Two Thousand was a falsely-run race, 

 so when the first and second met again, three 

 weeks later, in the Newmarket Stakes, The Tur- 

 cophone, ridden by John Watts, was started to 

 ensure a strong pace. The betting at the start 

 was 11 to 8 against Donovan and 100 to 30 

 against Enthusiast, and so well did The Turco- 

 phone fulfil his mission that, not only did Donovan 

 win by two lengths, but the pacemaker secured 

 the 1000 sov. for second. Enthusiast failed to get 



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