XII 



THE DUKE OF PORTLAND {Concluded) 



Up to this time the Duke of Portland iiad been 

 ahnost entirely indebted to two colts for the 

 unprecedented position he had gained in the list 

 of winning owners, but now it was the turn of a 

 couple of fillies to take up the running. These 

 were Memoir and Semolina. The former is a 

 brown filly by St. Simon out of Quiver — an elder 

 own sister to the even more famous La Fleche — and 

 was bred at the royal paddocks at Hampton Court, 

 the Duke purchasing her at the annual sale of 

 yearlings for 1500 guineas. Being a big and 

 somewhat backward two-year-old, her debut was 

 delayed until the Chesterfield Stakes, in which she 

 was unplaced to Heaume, and she fared no better 

 in the Lavant Stakes at Goodwood, although she 

 was backed against the field. Then the beauti- 

 ful Signorina, who was absolutely invincible that 

 season, gave her 16 lb. and a length beating in 

 the Harrington Stakes at Derby, so it began to 

 look as though the Duke, who almost invariably 

 relies upon home-bred horses, had done badly by 

 breaking his customary rule and buying a yearling. 

 Fortunately it occurred to George Dawson to try 

 the experiment of running her in blinkers, the 

 good effects of which were at once noticeable, as 



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