THE DUKE OF PORTLAND 



after that she never won again, although she only 

 missed the Coronation Stakes at Ascot by a head, 

 in spite of having to put up a 7 lb. penalty. 



St. Serf, a brown colt by St. Simon out of 

 Feronia, was foaled in the same year as Memoir 

 and Semolina. Being a very big one, it is doubt- 

 ful if he was ever really at his best, and he would 

 probably have made an exceptionally good four- 

 year-old had it been possible to train him at that 

 age. George Dawson judiciously allowed him 

 plenty of time ; indeed his only appearance as a 

 two-year-old was made in the Clearwell Stakes at 

 the Second October Meeting. He was only started 

 in this race with the idea of giving him a little 

 experience, for he was virtually friendless at 8 to 1, 

 and did well under the circumstances in finishing a 

 good third to Rightaway. The patience exercised 

 was well rewarded in the following year when St. 

 Serf won six of the nine races in which he took 

 part. His start was not a very promising one, as 

 he just failed to get into the first three for the 

 Two Thousand, but then Surefoot, who won with 

 something in hand, was very bad to beat over a 

 mile course when he was in the humour to do his 

 best, and both Le Nord and Blue -green were 

 remarkably smart, in spite of having exceptionally 

 bad luck in the matter of winning races. As St. 

 Serf was entitled to a maiden allowance, the Epsom 

 Grand Prize — a race which was judiciously dropped 

 some years ago — looked to be a really good thing 

 for him, but the course is a bad one for a big long- 

 striding horse, and he only scraped home by a head 

 from Ornatus, who was giving him 7 lb., and was 

 certainly no flyer. The New Mile at Ascot, with 

 its steady rise, suited him, on the contrary, to a 

 nicety, and his victory in the Rous Memorial 

 Stakes, in which he had all the worst of the 



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