THE DUKE OF PORTLAND 



Dewhurst Phites proved conclusively that he was 

 " no slouch," for he had to encounter Isinglass in 

 the one and Meddler in the other. Of course the 

 performance of Raeburn's that will always be 

 remembered was his victory in the Lancashire 

 Plate as a three-year-old, and he will be handed 

 down to posterity as "the only conqueror of 

 Isinglass." The result of this race is generally 

 accepted as a fluke, though, as will be seen later 

 on, the Duke of Portland has never regarded it 

 in that light, and gives excellent reasons for 

 believing that Raeburn won on his merits. More- 

 over it must not be forgotten that La Fleche was 

 also behind him in that race, and that two of his 

 subsequent performances that autumn gave proof 

 that he was in wonderfully good form just then. 

 He would have won the Cambridgeshire under 

 8 St. 1 lb. but for the intervention of the turned- 

 loose Molly Morgan, to whom he was asked to 

 give 22 lb., and he carried 9 st. into third place 

 in the Derby Cup, the winner being Best Man, 

 who was in receipt of 10 lb. from him. This 

 was a brilliant performance indeed when we note 

 that the following were some of the twenty-one 

 unplaced horses ; Victor Wild, 3 yrs., 7 st. 8 lb. ; 

 Gangway, 3 yrs., 7 st. 9 lb. ; Workington, aged, 

 8 st. 10 lb. ; Cabin Boy, 4 yrs., 8 st. 8 lb. ; Worcester, 

 3 yrs., 7 st. 2 lb. ; El Diablo, 4 yrs., 8 st. 4 lb.; and 

 Dornroschen, 3 yrs., 7 st. 3 lb. As is the case 

 with nine horses out of every ten, Raeburn was 

 never so good as in the autumn of his three-year- 

 old season, and he failed to earn another bracket, 

 making an indifferent show against Isinglass in the 

 Princess of Wales's, Eclipse, and Jockey Club 

 Stakes. Bred as he is, he seems bound to make 

 a success at the stud, but I should think that the 

 mares sent to him require to be carefully selected. 



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