THE DUKE OF PORTLAND 



another great performer on the turf, Wheel of Fortune has 

 not proved a success at the stud ; indeed, but for Oberon, 

 she must have been written down as a complete failure. 

 Her present colt foal by Ayrshire is not particularly 

 promising, and she was last allied with Suspender, a fresh 

 young sire who it is hoped will be more successful with her 

 than some of her other consorts have been. Unfortunately 

 fourteen of the twenty-six brood mares have no foals this 

 season, and among them are two of the other three Oaks 

 winners, whilst Amiable has only recently been turned out 

 of training, and been sent to Welbeck from Newmarket. 

 Memoir has thickened immensely of late, and is now a 

 magnificent specimen of a brood mare. She quite dwarfs 

 little Mrs. Butterwick and Semolina. The latter is as pretty 

 as ever, having altered very little since she left the post for 

 the paddock, and she presents a great contrast to Atalanta, 

 whose power and substance are so conspicuous. After we 

 had renewed acquaintance with all these old friends, the 

 Duke piloted us to the new boxes and yards which he has 

 just built, and which are now tenanted by mares and foals. 

 Satchel has a grand colt foal by Sheen, and Donovan's two 

 colts — from Tact and Dorothea — do him the highest credit, 

 and are exceedingly promising. Nor must I forget that 

 Rattlewings, the dam of The Owl, has an exceptionally good 

 filly foal by Satiety, and that Ismay's first foal, a brown filly 

 by St. Simon, is a very nice one. By the way, it is an extra- 

 ordinary circumstance that, in the whole of his stud career, 

 St. Simon has never sired anything but a bay or a brown. 

 A specially long halt was made at Mowerina's box, as the 

 old lady had a very fine chesnut filly by Orme to show us, 

 the first of that horse''s produce that most of us had seen, 

 and the young sire seems to have made an excellent start. 



Those of the party who were tired of walking drove back 

 to the Abbey in charge of Mr. Fred. J. Turner. This 

 gentleman's connection with the Portland family extends 

 over nearly forty years, as in 1858 he was appointed agent to 

 the Ayrshire estates, and, twenty years later, the Caithness 

 and Welbeck estates were also placed under his charge. 

 He is assisted in Scotland by one of his sons, Mr. J. Harling 

 Turner, whilst another son, Mr. Warner Turner, is his right 

 hand at Welbeck, and is also private secretary to the Duke. 

 Those of us who did not care to drive, walked back through 

 the magnificent range of hunting stables, which contain a 



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