XV 



HERMIT AND ISINGLASS 



From the outset of this book I have made very 

 little attempt to preserve anything like chrono- 

 loo;ical order. It would have been almost im- 

 possible to have done so, and, in my opinion, the 

 loss would have far outbalanced the gain. Thus 

 I need not apologise for the title of this chapter. 

 Hermit, although he attained a full average age, 

 was dead before Isinglass was foaled, but both 

 were managed by Captain Machell, to whom I 

 am deeply indebted for many interesting par- 

 ticulars of each of them, and this is my only 

 reason for bracketing them together. 



The hero of perhaps the most sensational 

 Derby ever run was a chesnut colt by New- 

 rainster out of Seclusion, and was bred in 1864 

 by the late Mr. William Blenkiron at the Middle 

 Park Stud, Eltham. At that time this stud was 

 at the zenith of its fame, and no sooner had the 

 hammer fallen to Mr. Chaplin's bid of 1000 

 guineas for the Seclusion colt, than another 

 chesnut colt, by Dundee out of Shot, was led 

 into the ring, and was ultimately knocked down 

 to Mr. James IMerry at exactly the same price. 

 This was Marksman, destined two years later to 

 immediately follow Hermit at Epsom, just as he 



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