GEORGE FREDERICK 



judicious efforts to get this off in the early spring 

 were greatly hampered by Mr. Cartwright, who 

 came over to Wroughton several times, and always 

 insisted that the colt was too forward. Had the 

 trainer been firmly established in his position at 

 that time, he would probably have gone his own 

 way without much regard to the opinion of his 

 employer ; but it will easily be understood that he 

 was somewhat awkwardly placed, and that to start 

 his new duties with the care of a prominent candi- 

 date for the Derby was a very heavy responsibility. 

 What with the owner's somewhat mistaken ideas 

 on the subject of condition, and Leader's very 

 natural diffidence in asserting himself, there seemed 

 every prospect of George Frederick going to 

 Epsom as fat as he had been in all his previous 

 engagements ; indeed, he would never have won 

 the Derby if he had not run twice at Newmarket 

 previously. Not only did these two races do him 

 an immense amount of good, but the travelling 

 helped to keep him light, and every trainer seems 

 to be agreed that a railway journey has about 

 the same effect in this respect as a good gallop. 

 George Frederick's first appearance as a three- 

 year-old was made at the Craven Meeting, when 

 he finished a couple of lengths behind Miss Toto 

 and Reverberation, who ran a dead-heat for the 

 Newmarket Biennial, the performance of the latter 

 coming as a great surprise, as he was absolutely 

 without a price in the quotations on the race. 

 At the same meeting Mr. Cartwright's colt walked 

 over for a 100 sov. sweepstakes over the D.M. 

 From this point he came on so rapidly that his 

 owner became very sanguine of winning the Derby 

 with him ; indeed, in talking over that race with 

 Leader just prior to the Two Thousand, he said, 

 " We've only got Ecossais to beat ; post yourself 



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