H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES 



treat they anticipated in witnessing a battle 

 between Persimmon and St. Frusquin ; had he 

 followed his own inclination, he would not have 

 started a colt who had been amiss so very 

 recently. Though beaten several lengths by both 

 St. Frusquin and Omladina, Persimmon never 

 lost his place, but struggled on to the finish in 

 the gamest possible fashion. 



There is no doubt, however, that this race 

 took a great deal out of him, and, though he had 

 a very easy time in the winter, when galloped in 

 the spring it was found that he was nothing like 

 forward enough to make it possible to get him 

 ready for the Two Thousand. One morning in the 

 Craven Week his clothes were taken off for the 

 first time as a three-year-old, and he had a five- 

 furlong gallop with Chinkara and Courtier. Very 

 moderate as this pair undoubtedly were, they were 

 both thoroughty fit, and they had Persimmon 

 fairly sprawling before they had gone half a mile. 

 Unfortunately for me I witnessed this gallop, 

 which was about the most slovenly performance 

 on the part of a crack that I ever saw, and it so 

 thoroughly prejudiced me against Persimmon that 

 I could never be persuaded that he possessed the 

 remotest chance of even obtaining a place in the 

 Derby, and, as I usually have the courage of my 

 opinions, this altogether erroneous idea appeared 

 pretty frequently in print. The fact was that the 

 colt never really came to himself until quite a 

 fortnight later, but, when once he had taken a 

 turn in the right direction, his improvement was 

 remarkably rapid. He was never regularly tried 

 for the Derby, but on Tuesday, May 26, eight 

 days before the race, he gave 21 lb. and an easy 

 beating to Balsamo over a mile. This gallop took 

 place on Marsh's private ground, in the presence 



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