H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES 



intervened between the Ascot Cup and the Eclipse 

 Stakes was an anxious time for Marsh. There 

 was another spell of very hot dry weather, and he 

 was compelled to have recourse to the tan once 

 more. Thus the colt undoubtedly lost some of 

 his dash, added to which he may have been feeling 

 the effects of his long and severe preparation for 

 Ascot. Then everything was against him on the 

 day of the race. It was hotter than ever, the 

 paddock was unusually crowded, and he came in 

 for such an amount of mobbing that he grew 

 terribly excited. Marsh had all his work to do 

 to get him quieted down, and, just as he had 

 succeeded in this, the crack had to be taken on 

 to the lawn to be photographed, which natu- 

 rally completely upset him again. Altogether his 

 trainer must have been very thankful when the 

 race was over, though, under ordinary conditions, 

 the task of giving 12 lb. to Velasquez would have 

 been a light one for him, and, even as it was, 

 Persimmon won easily enough at the finish. This 

 was his last race. A great effort was made by the 

 executive at Lingfield to bring him and Galtee 

 More together in the autumn, a very rich weight- 

 for-age stake being advertised entirely with that 

 object. The Prince of Wales would have been 

 perfectly willing to let his champion enter the 

 lists against all comers could he have reasonably 

 anticipated that the horse could have been got 

 back to his best form ; but, though perfectly 

 sound, his two races on ground like a macadamised 

 road had shaken him all over, and it would have 

 been madness to have risked a defeat through his 

 not being up to the mark, so he was wisely 

 relegated to the stud at the end of the season. 



To win the Derby and Oaks in the same year 

 is a feat that is rarely accomplished, and yet, but 



288 



