100 FLAT-RAGING EXPLAINED. 



to see him in full swing, the way he carried his head 

 and used those powerful propellers of his was un- 

 doubtedly Ormonde. 



I know in thus writing I somewhat fly in the 

 face of "authoritative opinion," but in cases of 

 doubted parentage, if it is to be held one must 

 accept the offspring as due to the last service, then 

 the retention of the name of the sire first used is 

 little less than a farce. In these cases, however, of 

 doubt, and where there is a choice of sires, I prefer 

 to follow the evidence of one's eyes, and to be 

 guided in one's judgment by characteristics of sire 

 as unmistakable as they appeared in Best Man as 

 I saw him during his racing career. 



In the matter of speed, on mile courses and on 

 gradients the same in character, Best Man followed 

 Ormonde very closely. On the level, however, the 

 former horse was by no means gifted with high 

 speed, nor, as a matter of fact, was Ormonde either. 

 Both w^ere race horses of bull-dog courage and reso- 

 lution, and could always be depended upon to fight 

 tlieir races out to the bitter end. Tlie peculiarity 

 of Best Man's running, as he increased in years, 

 was that he ran nearly all courses at the same rate 

 of speed, and when he won the Old Cambridgeshire 

 up the Criterion Hill, he went just as fast as he 

 was able to go on the flat. 



