" THE HEAD OF THE LIST" 



In 1905 the then Colonel W. Hall Walker, now 

 Lord Wavertree, gained some reward, a handsome 

 one indeed, for his sedulous devotion to the Turf. 

 The union of Isinglass and Black Cherry had resulted 

 in a filly called Cherry Lass, who ran well as a two- 

 year-old, winning three of the six races she contested, 

 but unlike so many of her sex trained on and was 

 considerably better as a three. She carried off the 

 One Thousand, the Oaks, the St. James's Palace Stakes, 

 a race which has to be mentioned so often, the Duchess 

 of York Stakes at Hurst Park, the Nassau and the 

 Newmarket Oaks. Her owner has always been 

 absolutely convinced that she ought certainly to have 

 won the Leger, for which she started at odds of 6 to 4 

 on, evidence that other people accepted his estimate 

 of her. The danger was supposed to be Llangibby, 

 who however strained or sprained himself by his 

 antics while being saddled — I was at another part of 

 the paddock and did not watch the process — the result 

 of the race being that Mr. Washington Singer's 

 Challacombe, starting at 100 to 6, won by three lengths 

 from Polymelus, with Cherry Lass third. I remember 

 a friend of Mr. Singer chaffingly remarking that 

 Challacombe's owner ought to have put on a tall hat 

 in order that he might look more effective as 

 he led in the winner, never of course supposing that 

 such a duty was in the least likely to devolve upon 

 him. 



c 17 



