GRAND PARADE 



begged him not to do so, declaring that he had ridden 

 what was intended to be a gallop a short time previously 

 when the horse " could not stride over a straw." Peck 

 thought, however, that he could enable the horse to 

 regain his form, as he so successfully did. It is a pity 

 that Ormonde never ran for the Gold Cup as St. 

 Simon had done. The son of Bend Or could not, 

 however, do more than win every race for which he 

 started. 



Porter describes Ormonde as an abnormal foal. 

 When he came into the world his mane was already 

 three inches long. There were weak points about 

 him. He stood over at the knees so much that his 

 trainer declares he has never before or since seen a 

 foal with that characteristic so strongly pronounced, 

 but as soon as he began to develop on the right lines 

 he went ahead very quickly, and when he left Eaton for 

 Kingsclere he had the appearance of a very high-class 

 horse. Though he was never beaten on the race- 

 course he failed in his first trial on the 7th October. 

 Kendal, then like Ormonde a two-year-old — this was 

 in 1885 — with 1 lb. less weight beat Ormonde a 

 length ; but Whipper-in, then a six-year-old giving 

 Ormonde 12 lb., was beaten another length, and 

 Whipper-in was one of the most trustworthy of trial 

 horses. Perhaps Ormonde was not absolutely fit at 

 this time, that is to say, on the occasion of his first 

 gallop, and of course it brought him on. 

 s 137 



