GRAND PARADE 



tion of the race, which a long way from home was 

 evidently to be between Ormonde and Minting. 

 Descending the hill into the Abingdon Mile Bottom 

 Minting sprawled. He was a beaten horse, and the 

 two lengths by which Ormonde defeated him might 

 certainly have been increased. Mephisto was a bad 

 third. According to report Matthew Dawson went 

 to bed and stayed there for the rest of the week. If 

 it were not absolutely the greatest disappointment of 

 his life he certainly can never have had a greater, and 

 surprise was largely mingled with it. 



I had been mightily struck by Minting the previous 

 season. He was a magnificent colt and had won all 

 his races in the most impressive fashion, but, as shown 

 by the extract quoted from my book, I had committed 

 myself to the choice of Ormonde as likely to prove the 

 best of his year, and knew what John Porter thought 

 of him, whereas I had a merely casual acquaintance 

 with Matthew Dawson and had never heard his eulogy 

 of his charge. Mr. Vyner, Sir J. Blundell Maple, 

 Matthew Dawson and Robert Peck were not in the 

 least deceived. They fully realised that to send Minting 

 and Saraband to the post against Ormonde for the Derby 

 was to incur defeat so far as anything can be certain 

 on the Turf, the consequence being that neither was 

 allowed to run for the Derby. Minting was trained 

 for the Grand Prix, which he duly won, Saraband was 

 kept for a Biennial at Ascot, which he had no difficulty 



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