A GREAT YEAR 



The Leger seemed a foregone conclusion. Odds 

 of 7 to I were here laid on Ormonde with Archer once 

 more on his back, ioo to 7 bar one, St. Mirin standing 

 at those odds, and Ormonde won in the simplest of 

 canters. He was sent for the Great Foal Stakes at 

 the Newmarket First October Meeting with nothing 

 better than Mephisto to beat ; this time the odds on 

 him were 25 to 1, and nothing opposed him for the 

 Newmarket St. Leger. It will be seen that not much 

 money was to be made by backing Ormonde. He 

 started at 100 to 1 on for the Champion Stakes, but 

 for the Free Handicap it was thought just possible 

 that he might be a little troubled to give as much as 

 2 st. to Mephisto, and this time it was a case of 7 to 1 

 on. Ormonde won by eight lengths. The Free 

 Handicap mentioned is a race which used to be com- 

 piled by the Keeper of the Match Book, and had no 

 little interest as showing the estimate of the three- 

 year-olds formed by a competent judge. There seems 

 to be a tolerably common idea at the present time that 

 the Free Handicap for Two-Year-Olds is also made by 

 the Keeper of the Match Book, which, however, is not 

 the case. I think it is to be regretted that the three- 

 year-old race has been abandoned. 



John Porter proceeds in his book to relate a tragedy. 

 He writes : " The satisfaction I derived from 

 Ormonde's performances that year was sadly dis- 

 counted by a discovery I made on the Kingsclere 



146 



