MODERN ENCLOSED COURSES 209 



excelled himself, but in the following year he came to grief 

 as has already been mentioned when St. Angelo came 

 down. On that occasion La Fleche beat the four-year-old 

 Orvieto at 2 Ibs., winning by three lengths ; and this, I am 

 inclined to think, was the biggest thing Baron Hirsch's mare 

 ever did, as there was nothing of Orvieto's class in the 

 Cambridgeshire, which she won six weeks later under 

 8 st. lolbs. If one may take collateral form as a guide, this 

 race suggests that La Fleche could have emulated the 

 Minting feat, by winning the Jubilee Stakes in the following 

 year with 10 st. From Orvieto at Manchester all she got 

 was 2 Ibs. for the year, yet Mr. Houldsworth's horse was 

 good enough to win cleverly at Kempton eight months 

 afterwards with 9 st. 5 Ibs. in the saddle. I have not too 

 much faith in collateral form, however. 



In the last year of its existence the Lancashire Plate was 

 won by Raeburn, then a three-year-old, who had behind him 

 Isinglass and La Fleche ; but the winner had much the best 

 of the weights, being in receipt of i61bs., exclusive of sex 

 allowance, from La Flche, and of lolbs. from Isinglass, of 

 his own age. The wetght-for-age scale makes a four-year- 

 old give a three-year-old 9 Ibs. over a mile in September. 

 Thus La Fleche was meeting Raeburn at a disadvantage of 

 7 Ibs., or of lolbs. if we take the sex allowance into con- 

 sideration. Even then Raeburn, who had finished third to 

 Isinglass and Ravensbury for the Two Thousand and Derby 

 (he did not run in the St. Leger), won by a length only, 

 and it must be explained that the race was slowly run to the 

 top of the straight, at which point top speed was put on for 

 the first time. Isinglass, always a lazy horse, made running, 

 but would not extend himself properly, and they travelled 

 down the far side and round the loop as if they were starting 

 to run a four-mile steeplechase. When fairly in the line for 

 home the pace was turned on, and though, in my opinion, 

 Isinglass and La Fleche were both catching Raeburn fast at 

 the finish, the latter had a nice turn of speed, and, served by 

 his advantage in weight, he won very handsomely. Rae- 

 burn, though inferior to Isinglass and Ravensbury, was 

 probably quite good enough to win the Derby in an 



