i 7 4 MR. PARKER. 



He had won the first on Daniel O'Bourke, beating such 

 good horses as StockweU, Kingston, and Hobbie Noble, 

 which in itself must be regarded as rather a curious 

 performance — indeed quite unaccountable, considering 

 that StockweU had beaten him in the Two Thousand, 

 and that he had previously been beaten by two or 

 three others ; and that, after winning the Derby, he 

 {Daniel O'Ronrke) was beaten at York by a horse 

 like Frantic ; again at Doncaster, in the St. Leger, by 

 StockweU and Harbinger ; and in the Triennial Stakes 

 at Newmarket by Robbie Noble and Adine ; and ran 

 a worse horse in the following year. If this be public 

 running, what is to be said in favour of it ? Who will 

 suppose that many of the good horses I have men- 

 tioned as running in the Derby showed their true 

 form in it? I think no one. As for the Oaks, the 

 betting was sufficient, in my opinion, to show how 

 the land lay ; and that Bird on the Wing was not 

 very likely to win. On the morning of the race she 

 was second favourite at 4 to 1 ; and although we kept 

 backing her, she ominously receded to 15 and 20 to 1. 

 And, as will be seen, her subsequent running, with 

 stable-boys up, showed plainly enough that she was 

 much the best mare in the race, and ought to have 

 won it, and easy too. 



After this race, I asked Mr. Dalton never to let a 

 jockey ride her again, but to put one of our stable- 

 boys up. She went the next week to Manchester, and 

 won the Produce Stakes, to which there were fifty-six 



