BLUE GOWN^S DERBY 117 



in his conformation; he was as near perfection 

 as a horse can be. He had a rich dark brown 

 coat. I have always regarded him as a very great 

 horse; with the exception of Ormonde, I doubt 

 if we have ever seen a better. This sweeping 

 statement may cause surprise. Why do I praise 

 him so highly ? Well, over the Bretby Stakes 

 Course of six furlongs he could, as a four-year-old, 

 beat any horse in England. Vespasian was sup- 

 posed to be a tremendous miler, and at Goodwood, 

 as we have already seen, won the Chesterfield 

 Cup of 1869 with 10 St. 4 lb. on his back. At 

 Goodwood the following year Rosicrucian, at 

 level weights, made a hack of Vespasian over the 

 Craven Course of a mile and a quarter. As a 

 six-year-old Rosicrucian carried 9 st. in the Ascot 

 Stakes (then 2^ miles) and " walked " past the 

 winning-post, having beaten his opponents a long 

 way from home. In the Alexandra Plate (three 

 miles), the same week, he met Musket, supposed 

 to be the best stayer we had ever seen, gave him 

 7 lb., and beat him three-quarters of a length. It 

 did not matter to Rosicrucian what the course 

 was; whether it was four furlongs or four miles, 

 you could not find one to beat him when he was 

 at the top of his form. But for his illness in the 

 winter of 1867-68 he would undoubtedly have 

 won the Derby, for he was at least 10 lb. better 

 than Blue Gown. He did not come to himself 

 again until the autumn of 1869. 



