PERO GOMEZ 141 



Weatherby had received a communication 

 reading : 



Having heard a rumour that Mr. Sadler, the nominator 

 of Pretender for the Derby, died before the race was run, 

 I give notice to you not to pay over the stakes till the 

 matter is cleared up. 



(Signed) Joseph Hawley. 



Who had set this rumour afloat, and how it 

 came to the ears of Sir Joseph, I never heard. 

 It had no foundation in fact. Mr. Sadler was 

 actually at Epsom, and saw Pretender win the 

 Derby. By his unfortunate action, " Pero's " 

 owner brought upon himself no little odium. 



Pero Gomez, a fortnight later, won the 

 Ascot Derby, but the same week was beaten a 

 length and a half by Lord Calthorpe's Martyrdom 

 in the Prince of Wales's Stakes. We then put 

 him by for the St. Leger. In this event he 

 again met Pretender. The northern champion 

 was, however, no longer the horse he had shown 

 himself in the spring. Years afterwards Tom 

 Dawson's head man, Hannam, declared that 

 Pretender steadily deteriorated after his severe 

 race in the Two Thousand. His performance 

 in the St. Leger bears out that statement, for 

 he made a poor show. John Osborne, who rode 

 the colt both at Epsom and Doncaster, explains 

 the difference in the form by pointing out that 

 while the Derby was run on hard going, the St. 



