26o JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



after the race he went home. I afterwards heard 

 that he shut himself in his bedroom and stopped 

 there for the rest of the week. Be that as it 

 may, we saw him no more on the racecourse 

 while the meeting lasted. 



The world at large now knew that Ormonde 

 was a really great horse. Countless columns 

 were written in praise of him. Those of us who 

 knew him best were aware that it was almost 

 impossible to exaggerate his merits. Between 

 the Two Thousand and the Derby he progressed 

 as well as I could have wished, and there was no 

 need to ** try *' him for the race at Epsom. In 

 my opinion horses are tried on the training- 

 ground much too often. Once you have ascer- 

 tained what class your horse is in you merely 

 want to know that he is well and hearty. To 

 go through the formalities of a trial when you 

 have that knowledge is to reveal a want of 

 confidence in your own judgment. Many and 

 many a time a race has been lost on the trial 

 ground by giving a horse the one unnecessary 

 gallop at home. 



Neither Minting nor Saraband opposed Or- 

 monde in the Derby. Matt Dawson accepted 

 the Two Thousand form as correct, and very 

 wisely decided to keep Minting fresh for the 

 Grand Prix de Paris, which he won in a canter. 

 Mr. " Child wick '* also realised the futility of 

 opposing our horse at Epsom, and so Archer 



