272 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



round the paddock, and then walked him out 

 on to the course and away towards the stables. 

 He seemed loath to leave go of the leading rein. 

 Out on the course the public honoured Ormonde 

 with enthusiastic cheers, and the hurrahs did 

 not cease until the horse had disappeared from 

 view. Everybody seemed intensely excited. It 

 was the greatest display of enthusiasm I have 

 ever seen on a racecourse. 



I did not see Matt Dawson any more that 

 day. Perhaps he again went off to condole 

 with himself. He and I were always competing 

 against each other in the big races, and I should 

 say that honours were about equal between us; 

 but the greatness of Ormonde made the achieve- 

 ments of all other horses sink into comparative 

 insignificance. 



In July, at Newmarket, Ormonde ran his 

 last race — the Imperial Gold Cup, over six 

 furlongs. He was opposed by Whitefriar and 

 Lovegold. Whitefriar, formerly at Kmgsclere, 

 was now the property of Sir George Chetwynd. 

 He was a very speedy horse, but, taking him on 

 at his own game, Ormonde gave him 6 lb. and 

 a two lengths* beating. Writing about this 

 race in his Reminiscences^ Sir George says: 



Of my own horses, Kingwood was the laziest and 

 worst goer at exercise it is possible to imagine, lolloping 

 along with head down in a wretchedly careless fashion, 

 which drew forth the remark from Tom Jennings, sen., 



