THROSTLE AND MATCHBOX 



The wheel of Fortune now turned again in 

 favour of the confederates, Lord Alington and 

 Sir Frederick Johnstone, for Matchbox and 

 Throstle were among the yearlings that came to 

 Kingsclere from Crichel in the autumn of 1892. 

 The former was a colt by St. Simon out of the 

 mare Matchgirl, a half-sister, by Plebeian, to 

 the Derby winner St. Blaise, and to Candlemas; 

 the latter a filly by Petrarch out of Thistle, and 

 so half-sister to Common and Goldfinch. Re- 

 garded from the breeding point of view, these 

 youngsters had, therefore, excellent credentials. 

 The principle that you should ** breed winners 

 as winners have been bred '* is sound theoretically, 

 but when put into practice it yields a sorry crop 

 of exceptions. Matchbox and Throstle, how- 

 ever, conformed to the rule, and in two seasons 

 contributed over ;^ 15,000 to Kingsclere *s winning 

 total. 



The name of Matchbox would have figured 

 more conspicuously on the tablets of the Turf 

 than it actually does but for the fact that he was 



359 



