388 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



he was, however, inclined to be somewhat 

 mulish, and I have always thought it was just 

 as well he left the Turf at the end of his three- 

 year-old days, for had he remained in training a 

 third season he would, I am convinced, have 

 caused us a lot of trouble. He had undoubtedly 

 inherited some of his dam*s wilful temperament. 

 As a set off against this the sire and dam had 

 transferred to the colt their strong constitutions, 

 for Flying Fox was one of the toughest horses 

 I ever had under my care. 



The first race in which Flying Fox ran was 

 the New Stakes at Ascot. The previous week 

 we tried him, with the following result: 



Six Furlongs 



Flying Fox, 2 yrs., 8 st. 7 lb i 



Ameer, 3 yrs., 9 st. 7 lb. . . . .2 



Frontier, 2 yrs., 8 st. 7 lb 3 



Sark, 2 yrs., 8 st. 7 lb. . . . . .4 



Won by three lengths ; six lengths between second 

 and third ; one length between third and fourth. 



These four horses were all sired by Orme. Six 

 weeks earlier Ameer had won the Tudor Plate 

 at Sandown Park, and the ** test " satisfied us 

 that Flying Fox was extremely good. The secret 

 leaked out, and the colt started favourite for the 

 New Stakes at 5 to 4. He won, beating Musa, 

 who finished second, by three-quarters of a 

 length. The following year Musa won the Oaks. 



