The Derby 305 



his whole brief career, suffering from some injury to or 

 weakness in the shoulder — beat him for a valuable prize 

 in the North, and when Mr. Douglas Baird's El Dorado, 

 another good but very self-willed colt, ploughed through 

 the mud at Goodwood, and upset the ' certaintj^ ' for the 

 Prince of Wales's Stakes. The ' Eacing Calendar ' has 

 been described as ' the record of certainties that have not 

 come off.' 



More often than not winners of the Brocklesby 

 Stakes at Lincoln, the first important two-year-old race 

 of the season, are of little account later in the year ; but 

 Donovan kept on winning, and that he was beaten in the 

 Two Thousand was entirely due to a marvellous piece of 

 horsemanship on the part of Tom Cannon. F. Barrett 

 on Donovan supposed that he had nothing but Pioneer 

 to beat ; Watts on Pioneer was only anxious to keep 

 near Donovan, and by getting ' first run,' or by 

 some exercise of his art, snatching a lucky victory. 

 Tom Cannon on Enthusiast watched the pair, and when 

 they had ridden their horses out, swooped down on them, 

 upsetting one more certainty. Donovan, according to 

 the calculation of experts, had about 21 lb. in hand — and 

 was beaten. 



' I saw them having two little races all to themselves 

 a long waj^ from the winning-post,' Cannon remarked in 

 explanation, after the surprise had been accomplished, 

 ' and when they began a third, I thought I would join 

 in!' 



The Newmarket Stakes— run this year for the first 

 time — the Derby, the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Ascot, 

 the St. Leger, the Lancashire Plate, fell to Donovan 

 one after another, and he finally retired from the turf 

 with a sum of 55,154/. won in stakes to his credit, 



X 



