3o8 The Derby 



three lengths from Orvieto, Gouverneur only fifth ; and 

 this so entirely altered the aspect of affairs that Common 

 became favourite for the Derby, and won it easily from 

 Gouverneur. The Deemster and Orion were here fifth 

 and sixth ; Peter Flower w^as last ; Orvieto did not run. 

 In the St. Leger history repeated itself ; that is to say, 

 Common beat Gouverneur, though not with nearly so 

 much ease as at Epsom ; and after the race the winner 

 was sold to Sir Blundell Maple for 14,000/. 



Nothing is more absurd in turf literature — if the use 

 of the word ' literature ' may be excused — than the wild and 

 whirling panegyrics to which animals of more or less 

 merit frequently give rise. ' The horse of the century ' 

 is discovered about every other year ; and his existence 

 was loudly proclaimed when Orme first appeared, as he 

 did in the Kichmond Stakes at Goodwood. He was a 

 son of Ormonde, very like his sire in appearance, with 

 the same trick of carrying his tail twisted to the off side 

 as he walked ; and, of course, his parentage and resem- 

 blance created an interest in him. His first race was 

 not a particular triumph. He won, it is true, by three- 

 quarters of a length ; but the filly Flyaway, whom he 

 just beat, had 12 lb. the worst of the weights, so that if 

 the pair had met on even terms, she would have won by 

 further than she was defeated. Two days later Orme 

 won the Prince of Wales's Stakes, after being pressed by 

 Dunure, a very moderate colt ; and in the Lancashire 

 Plate he was beaten by Signorina. She had quite lost 

 her brilliant two-year-old form, and during the previous 

 two years had only won a single race, against a solitary 

 opponent, of moderate calibre, Susiana by name, a mare 

 that never won a race during her whole turf career, 

 though she ran second with astonishing regularity. It 



