3IO The Derby 



dantly demonstrated was his inferiority to the mare over 

 this course — a fair test of abiUty to stay. The fact is 

 that Orme was a brilHant miler ; but a horse to be 

 admitted to rank in the first class must be a stayer, and 

 those who saw La Fleche win the Ascot Cup with her 

 ears pricked — the Ascot Cup over that terribly severe 

 two miles and a half — could not well have had any 

 difficulty in summing up the respective merits of the 

 horse and the mare. 



The Newmarket Stakes of 1892 ended in the finish of 

 three heads, Webb, in Prince Soltykolf's pink jacket, on 

 Curio, beating Eobinson, the trainer, in the Duchess of 

 Montrose's scarlet, on St. Angelo ; St. Damien close up. 

 ' What with Eobinson the jockey, who cannot ride, and 

 Eobinson the judge, who is apparently colour-blind, I 

 find it difficult to win races ! ' was the sarcastic comment 

 of her Grace, who imagined that the scarlet was before 

 the pink at the critical moment. 



The next race that May afternoon was a Maiden Plate. 

 The favourites were a colt named Queen's Pardon and 

 a filly called Sweet Laura. 



' What is that of yours ? ' a friend asked Mr. H. B. 

 McCalmont, as a bay, carrying the quartered scarlet, 

 red, light blue, cantered past. 



* He's rather a nice colt,' was the reply. ' A little 

 backward at present, but sure to win a race some day.' 



Sure, indeed ; for the colt was Isinglass, and, with a 

 single exception, he won every race in which he was 

 started ! A curious tendency always existed to dispa- 

 rage Isinglass. Some horses are habitually overpraised, 

 others are always underrated, and Isinglass during his 

 racing career was one of the latter class. When he next 

 came out, at Ascot in the New Stakes, he was not so 



