312 The Derby 



of the colt was formed by some of the newspapers, not- 

 withstandmg that Matchbox had not received more than 

 a 7-lb. beatmg m the Derby. 



When the race for the Princess of Wales's Stakes — a 

 prize of close on 11,000/. — came on for decision, the 

 disposition to overrate Ladas and to underrate Isinglass 

 was shown by the * market.' Odds of 2 to 1 were laid on 

 Lord Eosebery's colt, 8 and 10 to 1 was betted against 

 Mr. McCalmont's fom' -year -old, who was, indeed, known 

 to be ' short of a gallop or two,' to quote the phrase the 

 trainer Jewitt used on the morning of the race ; but at 

 the distance Watts was ' riding ' Ladas. Isinglass, though 

 also being ridden, answered to the call with the utmost 

 gameness, and won by a head from Bullingdon, a Melton 

 colt, handled with wonderful skill and judgment by 

 Mornington Cannon. An excuse was made for Ladas that 

 his teeth had troubled him, and he had not fed well in 

 consequence ; but fifteen days later the two met again 

 in the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown, no excuse was 

 possible for either, and Isinglass won in the most 

 decisive fashion. Once more Ladas was to fail as a 

 three-year-old. Slight odds were laid on him for 

 the St. Leger, but to the general amazement a filly 

 named Throstle — a half sister to Common — won the 

 race, mainly owing to the art of her jockey, Mornington 

 Cannon, once more. Throstle was reckoned from 21 lb. 

 to 2 st. inferior to her stable companion Matchbox, 

 whom she beat in the race with considerable ease — 

 another instance of the ' glorious uncertainty of the 

 turf.' Isinglass went on triumphantly, and as a five-year- 

 old won the Ascot Cup, a race that used to be accepted 

 as setting the seal on the merit of a great horse. As 

 was shown by a tabulated statement of his winnings, a 



