ON RACING. 285 



mount), pertinently asks, " What would they 

 tliink in these days of the winner of the 

 Two Thousand, Derby, and St. Leger, the 

 winner of the Oaks, and two other horses 

 worth at least three thousand pounds each, 

 running two miles for a hundred guineas? " 

 The reluctance which owners of the present 

 day so often exhibit to match or otherwise 

 run their successful colts against horses of 

 equal reputation, is due more often to dread 

 of lost prestige than to actual decline of 

 sporting enterprise. An unbeaten record 

 means such a lot to a colt Avhen he retires 

 to the stud — Avhich, by the way, he is apt 

 now to do at far too early an age. Still, 

 the most successful animal has no right to 

 be called a " century " horse, or to pose as 

 a champion of the Turf, unless he has met 

 and conquered, or at least received forfeit 

 from, the yery best of his compeers. Great 

 disappointment, therefore, was felt a few 

 years ago by the partisans of either horse 



