SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



United States at the then record price of 

 ^30,000, but he had suffered greatly from 

 illness during his early stud life, and did not 

 prove the success expected. 



In 1887 Merry Hampton, a very common 

 horse, won the Derby for Mr. Abington 

 Baird, and in the two following years the 

 Duke of Portland secured a double event 

 with Ayrshire and Donovan, two fairly aver- 

 age winners, who have both done pretty well 

 at the stud. Donovan was the better racer 

 of the pair, and in stake money alone he 

 won the huge sum of ;C5S,i54; but his 

 lines were cast in somewhat easy places, 

 stakes being rather large just then. Indeed 

 as a two-year-old he won a prize of ;^6,000 

 at Leicester, and a year later on the same 

 ground he took a prize of £\ 1,000, while at 

 Manchester a few weeks later he won another 

 worth ^^10,131 15J. 



In 1890 Sir James Miller won his first 

 Derby with Sainfoin, the class in the race 

 being exceedingly moderate ; but the horse 

 has perpetuated his name through his son 

 Rock Sand, who won in 1903. Sainfoin was 

 followed by Common, owned jointly by Lord 

 Abingdon and Sir Frederick Johnstone, and 

 who won the Two Thousand and St. Leger 

 as well. In 1892 the late Lord Bradford 

 won with Sir Hugo, who, as subsequent 

 running proved, was lucky to beat La Fleche, 

 and was also lucky in that Orme, undoubt- 

 edly the best colt of the year, was prevented 

 by illness from taking part in the race. 



In 1893 an exceptionally good colt in the 

 late Mr. H. McCalmont's Isinglass won the 

 Derby, and this horse holds the record for 

 stake money won by a single horse. He 

 only won eleven races in four seasons, but 

 the amount totals to £S7ASSi or ;^2,300 

 more than the amount won by Donovan. 

 Isinglass was in training for four seasons, 

 while Donovan was sent to the stud at the 

 end of his three-year-old career. 



In 1894 and the following year Lord 

 Rosebery was successful with Ladas and Sir 

 Visto, the first-named a very good horse, and 

 the second hardly the best of a bad year. 

 When Ladas won the scene was an extra- 

 ordinary one, his lordship, who at the time 

 was Premier of England, being cheered to 

 the echo by the crowd ; the demonstration 

 was a greater one than had been seen on 

 Epsom Downs within living memory. And 

 yet only in the following year, 1896, an even 

 greater demonstration was forthcoming when 

 the King (then Prince of Wales) took the 

 prize with Persimmon. This time a surging, 

 excited, hatless mob shouted themselves hoarse 

 for something like a quarter of an hour. 



Every now and then the noise partially died 

 down, only to be renewed with greater 

 vigour, and those who were present will 

 never forget the scene. The royal colours 

 have always been popular, but never was 

 their success more warmly greeted, and never 

 was the race more stoutly contested. Per- 

 simmon was one of the best and most notable 

 of modern Derby winners, but he had a great 

 rival in Mr. Leopold de Rothschild's St. Frus- 

 quin, and between this pair the race was a 

 match for quite a quarter of a mile, and it 

 was only in the last few strides that the 

 bearer of the royal colours asserted his 

 supremacy. 



These great rivals met again a few weeks 

 later in the Princess of Wales' stakes at New- 

 market, when St. Frusquin turned the tables 

 on Persimmon ; but the distance was half a 

 mile shorter, the winner had 3 lb. the best 

 of the weights, and then he only won by a 

 bare margin. Both horses were by St. Simon, 

 Persimmon being the first Derby winner for 

 the great Welbeck sire, who had already 

 made a big Epsom mark by siring (previous 

 to 1896) four winners of the Oaks. It 

 should be added too that Persimmon, in the 

 following year, was a remarkably easy winner 

 of the Ascot Cup, and that he also took the 

 Eclipse stakes, beating with the greatest of 

 ease Lord Rosebery's good horse Velasquez, 

 who won the same race a year later. St. Frus- 

 quin did not run again after the middle of 

 his second season, but both this horse and 

 Persimmon have done remarkably well so far 

 at the stud, and the first named, in his first 

 season, was responsible for Sceptre, who in 

 1902 won four of the five classic races, and 

 was the sensational heroine of a somewhat 

 sensational Epsom week. In appearance 

 Persimmon was a most commanding horse, 

 tall, stately and well formed, a big horse all 

 over, but endowed with great quality, and if 

 some of the critics took objection to his 

 length behind the saddle, his forehand and 

 shoulder were perfect enough to model from, 

 his courage was undoubted, and his stamina 

 most pronounced. He was bred at Sandring- 

 ham stud, was trained by Richard Marsh at 

 Newmarket, and was ridden by the late John 

 Watts, who was then at his very best. 



Following the victory of Persimmon in 

 1896 came that of the Irish bred Galtee 

 More in 1897. This horse, another high 

 class Derby winner, was by Kendal, a son of 

 Bend Or, and therefore of the Stockwell 

 branch of the Birdcatcher family. Galtee 

 More, an exceptionally handsome horse, per- 

 haps filled the eye better than any Derby 

 winner of recent years, being most symme- 



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