THE WATERLOO CUP 37 



fastest and best all-round greyhound in the stake. In the 

 previous year he had been beaten in the fourth round by the 

 ultimate winner, Thoughtless Beauty, but on that occasion it 

 was a tight fit between the pair; Fabulous Fortune had 

 shown fine speed, and would have secured the turn had he not 

 dwelt for a moment at a drain, just before the hare was 

 reached. In 1896 he showed no disposition to dwell, or in 

 fact to do anything which a high-class greyhound ought not to 

 do, and only once on his way through the stake was he any- 

 thing like seriously challenged. 



To go a little more into detail, it may be mentioned that 

 on the night of the draw favouritism was practically divided 

 between Thoughtless Beauty (the winner in the previous year) 

 and Fabulous Fortune, the former just having the call. Two 

 more of the Messrs. Fawcett's team, Fortuna Favente and 

 Fair Floralie, were also highly esteemed, and probably no 

 kennel ever showed a bolder front on the eve of a Waterloo 

 Cup. The pair just named and Fabulous Fortune were all of 

 the same litter, by Herschel out of Fair Future, and it has 

 been the opinion of many competent critics that so much 

 excellence was never combined in one litter before. Fair 

 Floralie, who had succumbed to Fortuna Favente in the pre- 

 vious year, now only won one course, being put out by Weather- 

 wise in the second round, after a long course the beginning 

 of which was all in favour of Fair Floralie. The hare, however, 

 was a regular stag ; Weatherwise, an Irish-bred son of Her- 

 schel, stayed the better of the pair, and had fairly rubbed off 

 the early points scored by his opponent when the flag went 

 up in his favour. Curiously enough, Weatherwise also ad- 

 ministered the coup de grace to Fortuna Favente in the next 

 round ; but this was a very near thing, the Irish dog, who got 

 the turn by favour, being only in a slight majority when he 

 killed. 



Meantime Fabulous Fortune was pursuing the even tenour 

 of his way through the stake. In the first round he met a 

 second-class greyhound named Stipplefield, whose only claim 



