246 The Life of Fred Archer 
by obtaining a peep at Melton. This was merely a fleeting 
view, as he stayed in his box until the last minute, and was then 
led on to the course. 
He looked so clean and healthy that the bookmakers dealt 
with their clients in a liberal vein, as it was more than 5 to 2 
upon him according to the two-year-old running, although his 
penalty caused him to carry more weight than the others. 
With the pace little better than a crawl for two-thirds of the 
journey. Lonely was pulling so hard that Cannon could not 
prevent her from taking a good lead Across the Flat, 
The issue was never in doubt, however, and the style in 
which Melton took himself to the front in the Abingdon Mile 
Bottom was simply perfect. Kingwood created a decided 
surprise by beating the other two, of whom Present Times was 
in an ungenerous vein, and gave Webb a very unpleasant 
ride. 
The mere fact of Melton having beaten Kingwood by a 
length did not amount to much, but the artistic fashion in 
which he did his work made a deep impression, and scarcely 
had he passed the post than 3 to i was taken in " hundreds " 
for the Derby. At the same time Paradox was immovable 
at 7 to 2. 
Dawson had a great opinion of the possibilities of Master 
Kildare as a sire when he was sent to the stud, but breeders 
disagreed with him, and although his fee was as low as 20 
guineas they would have nothing to do with him. Conse- 
quently, in his first year he only produced three foals, all from 
mares belonging to Lord Hastings. 
Two of these were colts, and one, out of Violet Melrose, 
was called Melton, and the other Pearldiver, the former being 
named after Melton Constable, the home of Lord Hastings, 
in Norfolk. 
It was obvious towards the back-end that Melton's chief 
opponent for classic honours in the following year would be 
Paradox, by Sterling out of Casuistry, who was bred at the 
