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PECULIARITIES OF FAMOUS ST SIMON It is safe to write that twenty years went by before Gladiateur had a serious rival for the title of Hie horse of the century and then SI Simon appeared on the scene Two greater contrasts si fur as looks were concerned could not well be Im ¬ agined The Frenchman was a very bigboned ular horse somewhat coarse and his treinendi is made him appear to be even more dipped hi the back than he really was SI Simon which was by Galopin St Angela was well coupled aud full of quality a short horse on high legs very inucli after the style of St Fnisquin which resembles him more than any of his other sons and daughters that I have ever seen The purchase of St Simon as a twoyearold by the Duke of Portland ff r l 0 guineas must certainly be regarded as about the best bargain in tlie history of the turf Tin fact of all his nominalions licing void owing tci tlie sudden death of Prince Batthyany was the main cause of his being knocked down for such a price hut it is a iKipuIar error thai he must have won the Derby of 1884 had the Prince lived a little longer for as a matter of fact he was never entered for that race raceIt It Is a little curious that St Simon like Ormonde two years later was beaten in his first trial in rliich Archer rode him and he failed by a neck to ive 17 pounds to Clochetre a fairly smarl two yearold belonging to Lord Lascclles It Is not to much to write however that this was the only casioii iiMiii which he was ever even extemleil either in ul lic or private All his entries lielng void it was not easy to make engagements for hitn and he only ran live times inclusive of a match iu hls first season In the Prince of Wales Nurserr at Doneaster he showed a lerfnriiiance that slaniU out as one of the best ever accomplished by a twj yearold He had 125 Miiinds in the saddle aud the other twenty runners carried weights ranging from S2 omuls to 100 pounds Archer was never fond of winning by more than was nivessary so it may be presumed that lie found It imiHissilde to hold his horse for he won by eight lengths which iituld have lieen increased to a hundred yards at pleasure so it is quite safe ti Continued on second page PECULIARITIES OF FAMOUS ST SIM Continued front first page I I write that HO pounds would nut him stopildtii tolt His lirst season was wound up with n iiialh for r0t sovereigns with thelDuke of Westminsters Duke uf Richmond whose only previous performance had been nil easy victory in the Richmond Stages nt Goodwood In that race Harvester iml Queen del aide tiist and third for the Derby of the following year were amongst the uimlaecd division s the colt had some really highchits form to roeoinlniid him Mini supporters of St Siirou were lucky eiiiugh to lie allowed to lay the v ry moderate odilV of 2 to 1 on him I IAll All course were alike to him as they should lie to a really great horse not only was lie ntver beaten but he was never even made to gallop jind 1 do not suppose that Matthew Dawson himself had any idea how good he really was The tiijau cial result of running even such a nonpareil as St Simon for a couple of season during which all his engagements had to be made for him was aiivthlug but satisfactory the nine races lie secured UJng worth S233S3 rather less than he would have se siired in the Derby alone had he been entered for it A rough gallop in which St Simon anil Tin Lambkin took part shortly before the St Leger won by tlie latter gives ji better idea of the mar ¬ vellous ability of the former than does anything lie accomplished in public Archer rode him at lG pounds and Hen Loates was on The Iimhkiii who had IK pounds in the saddle In suite of this liberal concession of twenty pounds The Lambkin was boateit many lengths and when just at the linish of the gallop Archer touched St Simon wili the spurs he promptly bolted and went an extra half mile before he could be pulled up upSome Some years ago I came across the lad who always looked after St Simon when he was in training and from him I learnt several interesting particu ¬ lars which may not be generally known When not in active training he was a remarkably quiet horse In the stable so long as ho was not interfered with lie had one or two little fancies however and it was always advisable to let him have his own way with regard to them To give one instance he en ¬ tirely declined to be tied up when he was being dressed over If this was attempted he would at once begin to weave and break his head collar and anything else that restrained him Tims it was always necessary to have a rein on his head collar and a man to hold him while his own lad did him over When in strong work lie became exceedingly irri ¬ table thus presenting a strong contrast to the well known steeplechaser Baron c which was an absolute savage when not in strong training but the more work he did the more amenable he became and then the man at his head had a very uncomfortable time of it The use of muzzle counteracted his trick of biting but lie varied the monotony of the proceedings by occasionally chasing the man round the box The result was that two or three lads threw up their places rather than continue to assist at St Simons toilet He was always i dillicult horse to box when starting on a railway journey the easiest way to manage the operation being to back him in He never gave so much trouble in this way as on the occasion of his travelling from Newmarket to Welbcek on the termination of his active career Four hours had been wasted In vain attempts before nil old broodmare was requisitioned and lie at last condescended to follow her into the box boxHis His son Persimmon inherited this curious trait in a marked degree He was always an awkward horse to Ixtx not that he ever did anything voicy wrong but he used to keep kicking out with one leg and turning slowly round and round He was never quite so bad however as on the occasion of his journey from Newmarket to Epsom and after several hours had been cut to waste in futile efforts and half Newmarket had assembled at the railway station Marsh liegau to think that the colt wouM miss his engagement in the Derby altogether An offer of a sovereign apiece to those who assisted to get him in had the desired effect however for a general rush took place in which Persimmon was almost lifted off his legs and fairly swept into the MX when lie immediately began to eat his corn in the most placid fashion fashionSt St Simons success at the stud was immediate though for the first few seasons he had to depend almost entirely upon his fillies for his reputation Memoir Signorina La Fleche and Amiable wore the most distinguished of them and though Sig ¬ norina who was probably the best of the four as a twoyearold did not train on the other three be ¬ tween them secured the One Thousand twice the Oaks three times and the St Leger twieei People in fact were beginning to think that St Simon could not get a good colt and then Persim ¬ mon and St Fnisqiiin made their appearance in ti same season to confound the critics criticsAltogether Altogether the sons and daughters of tho great Welbeck sire won seventeen of the classic races h headed the list of winning sires for six years In succession and one can almost write that there lias been no son of his who given anything like a fair opportunity did not make a success as a sire in any part of the world Augur in Sporting Life
