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SISTERS WHICH WERE GREAT RACERS. i There have been sumo brilliant performers amons the lillies of the last thirty years. Among the good ones may be included the sisters Memoir and La lleche. by St. Simon — Quiver, and both bred at the royal stud at Hampton Court, long since done away with, but happily replaced by the similar but private establishment at Sandringham. Both were sold us , yearlings, one to the Duke of Portland, who owned ] tlie sire, the other to Baron de Ilirsch. Memoir ran three times as a two-year-old before earning brack- • eta, but finished up well by winning in succession | the Bradford Plate at Leicester and the Zetland and , Prendergast Stakes at Newmarket, without, how- | ever, leaving the impression of being anything out of the common. Next year she did much better, and after running second to her stable companion. Semolina, with which the duke declared to win the One Thousand Guineas, she won the Newmarket . Stakes, beating Blue Green and Le Nord. and then , the Oaks from Signorina, with Semolina unplaced, : thus turning the One Thousand form upside down, i At Ascot the erratic Surcfoot beat her comfortably in the Prince of Wales Stakes, but an easy task awaited her with nothing better than Star to beat i in the Nassau at Goodwood, and at her next appearance she easily accounted for the St. Leger. Am-phion was too good for her in the Lancashire Plate . at Manchester and again in the Ch::mpion Stakes at Newmarket, where a success in the Oaks did not ; count for much, and the July Cup was her only win- | ning bit as a four-year-old. This was a great record, i but Memoir was not so good a race horse as Li ] Fleche, which as a yearling fetched the huge price i of 5.500 guineas, being knocked down to Lord Mar | eus Beresford. As a two-year-old La Fleche. trained at Kingsclere. was undefeated, winning the Chester- 1 tield Stakes at Newmarket, the Lav ant and Mole- i eoatb Stakes at Goodwood and finally the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, and among her victims i in these races were the prospective winners of the Two Thousand Guineas Bouavista and the DerbJ Sir Hugo. In the following year she ran nine times and was only beaten once, namely, by the 40 to 1 chance, i Sir Hugo, for the Blue Riband. Meanwhile she had i won the One Thousand Guineas easily from The I Smew, but when tihey met again it was only by the shortest of heads she beat Mr. A. James filly. After that it was all plain sailing, as she won the Nassau Stakes and revenged herself on Sir Hugo by easily beating him in the St. Leger. Although her senior by a year Orveito had no chance with La lleche for the Lancashire Plate, nor could Dunure make her gallop in a single-handed bout for the Grand Duke Michael Stakes, and following a "benefit" in the Newmarket Oaks came her crowning effort in the Cambridgeshire, for which she started favorite in a field of thirty, and carrying 122 pounds acquitted herself of a fine performance by giving * thirty-four pounds and an easy beating to Pensioner. This was a fitting wind-up to a splendid season. blotted only by her fluky defeat at Epsom. Then came her removal with Baron de Hirschs horses to Egerton House, and a next appearance in the B :Hpse Stakes, when she was beaten by Orme. a former stable companion, and Medicis, and the form was confirmed when the Duke of Westminsters good horse gave her seven pounds and a neck beating at Goodwood. She could only get a third to Rao-burn and Isinglass for the Lancashire Plate. I but won the Lowther Stakes at the Second i i October meeting and was then unplaced under l::.i pounds for the Cambridgeshire, but made amends by winning the Liverpool Cup under 134 ]K unds in fine style. Her last race that season I was run through a sea of mud on the Old Trafford course, when she was unplaced when giving thirty-two pounds to Golden Drop, tor the Manchester November Handicap. She ran four times as a five-year old. and won the Ascot Cup iu hollow fashion from the French mare. Callistrate, and the Champion Stakes from Kavensl.ury, but Sir C. D. Roses horse beat her for the Hardwicke Stakes, when odds of 5 to 1 were laid on the mare. She was a strong favorite for the Prince Edward Handicap, but could only get fourth in a ti"ht fiuish with Clwyd, Worcester and Seinpronius. In spite of ner many fine racing points Le Fleche was not a handsome mare in appearance, and unless trained as "thin as a herring" she never ran up to her true form, but she was a sterling bit of stuff and of far beyond average class. It is strange that two such mares as Memoir and La Fleche should have been failures at the stud. The former went to Welbeck and never produced a race horse of any note, besides which she was seven times barren. She died in foaling seven years ago. La Fleche in foal to Morion was said in somewhat sensational circumstances to Sir Tatton Sykes for 12.000 guineas, after the death of Baron de Hirsch. and was then nine times barren. Once she produced dead twins and twice was not covered, but some of her yearlings fetched extravagant prices, while the only one that ever earned high distinction on a race course was John OGaunt. — "Vigilant" in London Sportsman.
