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ISONOMYS GRAND FEATS IN HANDICAPS His Astonishing Performances Under Heavy Weights and at long Distances DistancesIt It is just ilont forty years ago that John Porter on Inhalf of the late F Gretton attended the sale of the Graham Brothers at Yardley and purchased a yearling colt by Sterling Isola Bella for the modest sum of 300 guineas which later received the name of Isonomy It was not until the Brighton summer meeting that he made his first appearance in public to receive nine pounds from Ersilia five from Preciosa and finish a bad third This was not an auspicious beginning nor was there any ¬ thing startling about his subsequent halflength vic ¬ tory when receiving eleven pounds from Telegram in the Second Nursery last Jialf of the Rowley Mile lit tho First October meeting but that the bonny bay was coming on apace was demonstrated a nionth later when unfancied he gave nine pounds and succumbed by a head only to Beadman over the same course Twelve months elapsed before he came out again and starting at 10 to 1 simply ran away from Touchet La Mcrveille Hampton and thirtyfour more in the Cambridgeshire the only race in which Jie competed as a threeyearold and lucky for Sefton it was so or the Derby would probably not have gone to the account of V S Crawfurd It was however as a fouryearold that Isonomy showed what a truly great horse lie was in spite of the inauspicious opening effort when a hot favorite lie failed by a length and a half to give eight pounds to the American gelding Parole which he undoubtedly ought to have done in the Newmarket Spring Handicap At his next essay he was not hard pressed to bowl over the odds 9 to 4 laid on Silvio a Derby winner for the Gold Vase at Ascot At the same meeting he made hacks of such horses as Insulair Touchet Jannette Exmouth and Verneuil in the contest for the Gold Cup CupOTHER OTHER GREAT PERFORMERS PERFORMERSNo No further evidence was necessary to confirm the then established opinion that Isonomy was a champion among stayers but it was forthcoming nevertheless when he strolled away from The Bear Parole Toucliot Reefer and Peter for the Goodwood Cup in which he knocked the Newmarket llandicap form into a cocked1 hat Useful as they were such as Pans Cray and Drumhead could make no im ¬ pression on him for the Brighton Cup and then came a taste of his extraordinary handicap form as with his original burden raised to 134 pounds by a fivepound penalty lie ploughed his way through a sea of mud and anybody who has had experience of this course knows what that means at York in the Great Khor Handicap Odds were laid on him and lie came home by himself a performance which was almost a nine days wonder but came near to being severely discounted a fortnight later when with odds of 100 to 15 laid on him he had only a heat the best of Jannette for the Doncaster Cup Thus inclusive of the seasons three principal Cups he had won six races in succession but a greater achievement was still to follow Allusion is made to the Cesarewitch in which he had 130 pounds to carry but was dominated by the lightly weighed Westbourne in the same ownership his starting price being 1000 to 15 while the halfbrothcr to Sterling stood at onetenth of the odds In styling Westbourne at thus related I am assuming that he was by The Duke rather than by Oxford Whisper Had there been no Wcstbourne in the field no Chippendale would have won the Cesarewitch for between his stable companion and Dresden Cliinu Isonomy came within an ace of being knocktil down just as he was coming to win and but for the contretemps I have not the least doubt he would have scored scoredHIS HIS GREATEST HANDICAP SUCCESS SUCCESSOne One of the soundestlegged horses that ever stood on iron Isonomy was kept in training for a fourth season and great as had been his previous record excelled everything when he won the Manchester Summer Cup He had 138 pounds to carry and the ground was as hard as a macadamized road James Potter who was as fine a horseman as be was expert trainer had seen him at exercise be ¬ fore breakfast and expressed the opinion that al ¬ though ho could not tell what would win he knew what would not and that was Isonomy but his judgment was at fault for hard or soft going came alike to Mr Grettons great horse and I shall never forget how in the superb handling of Tom Cannon he gave three stone and three pounds fortyfive pounds to The Abbot which less than a month previously had been third in a close finish with Petronel and Muncaster for the Two Thousand Guineas and boat him by a neck It was a thrill ¬ ing feat and I think the most astonishing I ever saw in a handicap but the effort on the hard jrround and under the welter burden jarred him so much as to come near to his undoing and on a necessarily gingerly preparation he was not the real Isonomy easily as lie afterwards beat Chippendale and Znt when for the second time he won the Ascot Cup and so put a splendid finish to his brilliant racing ca ¬ reer Vigilant in London Sportsman
