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LORD CHAPLIN AND THE HORSE HERMIT Curious Question Raised Over Reminiscences of Derby Winner of ofThe The curious question which has recently been raised about Lord Chaplins reminiscences of Her ¬ mits Derby seems to me to have been rather un ¬ necessarily made much of for it is quite possible for any of us to be inaccurate after a lapse of more than fifty years writes Special Commissioner Allison in the London Sportsman There can at least be no doubt that on the first reports re ¬ ceived some ten days before the race Mr Chaplin must have thought Hermits chances hopeless and first impressions stick in the memory The elev ¬ enthhour revival of hope imparted by Bloss may never have seemed seriously convincing The curi ¬ ous point is that Sir AVilioughby Maycock did not recognize Mr John Corletts handwriting in the letter purporting to be Mr Chaplins and beyond that we may be quite sure that Mr Corlett only made a copy from another letter letterI I happened to have an interview with Mr Chap ¬ lin in 1885 and wrote the following for St Stephens Review June 27 1885 1885What What immense sums there were at stake and how hopeless at oiie time seemed the prospects of Hermit It was some ten days before the race that Mr Chaplin received two telegrams from Lord Calthorp and Capt Machell informing him that his horse had broken a blood vessel and almost simultaneously he was startled by another telegram from an unknown source telling him that his favorite had been settled by the lad who looked after him himIn In no easy frame of mind Mr Chaplin started for Newmarket after sending instructions for a veterinary surgeon and a detective to meet him there At Grantham on the way he got The Sportsman newspaper arid in it the first announce ¬ ment that lie saw was that Hermits boy had levanted Strangely enough the boy who had thus made tracks was afterwards found he had been tempted to go away by some foreign trainer but it was never shown that he had really done the horse any harm harmWell Well the horse did little or no work for the re ¬ maining period before the Derby until the morning before the race when lie had a good gallop and then his trainer took heart of grace and told Mr Chaplin he would likely win Win he did as we all know and there are many who think the enforced rest had done him all the good in the world worldThis This is the story as I had it from Mr Chaplin more than thirty years ago and some points in it notably that about the boy are seldom if ever mentioned in turf records but I did not gather that the final opinion of Bloss was so convincing to Hermits owner as in these later years he has thought it to have been Anyhow the statement as given above after an interview with Mr Chap ¬ lin in 1S83 does not represent the trainer or the owner as confident and no doubt the possibility of Hermits breaking a blood vessel before he reached the Furzes must have been apparent to them themDo Do we not all know what it is to receive from trainers more or less confident advice Sometimes it fructifies but more frequently not there are so many people in whom the wish is father to the thought and I venture to suggest that in this case the advice ot Bloss that Hermit would very likely win after all has matured and mellowed in Lord Chaplins memory until he has given it a validity and importance which at first it did not assume At any rate we may take it that he watched Hermits running to the top of the hill with no slight apprehension and would not have been in the least surprised to see him drop out of the race at that point
