view raw text
DONOGHUES BLIND MOUNT Seaforth. Loses Sight in a Race But Steve Rides Him to Victory. He Recommends Purchase of Famous Gclil-ing, Hornets Beauty, Bred by Michael Dawson, to Mr. Peebles. 1 Another Interesting experience cited by Stephen Donoghue in his memoirs is of an occasion when his mount went blind in a race. The famous jockeys account follows: Another really good horse, Prince Palatine, was a further example to me of how one can be deceived in judging a horse by the form it may display on home trials. He was, like Charles OMalley, bred in Ireland at what is now the National Stud, and as a yearling was acquired for the sum of 2,500, another rare bargain for the purchaser. He proved to be a good two-year-old, but he had his peculiarities, one of them being a dislike of a small field; all his best performances were in races where there were big fields of horses, and his rare defeats were invariably incurred in races where there were only a few runners. I rode him the first time he won as a two-year-old, and always considered him a really good one; later I was asked if J would ride him in all his three-year-old engagements the following year, which I was pleased to agree to do, and thereby hangs another tale, to be told in due course. STORY OF HORXETS BEAUTY. I have mentioned that I was frequently asked when riding over here whether I knew of any useful horses that were for sale In Ireland, and here I would like to tell the history of Hornets Beauty, a good Irish horse that I was instrumental in having imported to this country. I saw him offered for sale for 00 and refused as a two-year-old in Ireland. This horse was a bay gelding, bred by Michael Dawson, and I remember Dawsons showing him to J. H. Taylor, an Irish breeder, and his friend, Mr. McMahon, a charming and popular Irish owner. Mr. McMahon had been having a disastrous run of luck in all his racing ventures, and he now declared he was finished with racing, and that he never intended to own another horse. Michael Dawson liked Mr. McMahon, and he disliked to hear him say this. "Ah, go on, now," he said to him, "take this fellow by Tredennis for 00. He is certain to win races; sure Im giving him to you, but I -just want to see a horse belonging to you in my stable." Mr. McMahon was as firm as a rock, however, in his refusal, and eventually Mr. Taylor took a half share with Michael Dawson in the horse, telling Mr. McMahon he could "go in it" whenever he liked, but I never heard that he ever took any share. Hornets Beauty had an engagement at the next meeting at the Curragh and, running in Mr. Taylors name and colors, he won easily. BEST TAVO-YEAR-OLD OF YEAR. I thought him even then the best two-year-old at the time in Ireland. It was the way he won that was so impressive, and I considered it a thousand pities that he had no important engagement. Soon afterward Dawson came to me and said, "Stephen, if you hear of any English buyer wanting a nice horse, well take ,000 for Hornets Beauty, and therell be 00 for you out of it." I thought what a bargain he would be at the price, and next time I was in England the first person to ask me if I knew of a useful horse worth buying was Mr. Peebles, and to him I recommended Hornets Beauty. I told him the price asked, and all I knew of the horse ; also that he was entered in a race at the next Curragh meeting that he couldnt lose. I wound up by advising the trainer to go over and buy him before the race, so that he could bet on him and win the price of the horse, and so get him for nothing. Peebles evidently thought this too good to be true. He went over to Ireland, however, and saw the horse win the race easily at, 6 to 4, and he then had the doubtful pleasure of learning that it would now cost him exactly double to buy him; Michael Dawson had put the price up to 0,000, and eventually Peebles gave this figure for him and was moreover delighted with his bargain, and he promised me that I should always ride the horse in England when free to do so. Dawson gave me ,000 as commission! "WINS BY SIX LENGTHS. Hornets Beauty did not run till the following spring at Liverpool. Just before the meeting Peebles sent me a wire asking whether I could ride him, but this time I could not, as I was claimed to ride Congo II. for Atty Persses stable, that this year had taken first claim on my services. So Saxby was given the mount on Hornets Beauty, and the horse started favorite at 2 to 1, and won by six lengths, pulling up. Never again was I asked to ride him. I never knew of any reason why. It was hard for me to see the horse whose i purchase I had recommended, and the riding of which I had been promised, winning time after time, with all sorts of other jockeys j riding him instead of myself and knowing of no reason why I should be so treated. But it is a thing that often happens to a jockey, and he simply has to learn to grin and bear it, as I did. Hornets Beauty was successful every time he started that year, winning fifteen races off the reel ; he won over every distance, five furlongs, seven furlongs, one mile, one mile and a quarter to one mile and a half. He was also indulged with several walkovers, as indeed it often seemed useless to oppose him. He retired into winter quarters unbeaten as a three-year-old, and naturally he became a public idol. In the spring of next year, 1011, I left Ireland for good and settled down with my family near Chattis Hill, the stables at Stockbridgo belonging to Atty Persse, for whom I was riding now as first jockey. I also rode a good deal that year for the Druids Lodge Stable. Atty Persso had a stable full of really good horses, and ono highly thought of was Seaforth, an Irish-bred horso belonging to Major McCalmont. This was a fino colt; ho had retired into Avinter quarters the favorlto two-year-old, winner of tho Woodcoto stakes at Epsom the first time out, and having won three other high-class races, only onco suffering defeat, when he was second in tho Middle Park Plate. Ho was genuinely fancied for tho classics this year. Unfortunately, during tho winter recess some trouble developed in ono of his eyes, and it was diagnosed as cataract. This, in spite of treatment, rapidly grew worse, and though intermittent so far, it could be seen to affect the horso seriously when ho was asked to stride out at exercise. BAD EYE YIELDS TO TREATMENT. He used to work with another three-year-old, Prince San, and he often went with Bachelors Double, then a five-year-old. The bad eye seemed to yield somewhat to treatment, tho horso was persevered with and made ready to run in the Union Jack stakes, a mile race at the Liverpool Spring meeting. I rode him in the race, and odds of 11 to 4 were laid on him, in a Held of four runners. We jumped off together, and Seaforth was going well, full of running, until about half way through tho race I suddenly felt him falter, and then he began to "climb," bringing his knees up to his chin at every stride instead of stretching but, and all at once I realized that in the excitement and exertion of the race his defective eye must have affected the sight of the good one, which had also clouded right over, and my horse had gone totally blind in the middle of the race. It was the worst predicament I was ever In. It took me all my time to hold him up and save him from falling on his head. Fortunately I was just alongside another horse, and I quickly decided that my only chance of escaping disaster was to try to keep Seaforth exactly where he was, lying by the other so that he could at least hear he hoof beats of the animal beside him and gain some confidence from that. I sat as still as a mouse, not daring to move, and straining every muscle to keep the poor horse on his feet; it was sheer instinct that told me the winning post was reached, and we actually won the race by a short head. As quickly as I dared I pulled him up and remained there in one spot, not moving till his attendant came and took hold of his head to lead him in. The. owner and his mother came hurrying toward me, both looking white and perturbed; they were wondering what could have been the cause of the obviously narrow escape from defeat of their champion. "What happened?" they asked me, breathlessly. I still felt rather shaky myself, as I knew it had been a close shave, and I could hardly reply for a minute or two, but as I got off the horse in the unsaddling inclosure I told them, "He went stone blind during the race." It was an experience in race riding that I hope never to have again.
