A WONDERFUL RACER

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2242, 2 October 1889, Page 2

A WONDERFUL RACER

The result of the Lanoaahlie HaC*, nne of the most valnabl* P H«ea of the tatf In England, abows that the phenomenal aaaoeaa of the Dnka of Portland, and, of his colt Donovan, ia oontlnnlng. The Dake has won almost every great pilsa of the English tatf this season, and tha tlotory of Donovan iv the Lancashire Plate can only be regarded us the crowning; •uoobbb of a eeriei of totf triumph* anohi aa wore never before heard of In the. hlttory of the aport of hoisa-raolng, aohlevedl by one owner, or by one hone. In tb» aportiog world of England there haa been a disposition to oonaldet that Donovan la not an exceptionally good performer, but rather that he la merely a good colt who haa had the fortune to be tanning at a time when there were few good horsea shoot* The astonishing aacoaaa whloh hai marked, his career has, however, done much i> make everyone admit that he mast be •> really great racehorse, and hie eucceßg m the Lancashire Plata, iv which hewpalo) have to carry at leaat 9it 121 b, and would have to meet all tiie best horaea m England, atampa bim as a brilliant perlormer^ Ho has uever Btartod without being placed, an,d on l almoat eveiy oooeaion he has passed the judge's box with hi* field m diffioultioß behind him. Three timea only he haa been defeated — twice as a two-year* o'd, and onoe as a three -year- old, the latter occasion being by Enthusiast m the Two Thousand (iuinea btakes. In that race Donovan wsb second Ois firat defeat aa a two year- old waa received fiom. Uhitabob, to whom ho wag . oonoeding, 131 b weight, the race being the TPliic■nntide Plate, of 4000 bovb> tA Man cheater. «c haa now avengjod thai defeat, •» Uhltabob waa aeqan^ to him on Saturday* Amongst sQt^e of Donovan's great performanoeci. this aeaaon were bla viotorieo Id the Derby and the St Leger, »nc* ilio tb» Priuoe of Walea Stakeu, of 12,00a u ov», at Lfcloester. Altogether tnia wonderfal oolt haa during ho raolng onreer won OT«r £50,000 In atakes, a feat whloh no other raoahorae that ever ran has even approaobed. The Duke of Portland haa ihlu aeuHon won, In addition to the \wo> ohief olaaalo pr.zjn of the tarf, UiQ&eiby •ndrit Leßer, two 12,000 auva QVskev an 4 two of 10,000 aov* Moh—t^Q w lik Dono-* v*.n Bud two fflt/a Ayra)\tr<K— "-Argua "