The Bug (horse)

Wellesley sent out The Bug to race five times in Ireland in 1945. He was unplaced in his first two starts and was strongly supported in the betting when finishing second in his next race. Late in the season he won two minor races.[3] The Bug was never an easy horse to manage: on one occasion he escaped from the stables and ran loose around the local countryside until he was led home by a police officer who used his bootlaces to fashion a makeshift head collar.[4]

In early 1946, The Bug won two races at Phoenix Park Racecourse, carrying large weights in handicap races[2] before being sent to race in England for the first time. In April at Liverpool Racecourse he won the Knowsley Stakes over one mile. In June he reverted to sprint distances when he ran in the Wokingham Stakes, a six furlong handicap at Royal Ascot in which he was ridden by Charlie Smirke, who became his regular jockey. He started at odds of 7/1 and won easily carrying 119 pounds, setting a weight-carrying record for a three-year-old in a race first run in 1874. His victory reportedly landed a huge gamble for Norman Wachman.[6] The "tactics" employed on The Bug in this race were typical: he started quickly, took the lead, and had his opponents struggling to match his speed from the early stages. A month later he was back in England for the July Cup, one of the season's most important weight-for-age sprints over six furlongs at Newmarket. He started the 8/11 favourite and won from Honeyway, a five-year-old who had won the race in the 1945.

After his win in the July Cup, The Bug was transferred to England for the rest of his career, joining the Newmarket stable of Marcus Marsh. Marsh found that the horse was a challenging one to manage: he had fragile legs and back problems which meant that he had to be trained with great care.[3] In August, The Bug moved down in distance for the Nunthorpe Stakes over five furlongs at York Racecourse, where he won by one and a half lengths from the previous year's winner Golden Cloud. Press reports described the performance as a "dazzling run" which confirmed The Bug's status as the best sprinter in England.[8] On his final start of the season, The Bug took the inaugural running of the Diadem Stakes over six furlongs at Ascot. By this time he was being described by some observers as "phenomenal"[5] and "one of the fastest horses in living memory".[9]

The Bug returned as a four-year-old but his training problems worsened and he made only two appearances. In June he returned to Royal Ascot where he won the Cork and Orrery Stakes by four lengths but sustained a back injury shortly afterwards which kept him off the course until autumn.[3] At Ascot in September he moved up in distance for the one mile Queen Elizabeth II Stakes in which he was matched against the 2000 Guineas winner Tudor Minstrel. The Bug's back injury recurred during the race and he finished unplaced, sustaining his first defeat for two years.[2]