THE REVERSE AT LONGCHAMP 21 



and the defeat of England was not unwelcome to the 

 national pride even if it did not fill or rather might 

 have emptied the private pocket. 



" Ah, ces Anglais ! " shouted a lady close to me as the 

 horses passed the post, and instinctively the retort in 

 her own language sprang to my lips : "We didn't talk 

 like that, madame, when Gouvernant was beaten at 

 Epsom ! " 



Such a remark from a total stranger must have con- 

 siderably astonished her, but at the moment one felt 

 incapable of restraining one's natural feelings. 



The remainder of that afternoon was spent in won- 

 dering how it had all happened, and if it could really be 

 true that Pretty Polly had run for (and lost) her six- 

 teenth race. 



Next morning the Gare du Nord presented the ap- 

 pearance of the retreat from Moscow as the English 

 contingent entrained for the return journey, and eagerly 

 were the sporting papers bought up on Calais Pier to see 

 what they would say and what explanation the Turf 

 journalists would think fit to give. 



And now it must be stated that, among a certain 

 section of racing men, the opinion (which was ventilated 

 with respect to the Ascot Gold Cup when Sceptre and 

 Zinfandel succumbed to Throwaway) exists that in the 

 Prix du Conseil Municipal the English jockeys were so 

 busy watching each other that they allowed Presto II to 



