224 THE POST AND THE PADDOCK. 



months, that only from three to four hundred are 

 found in the Epsom and St. Leger entries; while 

 perhaps two to three hundred more must be set down 

 as the property of breeders who do not care to en- 

 gage, or do not think them worth engaging, in these 

 great stakes. As far as we can ascertain, there were 

 1,160 blood foals brought to the birth in England 

 and Ireland in 1851, and certainly not 1,100 of them 

 were alive on New Year's Day, 1852. Watching 

 their further progress through the pages of the " Ra- 

 cing Calendar," we find that 574 of them ran in 

 1853. This number decreased, in 1854, to 516; but 

 two seasons of training tell a fearful tale, and in 1855 

 the remnant of that high-bred band only numbered 

 280, as two-year-old racing lays the seeds of infirmi- 

 ty which even the lf British Remedy 5 ' cannot baffle. 

 Old fashioned breeders like Mr. Kirby, who kept 

 a dozen mares and a first-class horse, whom they 

 changed every four or five years, the moment his 

 subscription began to lag, were wont to consider 150 

 guineas a good average price for their yearlings. As 

 a general thing, the purchases above this figure do 

 not prosper in proportion to the fine looks which 

 have induced the outlay; and, absurd as it may 

 seem, it is the worst luck in the world to christen a 

 yearling by an outlandish name. Priam fetched 

 1,000 guineas as a yearling, and Sir Mark's execu- 

 tors had to thank the untried Camarine and Lucetta 

 for the wonderful success of their sale, where five 

 yearlings brought 2,235 guineas, and four foals 1,181 

 guineas. If we add this latter amount to what Lord 

 Durham got for eight foals in 1830, we have the 

 absolutely apocryphal average of 350 guineas ! Glen- 

 livat, by Row ton or Cetus, out of Camarine, was the 

 1,010 guinea premier of Sir Mark's yearlings; and a 

 colt by Jerry, out of Lucetta, the 640 guinea one of 

 the foals. The Dutchman cost 1,000 guineas as a 

 foal, and so did Earbelle's last foal Kirkleatham, 



