96 The Dooic of the Horse. 



" The conclusion an Englishman arrives at after witnessing such a scene is, that the American 

 horses are trained to run tlieir races very fast, and that they all apparently, until they are beaten, 

 pull tremendously. A two-year-old race of one mile and a furlong run in 2min. 4sec., one of 

 half a mile in 54sec., and another of three-quarters of a mile in imin. iSsec, strike one as 

 being fast, although I have no evidence at hand to decide whether it would be considered fast 

 by American turfites. Of this, however, there is no denying, that, considering the few race- 

 horses in America — there are not, I believe, more than two hundred in training — it is a matter of 

 surprise that there should be so many that are seemingly good. A mile and a half was run at Long 

 Branch in 2min. 37sec,, which is at the rate of one mile in imin. 45sec. Whether they succeed 

 in obtaining greater speed and staying powers than English trainers and breeders could only 

 be decisively proved by a series of trials ; but it seemed to my not very practised eye that all 

 the races, taken from start to finish, were run at a much greater speed than is usually seen at 

 home, although the finishes were anything but brilliant, notwithstanding they are aided by a 

 great deal of whip and spur. The extraordinary part of the business is, that such great speed 

 should be attained with such wretched jockeyship. It would be difficult to say which ride the 

 worst, the white or black boys, so bad are both. Anything like an artistic finish is seldom 

 seen, saving when a couple of what are called the best jockeys get on pretty equal mounts. A 

 lack of good horsemanship is peculiar to the country, and it would be gross adulation to simply 

 say that an American looks ill at ease on horseback. There are of course exceptions ; but 

 riding is at least one thing which our Transatlantic friends do not do well, especially in the 

 matter of jockeyship." 



THE RACEHORSE IN FRANCE. 



The racehorse is as completely an exotic in France as Italian Opera in England, although 

 famous in the annals of the English turf are the triple victor Gladiateur, Fille de I'Air the 

 Oaks winner in 1864, and Chamant the winner of the Two Thousand in 1877. In addition 

 another French horse, Verneuil, performed the unparalleled feat of winning the three principal 

 long distance races at Ascot, in 1878. 



It will astonish those not familiar with the social history of the other side of the Channel 

 to learn that there were in 1874 forty-eight regular training establishments in France, the greater 

 number of which are also breeding-studs ; and this in spite of the reductions caused by the fall 

 of the Empire and the disasters of war. 



The climate and soil of France have proved particularly favourable to the early maturity of 

 the thoroughbred. The Government, as a matter of policy, gives very large prizes, on the 

 principle of our Queen's Plates ; that is, for horses not less than three years old, running not less 

 than two miles : and the pick of the French stables have the advantage of being permitted to 

 compete for the best English as well as the best French stakes. 



It is, however, a curious circumstance, that although racehorses have been bred and trained 

 in France for nearly half a century (of course, entirely of English blood), all the trainers, all 

 their assistants, and, with one or two exceptions, all the jockeys, are English. A work by Le Baron 

 d'Etreillcs (" Zi? Pur Sang en France") gives the most ample details of the present condition 

 of the French turf Nothing approaching this book in completeness exists on the subject of 

 the horses of England ; nothing has been written on the equine history of Ireland, the horse- 

 breeding country of Europe par excellence. 



The Baron gives the name of each owner of racehorses, of his trainer, his jocke)', and 

 even of his ' head lad," witli portraits of all, which, to say the least, are not flattering. He also 



