6 THE RACING WORLD 



little shall be said about anything prior to the time 

 of the present owner of the Royal colours — " purple 

 body with gold braid, scarlet sleeves, black velvet 

 cap with gold fringe " — who has twice won the 

 Derby, has won a great many other races, and, like 

 other owners of lower rank, lost a very great many 

 more, highly improper as such defeats appeared to 

 another monarch — the Shah of Persia. " Where 

 was the King's horse ? " that potentate enquired, 

 with no little concern, when Ladas carried off the 

 great Epsom race amid a storm of enthusiasm 

 which was not altogether pleasing to the dusky 

 ruler. " The King had no horse running," he was 

 told ; and he unbent, much relieved. In the 

 absence of the King's horse, the Prime Minister's 

 was the one that ought to win ; no disrespect had 

 been committed to the Throne, and all was well. 



During the last half-century there have been 

 ten Prime Ministers (including Earl Russell who 

 held office for 242 days), and three of them have 

 been ardent and energetic inhabitants of the racing 

 world. A fourth, Lord Beaconsfield, has at least 

 written about racing ; and if the present Duke of 

 Devonshire had chosen to accept his opportunities, 

 there would have been a fourth racing Prime 

 Minister. The Stanleys were always such notable 

 sportsmen that it seems altogether in accordance 



