28 THE HOliSE A?^D ITS DISEASES. 



horse '* Daniel O'Rourke;" and again in 1856 and 

 1857, were not the great St. Leger, the Yorkshire 

 handi-cap, and the Ebor stakes won by an Irish horse ? 



1 could, if necessary, give the names of numerous other 

 horses that have beaten the best English horses. I may 

 add, that the French sportsmen, witnessing the great 

 perfomiance of Irish horses all over the world, bought 

 some of our best racing sires. The great horse, " Faugh- 

 a-Ballagh " was one, after winning the great St. Leger, 

 and Csesarwitch stakes in 1844 ; '' Irish Eirdcatcher," 

 a horse that was never defeated, was another ; the 

 " Earon," by '' Irish Eirdcatcher," was also bought by 

 the French, at a most incredible price, having won 

 many races in 1844, and the great St. Leger in 1845. 



The gets of the above-named horses, won the principal 

 races in France, Germany, Austria, Eussia, and England, 

 for the last sixteen years. It was one of '' Faugh-a- 

 Eallagh's gets that won the great race at Eois-de- 

 Eoulogne, in Paris, last May — prize of 100,000 francos, 

 beating the great English horse " Elair Athol," winner 

 of the Derby, and the enthusiasm of the French specta- 

 tors rose to such a height, that the French press 

 designate it a real political event. A few days after. 

 Count F. de Legrange brought over to England another 

 of "Faugh-a-Eallagh's" gets, a chestnut mare, 15 hands 



2 inches, called "Fille d' Hair;" she was entered for 

 the great Oaks race, and won at her ease, beating the 

 best horses in England ; also the great Liverpool steeple 

 chase for 1864, where 30 of the best horses in Europe 

 started — five out of the first seven were Irish horses, 

 and it was the courage and speed of an Irish horse, 

 bought at the fair of Cahirmee, County Cork, that saved 

 iN'apoleon III. in 1859, at the bloody battle of Magenta, 

 from being an Austrian prisoner. 



It is said that a good horse has fifty-four properties, 

 that is to say, two of a man, two of a badger, four of a 

 lion, nine of an ox, nine of a hare, nine of a fox, nine of 

 an ass, and ten of a woman. It is also said that a good 



