xx ii PREFACE. 



Gold Cup at Goodwood (hard held) in a canter, a leg trouble, brought about by his 

 victory over Chislehurst for the Gold Cup at Newcastle on very hard ground, 

 prevented his turf career being extraordinarily successful, and his chief reputation 

 will rest upon his astonishing performances at the stud. Without including place 

 money or races abroad, the figures of his winning stock are as follows : 



1889 ... ... ... ... .24,286 



1890 ... 3 2 .799 



1891 ... ... ... 25,890 



1892 ... 56,139 



1893 36,319 



1894 ... 42,092 



1895 ... 3 -469 



1896 ... ... 59,74 



1897 22,541 



1898 ... ... ... ... ... ... 15,210 



1899 ... 17,505 



1900 ... ... ... ... ... 54,460 



This gives a total of ^"417, 750, which I have seen stated at 521 higher, or an 

 average of over ,34,2 12 for the twelve years, and his figures up to October I2th, 

 1901, were .28,567 for 18 winners in 30^ races, a total which heads a list in 

 which his sons Florizel II. and St. Frusqiiin are third and fifth. What this extra- 

 ordinary excellence means for St. Simon's owner is that the sum of 600 guineas 

 was asked for his services in the spring of 1901. 



If we go back only to the years at the beginning of the reign of Her late Majesty 

 Queen Victoria, the figures in this connection furnish a more startling comparison 

 than almost any other that might be drawn. Emilius, who won the Derby of 

 1823, for Captain Uclney, and afterwards became the property of Mr. Thornhill, 

 standing for many years at the celebrated Riddlesworth stud, was the sire of 

 Plenipotentiary, Priam, Ridd/eswor//i, Poison, Barcarolle, Extempore, Oxygen, and 

 Mango, who had nearly all got winning brackets by 1837. Yet in 1838 Emilius 

 fee was fifty guineas, which was only equalled by that of his older rival Sultan, 

 and was about double what was charged by any other English stallion. The 

 sire of Touchstone and Launcelot could only get half that sum. The great 

 Touchstone himself only ventured on thirty guineas, which was the figure demanded 

 for Bay Aliddlcton, sire of Crucifix and The Flying Dutchman. If the rise in value 

 of the progeny of the sires at one end of Queen Victoria's reign may fairly be 



