TRAINING AND BREEDING. 



423 



One trio of yearlings actually went for the total of seventeen pounds. Such a 

 success as Sceptre is rare enough to be fairly called an exception. Yet even in her 

 year, when Sceptre and St. Mac/on between them scored .27,821, to set off against 

 the 1 1, 600 guineas they cost in the sale-ring, the three-year-olds of 1902, who were 

 sold as yearlings for a total of ,92,400 for 37, only won .38,744, which shows a 

 heavy loss, though all the classic races except the Derby are included. It should 

 also be remembered that, among these 37, eight only came to the hammer owing to 



? 



Lord Jersey's "Bay Mfddleton." (1833) by " Sultun." 



the accident of the Duke of Westminster's decease, and though these eight won over 

 .30,000 they did not win within ^10,000 of their purchase- money. It is also worth 

 noting in the same connection that Sf. Mac/on won both the Lincolnshire Handicap 

 and the Manchester November Handicap, and Sceptre herself was in training from the 

 first of these races until after the St. Leger. Taking 1883 as the first year of the 

 fashion for these high-priced youngsters, 476 have been sold from then to 1900 

 inclusive, at a cost of .859,089, which is ,515,583 more than they had won 

 in prizes up to the end of 1902. 



