XVIII 



H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES 



The colours of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales were" 

 first registered in 1875, and are, as is very gener- 

 ally known, " purple body with gold braid, scarlet 

 sleeves, and black velvet cap with gold fringe." 

 This is a very pretty and effective combination, 

 but it is a little difficult to distinguish at a dis- 

 tance, and does not stand out like the " scarlet " 

 of Mr. W. Stirling Crawfurd, the " rose " of Mr. 

 Henry Chaplin, or the " blue, white, and red " of 

 M. Lefevre. The royal colours were displayed for 

 the first time in a match at the Newmarket July 

 Meeting of 1877. They were carried by an Arab 

 horse, Alep, and his opponent was Lord Strath- 

 nairn s Avowal, a grey six-year-old horse by Con- 

 fessor out of Rocket, by Artillery out of an 

 Arabian mare. They were matched for 500 h.-ft. 

 The distance was four miles on the Round Course, 

 and John Jones, who afterwards trained and rode 

 some steeplechasers for the Prince, had a leg-up on 

 Alep, whilst T. Chaloner steered Avowal. Odds 

 of 9 to 4 were laid on Alep, but the result was 

 the same as it almost invariably has been when an 

 Arab has been pitted against a thoroughbred of 

 even the poorest class, and Avowal cantered in a 

 winner by thirty lengths. I cannot make out that 



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