196 HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND 



(winner of the English Derby in 1883), according 

 to the accounts ; and at last a young Californian, a 

 Mr. Macdonough, sanus utrisque auribus atque 

 oculis (as Horace says), was found to relieve 

 Senor Boucau, the Argentine, of the * roaring ' 

 Ormonde, and to pay ^30,000, or more, for the 

 privilege. It is to be hoped that the ' plucky ' 

 (that is the word generally used) — that the 

 ' plucky ' Californian will have no reason to regret 

 the purchase. 



But to show how precarious a possession is 

 even a sound stud-horse, it will suffice to mention 

 that Mr. Brodrick-Cloete, of Ecchinswell Stud 

 Farm, Newbury, Berks, lost his splendid horse, 

 Paradox (not to have been bought of the owner 

 for ^20,000, much less for the ^14,000 actually 

 offered), before the unfortunate sire had been four 

 years at the stud ; whereas, on the other hand, 

 Mr. Chaplin's Hermit lived to beget sons and 

 daughters for a period of nearly twenty years, and 

 must have been worth something like ^200,000 

 to his owner, what with his fee, which was for 

 some years at the unprecedented figure of 250 

 guineas, and the high prices paid for the produce of 

 Mr. Chaplin's own mares, with which he was mated. 



