2 24 HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND 



' honorarium ' in old times, though Marsk, as sire 

 of Eclipse, reached lOO guineas for a little while) 

 to lOO guineas quite commonly, 150 guineas not 

 rarely, 200 guineas sometimes, 250 guineas now 

 and then, and 300 guineas for a prodigious 

 ' roarer ' like Ormonde ; and when their progeny 

 fetch, as yearlings, from 1,000 to 5,000 and even 

 6,000 guineas, or 8,000 guineas in the United 

 States, like the American failure, King Thomas. 



Her Majesty's reign has not been so con- 

 spicuous as the reigns of her predecessors for the 

 personal participation of ' lady turfites ' in horse- 

 racing (the betting is quite another thing), though 

 we, no doubt, have still the Duchess of Montrose 

 and Mrs. Langtry racing under pseudonyms ; and 

 perhaps there are as many more as there are 

 thumbs upon two hands. 



True, at Eglinton Park (which, however, was a 

 'private ' meeting) there was for a few years the 

 Atalanta Challenge Whip ' for horses the property 

 of ladies or that have been in the habit of carry- 

 ing ladies,' where Lady Scott, Lady Waterford, 

 Lady Eglinton, Mrs. Ramsay, Miss Boswell, and 

 other ' quality ' would run against one another ; 

 Lady Adeliza Manners just once (in 1844) ran 



