FOURTH PERIOD : VICTORIA 273 



partly as a runner of short distances for prodigious 

 stakes, and partly as a (sometimes premature) 

 stud-horse at exorbitant fees, before his progeny 

 have done anything to justify the sum, and ex- 

 orbitant even when they have. 



It will have been observed that the retirement 

 of the Prince of Wales (George IV.) from the turf 

 in 1791-92, in consequence of a quarrel with the 

 Jockey Club, has been attributed, as usual, to the 

 ' Escape ' affair. Mr. John Kent, in his lately 

 published and, in many respects, very admirable 

 'Racing Life of Lord George Bentinck,' says 

 (p. 50): 'It is not generally known that H.R.H. 

 the Prince Regent was not driven away from 

 Newmarket by the ' Escape ' affair, but by another 

 race, in which his horse Sultan was supposed to 

 have been foully ridden.' 



Without stopping to inquire whether Prince 

 Regent was the Prince's proper title before 

 February, 181 1, though, no doubt, a Regency 

 Bill had been passed as early as 1788, be it 

 remarked that Mr. Kent does not support his 

 bare statement by any sort of authority, and that 

 no such horse or misadventure can be traced to 

 the Prince (unless it has been overlooked in 



18 



