36 HORSE-RACING IN FRANCE 



promote him to Colonel Fridolin, were the purchase of 

 Light (' bred in France '), sire of both Bigarreau and 

 Sornette (who won the French Derby, the French 

 Oaks, and the Grand Prix between them, all in one 

 year, 1 870), and still more, perhaps, the importation 

 from England of Tournament, sire of many good sons 

 and daughters, including Franc-Tireur, Sabre, and 

 Tyrolienne. ' Major Fridolin ' and his breeding stud 

 are intentionally or accidentally commemorated by the 

 Prix de Villebon at Paris Autumn Meetins; and the 

 Prix de Chateau-Laffitte at Cliantilly Autumn Meeting, 

 not to mention the Prix Charles Laffitte at Dieppe. M. 

 Charles Laffitte appears to have been a ' deputy ' and 

 likewise a ' count ; ' but he seems to have despised or at 

 any rate to have neglected the title, as became a nephew 

 (as he is said to have been) of old ' Prince du Rabot.' 



We now come to the ei2:ht ' foundation members ' of 

 the Jockey Club (or of the Comite des Courses), who 

 originally held no special office. 



Count Max. Caccia, the first in alphabetical order, 

 betrays his Italian origin and his natural proclivities by 

 his very name, which means ' hunt ' or ' chase,' or even 

 ' sport.' He appears to have been that Count Maxi- 

 milian Caccia who, though of Piedmontese birth and 

 family, received his early education in Paris, was a 

 captain of French hussars in 1846, in which year he 

 wrote a book entitled ' Les Vertus Militaires,' dedicated 

 to the Duke de Nemours (himself an honorary foundation 

 member of the French Jockey Club), and who subse- 

 quently, when the affairs of Italy demanded his services, 

 served as colonel in the Piedmontese army and was lost, 

 so far as any trace of him remains in the records, to tlie 

 French Turf He was both a breeder and an owner of 

 race horses, as well as a noted rider. He had a ' liaras ,' 



