38 HORSE-RACING IN FRANCE 



where she was foaled. The Count's prominence in 

 matters of the Turf, however, is shown by his appoint- 

 ment as one of the very first ' Commission of the Stud 

 Book.' He is not to be confounded with the Marquis 

 de Cambis d'Orsan, created a peer of France in October 

 1837. As manager of the Meudon stud Count de 

 Cambis ranks among tlie very chiefest ' fathers ' of the 

 French Turf. His curious adventure, or misadventure, 

 on returning to France with the Duke d'Orleans' Beggar- 

 man after tiiis horse liad won the Goodwood Cup in 

 1840 has akeady been mentioned. 



The next on the hst is M. Casimir Delamarre (quite 

 a distinct personage from Count Achille Delamarre, 

 some time president of the French Jockey Club), who 

 was a cavalry officer at first, then a banker (having 

 married the daughter of M. Martin Didier, of whose 

 banking house he became the head in course of time), 

 and at the same time proprietor of ' La Patrie,' which 

 newspaper he purchased and may be said to have raised 

 from next to nothing to a real power in the State. M. 

 Delamarre did not become conspicuous either among 

 the great winners or the great breeders of his day, but 

 he worked for ' the cause ; ' and it is recorded that at 

 the sale of M. Cremieux's ' Madrid ' stud, Bois de Bou- 

 logne, in 1831, he gave 8,195 francs (about 328/.) — a 

 sum never before paid in France, it is said, for so young 

 an animal — for the yearling Fra Diavolo, which found 

 its way into the omnivorous stables of Lord Henry 

 Seymour, but has left no name to conjure with, and, in 

 fact, was at last 'added to the list' in 1849 [v. French 

 Stud Book). It was, nevertheless, from a Delamarre 

 (whether related to M. Casimir or not) that, strange to 

 say, the English were to receive their first ' knockdown 

 blow ' in their fis^ht with the French for the glories of 



