40 HORSE-RACING IN FRANCE 



humously) ' Prisonniers de Guerre des Puissances Bel- 

 ligerantes pendant la Campagne de Criniee.' Among 

 English thoroughbreds that belonged to him may be 

 mentioned Paradox (for the sake of the name, which 

 has since become famous), by Merlin, imported into 

 Florence in 1831 and transferred to Finance in 1834, 

 and Tim, by Middleton, imported into France (by Count 

 Demidoff, it is presumed) in 1836. Howbeit none of 

 the French horses that have made a reputation can be 

 readily traced to the importations of Count Demidoff. 



Pass we on now to M. Fasquel ' of Courteuil,' so dis- 

 tinguished, not only to keep him from being confounded 

 with another M. Fasquel (Alcibiade), an owner of 

 horses, but also and no doubt chiefly for the sake of 

 the excellent stud he possessed in the very earliest days 

 of the French Turf, a stud which the princely and 

 aristocratic visitors at Chantilly at race time would go 

 over to see and admire and take a lesson from. In 

 1834, indeed, a high, if not the very highest, rank was 

 assigned to the stud of M. Fasquel, who is described 

 as ' proprietaire et agriculteur bien connu ' at the 

 village of ' Courteuil, near Senlis (Oise),' where he not 

 only had factories but also a large estate ' pouvant pro- 

 duire en abondance tout ce qui est necessaire au cheval.' 

 Mr. F. Kent appears to have trained for M. Fasquel, 

 who was a great purchaser of horses botli in Normandy 

 and in England, or of animals imported from England, 

 or of the produce of animals imported thence ; but, in 

 proportion to liis exertions, he was perhaps the most 

 unfortunate of all the early ' fathers ' of the French 

 Turf. His colours, red and black cap, were certainly 

 borne to victory by Minuit in the Grand Prix at Paris 

 in 1842, by Tomate in the Prix du Cadran in 1846, 

 by Fort-a-bras in the Prix de la Ville de Paris in 1859, 



