THE FRENCH JOCKEY CLUB 41 



and on sundry otlier more or less unimportant occasions 

 by the aforesaid or by sundry other horses ; but not 

 once did French Oaks or French Derby fall to the lot 

 of this indefatigable gentleman, and his success, in com- 

 parison with his means and pains, must be considered 

 infinitesimal. He seems to have died about 1873, but his 

 memory, or that of liis stud, may be said to be preserved 

 by the Prix de Courteuil at Chantilly Spring Meeting. 



We have now arrived at M. Ernest Leroy, Avho died 

 at Maisons-LafFitte on November 16, 1880, at the great 

 age of eighty-two, having been (with the exception of 

 the Duke de Nemours, who was originally an honorary 

 foundation member) the only ' original member ' left 

 alive after the death of M. Charles Laffitte. M. Leroy 

 was a noted ' gentleman rider ' in his day, and was for 

 some time on the Commission of the Stud Book. Tliousjli 

 his colours, blue and black cap, were not conspicuous in 

 the principal contests, he occupied a foremost position 

 among the early promoters of French horse-racing and 

 horse-breeding, and by his agency were introduced into 

 France many valuable sires from England. He was 

 apparently the titular purchaser — chiefly, no doubt, on 

 behalf of the French Government — of ^gyptus, by 

 Centaur ; Darlington, by Cleveland ; Sir Benjamin Back- 

 bite, by Whisker ; Elthiron, by Pantaloon ; Womersley, 

 by Irish Birdcatcher ; Hernandez, by Pantaloon; Laner- 

 cost, by Liverpool, &c. ; and certainly, if his purchases 

 were left to his own judgment, he did not do badly for 

 his clients, though it was not he, but M. Thannberg, it is 

 said, who got Ion so cheap at 450 guineas, and M. le 

 Chevalier de la Place who obtained Gladiator, about the 

 best bargain the French Government ever made, for 

 2,000 guineas, or (according to a French authority) 

 2,500/. (02,500 francs). 



