52 HOESE-RACING IN FRANCE 



no opponent, and always coming in first. But this 

 does not signify ; it excites the admiration of those who 

 love sport, and especially of the philosophers among 

 them : it is so noble to strive against and overcome 

 — oneself! ' 



As for the value of the ' prix,' a plate of lOOZ. 

 would have been handsome, but it was sometimes en- 

 hanced by the addition of some crockery-ware from 

 Sevres, by way, says a French cynic, of ' encouraging 

 at one and the same time the ceramic as well as the 

 hippie industry ; but the owners of horses did not 

 much care for it, as they could not cover their ex- 

 penses with these cumbersome works of art.' 



We learn, on trustworthy authority, that ' the 

 average number of horses running every year, which 

 had been but 59 from 1833 to 1840, rose to 125 

 between 1841 and 1848, and soon afterwards to 140 

 and even 160.' Some of these animals appear to 

 have been kept a long while in training, and to have 

 been sent long and troublesome journeys to pick up 

 sums of from 60/. to 80/. Old Hervine, for instance, 

 who had won the Prix de Diane (French Oaks) for M. 

 Alexandre Aumont in 1851, was seen running, it is 

 recorded, at Chantilly in 1855 — ten weeks after foaling 

 too — for what we should call a plate of 120/., whicli is 

 only twice 60/. 



As regards owners of horses, we are told on good 

 authority that in the very early days of tlie French 

 Jockey Club there were but twenty-four owners of 

 race horses in France known to fame ; but by 1845 the 

 number had doubled, or more than doubled, and the 

 chief among them were M. Alexandre Aumont (soon to 

 be succeeded by the never to be forgotten Count F. de 

 Lagrange), M. (and afterwards Madame) Latache de 



