90 HOKSE-RACING IN FRANCE 



' knowing ' gentleman wlio would not purchase liim. 

 This Emilius, by the way, was the very opposite, they 

 say, of Franc Picard ; for the former was half-bred, a 

 ' cocktail,' a great, strapping, leathering animal, and 

 the defeats he suffered in his contests with the little 

 thoroughbred Franc Picard went a long way towards 

 changing public opinion in France, which had inclined 

 to give the preference to ' demi-sang ' over ' pur sang,' 

 especially in steeple-chasing, with its long distances and 

 often heavy ' going.' 



In 1853 Franc Picard began badly, but he won 

 during the year some 29,000 francs, or 1,160/., includ- 

 ing the value of an ohjet cVart, given by the Emperor, 

 at Caen, the amount of the two Grand Steeple-chases at 

 Spa and of the races he won at Dieppe, where he com- 

 menced a career which has made his name to be 

 indelibly associated with that place in quite a legendary 

 manner. 



In 1854 he won 48,850 francs, or 1,954/., having 

 been twice victorious at Dieppe, twice at La Marche, 

 once at Bordeaux, once (if not twice) at Longchamps 

 (during the first unsuccessful occupation of that ' hip- 

 podrome ' before the French Jockey Club took it in 

 hand), and elsewhere. His winnings were not surpassed 

 even on the flat by any horse but Royal-quand-meme, 

 who won 50,700 francs (2,028/.) 



In 1855, on March 25, he put in an appear- 

 ance at La Croix de Berny on the revival of steeple- 

 chases there after a lapse of eleven years. The revival, 

 however, was a dead failure, in consequence of the 

 execrable weather, the ground being converted into a 

 swamp and the spectators being drenched to the skin. 

 Moreover Franc Picard at the very start put his foot 

 in a hole and was pulled up lame ; M. Delamarre's 



