FRANC PICARD AND HIS TIMES 95 



liis history has caused mention to be made of M. Henri 

 Delamarre, who began his ' sporting Ufe ' as a steeple- 

 chaser, and was probably induced to turn his attention 

 to the breeding of thoroughbreds and to the ' legitimate ' 

 fiat racing (which is the only means of testing them) by 

 observation of Franc Picard and his and other thorough- 

 bred steeple-chasers' performances ; and that the same 

 history has led to casual notice of certain provincial 

 ' hippodromes ' (on wliicli none of the great French 

 races were run), thereby presenting a favourable oppor- 

 tunity of dealing with French ' hippodromes ' in general, 

 their increase and improvement, since the institution of 

 the French Jockey Club. But before we leave Franc 

 Picard altogetlier, let one observation be made : his 

 mean appearance and his comparatively splendid and 

 fabulous career combined are a paradox which, as in 

 tlie case of some celebrated English steeple-chasers, such 

 as Salamander and Emblem and Emblematic (no use on 

 the flat, and apparently unfit to carry even a feather 

 weight over a long distance and in ugly ground), is 

 always puzzling to both initiated and uninitiated observers 

 of horseflesli. It seems to be more common among 

 thoroughbred horses than among any other living crea- 

 tures, and is not unreasonably supposed (though it is 

 one of those things that ' no feller can understand ') to 

 arise from the fact that ' bon sang ne ment pas,' that a 

 well-bred horse is always good for something — if not to 

 win the Derby, yet to make a first-rate steeple-chaser, 

 or a marvellous hunter, oi a prodigious trotter, or an 

 invaluable hack, or, it may be, though himself of no 

 account, a very Abraham of winners (like the Godolphin 

 Arabian, or Bartlett's Childers, or Snake, or, in more 

 modern times, Young Melbourne, who for some reason 

 or other did not run themselves, but were very much 



