108 HORSE-RACING IN FRANCE 



to Count de Lagrange, with MM. Lupin, Delamarre, and 

 ' Major 1 rid ol in ' next. 



The event of 1869 for which the French had most 

 reason to set up their horn on high was undoubtedly 

 the Grand Prix de Paris, for which neither Pretender 

 nor Pero Gomez, hrst and second in the Enghsh Derby, 

 would or could run, but the third in the English Derby — 

 to wit, Mr. E. Jones's The Drummer — went over to Paris 

 and was accompanied by three other English horses, 

 namely,Mr. H. Savile's Pyshworth, Mr. T. Parr's ('Fisher- 

 man ' Parr's) Tim Bobbin, and the Duke of Hamilton's 

 Wild Oats. Of course had this been the Wild Oats of 

 the year before, the Wild Oats that won the Prendergast 

 Stakes and ran a dead heat with Pero Gomez for the 

 Criterion inl8G8, it would or should have been all over 

 but shouting. But it was Wild Oats on but three legs ; 

 therefore men betted 50 to 1 against him, degrading 

 him to the level of Boulogne, and laid 6 to 4 a^iainst 

 Consul, the favourite, 5 to 2 against The Drummer, 

 5 to 1 against Eyshwortli, and 7 to 1 against Glaneur. 

 It was thought that The Drummer, having been second 

 and third so often (for the Lincolnshire Handicap, for 

 the City and Suburban, and for the Derby), might this 

 time work into first place (as he had done in the Great 

 Metropolitan) : but his ' head was turned ; ' instead of 

 winning he lost by that portion of his conformation, and 

 the winner was not Consul, but Glaneur. Kal roSe 

 ^(okvXlSov this also is one of those things ' that no 

 feller can understand.' For this Glaneur was a ' com- 

 moner ' (with a magnificent stride, however), an ' uncer- 

 tain customer,' very ' nasty ' in temper, and so difficult 

 to ' keep up to the mark ' that he disappeared alto- 

 gether from the racecourse at the end of his three- 

 year-old season. So, but for a different reason, did 



