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CHAPTER XVII. 



RACING CAREER OF THE LATE RIGHT HON. 

 SIR WILLIAM H. GREGORY. 



By the Editor. 



This work was about to assume its final " form 

 and pressure," previous to publication, when the 

 death of Sir William H. Gregory, K.C.M.G., on 

 Sunday, March 6, 1892, led me to address myself 

 forthwith to the task — in this instance it is a 

 labour of love — of writing down what I know of 



o 



my old friend's racing career. Sir William was 

 born at Coole Park, County Galway, in 1817, 

 and in 1839 was present at the Epsom Derby for 

 the first time. Although no more than twenty- 

 two years old when he saw his first Derby and 

 bought his first race-horse, he was at once ad- 

 mitted to the best society in the United King- 

 dom, and soon became a prominent pillar of the 

 English Turf From about the year 1840 until 

 the autumn of 1846, when Lord George Ben- 

 tinck sold the whole of his racing stud to Mr 



