'The American Thoroughbred 



DATE 



NAME SIRE LINE IMPORTATION 



Velvet ................................... Sorcerer M 1818 



Velvet ................................... Woodpecker H 1800 



Vivaldi .................................. Filho da Putat D H 1828 



Workworth ............................. Sorcerer M 1812 



Zoroaster . 



* Won the Derby; f won the St. L,eger; D won the Doncaster Cup. 



Of these importations and their get but little record has been made and even less 

 preserved. Mr. Black, in his admirable little work, informs us that those of Rowlston, 

 Holbein and Rainbow are alone saved from the wreck of time. Volante, by Rowlston 

 and Corysandre, by Holbein, won the Grand Prix de Paris in 1836 and 1838, respective- 

 ly; and that Felix, Frank and Lydia, all by Rainbow, won betwen them the Grand Prix 

 de Paris in 1834, 1836 and 1837 ; the Prix de Cadran in 1838 ; and the Prix de Jockey 

 Club (otherwise known as the French Derby) in 1836 and 1837. Rainbow's .fame has 

 been preserved by the continuance of the Prix Rainbow at Beautiful Longchamps. And 

 Mr. Black narrates of him that he was such a grand and majestic horse in appearance, 

 that when he stood for mares at the Viroflay Stud, the French public would flock to see 

 him and gladly pay a franc for that privilege. 



The formation of the French Jockey Club, at which period we have now arrived, 

 was something of a curio in itself. In 1830 a pigeon-shooting club was organized by 

 Englishmen residing in Paris, of which Lord Harry Seymour was president and a 

 Mr. Thomas Bryan secretary. The former gentleman, who never had set foot in Eng- 

 land, by the way, was the second son of the third Marquis of Hertford and an uncle of 

 the great British soldier on whom Queen Victoria bestowed the title of "the Knight of 

 Kars" for his great service in the defense of that fortress. He conceived the idea 

 of a Jockey Club modeled on the lines of the British institution and was not long in 

 associating with himself some of the first gentlemen of France. He became president 

 of the club; Prince Michael Ney (Duke of the Moscova), first vice-president; Mons. 

 A. de Russiec, second vice-president ; and Mr. Charles Lafitte, the banker, who after- 

 wards raced as "Major Fridolin," treasurer. The remaining nine members were Comte 

 Maxio di Caccia, Comte de Cambis (equerry to the Due d'Orleans), the Russian Prince 

 Demidoff, Mons. D. Fasqual, Mons. Ernest Leroy, Vicomte Paul Laru and the King's 

 two sons, the Due de Nemours and the Due d'Orleanse, with His Majesty, King Louis 

 Philippe, as a patron and honorary member. Their first rooms were in the Rue 

 Helder, thence removed to the Rue Grange Batalliere and thence to (their own prop- 

 erty) their magnificent quarters at the corner of the Boulevard and the Rue Scribe, 

 across the street from the Grand Opera House. The Due d'Orleans was the most ac- 

 tive of all the members and was killed from jumping from his carriage in 1848, while 

 his horses ran away. This was only a few days before the outbreak of the Revolution 

 which deposed Louis Philippe. The Due d'Orleans it was who got hold of the Due 

 d'Aumale's property at Chantilly and built the race course, that being the best course in 

 France except the one at Longchamps which was completed in 1857 and is the equal 

 of any in the world. The French Derby and Oaks (called the Prix du Jockey Club 

 and the Prix de Diane, respectively, are run at Chantilly; and the Grand Prix de Paris 

 at Longchamps, the best approach to which is a drive through that park of all parks, the 

 Bois de Boulogne. From 1834 to 1842 the chief racing in France might be described as 

 a single-handed encounter, from year to year, between Lord Harry Seymour and the 

 Due d'Orleans. 



It was in 1839 that the latter ill-fated prince had his best innings with a stable com- 

 posed of Esmeralda, Romulus, Nautilus, Quonium, and Giges, the latter a son of the 



