142 The American Thoroughbred 



the Chester Cup at 48 pounds, the lowest weight in history ; and he also rode Ver- 

 mout when he defeated the great Tjlair Athol (Derby and St. Leger winner) in the 

 Grand Prix of 1864. 



The Revolution of 1848, which dethroned Louis Philippe, put an end to racing 

 for several vears and it w^s not until Louis Napoleon (whom Victor Hugo stigmatized 

 as "the bastard son of A Dutch admiral") established the Second Empire, that racing in 

 France assumed any notable proportions. He it was who founded the present Grand 

 Prix de Paris, run at Longchamps, over a mile and five furlongs with 122 pounds, fillies 

 being allowed five pounds for sex. This was raised to the present scale, 126 pounds 

 in 1870, being the same weight as carried in the English "classics." From that date, 

 1861, the race being won by The Ranger, son of Voltigeur and the Gardham mare 

 which was second dam of the great Cremorne, begins the present formidable attitude 

 of the French-bred horse as a disputant of racing in England. 



