178 Life and Times of " The Druid? 



tion he was morally bound to have a nice 

 yearling or two of his own he lent no un- 

 gracious ear. When the rivalry round the 

 Hampton Court and Middle Park rings almost 

 foamed into madness, and 2,500 guineas and 

 2,000 guineas were among the yearling prices 

 of one afternoon, he was never tempted 

 beyond 1,650 guineas for King Charles, and 

 1,500 guineas for Robespierre. The former 

 would have been dear at fifty guineas, and 

 the latter won well in the colours of another, 

 His two best horses, the Duke (500 guineas) 

 and the Earl (450 guineas) were among his 

 cheapest purchases. The late Alfred Day 

 first wore his colours on Garotter in the 

 Al thorp Park stakes at Northampton, and 

 Sam Rogers won a Maiden Plate on that 

 colt a few weeks afterwards. The first great 

 victory for the ' red and white hoops ' was the 

 Cambridgeshire of 1864, with Ackworth, who 

 had been esteemed a dear 2,000 guinea pur- 

 chase. Gradually his stable swelled to up- 

 wards of thirty, and about ,£70,000 were the 

 spoils of six seasons. Catalogue was one of 

 his great pets, and he did not care how much 

 he backed her for in a selling sweepstakes, 



