36 THE BLUE RIBBON OF THE TURF. 



passed over with a sop of two or three hundred ; but 

 the examples just given will no doubt prove sufficient to 

 draw attention to this feature of racing finance, which 

 for so long a period has been in the nature of a blot 

 on ' the sport of kings,' A little prophecy may here 

 be ventured : it is that when the claims of the horses 

 which obtain second and third places come to be 

 fairly recognised, there will be found a much longer 

 list of nominators. 



Sentiment must find no place in an exposition of 

 Derby finance. It may be pretty well taken for 

 granted that those who so ably work the oracle for 

 the benefit of shareholders and themselves are simply 

 hard -headed men who do not care much about 

 sentiment, and they will evidently require a good deal 

 of persuading to make a substantial money grant to 

 the great race ; but seeing that the contest of the 

 present year will not take a halfpenny out of their 

 pockets, the conditions of the race in future years will 

 undoubtedly be watched very closely. 



