42 THE BLUE RIBBON OF THE TURF. 



by suing the lady's paramour, from whom he received 

 a large sura in name of damages. The death of the 

 erring lady left him free to form another alliance, 

 Avhich resulted in raising Miss Farren — 'a born lady,' 

 she has been called — from the stage to the peerage. 

 It proved a very happy union. 



In 1793, six jears after Sir Peter's victory, the 

 Derby was won by another horse of celebrity, named 

 Waxy, from whom probably half the winners of the 

 great Epsom race are descended, a descendant of the 

 curiously- named Pot-S-os. In 1809, and also in the 

 following year, the Epsom trophy was secured by the 

 Duke of Grafton with sons of that horse, as also in 

 1815 ; whilst in the previous year, another son of 

 Waxy, the property of Lord Stawell, was the victor in 

 the race. The horse had been purchased by the third 

 Duke of Grafton, and became as a gold-mine to the 

 family. The name of Grafton occurs eight times 

 among the winners of the Oaks, three of the mares 

 being the produce of Wax}^ 



In those days the Dukes of Grafton were men of 

 mark on the turf, three of them possessing similar 

 'strokes of character.' The third Duke (born 1786, 

 died 1811), despite the abuse lavished on him by ' that 

 remorseless master of invective, the mysterious Junius,' 

 was an excellent sportsman — in matters pertaining to 

 sport, indeed, he has never been excelled — and was 

 rewarded by great good fortune, being singularly lucky 

 in the rearing of his race-horses. His mare Prunella 

 was the dam of no less than eleven steeds of quality, 

 and is said to have contributed to the Grafton ex- 

 chequer a sum of over a hundred thousand guineas ! 



