MEN WHO HAVE WON THE DERBY. 45 



winner of tho Oaks, and five times he was fortunate 

 enough to win the Two Thousand Guineas. 



Magnificent presents are often given to successful 

 jockeys — £1,000, and even £2,000, being occasionally 

 bestowed on those important ' personages' for winning 

 a Derby or great handicap. For winning two im- 

 portant races for the Duke of Grafton, John Day, a 

 jockey of the period, and an artist in the saddle, was 

 sent for by his Grace in order to be presented with a 

 gift. John appeared hat in hand, and, making his 

 best bow, stood before tho Duke. ' John Day,' said 

 his employer, ' I have sent for you as I am going to 

 make you a present for your good riding ; there is a 

 twenty-pound note for you, and I hope you will not 

 waste it, but take great care of it.' In those days 

 a present of £20 to a jockey was esteemed a 

 very high compliment indeed. A turf-writer, speak- 

 ing, some forty years ago, of the Dukes of Grafton, 

 says : ' A mere list of their most celebrated winners 

 would occupy more space than we can well afford, 

 but they are said to have netted nearly a quarter 

 of a million sterling in public stakes. The two 

 Dukes have been alike and equally distinguished 

 for tlieir extreme honour, liberaHty, and love of 

 sport.' 



Harking back to the beginning of the Derby, the 

 first wir^ner was Sir Charles Banbury, who gained the 

 ' Blue Ilibbon ' by means of his horse Diomed. Sir 

 Charles departed this life on March 31st, 1821, at the 

 good old age of eighty-one. Born in the year 1740, 

 he had, before he was thirty years of age, become the 

 owner of several race-horses ; so early, indeed, as 17G7, 



