90 THE BLUE RIBBON OF THE TURF. 



of tlie horse was evinced in the shower of presents 

 which fell on the household of the fortunate rider, 

 who up to that period had been a person of very little 

 repute in the stables. Presents in money to the ex- 

 tent of over £400 were made to him ; he was handed 

 a jewelled ring for the finger of his wife Avhich a 

 Duchess might be proud to wear; a set of diamond 

 studs was bestowed upon him ; he became the re- 

 cipient of thirty-two boxes of cigars, and of nine suits 

 of clothes and nineteen new hats. The minor presents 

 of pipes, tobacco, liquors, etc., need not be enumerated 

 — they were far too numerous to be chronicled in 

 tbose pages, and the variety of them was most laugh- 

 able. 



VII. 



'Why,' it has been asked, 'should the chief jockey 

 have an income equal to that of an Archbishop, and 

 far more than is received by a. Prime Minister or a 

 General of the army ?' To answer that question is not 

 so easy as may be imagined. It may be said, first of 

 all, as regards his fees, that as he rides so many horses 

 so his total accumulates, and if masters who keep race- 

 hor.-5es compete for his services, who can prevent 

 them ? and who is to stay the hands which offer him 

 presents in gratitude for money won ? ' Yes,' it is 

 answered ; ' but there is no money thrown away on a 

 jockey, no capital expended on his education ; he is 

 not sent to Eton or Harrow, or kept at Oxford or 

 Ctimbridge till he is twenty-four years of age, at a cost 

 of thousands to his parents.' A stable lad, it has been 



