'THE FRENCH YEAR,' 1865. 



In 1865 tlie name of the horse which won the Derby 

 had not an Enghsh sound ; it was Gladiateur, Avho, in 

 presence of the much-mobbed Prince of Wales, gained 

 the verdict of the judge, and earned the ' Blue Ribbon 

 of the Turf,' having behind him as he galloped past 

 the winning-post twenty-nine opponents. The victory 

 of tlie French horse will be long remembered by those 

 who saw it. The success of Gladiateur — it is now 

 twenty-five years since it Avas obtained — was not un- 

 attended by incidents of a sensational kind, which 

 may be briefly noted for the information of those who 

 know nothing about them. A hundred stories, in- 

 deed, might be related about the victory of Gladiateur, 

 which afforded a subject of talk for many months to 

 the turf-men of the time. 



It was doubtless a veritable triumph for Franco to 

 beat us at our own game, and on our own ground; but 

 we had our revenge in the Grand Prix. As has been 

 hinted, there was much said during the French year, 

 and much of what was said has been exaggerated in the 

 chronicling. There was certainly, as has been again 

 and again asserted, no consuming desire among British 

 sportsmen to see the French horse beaten ; nor has it 



