King Edward VIIas a sportsman . I was notpresent at the Derby, and you know all the detailsof the great event far better than I do. A month later, when St. Frusquin beat Per-simmon for the Princess of Wales Stakes at New-market, the King was the first to congratulate me,and in the most considerate and gracious way alludedto the Derby, saying that no doubt Persimmon andSt. Frusquin were both great horses. King Edwardwas at all times most anxious to give pleasure. Itwas entirely his wish that any member of the JockeyClub fortunate enough to win the Derby should pre-sent a portrait of the horse t
King Edward VIIas a sportsman . I was notpresent at the Derby, and you know all the detailsof the great event far better than I do. A month later, when St. Frusquin beat Per-simmon for the Princess of Wales Stakes at New-market, the King was the first to congratulate me,and in the most considerate and gracious way alludedto the Derby, saying that no doubt Persimmon andSt. Frusquin were both great horses. King Edwardwas at all times most anxious to give pleasure. Itwas entirely his wish that any member of the JockeyClub fortunate enough to win the Derby should pre-sent a portrait of the horse to the Club. In the hourof success on the Turf, his first thought was to thankthose who had helped him to win ; when there wasa disappointment—and in racing there must be many—he always made every excuse, and was never im-patient. King Edwards association with the Turf 164 Vi-vwdt^r THE PRINCE OF WALES (KING EDWARD VII.) WITH RICHARD MARSH AND PERSIMMON (J. Watts) Photographed by Royal Command by W. A. Rough. Racing has done much to remove the impression that racingcannot be conducted in a healthy manner, in thespirit of pure sport. The enthusiasm of the masseson Epsom Down when Minoru won will never beforgotten, and showed how our great and good Kinghad endeared himself to the hearts of his people. When Thafs left Newmarket her chance of winningthe Oaks was considered much greater than the chanceof Persimmon for the Derby. On her arrival atEpsom, however, she was found to be sweating, andthough not in any ascertainable way amiss, she wasobviously upset. She would eat nothing, nor wouldshe drink. During all her absence from home shebarely consumed a handful of corn, and as a naturalresult was weak and out of sorts when she went tothe post on the Friday. Marshs faith in her neces-sarily diminished ; but her condition was not generallyknown, nor indeed were the hopes of her traineraltogether dissipated, and she remained to the end astrong favourite. The Racing C
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookpublisher, booksubjecthorses
