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RACING AN EXPENSIVE SPORT I know of no surer way to the workhouse than owning race horses the late Lord Falmouth once said and yet his lordship had a turf career of al ¬ most unexampled prosperity whining no less than 1500000 In stakes His expenses however were so heavy that he was compelled to save myself from being ruined as lie said to sell off all his race horses and break up his magnificent breeding stud at Mercworth near Maidstune MaidstuneLord Lord George Bentinck too used to declare that if It had not been for his extraordinary luck in bet ¬ ting his stud would have reduced him to bank ¬ ruptcy in half a dozen years How probable this was may be guessed from the fact that in a single year ISlii his expenses exceeded 2oO000 includ ¬ ing such formidable items as Kents training bill ST 00I for the year traveling expenses 18000 forfeits 115000 and actual stakes nearly as large an amount amountThe The Prince Regent had at least his share of suc ¬ cess on the turf winning 150000 in stakes in four years but so great was the cost of Ids stud that at the end of this period of exceptional good fortune he was 150000 out of jacket And similar Htories are told of almost every man who lias owned race horses horsesAud Aud this in spite of the enormous sums that arc to be won on the turf as evidenced by the following facts Within seven years Isonoinys progeny won 775000 for their fortunate owners Hamptons 00000 and Galopins r20000 while hi a single year Stockwells descendants secured 10000 in stakes alone aloneTaking Taking individual horses it is no dillicult matter to name a dozen that have enriched their owners to the extent of 2220000 a highly gratifying aver ¬ age of 175000 apiece These gold winners range from Isinglass and Donovan winners of lSOi75 and 175S1U respectively each horse thus earning more than his own wei lit in gold Diamond Jubilee and Ormonde who captured 2Si 7i between them themFlying Flying Fox one of the dozen when his racing career was ended was sold to M Blanc for 180 000 and Ormonde was bought for 150000 these two horses representing with their winnings a joint value of 95000 Xor must wo forget the great horse Persimmon which won for our late king the enormous sum of 174 203 in seven races and made history for the turf turfSuch Such winnings as these become more phenomenal when we consider the sources from which many of them sijrang Thus the great Hampton among whose descendants were three Derby winners was actually sold as a twoyearold for 150 guineas the price paid for Stockwell sire of three Derby and six St Leger winners was 100 Eclipse cost 75 guin ¬ eas as a yearling a guinea for every 1500 lie won on the turf while Isinglass actually won in stakes 11 100 for every sovereign paid for his dam Dead ¬ lock lockThe The Duke of Portland in one phenomenal year lSS won the enormous sum of 300785 a large fortuno in itself itselfNot Not long ago an owner on a small scale describ ¬ ing a successful period in his career wrote I won H70 in stakes and was considered to have done extraordinarily well My expenses for the year and a half were nearly 00 0 and there was tin price of the horses to be added 1 have been racing for alxmt thirteen years and so far as I can make out I am between 15000 anil 50000 poorer In consequence but and this is the aspiration always before one I may land a lumpy coup some day and get home Pearsons Weekly
