So pronounced is this antipathy--for it is
more than indifference--of the genuine man of the people toward all
things pertaining to the horse that, notwithstanding all the
encouragements that for nearly half a century have been lavishly
offered for the purpose of developing a public taste in this direction,
not a single jockey or trainer who can properly be called a Frenchman
has thus far made his appearance. All the men and boys employed in the
racing-stables are of English origin, though many, perhaps most, of
them have been born in France; but the purity of their English blood,
so important in their profession, is as jealously preserved by
consanguineous marriages as is that of the noble animals in their
charge. It was an absolute necessity for the early turfmen of France to
import the Anglo-Saxon man with the Anglo-Arabian horse if they would
bring to a creditable conclusion the programme of 1833. And during all
the long period that has since elapsed what courage and patience, what
determined will, to say nothing of the prodigious expenditure of money,
have been shown by the founders of the race-course in France and by
their successors! Their perseverance has had its reward, indeed, in the
brilliancy of the results obtained, but there is still due to them an
ampler tribute of recognition than they have yet received, and it will
be a grateful duty to dwell for a while upon the history of the Jockey
Club.
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