“Now possibly you may say that this was not a fayre starting, but the critics say after the word Goe was out of his mouth his commission was determined, and it was illegall for him to say Stay. I suppose there will be Volumes written upon this Subject; 'tis all refered to his Majesty's Judgment, who hath not yet determined it.”
Another staunch supporter of horse racing in Charles II.'s reign was the ill-starred Duke of Monmouth, whose career on the English Turf ended abruptly when in 1682 he was practically sent abroad as an exile.
Early in the following year, however, the idea occurred to Louis XIV. that as horse racing had become so popular in England he would like to make it the national pastime of France also. In order to foster public interest in the turf, therefore, he began by offering a plate valued at 1000 pistoles to be run for at Echere, near St Germain.
The event attracted, as he had expected it would, much attention, not only throughout France, but in several other European countries as well, so that in the end some of the finest horses to be found anywhere in Europe were entered for the race.
All went well until a short time before the date of the race, when a rumour spread mysteriously that a gelding owned by the Hon. Thomas Wharton had been privately backed very heavily by a number of wealthy Englishmen.
At first the report was generally disbelieved. Then suddenly it became known that the famous Duke of Monmouth was to ride the “dark” horse in the big race, and at once the owners of the foreign favourites became seriously alarmed.
That they had good ground for their alarm was soon proved by the duke's steering the English horse to victory, apparently with great ease.
Immediately, so we are told, Louis XIV. cried out in an access of enthusiasm that he must obtain possession of Wharton's horse at any cost. Upon Wharton's informing him that the horse was not for sale, Louis immediately offered to pay “the animal's weight in gold.” Thereupon Wharton relented—though not in the way that Louis had expected him to:
“I will not sell the horse,” he said, “no, not even for its weight in gold. If, however, your Majesty will do me the honour to accept it as a gift....”
But so generous a proposal Louis flatly declined to entertain, and eventually the horse did not change hands at all. For some weeks afterwards the principal topic of conversation throughout France and part of England was the great race. Indeed it is probable that this single race and the talk that followed it served to stimulate in France a zest for the sport that became far keener than even Louis XIV. had deemed would ever be possible.