there being a neck between him and Springy
Jack, while Loadstone was well beaten, to the chagrin of those who had
tried to set him off against the better horse Surplice.

The result of the race was L11,000 to the credit of Lord George; but
this was nothing compared with his regret that he had not continued the
owner of his racing-stud, so that he might have had the honour of
winning the Derby in his own name, instead of seeing a horse that he had
bred win it in the name of another.

Then came the St. Leger of 1848, and Surplice was again the winner, with
further pangs for Lord George. Barely does the same horse win both the
Derby and the St. Leger, and proud indeed is the owner who can carry off
the blue ribbon of the turf and the St. Leger too. The stars in their
courses seemed to be against Lord George at this time.

This is how Disraeli relates the effect the Derby had upon his hero:--

"A few days before, it was the day after the Derby, May 25th, 1848, the
writer (Disraeli) met Lord George Bentinck in the Library of the House
of Commons. He was standing before the book-shelves with a volume in his
hand, and his countenance was greatly disturbed. His resolutions in
favour of the colonial interest, after all his labours, had been
negatived by the committee on the 22nd, and on the 24th, his horse,
Surplice, which he had parted with among the rest of the stud, solely
that he might pursue without distraction his labours on behalf of the
great interests of the country, had won that paramount and Olympian
stake, to gain which had been the object of his life. He had nothing to
console him, and nothing to sustain him except his pride. Even that
deserted him before a heart which he knew at least could yield him
sympathy. He gave a sort of superb groan:

"'All my life I have been trying for this, and for what have I
sacrificed it?' he murmured.

"It was in vain to offer solace.'

"'You do not know what the Derby is,' he moaned out.

"'Yes I do, it is the blue ribbon of the turf.'

"'It is the blue ribbon of the turf,' he slowly repeated to himself, and
sitting down at the table he buried himself in a folio of statistics."

In a personal allusion to the arduous political labours of Lord George
Bentinck, Disraeli says: "What was not his least remarkable trait, is
that although he only breakfasted on dry toast, he took no sustenance
all this time, dining at White's at half-past two o'clock in the
morning. After his sev