always eluded his grasp, though again and again it seemed a certainty.
So deep at last became his disgust and mortification at the unkindness
of Fate in withholding the only boon he coveted that, in a moment of
pique, he decided to sell his stud and leave the turf for ever.

"I'll sell you the lot," he impulsively said to George Payne at
Goodwood, "from Bay Middleton to little Kitchener (his famous jockey),
for £100,000. Yes or no?" Payne offered him £300 to have a few hours to
think the offer over, and handed the sum over at breakfast the next
morning. No sooner had the forfeit been paid than Mr Mostyn, who was
sitting at the same table, looked up quietly and said: "I'll take the
lot, Bentinck, at £10,000, and will give you a cheque before you go on
the course." "If you please," was Lord George's placid answer; and thus
ended one of the most brilliant Turf careers on record.

And now for the irony of Fate! Among the stud thus sold, in a fit of
pique, for "an old song" was Surplice, the winner of the next year's
Derby and St Leger. Lord George had actually had the great prize in his
hand and had let it go!

How keenly he felt the blow may be gathered from the following passage
in Lord Beaconsfield's biography:

"A few days before--it was the day after the Derby, May
25, 1848--the writer met Lord George Bentinck in the
library of the House of Commons. He was standing before
the bookshelves with a volume in his hand, and his
countenance was greatly disturbed. His resolution in
favour of the Colonial interest, after all his labours,
had been negatived by the Committee on the 22nd; and on