"The classes," indeed, have always been liberal supporters of the Epsom Derby; the patrician element was wont, indeed, to predominate in the list of nominators. In the year of the centenary of the race no less than eighty-four of the horses nominated had been entered by princes and peers, one of the number standing in the name of the nobleman who in that year had been appointed Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. Upwards of a century ago the race was won by the then Prince of Wales; but before that day, and often since, the luck of the lords and other titled gentlemen in gaining Derby honours has been conspicuous. From 1787, when Lord Derby won with Sir Peter Teazle, the race fell in eleven consecutive years to titled gentlemen, and from 1801 there came another series of eleven years in which titled owners came to the front; whilst ever since, the dukes, lords, and baronets have had a fair share of the honours of both the Derby and the Oaks. On thirty-two occasions the Blue Ribbon has fallen to a duke. Although "nomination" to run in the race requires to be made when the animals are yearlings--long before it can be known whether or not they will be able to compete with advantage to their owners--large numbers of horses are annually entered for it. At one time the value of a race-horse was greatly increased by its being entered for the Derby; so much so, indeed, that breeders and other owners would frequently enter as many as half-a-dozen animals, in the hope that one of them might win. Now, however, so many more richly endowed races are run in the course of the year that in time the Derby may come to be less cared about by owners of blood stock. Races are at present run of the value of £10,000, which largely exceeds the value of the Derby stake. Gentlemen go to great expense in the purchase of yearlings which they think likely to shape into winners of the classic races. One nobleman is known to have expended many thousand pounds in the course of his life in the hope of being at last placed in possession of a horse good enough to prove victorious. On some occasions the Blue Ribbon has been won by animals that cost a comparatively small sum, and several gentlemen have taken the prize by aid of a horse bred by themselves. Again, animals which have won have been sold at a very high figure; two of these may be named--Blair Athol, which once changed hands for £10,000; and Doncaster, which was said to have been sold for £14,000.