3-085-814 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sale of shire horses at the Prince of Wales's Stud-Farm, Wolferton, 1898. '1. Horses Waiting to go into the Ring; 2. Luncheon with the Prince and Princess of Wales; 3. A Likely Purchaser; 4. Sea-Breeze being Sold for 1150 Guineas in Front of the Royal Stand. The third unreserved sale of Shire horses at the Prince of Wales's stud farm at Wolferton established a record alike in the large attendance of purchasers and interested spectators and in the total sum realised, which amounted to £12,117 for fifty-four animals. Some thousand guests assembled at the luncheon-tables prepared in a vast tent and presided over by the Prince and Princess of Wales themselves, the Duke of York being also present. Among the chief buyers were Lord Rothschild, who secured the two-year-old stallion Anchorite at six hundred guineas; the Duke of Marlborough, the Earl of Egerton, Sir Walter Gilbey, and Sir J. Blundell Maple. The last-named won the distinction of paying the highest price realised at the sale, by giving 1150 guineas for the three-year-old filly Sea-Breeze, after an exciting competition with Mr. E. T. Hooley'. From "Illustrated London News", 1898.