[23] And when the next officer rode up, in front of Daipharnes though sent for after him, Cyrus presented him with a horse from his train and bade one of the mace-bearers lead it wherever he wished.

The people saw in this a high mark of honour; and a greater crowd than ever paid their court to the favoured man.
[24] When the procession reached the sacred precincts, sacrifice was offered to Zeus, a whole burnt-offering of bulls, and a whole burnt-offering of horses to the Sun; and then they sacrificed to the Earth, slaying the victims as the Persian priests prescribed, and then to the heroes who hold the Syrian land.

[25] And when the rites were done, Cyrus, seeing that the ground was suitable for racing, marked out a goal, and a course half-a-mile in length, and bade the cavalry and the chariots match their horses against each other, tribe by tribe.

He himself raced among his Persians, and won with ease, for he was far the best horseman there.

The winner among the Medes was Artabazus, the horse he rode being a gift from Cyrus.