Partridge's Dictionary of Slang (5th ed) has this entry
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Pink 'Un, The. The Sporting Times :
from 1880, says Ware, 'from the tint of the paper, and to distinguish it from
the Brown 'Un, Sportsman.' By 'Sportsman' he prob. means The Sportsman's
Guide to the Turf, which began in 1880.
[Ware =Passing English by J. Redding
Ware (1909).]
I'm pretty sure there are references to The Pink 'Un
passim in P.G.Wodehouse, though it does not feature in
either of my 'companions' to that racy writer. I have known what The Pink
'Un was since the 1930s, though I've never seen a copy.
George Engle
