Having recited the duties of the chief officials connected with the business department of horse-racing, it becomes necessary to proceed a stage further and explain the constitution of one or two of our principal race meetings, of which only those immediately interested in the sport know very much. The constitution of several of these events is, however, somewhat obscure, inasmuch as the details are not known to the public. At Newmarket it is the Jockey Club which profits or loses by the racing which takes place on the classic heath. At Royal Ascot the handicappers are only the servants of higher powers; at Goodwood the moneys derived from the annual meeting, whatever they may amount to, are placed to the credit of the noble Duke on whose estate the races are run. The revenue from the race meeting annually held in Goodwood Park is reputed to be large, and as in a comparative sense little addition is made to the stakes, the profits are probably considerable. About Epsom and its grand stand, information of an interesting kind has been frequently published. At Doncaster, the various meetings are in the hands of the corporation, the profits derived going to benefit the town. Gate-money meetings are promoted by joint-stock companies, and several of them have become profitable institutions. Ithas been computed that on some race days at Manchester, as many as eighty thousand persons have paid for admission to the ground in sums varying from sixpence to a guinea.
New sources of revenue are frequently devised. Tattersall rings, not known of old, yield a handsome sum, and are supposed to be used only by thecrème de la crèmeof the sporting fraternity; charges are also made for admission to the saddling paddock; at every turn, indeed, there is something to pay, either legitimately, or by way ofbacksheesh. The various refreshment stations, in the shape of rooms and tents, and often multiplied "bars," likewise yield a considerable revenue.
Newmarket is the capital of the turf in England. It is known as "head-quarters," and is the nominal seat of the turf legislature, which is represented by the Jockey Club. There are thirty-one different racecourses at Newmarket, ranging from a little over a furlong, to the Beacon course of four miles, while, during the year, seven meetings take place at which about two hundred and fifty races are decided. Newmarket, as well as being head-quarters of the turf, so far as sport is concerned, is also a resort of many trainers: several stables of importance being located at that place. The Jockey Club being eminently conservative, none beyond the stewards and its principal servants know anything about its financial position; but it is supposed to be growing wealthy. The numerous racecourses at Newmarket form a puzzle to the uninitiated, and, conservative as the Jockey Club is known to be, the time is not far distant when it will require to remodel its racing ground; racegrounds might be named, which, although less classic, are more convenient.
Before racing can be entered upon, the horses must, as a matter of course, be in a fitting state of preparation to run for them. Trainers to prepare those animals for their work, as also jockeys to ride them in their various contests, is a matter of necessity. Race-horses are very expensive to keep; but it is questionable if more than twenty-five per cent. of the animals in training ever earn for their owners much more than a clear £1,000 per annum. Horses which prove successful in the Two Thousand or One Thousand Guineas Stakes, the Oaks, the Derby, the St. Leger, and the more important handicaps, earn large amounts for those to whom they belong. These, however, are exceptional horses; generally speaking, they arethehorses of their year. Owners of one or two animals who lay themselves out to win an occasional big handicap, occasionally bag a large sum of money, chiefly in bets, however.
Investing money in blood stock for racing purposes is much like purchasing a lottery ticket. It is the breeders, we suspect, who make most money out of "blood stock." There are, at least, a dozen famous breeding studs in England, kept up at great expense, and introducing to the turf, year by year, many highly bred horses, the greater number of which are sold by auction; two breeders of renown, out of their profits, were enabled to found races of value which are annually decided at Newmarket.
The "business" of racing includes the breaking-in and training of the horses, and on the skillwith which this is accomplished, depends much of the success or non-success which attends the animals during their racing career. Some trainers are particularly fortunate with yearlings entrusted to their care, and are able to bring them to various race meetings trained to perfection. Others, again, less able in their profession, or less fortunate in the ability or stamina of the animals entrusted to their care, do not make so good a show with their horses, and are consequently not looked upon with the same favour by the racing community. It is seldom difficult, however, to win a race with a good horse (or even a bad one) properly prepared for the struggle. Many capable judges of horse-flesh think that horses are occasionally "overtrained," and that, in consequence, when the hour of contest arrives, they are compelled to succumb to some more robust rival. Some trainers have acquired fame in their business from their ability to train a horse to win the Derby; others devote their time and attention to the preparation of horses for long or short distance races, whilst a third class look chiefly to steeple-chasing, and delight to train horses to jump.
It is no part of the writer's intention to describe the economy of a training stable; but the business of a trainer of race-horses is one which is fraught with anxiety; a sudden change of the atmosphere may ruin his prospects of winning an important race, or a horse ridden at exercise by a careless boy may be brought back to the stable so lamethat it can hardly ever again be depended on to run. The modern trainer is usually a man of some education and intelligence, a contrast to his predecessor of sixty years since, who was simply a groom and little more; he knows the anatomy and constitution of the horses placed under his care, and is familiar with them in health and disease. He has also to administer his establishment with care and economy, and has to keep up the discipline of his place; he may be the master probably of thirty or forty lads, whom it is not easy to keep in order.
A trainer who may, in the course of the winter, find he has the favourite for the Derby, or some other great race, in his stable, passes an anxious time, more especially when those who own the animal are addicted to heavy betting, and "the horse has been backed to win a fortune" in bets. To keep a horse in health demands the unceasing attention of its trainer and his servants: to see that its food and drink are of the best quality, that its gallops are properly regulated, that it is carefully housed, and that no improper person obtains access to it, are duties that must be performed with unceasing watchfulness. Sometimes, though a trainer be ever so lynx-eyed and careful, he will be baffled, and will awake to the sad consciousness, some fine morning about the time fixed for a race, that the horse has been "got at" by some interested party, and rendered useless for the coming event.
Derby favourites have occasionally been "nobbled," no one being able at the time to say how. The blacksmith may have pricked it in shoeing, its water may have been poisoned, somedeleterious substance may have been given to it in its daily food, it may have injured its leg in some trap set for it on the racing ground, or its stable attendant may have been bribed to injure it, or a dozen other plans of a like kind may have been devised to place the high-mettled steedhors de combat. Day and night the trainer requires to be on the watch: in day-time his eye must be on the training ground watching the boys, and many a sleepless night must he pass in feverish anxiety as to the fate of the favourite, for of such is the business of horse-racing.
Owners and trainers of race-horses occasionally have fortune in their grasp without knowing it; in other words, they may possess an animal capable of winning a Derby, and yet be ignorant of the fact. Horses upon which, at first, very little store may be set, frequently prove of great value, able to win important stakes, and afterwards bring large sums of money for use at the stud. To be in a position to inform his employer how best to "place" his horses, forms one of the chief merits of a trainer. It is useless to enter slow, plodding horse to take part in a short-distance race where speed is the chief quality required, nor on the other hand is it worth while to enter a horse suitable to a five-furlong course, in the Great Metropolitan or Cesarewitch Handicaps, which can only be won by horses of staying powers.
There are a few owners and trainers of race-horses who possess the happy knack of so placing them, that they win the majority of the races for which they are entered. The Swan, I remember, was a horse which was always so happilyplaced that it won a large number of races for its owner, Mr. John Martin; other race-horses of greater celebrity, such as Lilian, might be mentioned as having been equally useful during their career on the turf. A gentleman possessing a stud of perhaps half-a-dozen or eight animals will frequently have a larger winning account at the end of the year than an owner of perhaps three times the number, just because he knows better what to do with them, or how to "place" them, so that he may, by winning a few races, earn their keep and pay for the entries made on their behalf. To be able to do so—to "place" one's horses, so that each may be able to win a couple of races in the course of the season—implies a good knowledge of the business of racing. Men with big studs usually strive to win the larger stakes, but as these stakes are fewer in number and have more numerous competitors, so their chances of success are proportionately lessened; but when a Cesarewitch, Cambridgeshire, or Manchester Autumn Cup is won, the money gained even in stakes is worth adding to the owner's bank account.
As has been stated, no race-meeting takes place by accident; for the so-called "classic races," the entries—an important feature of racing business—have to be made while the animals are yearlings. In numerous contests, the horses appointed to compete must be named long before the time advertised for bringing off the meeting, so that both owners and trainers require to keep their eyes open and have their wits about them to be able to do the right work at the right time. In several important training stables, there is so much correspondence to be got through, and somuch book-keeping to be done, so many accounts to check and settle, as to render it necessary that the trainer should keep a clerk or secretary, an office filled in some cases by a member of the trainer's own family, perhaps his wife, or a daughter. It would never answer to allow a stranger to become familiar with the secrets of the prison-house.
It will be gathered from the foregoing summary, brief as it may be thought, that horse-racing to those engaged in it is somewhat of a serious pastime. "It takes a bit out of a jockey" to ride two or three races per diem, whilst trainers as a meeting progresses have much to do; owners also, with "thousands" invested in entry moneys and bets, have anxious moments to endure. In short, without devoted, never-ceasing attention to the business incidental to the turf, horse-racing as a pastime for the people would speedily come to an end.
The foregoing observations on the "business" of horse-racing may be fitly supplemented by a few additional remarks about the officers of the turf—chiefly with regard to former doings by these gentlemen, whose positions to-day are less "picturesque" than they were half a century ago.
Various meetings are becoming nowadays hard to sustain, and there is, in some instances, it is generally believed, a good deal of begging on the part of the clerk of the course to get the requisite funds; in such cases that gentleman performs, or used to perform, a liberal share ofthe work. It may be mentioned here that when on a particular occasion a Queen's Plate, usually run for at the popular Scottish Musselburgh meeting, was disallowed by Parliament, at the instigation of a Radical member of the House of Commons, the clerk of the course, Mr. James Turner, along with some friends, conceived the idea of replacing the disallowed trophy by a "People's Plate" of the same value, £100; a subscription was suggested, and the requisite sum of money was obtained in the course of a day or two, mostly in pence.
In a work published forty years ago, which probably few readers of these pages have had an opportunity of perusing—"Turf Characters" is its title—the following summary is given of the higher duties of a clerk of the course:
"The clerk of the course has many obligations to fulfil, the due execution of which requires almost incessant attention throughout the whole period of the year, apart from the race-week itself. For the efficient performance of those obligations, he must bring into full exercise not only appropriate capabilities in his own part, but their judicious application with regard to others. He is an important connecting link; and upon himself depends, in a considerable degree, the success and popularity of the meetings with which he is immediately connected, as well as the maintenance of his own reputation. He should not only be well acquainted with the laws of racing, but with all the matters and propositions—with, in short, the prevailing state of the turf; and, although it may not be needful that he should be, as it were, a walking calendarwith regard to past decisions generally, or to pedigrees in particular, he should arm himself with every needful information to strengthen his energies and aid his success. He should be accurately acquainted with the several studs of horses in training, what has been accomplished hitherto, and what is in anticipation. He should be known to the respectable owners as well as to the trainers themselves. To the former his deportment should be respectful, without subserviency; zealous without intrusion; ready to give every information as to added money on the one hand, and as to weights, distances, penalties, and forfeits, on the other. With the latter, he should be on comparatively familiar terms; as ready to communicate propositions as to listen to suggestions; commanding respect by a uniform civility, and assuring confidence by faithfulness and integrity.
"He should attend all the race-meetings throughout the country, not only for the purpose of obtaining information as to the proposals emanating from other great and competing race-meetings, but for securing additional subscriptions or nominations contained in his own red book, which, at the suitable opportunity, should be submitted to the noblemen and gentlemen then present, although, perhaps, he may have previously communicated with them by circulars through the post.
"By adopting this course, he places himself in the focus of turf intelligence, from which radiates the information which he should turn to the best account. While he thus becomes well known to all parties, and esteemed for thepropriety of his deportment on all occasions, perhaps lauded for his praiseworthy zeal and assiduity, he becomes also the best means of communication with all the owners of horses, and is thus fully enabled to carry out the views of the race-meeting of his own locality, city, or burgh, the most judicious appropriation of the grants of the municipal body, or the subscriptions of the inhabitants, and ensure the success and popularity which in racing matters are the life-blood of the meeting."
Many curious anecdotes have, from time to time, been circulated about the doings of various officers of the turf, not a few of them, perhaps, of a rather imaginative kind. In one or two instances where the clerk of the course acted also as handicapper, as well as being lessee of the grand stand, it is said that it was his custom to "retain" all the big stakes; in plain language, it has been more than once implied that some handicappers were allowed, by certain owners, to keep the stake-money, on condition of the horses entered by them being favoured in the apportioning of the weights. "If my horse wins," would say an owner, "the bets I make will pay me; therefore I shall not trouble myself about the stakes." Such stories must be taken with the usual grain of salt. A story, however, was recently circulated by a well-known turf writer about a small owner, who, having won an important handicap, called on the clerk of the course to lift the stakes; he was received with a most incredulous stare, but after a brief pause, theofficial wrote out and signed the necessary cheque. "There," said he, "but learn your business better; don't let this occur again."
This official requires to "look sharp," and he must keep his eyes wide open while engaged in the performance of his duties, otherwise he may become the victim of a tricky jockey or owner, who has an object to gain by perpetrating a fraud. It has more than once occurred that the scales have been tampered with by a piece of lead being fastened to them in a hidden place, in some cases before the boys were weighed, in some cases after that process had been performed, the object being to have the rider of the winning horse disqualified for carrying more or less than the stipulated weight.
The success of race-meetings is greatly dependent on the knowledge and talent of the handicapper, owners and trainers being, as has been said, jealous and exacting. Of late years, increased sums of money have been added by the managers or lessees of certain race-meetings to the races announced, but in several instances without having the desired effect of swelling the acceptances or the field. No handicapper is thought to be successful unless the owners of more than half of the horses entered are pleased to cry content with the weights allotted to them. It occasionally happens, however, that although a handicap may be remarkably well constructed, and every horse be allotted a fair weight, the acceptances for various reasons may be small—so small on occasion, as to render the race to all intents and purposes a failure. He would, indeed, be a clever handicapper if he couldplease all who enter their horses in any given race; consequently, when a handicap is published there is very often a loud chorus of disappointment. One owner compares the heavy weight assigned to his horse with the light weight bestowed on some other animal which has beaten it. Owners, dissatisfied with the work of this official, sometimes strike their horses out of the race, without waiting till the date when the acceptances have to be declared, which is altogether a mistaken policy. It very often happens that the views of the handicapper are triumphantly endorsed by the result of the race, when two or three of the horses carrying the heaviest imposts of the handicap will make a bolder bid for victory than any of the other animals, the honours of the race falling, perhaps, to the horse which carries the top weight. Handicappers, "it is said," are occasionally "got at," with the result that some well-plannedcoupis brought off, in which a horse carrying a light impost, by favour of the official in question, is declared the winner.
Persons who have long been behind the scenes of the racing arena could doubtless relate many stories of the kind indicated, and as handicappers, like other men, are bung-full of human nature, it is not to be wondered at if, being sorely tempted, they sometimes fall. But at the present time the official in question is more often a victim of some other man's crime than a criminal himself. Handicappers are born to be deceived. They form a target for owners to shoot their arrows at, if such a simile is applicable; horses are run in all fashions in order to deceive them, and frequently with success.
It has hitherto been a fashion to hold up Admiral Rous to the admiration of the turf world as the greatest artist in the "putting together" of horses that has ever been known, but statements to that effect must be taken only for what they are worth. Such a man as "the Admiral" was not, of course, open to accept any vulgar bribe; no person would have had the hardihood to offer him a "monkey," or even a pipe of fine old port, to be allowed to place his own weight on his own horse. But the Admiral was quite as easily deceived as many other handicappers, with the result of being occasionally remorselessly "sold" in the same way by a well-devised "plant," of which some carefully-kept horse which had been ridden out of its distance at petty meetings was the hero. It is impossible, with the fierce light which now beats on his work, for a handicapper, unless he has been deceived himself, to go far wrong; he does his duty, as may be said, in a glass house, under the eye of all interested, and dare not therefore, if he would, commit any seriousfaux pas, however great might be the temptation held out to him.
The work of the starter is occasionally most onerous and difficult to perform satisfactorily. Firmness and decision of character ought to be the chief characteristic of this officer of the turf. At times as many as thirty, and even on occasion forty horses will assemble to compete in some popular handicap, each jockey being eager to secure an advantage over his neighbour at the start. Many of the lads are mounted on animals difficult to govern, whilst others of the jockeys will, of set purpose, do their best to goad theirhorses into a state of unrest, for the sake of delaying the start, until some tiny boy mounted on a favourite is beaten with cold and fatigue before the race is even begun to be run. Such tactics have been often resorted to; they seem to form a feature of "jockeyship." As all who frequent race-meetings know, the starter has a great deal in his power.
That the gentlemen who officiate as starters at the present time are honest in their vocation, men whom no bribe would tempt to go wrong, however large it might be, may be taken for granted. But it was not always so; there was a time in the history of the turf, when the duties of starter were entrusted to any Tom, Dick, or Harry, with the result that they were carelessly, if not dishonestly performed. Nothing is more annoying to an owner of a valuable horse than to see the animal distressed by a number of false starts—especially when it has been heavily backed and is thought to possess a great chance of securing a victory. On such occasions the power of a horse is frittered before racing begins, and its winning chance lessened thereby. At one period of turf history, according to an authority already mentioned, the duties of starter were so inefficiently performed that Lord George Bentinck, who reformed many of the abuses incidental to the sport of kings, used himself voluntarily to undertake the task of starting the horses whenever a great event was about to be decided. From his high position in the turf world, his experience acquired as an active steward of the Jockey Club, and the fact of his being the proprietor of many valuable horses, as well as of an immense breeding stud,Lord George was well able to keep the most refractory jockeys in order, and so ensure a fair start.
"It was a glorious sight," says a racing enthusiast, writing under the signature of "Martingale," "to see Lord George Bentinck, flag in hand, walking at the head of a field of horses, and conducting them to the starting-point in as compact a body as possible, every eye pointed in one direction, every elevated position occupied from which a view could be obtained, the course perfectly clear, the sun lighting up the brilliant colours of the jockeys' dresses, gleaming with more hues than the rainbow, the reins handled, the spirit manifested by the equine competitors, the result doubtful, victory or defeat hanging in the balance. The word 'go' was given by the noble starter, and the flag dropped, and away rushed the mighty host with terrific speed, presenting a spectacle so imposing and so exciting as never to be obliterated from the minds of those who had the high gratification of beholding it."
There are votaries of the turf who prefer to see the start rather than the finish of a race; but at some meetings, as at Doncaster, both the beginning and the conclusion of the more exciting contests can be seen.
A race terminates at the winning-post, where sits the judge to determine which of the runners is to be declared victor, and which two horses are to have the honour of being placed.
On rare occasions, in two or three instances only, has it happened of late that a judge has beenrequired to revise his judgment and alter his verdict; as a rule his decree is final, although, in the opinion of thousands who have witnessed the contest, it may be an erroneous verdict. In the race for the Derby Stakes of 1869, when Pero Gomez and Pretender ran so close together, it was generally considered, till the numbers went up, that Pero Gomez had beaten Pretender, and many who saw the race insist it was so, and that the judge on that occasion committed an error in awarding the Blue Ribbon to the northern-trained horse.
Long ago, say sixty years since, complaints against judges were much oftener indulged in than they are at present. A writer on turf matters, in speaking of the judging of the period (1829), says:
"I have frequently known much dissatisfaction to arise from the manner in which the judge has placed the horses; for instance, at the last Epsom Races (1829), the first race, the first day, was very closely contested by Conrad and Fleur de lis. I was nearly opposite the winning-post, and felt no hesitation in supposing Conrad the winner; I heard great numbers express their opinion to the same effect. The judge decided otherwise. At the Liverpool Meeting in July, 1829, the Gold Cup was decided in favour of Velocipede, though many persons insisted that Dr. Faustus was the winner. Templeman, who rode Dr. Faustus, unhesitatingly declared his unqualified conviction that he won the race. Now, since no person can tell so exactly which wins as the judge, from the situation in which he is placed, I am very willingto suppose that, in both cases, the decision was correct. Many other instances might be adduced, but as they merely form a catalogue of unmeaning repetition, I shall not state them. However, a judge, in order to be master of his business, or qualified for the important office which he undertakes, should be generally acquainted with the jockeys, the colours, and also the horses; he should observe the running of the horses, particularly when they come within distance, or he will find it a difficult matter, should the race be finely contested, to give a correct decision—a decision satisfactory to his own mind. A judge should abstain from betting, if he wish to avoid suspicion."
The judge occupies, as he ought to do, the best position for witnessing the finish of a race, and of all the hundreds standing near him not one can view the finale from the same standpoint; they are all more or less "angled," and see with a squint, hence the varied opinions which prevail after a close finish. Another point in judging, not generally known, is, that every race terminatesatthe winning-post, and that it is not the horse which is first past the post which gains the victory, but the animal which is firstatit. This great fact in racing arrangements has led thousands into error, and into asserting that a horse had won when in reality it had not. The judge of an important race, therefore, must be a man of nerve, with a clear head and a cool brain, ready to take in the whole position in half a second—a consummation which is not easy when there is a very close finish with a field of perhaps, say, thirty horses, the first three or fourof which, as they rush past the winning-chair, are as nearly as possible locked together. Other races in which the competitors are much fewer, are quite as difficult to judge; races, for instance, in which the first three horses are running widely apart from each other, on a very broad racecourse. In such instances no one but the recognised authority can tell which is first, the guesses of lookers-on during the decision of such events being often wide of the mark.
Curious instances have frequently been related of hats being thrown up by enthusiastic bettors as a token of rejoicing before the winning number has been officially signalled, and great has been the chagrin of these enthusiasts when they saw the number of their horse placed second or third. Upon one occasion a gentleman who had backed a high-mettled steed belonging to a friend of his to win him a sum of about £15,000, watched the race with intense anxiety, and saw, as he thought, his friend's horse just beaten on the post. Imagine his joy, therefore, when the numbers went up, when he found that instead of being just beaten he had just won. Many an opposite tale could be told of men who, before the winning number was hoisted, felt certain they had won a fortune, when alas! their horse was only awarded the second or third place. Still, the judge maintains his high position; he may make an occasional blunder in his award, but his honesty of purpose remains unquestioned, although on some of his judgments are dependent large amounts of money.
On the determination of a race there may be hundreds of thousands of pounds at stake, andthe winning some day of thirty, forty, or fifty thousand may only be accomplished by a couple of inches—a nose, in the slang of the turf; indeed, a horse is sometimes said, when the contest is a notably close one, to win by the skin of its teeth. Under such circumstances, it is consoling to those interested to know that "the man in the box" is above suspicion.
Certain races are now designated by common consent "classic." These, in the order of their occurrence, are the Two Thousand Guineas, One Thousand, and the Derby, Oaks, and St. Leger, but why they should be "classic" more than some other events of the turf I am unable to explain; they have, at any rate, become standing dishes of our racing bills of fare. In point of origin, the St. Leger is entitled to precedence as premier of "the classics." Much controversy has taken place about the exact date of the first of the great Town Moor struggles, caused, no doubt, by the fact that no name had been bestowed upon it when it was instituted. The race in reality should date from the year 1788, when Hollandaise won, but it was first run two years earlier, when Allabaculia, ridden by J. Singleton, proved victorious.
The name was fixed upon, as has been often narrated, at a dinner held in the "Red Lion Inn," in Doncaster. At that dinner the Marquis of Rockingham proposed that "the sweepstakes,"first run for in 1776, should be named the "St. Leger," in compliment to Lieutenant-General Anthony St. Leger, of Park Hill, and the proposition was unanimously adopted. After a time, the Doncaster race became as famous as the Derby, and its celebration during the last sixty years has, in some degree, become an event of national significance.
The names and performances of the winning horses and successful jockeys of the St. Leger have been sedulously chronicled for many years past, and it may be said that, for good horses and exciting incidents, as well as for the value of the stakes and the betting that takes place upon it, the great Doncaster race is not behind the Derby, which is indebted for much of its success to the fact of its taking place within twenty miles of the populous city of London. Doncaster, where the race for the St. Leger is run, is not so easy of access to large numbers of spectators as the far-famed downs of Epsom; still, on the eventful day, the Town Moor becomes crowded by thousands, chiefly enthusiastic Yorkshiremen, eager to witness the grand spectacle.
The St. Leger, then, originated as a sweepstake of 25 gs. each for three-year-old horses. The days of running have been changed two or three times. The race was originally run on a Tuesday, then Wednesday became for a couple of years the St. Leger day, when it again became Tuesday, and continued to be celebrated on that day for twenty-five years afterwards, after which it was run for a time on Monday, then changed again to Tuesday. Since the year 1845, however, the St. Leger day has been Wednesday.The distance run in the earlier races for the great Doncaster prize was two miles, and the horses, instead of running as at present, went the other way of the course. In 1812 the race is described as being run "over the St. Leger course," which, in the Calendar of the period, is stated to be 1 mile, 7 furlongs, and 20 yards, and 1 mile, 6 furlongs, and 100 yards on the inside; now the St. Leger distance is given in Weatherby's Calendar as 1 mile, 6 furlongs, 132 yards.
In the early years of the race the stakes were counted in guineas, the weights, 8 st. 2 lb. for colts, fillies carrying 2 lb. less. Since its institution many horses have competed, the highest number started in any year being thirty, when the winner was Mr. Watts's Memnon (1825). As few as four horses, however, have gone to the starting-post, namely in 1783 and 1785, when Phenomenon and Cowslip won. During the last quarter of a century fair fields have competed for the St. Leger Stakes. As many as nineteen horses went to the post in 1870, when victory was awarded to Hawthornden; only seven horses were selected, however, to oppose Mr. Merry's heroine, Marie Stuart. In the five years ending with 1890 fifty-nine horses faced the starter. Taking a rough average, thirteen horses made up the field for the "Sellinger," and as the public form of the year is pretty well exposed by the middle of September, many more competitors could scarcely be expected.
Glancing over the roll of victories as recorded in "Ruff," and other "guides," we see that Lord A. Hamilton, one of the most successful of the earlier aspirants for St. Leger honours, won therace in three successive years with Paragon, Spadille, and Young Flora, and again, after a lapse of three years, with Tartar, and on each occasion Mangle was "up." Mr. Petre scored three consecutive St. Leger successes by means of Matilda, The Colonel, and Rowton, 1827-8-9, previous to which Mr. Mellish, the Duke of Hamilton, and Mr. Pierse had each taken the race in two successive years, a feat which was afterwards followed up by Lords Westminster and Falmouth. Several Scottish sportsmen have also gained the coveted prize, notably the Duke of Hamilton (thrice), Lord Eglinton (thrice), Mr. James Merry (twice), Mr. Ianson (twice), and Mr. Stirling Crawford. In its earlier years few of the Dukes and Lords of the turf won the St. Leger, but since 1876 the Peerage have been more fortunate, only three Commoners having been credited with the race during the last fourteen years, Lord Falmouth having proved successful on three occasions. In 1889-90 St. Leger honours fell to the Duke of Portland, by the aid of Donovan and Memoir.
The winning of the Derby and St. Leger by the same horse has been accomplished in thirteen different years, commencing with Champion in the first year of the century, 1800. For the long period of forty-eight years no horse was able to emulate the great feat of Champion, but just as owners and trainers were despairing, and people were beginning to prophesy that the double event would never more take place. Surplice came upon the scene and solved the problem. In the following year the feat was again accomplished, when Lord Eglinton's Flying Dutchmanproved successful, whilst Lord Zetland's Voltigeur won the double event in 1850. West Australian accomplished the same feat in 1853, and, curiously enough, in the years 1864-5-6 the feat was successively performed by Blair Athol, Gladiateur, and Lord Lyon. Silvio, a horse belonging to Lord Falmouth, won both Derby and St. Leger in 1877, while the dual victory of the American horse Iroquois is doubtless green in the memory of all who take an interest in the turf. Since Iroquois proved so fortunate, Melton, Ormonde, and Donovan have also achieved double event honours (1885, 1886, and 1889). The annals of the St. Leger have also been signalised by a series of triple events, West Australian, Gladiateur, Lord Lyon, and Ormonde having won the Two Thousand Guineas as well as the Derby and St. Leger.
It will not be out of place to devote a few lines to the famous horsemen of the St. Leger, the jockeys who have won the Blue Ribbon of the North. The rider of the first winner of the race was J. Singleton, who steered Allabaculia to victory in 1766. The five successes of Mangle took place on Ruler in 1780, and on Lord A. Hamilton's three in 1786-7-8, as also on the same nobleman's Tartar in 1792. Among horsemen who flourished on the Town Moor of Doncaster at an early date was B. Smith, who proved victorious on six occasions; but W. Scott was more successful in the great race than any other jockey, as he secured the St. Leger nine times, four of his wins being in consecutive years. Many celebrated English horsemen have ridden in the St. Leger. Jackson won the prize on eightoccasions, and Buckle twice. Job Marson was thrice victorious in the struggle; the latter on Voltigeur ran a dead heat with Russborough, an Irish horse, but in the run-off, Voltigeur, again ridden by Job, proved the better animal, winning the deciding heat with great ease, although the jockey confessed to being a little nervous. Flatman, too, made his mark on the Town Moor by winning two consecutive St. Legers, namely, in 1856 with Warlock, and in 1857 with Imperieuse. Another jockey who earned great distinction on the St. Leger course was T. Chaloner, who gained the prize on five different horses. Maidment won the stakes in 1871 for Baron Rothschild on Hannah, and in the following year won again on Wenlock. The chief jockey of his period, Frederick Archer, also earned his share of Doncaster honours, having thrice won the race for his chief patron, Lord Falmouth, and three times for other owners. Of living jockeys who have taken St. Leger decorations it would be unfair not to chronicle the name of John Osborne, who secured honours by a wonderful effort on Lord Clifden, and who rode "the parson's cripple mare," Apology. Grimshaw, Custance, Wells, and Goater have all in their time ridden St. Leger victors. T. Cannon and J. Watts also deserve mention; the latter has ridden the winner on three occasions.
The history of the St. Leger is distinguished by many curious events and circumstances, one or two of which may be alluded to. Yorkshiremen of all grades have recollections, pleasant or otherwise, of the annual race for the Blue Ribbon of the North, and of the curious characters whoappeared at Doncaster to assist at its celebration, such as the eccentric James Hurst, who came to the paddock dressed from head to foot in sheepskin garments and drawn in a carriage of his own make by his tame dogs, or occasionally by an ass, and sometimes attended by a few tame foxes! On one occasion ten false starts took place before the genuine race was run; that was in Altissidora's year (1813), when seventeen horses came under the charge of the starter. A speculative occupant of the grand stand, after the eighth false start had taken place, laid 100 to 20 against the next attempt being successful and also 100 to 30 against the tenth, and won his money. In the year 1819 the great Doncaster event was run twice! Two years afterwards, Gustavus, which had won the Derby, was expected to win the St. Leger also, but he was defeated by Jack Spigot, a northern horse. This was the first great struggle between the southern and northern trainers, and the latter, who entertained a profound contempt for Newmarket men and their modes of training, prophesied that they could never win a St. Leger—a prophecy that was speedily shown to be erroneous—and the race is now seldom won by a horse trained in the northern stables, the latest Yorkshire-trained winner, if I am not mistaken, being Apology.
Large amounts of money usually change hands over the race for the St. Leger, the horse-loving Yorkshiremen being fond of making a bet; many sums of considerable amount are risked by persons who habitually speculate on the race. It was recently calculated by a gentleman well versed in such matters that during the St. Leger week, over fifty thousand individual bets would be made in Doncaster alone, theamount standing to be won on the various horses in a good year for betting—when, for instance, there is a strong run on five or six animals—being not far short of a quarter of a million sterling, the stake ranging from a shilling to five hundred, or even a thousand pounds.
The "form" of the horses which compete is generally so well known as to prevent the odds offered against those supposed to have any chance of winning from being high. Upon one occasion, however, "any odds" might in reality have been obtained against the horse which won; as a matter of fact, one bet of a hundred pounds to a walking stick was laid. During these latter years the highest rate of odds laid against a winner at the start for the St. Leger was 40 to 1, the horse being Dutch Oven. About Hawthornden (an outsider) an Edinburgh gentleman obtained early in the year the extraordinary bet of £500 to £1, but the layer, once well known as a big betting man, ultimately proved a defaulter; the taker of the bet, however, was paid in the course of time about a fourth of the sum.
Space cannot be afforded to record the early struggles for the St. Leger. The progress of the race was slow and the stakes nothing to speak of; indeed, it was not till the century had well advanced that subscribers became numerous. In 1804 the nominators amounted to a couple of dozen, five years later the entries exceeded fifty horses by one. In 1839 107 became the figure; in 1864 that number was doubled, 217 having been entered; and in 1879, when Rayon d'Or proved victorious, 274 horses had been nominated for the race.
"Descriptions" of the St. Leger, as we know them, were not written in its earlier years. In 1784, when Omphale won, it is stated by an authority of the time that the filly had been amiss for twelve months preceding, and had only been nine weeks in training, yet won easily. After 1786 the betting about the first three horses seems to have been recorded, and a "place" is about that time apportioned to every horse that took part in the struggle, which was not a difficult matter, seeing that the fields, till 1803, seldom exceeded eight horses. In 1789 a horse named Zanga came in first (it belonged to the Duke of Hamilton), but the rider having been proved guilty of "jostling," the race was awarded to Pewet, the favourite. Champion, which also won the Derby, was victor in the St. Leger of 1800, ridden by Buckle. The betting was 2 to 1 against the son of Pot8os. The St. Leger of 1801 is characterised as "a good race, and much betting," and next year, when Orville won, the legend of the event is extended a little, and is as follows: "Orville took the lead (in a field of seven), was never headed, and won easy." The odds were 8 to 1 against the winner, the favourite being Young Eclipse, which was priced at 5 to 4on. Next year the same story is told of Remembrancer. In 1804 quite a chapter of accidents occurred in the race; several of the horses fell, their jockeys being much hurt.
The following lines convey a description of the race for the St. Leger of 1806, for which fourteen horses faced the starter, the winner being Fyldener by Sir Peter, out of Fanny byDiomed: "They all went off at very little better than a canter rate, and were nearly together at the distance post, except Mr. Harrison's colt (by Harrison's Trumpator, out of Bonnyface), who was beat several lengths; after which some smart running took place; but Fyldener appeared to win easy at the end of a clear length. On the whole it was a very indifferent race, and they were a long time in running it."
The St. Leger began to be "timed" in the year 1810, when it occupied three and a half minutes. In the year of the ten false starts a note was not kept, but in the following years, with a few breaks, the time was regularly noted, a practice which does not seem to have been followed in regard to the Derby till the year 1846. In 1822 the winner was Theodore, and the race is rendered memorable from the fact that the odds against that horse were 200 to 1, about which circumstance many good stories could be told. In 1823 the race for the St. Leger was actually run twice over. To begin with, twenty-seven horses were saddled and mounted and assembled at the post, three false starts then took place, when twenty-three of the horses again faced the starter, who also officiated as clerk of the course. These horses ran the entire distance, and the first three were placed in the usual way by the judge: Carnival 1, Barefoot 2, Comte d'Artois 3. But to the surprise of all it was pronounced "no race," as the horses had started without the word being given by the starter. There was nothing for it but to run the race over again, which was done, the struggle resulting very much as in the firsttrial, except that Barefoot gained the place of honour, Comte d'Artois being again third, to Mr. Houldsworth's Sherwood, which attained second honours, Barefoot winning easily by two lengths.
The annals of the St. Leger are not free from stain. Many a time and oft have whispers gone abroad of "foul play" and fraudulent practices. A calendar of all the suspicious doings which have been incidental to the great race would fill many pages. One or two of them may be referred to. As has been told, the race was won in 1822 by a rank outsider (Theodore). The favourite that year was a colt named Swap, belonging to, or at least nominated by, M. T. O. Powlett. It was ridden by W. Scott, and started at odds of 7 to 4 against it, and finished nowhere. Previous to the race being run there had been displayed a great amount of excitement and temper with reference to the doings in the various betting centres of the time. Ugly rumours were in circulation regarding the favourite; those in "the know" were so anxious to lay against the horse that suspicion was excited of all not being as it ought to be with Swap. And so it proved. "The legs" became jubilant after the race, some of them having netted large sums of money. The betting had been very heavy, and backers of Swap lost considerable amounts. Afterwards, in the Gascoigne Stakes, Swap beat Theodore easily.
In the sporting circles of the period this particular St. Leger long formed a theme of gossip, and the men who managed "the affair"were well known, but no steps could be taken against them for lack of proof. Ten years after the Swap business there fell out another St. Leger scandal, when a horse entered for the race was purchased by the Bonds, the keepers of a gambling house in St. James's Street. Ludlow, the horse in question, was likely to start a great favourite when it passed into the possession of the Bonds, as was asserted, to be "milked" for the race; at all events, the sporting public became possessed of that idea, which, in some degree, put a stop to speculation. Bond wrote a letter to one of the newspapers in which he maintained that he meant to run the horse on his merits, and mentioning the bets he had taken, and naming the parties he had backed the horse with; but Ludlow was the absolute last in the race, which Mr. Gully carried off with Margrave. It was in connection with this race—in consequence of some dispute—that Gully and Mr. Osbaldeston fought a duel, in which the former had a narrow escape of losing his life.
At Doncaster no individual or private company reaps the benefit of the moneys paid for admission to the stands and rings; the sums drawn, it is understood, go to benefit the town. As regards the exact mode of benefit, or the degree in which the people are benefited, no particulars are published; judging, however, from the greed of those who let their houses during the St. Leger week, the benefits derived cannot be very great, the charges being always exorbitant, ranging from £4 to £7 for apartments that at any other period of the year would be dear at as many shillings.We do not speak of houses for which four and five times the above sums are charged, but they are equally dear. It has been stated that in consequence of the income derived from the races the inhabitants pay no taxes; if that be really so, lodgings ought to be cheaper at Doncaster than they are at present. One really ought to be able to command a bedroom and breakfast-parlour for not more than ten shillings a night, or two guineas for the four days. Exorbitant prices have led those having racing business to attend to to live for the four or five days of the meeting in the neighbouring towns and villages, from which they can arrive at the Town Moor in good time for business, and depart in ample time for dinner.
With reference to the sum paid as entry money for the race, namely, £25, it is in reality much the same as for the Derby, with the exception that, in the case of the great Epsom event, each runner is mulcted in the full sum of 50 gs., but taking an average of twelve runners, that number would only add £300 to the stakes of the winning horse. Handsome additions ought therefore to be made. That the Doncaster authorities should supplement the St. Leger Stakes with a liberal hand is all the more necessary, seeing that the form of the horses has before September become so exposed as to make it impossible to back them, except at an unremunerative price. An addition of £1,000 to the second horse, and a sum of £500 to the one which runs third, should at once be demanded by those gentlemen who are in the custom year after year of nominating their yearlings for the Blue Ribbon of theNorth; the subscriptions in their entirety should go to the winner, and a given amount ought to be fixed for the first horse—say £5,000.
If dukes are conspicuous by their absence from the fame-roll of the St. Leger, they figure liberally enough in the list of Oaks winners, the "Garter of the Turf" on sixteen anniversaries of the race having fallen to ducal subscribers. As for lords—"mere lords" as these members of the Peerage were once upon a time designated by William Cobbett (and later by Thomas Carlyle)—they would almost appear to farm the race, especially if the baronets, who have been equally fortunate, be included. On no less than sixty-four occasions has the heroine of the Oaks been the property of a titled personage.
The Oaks takes precedence of the Derby by a year. Only fillies run in the race. The origin of the stakes has been often told. The first struggle for the ladies' prize took place in the year 1779. An Earl of Derby of the period originated the race and conferred a title upon it, and his horse Bridget, ridden by J. Goodison, won the first Oaks. The race derived its name from an alehouse which existed at one time on Banstead Downs. This homely haunt of humble wayfarers was purchased by General Burgoyne, who, by the expenditure of a few hundred pounds, managed to convert the public-house into an elegant hunting-seat. "The Oaks" afterwards became the property of Lord Derby, who enlarged and beautified the house, adding also tothe extent of the grounds by which it was surrounded.
The initial contest took place on Friday, May 14th, 1779. The terms on which the race was run at the date of its institution were as follows: "The Oaks Stakes of 50 gs. each, for three-year-old fillies, 8 st. 4 lb., one mile and a half." Seventeen subscriptions were taken for the race, and twelve of the fillies came to the starting-post, those placed being:
The winning jockey was J. Goodison, and the odds laid against the winner at the start 5 to 2. The value of the stake would be 850 gs.
For the Oaks of 1782 the terms of competition were altered to 50 gs. for each filly, with 40 gs. forfeit; the owner of the second received 100 gs. out of the stakes, which would leave very little for the winner. The twelve starters would yield 600 gs., and the non-starters would just add to the account the amount to be given to the owner of the animal which ran second. In 1786 the rubric of the race underwent another change; the following is a copy: "The Oaks Stakes of 50 gs. each, 8 ft., for three-year-old fillies, 8 st. 4 lb., one mile and a half." As will be seen, nothing is said regarding any provision for the second horse, and whether or not the 100 gs. was continued the writer is not able to say; in 1796, however, that sum was again bestowed on the filly to which the judge allocated the second position. In the year 1787 the weight to be carried in the racewas reduced to 8 st., at which it remained till 1808, when it was restored to the former figure of 8 st. 4 lb.; in 1842 the weight to be carried by fillies competing in the race was increased to 8 st. 7 lb.
The progress of the Oaks towards its present condition of prosperity was slow, but, it may be added, sure. It began, as has been said, with seventeen subscribers, and once only fell below that number, namely, in 1781, when there was one less; in 1795-6 42 fillies were entered, but the numbers again fell off, and it was not till 1825 the entries reached so many as 50, whilst fourteen years elapsed before the 100 was topped. It was in 1868, when Formosa won the Garter for Mr. Graham, that the highest number of entries was recorded, namely, 215; in two other years the figures exceeded 200, namely, in 1867, when the race fell to Baron Rothschild by the aid of Hippia (206 entries), and eleven years afterwards when Lord Falmouth's Janette proved victorious, upon which occasion 212 fillies were named. Since that time the entries have been on the decline, as the following figures will show, namely: 189, 187, 182, 182, 145, 148, 144, 138, 142, 133, 112, from 1879 to 1889 inclusive, respectively.
The following averages afford a good idea of the value of the Oaks Stakes: During the first twenty years, the average number of subscribers was twenty-six, the average number of horses competing being 9. In the second period of twenty years these averages increased to thirty-three subscribers, but the field of runners underwent no alteration. In the third twenty years the subscribers had more than doubled, whilstthe competing fields had risen to an average of 13.
The Duke of Bedford, who during the active period of his life was a well-knownhabituéof the turf, won the Oaks in the consecutive years of 1790-1 by the aid of Hyppolita and Portia, while in 1793 his filly Coelia proved successful in beating the nine competitors which started against her. The next duke who comes upon the scene is "the Oaks Duke,"par excellence, the Duke of Grafton. With Remnant in 1801, and with Parasol in 1803, his grace had proved unsuccessful; but in 1804 his filly Pelisse, beating seven opponents, won the Duke his first Oaks; in 1808, Morel brought him another victory. Music, Minuet, Pastille, Zinc, Turquoise, and Oxygen followed in the footsteps of Morel in the years 1813, 1815, 1822, 1823, 1828, and 1831, respectively, giving his grace eight winners in all.
On two occasions the Garter of the Turf was awarded to the Duke of Rutland, who won in 1811 by the aid of Sorcery, and in 1814 his grace's filly Medora took the prize. The Duke of Richmond comes next in the list of ducal winners; in 1827 his filly Gulnare won the Oaks, and again in 1845 his grace's filly Refraction credited him with the stakes. In what may be called modern times (1886-7) the Dukes of Hamilton and Beaufort have each scored a victory.
Coming now to "the lords," it has first of all to be chronicled that the founder of the race was twice successful in his attempts to win; first with Bridget in 1779—the year of its institution—and again in 1794, when Hermione won. Lord Grosvenor's Faith, Ceres, and Maid of the Oaks gavethat nobleman three consecutive victories in the years 1781-2-3, and in 1797 and 1799 his lordship proved again successful, the winners being Nike and Bellina, followed by Meteora in 1805, making a series of six victories. Lord Clermont was so fortunate as twice to capture the Garter, namely, in 1785 by the aid of Trifle, and seven years afterwards by Volante. Two of Lord Egremont's fillies proved victorious in consecutive years, Nightshade in 1788, and Tag in 1789. Other wins were scored by his lordship in 1795, when Platina proved victorious, and in 1808 by means of Ephemera, whilst Carolina scored for him in 1820, making five successes in all for Lord Egremont. Lord Exeter's successes, three in all, were attained by the aid of Augusta in 1821, Green Mantle in 1829, Galata in 1832. Lord Chesterfield (twice), Lord George Bentinck, Lord Westminster, Lord Stanley, and Lord Londesborough also secured the Garter of the Turf between the years 1838 and 1859. The late Lord Falmouth was fortunate enough to win the Oaks on four occasions. Queen Bertha, 1863; Spinaway, 1875; Janette and Wheel of Fortune in 1878 and 1879, were his lordship's winners. Lords Stamford, Roseberry, Cadogan, Calthorpe, and R. Churchill have each taken the Garter; likewise Count de Lagrange and Baron Rothschild, who twice proved successful.
Only two fillies have scored the double event of Oaks and Derby, namely, Eleanor in 1801, and Blinkbonny in 1857. It is not often the case that mares are entered for the "Blue Ribbon," May being a bad season in which to expect them to perform well along with the colts. Winners ofthe Oaks, however, have several times proved victorious in the St. Leger. Queen of Trumps, 1835; Formosa, 1868; Hannah, 1871; Marie Stuart, 1873; Apology, 1874; Janette, 1878; and Sea Breeze in the year 1888, were all credited with the double event.
Of jockeys who had mounts in the Oaks, the Chifneys may be mentioned as having won the race on nine occasions, victory falling to the elder Chifney four times. Buckle, however, the greatest horseman of his time, takes precedence as having been nine times victorious in the ladies' battle; Frank Butler six times landed his horse at the head of the field, four of the races which fell to his prowess being run in successive years, namely in 1849, 1850, 1851, and 1852, Lady Evelyn, Rhidycina, Iris, and Songstress being the names of the fillies ridden by him on these four occasions; their owners were Lord Chesterfield, Mr. Hobson, Lord Stanley, and Mr. J. Scott. John Day rode five Oaks winners; Scott rode the winner on three occasions; Lye also scored three victories, as did Templeman.
Coming to what by comparison may be called modern times, we have to credit that able horseman, George Fordham, with five victories; F. Archer won the Oaks on four occasions, three of the wins being for Lord Falmouth; T. Cannon has been twice successful in the race; that careful horseman, John Osborne, has one Oaks win to his credit; Wood, Woodburn, and Robinson have each had one turn.
For the long period of one hundred and eleven years the subscribers to the Oaks ran for their own money only the Epsom authoritiesnever having contributed a shilling to the stakes; the winner at one time, indeed, was charged £100 as a contribution to the police expenses!
It is really surprising that owners of horses should have submitted for over a hundred years to contribute thousands of pounds to the exchequer of a public company, who have never till lately offered one farthing by way ofquid pro quo. There can be no doubt, although the Oaks does not draw so great a crowd to Epsom as the Derby, that the race is highly profitable to the parties who work "the oracle." How the new arrangement begun in 1890 will turn out remains to be determined, but in the past history of the race, as can be seen from a perusal of some of the old Calendars, many gentlemen have, year by year, entered from two to nine of their fillies, and have in consequence incurred forfeits to the extent of from fifty to two hundred and twenty-five pounds, with no other result than that of enriching the Grand Stand Company of Epsom, who, it is said, derive a profit of several thousand pounds from the two great races which are run at their Epsom Summer Meeting. A time is undoubtedly coming when it will be necessary for lessees of racecourses to hand over to the men who supply the competing horses a considerable share of the gains which accrue from the popularity of the meeting; otherwise owners will take the matter more into their own hands, and run their horses for their own profit.
Taken from beginning to end, the progress of the Oaks has probably been less marked by chicanery than the other classic races. As was said by one of the late Mr. Merry's grooms, asedate old Scotsman, "fillies are such kittle cattle that it does na dae to trust them ower far," and the man was not far wrong in offering such an opinion. It is a characteristic of their sex to be fickle, and the Oaks is run at a period of the year when such horses may prove most unreliable; hence it is that there is less gambling on the race than takes place on other equine competitions. If a man thinks his filly good enough to win, and is desirous of backing her, he delays his investment till he sees her at the post.
Whispers of occasional frauds in connection with the Garter of the Turf have, however, been heard, and every now and again it has been held "as curious, to say the least of it, that fillies which ran badly in the One Thousand Guineas should alter their form so much in the Oaks," andvice versâ. Once or twice ugly tales have been told about owners who were "open to conviction"; in particular, it was said a few years ago, regarding a gentleman who "stood" to win, and did win, a very large stake over a horse which he had entered for the Derby, that in order to make sure of his being paid his winnings over that race, he would "require" (so he was told by his commissioner, if we may credit the story) to give up his chance of winning the Oaks, which race seemed to be as like a gift to him as the race for the Blue Ribbon proved to be. "Well," said an experienced racing man, "the story may be quite true; one never can tell exactly how the undercurrents of the turf are running, but you may be quite sure of one thing, and that is, that no one connected with the little arrangement would ever open his mouth about it to an outsider. Suchdoings can, at the best, be only a matter of guess work, and, on the principle that a man may do as he likes with his own, it is nobody's business."
That is one way of putting the case, and that "a man's horse is his own and he can do with it as he pleases," has often figured as an excuse for very flagrant instances of turf immorality; but, it has been suggested that the Oaks has been less marked by chicanery than other races.
One hundred and ten years have elapsed since Diomed won the first race for what has since been called the "Blue Ribbon of the Turf," and to-day the Derby is as much in favour as it has been in any previous year. Countless thousands assemble on Epsom Downs to witness each recurring anniversary. During the first thirty years of its existence the race was of slow growth so far as the subscribers and the number of horses running was concerned, but its popularity was soon to grow, and considering the difficulties of locomotion on bad roads and other obstructions, the attendance on the Downs on the day set for the great struggle became very considerable, although nothing like what it was destined to become when railways had made travelling easy and inexpensive.
It was propounded as a question in the columns of one of the sporting journals some years ago that it would be interesting to know how many men were alive who had seen the race run about the year 1820, or even a year or two later; but I do not know if any, or howmany answers were returned. In Bluegown's year, however, I conversed at a wayside tavern with an old man who was making his way to Epsom Downs on foot, who had, as a child, seen Eleanor win the Derby of 1801. Among the horse-racing men of Yorkshire there are three or four reputed to be alive who have witnessed more than fifty consecutive races for the St. Leger, and there may, perhaps, be people yet living who have as many times witnessed the struggle for the Derby. Curiously enough, when I ventured in my history of the "Blue Ribbon of the Turf" to renew this question, which is, I think, neither frivolous nor devoid of interest, I was "heavily sneered at" by one of the cocksure critics of the period who thought the matter unworthy of consideration.
The race at the date of Eleanor's victory was twenty-two years old, having been instituted in 1780. During the first ten years of the Derby the accumulated stakes amounted to 11,005 gs. When the race was inaugurated the number of subscribers was thirty-six, and the following is a list of the horses which formed the field: Sir Charles Bunbury's Diomed, Major O'Kelly's Bowdrow, Mr. Walker's Spitfire, Sir F. Evelyn's Wotton, Mr. Panton's colt by Herod, Duke of Cumberland's colt by Eclipse, Mr. Dulsh's colt by Cardinal Puff, Mr. Delme's colt by Gimcrack, and the Duke of Bolton's Bay Bolton.
As regards the number of subscriptions to the race in its earlier days, it may be here recorded that up to and including 1800 the following figures denote the entries: 36, 35, 35,34, 30, 29, 29, 33, 30, 30, 32, 32, 32, 50, 49, 45, 45, 37, 37, 33, and 33, respectively.
Nothing of much interest can be written regarding the earlier years of the Derby. As is well known to persons versed in the history of the turf, the race was instituted by, or at any rate was named after the twelfth Earl of Derby, who was also, as has been already mentioned, sponsor for the Oaks. Could the future celebrity of the great event have been foreseen, we should not be without full particulars of the earlier struggles for victory; but a hundred years ago the sporting reporter was evidently not of much account; at any rate, the newspapers of the time (1780 to 1800) do little more than record that the race was run. Brief comments began to be offered upon the Derby in 1802 and following years; these, however, were exceedingly curt, consisting usually of such observations as "Won easy," or "Won very easy." The race of 1805, won by Lord Egremont's Cardinal Beaufort, was commented on in the following fashion: "Won by a neck. There was much betting on this race. Mr. Best's colt was thrown down by some horsemen imprudently crossing the course before all the race-horses had passed, and his rider, B. Norton, was bruised by the fall." In the following year, 1806, when Lord Foley's Paris won the Derby, we obtain a better account of the race: "At half-past one they started, and went at a good speed to Tattenham Corner, on which it was observed that Shepherd, who rode Paris, rather pulled, whilst Trafalgar was making play; notwithstanding, LordEgremont was backed to win. Upon coming to the distance point, Trafalgar ran neck and neck, in which situation they continued till within a few yards of the winning-post, when Shepherd made a desperate push and won the race by about half a head."
In 1813, when Sir Charles Bunbury's Smolensko was declared the winner, having beaten eleven opponents, there were, as in the three succeeding years, 51 entries for the Derby, a number, however, which pretty soon began to be exceeded. In 1827, the year in which Lord Jersey's Mameluke landed the prize from twenty-two competitors, 89 horses had been entered for the race, the same number curiously enough being set forth in the three succeeding years. In 1831 (Spaniel's year) the 100 had been topped, and the fields of runners, as was to be expected, had also considerably increased. In Priam's year, for instance (1830), 28 horses were found at the starting-post. That number was not, however, maintained; but from that year to 1841, 23, 22, 25, 23, 14, 21, 17, 23, 21, 17, and 19, respectively, faced the starter, while in 1851 the field of competitors numbered 33 animals. As a corollary of the big entries and increasing fields, the money to be run for increased so that the stakes became of importance and worth winning, especially in 1848, when the number of horses entered for the race had reached the handsome total of 215 different animals, a number which in after years was occasionally exceeded, as for instance in 1879, when Sir Bevys was hailed as victor, the horses entered for that year's Blue Ribbon numbered no less than 278. Since then the largestentries have occurred in 1880 (257) and 1890 (233), when Bend Or and Sainfoin won respectively.
The terms on which the Derby was first run for were 50 gs. for each horse taking part in the race, non-starters paying half that amount; the distance run during the first three years was one mile, and the weights carried were respectively 8 st. for colts, and 7 st. 11 lb. for fillies; the weights were altered in the year 1784, and again in the years 1801, 1803, 1807, as also in 1865.
In 1782 the second horse began to be paid £100 out of the stakes; in 1869 the sums given to the runners-up were respectively £300 and £150 for first and second. At a previous date sums were deducted from the stakes for police expenses and the judge! The stake run for by Diomed, the first winner of the Derby, would amount to 1,125 gs., and for the next ten or twelve years the sum raced for was seldom under 1,000 gs. A good many years elapsed before the 2,000 gs. was topped, but a time was coming when even double that amount was thought a small sum with which to reward the owner of a Derby winner. In Lord Lyons' year (1866) the stakes reached £7,350, and again in 1879 when Fordham won on Sir Bevys, the sum of the stakes amounted to over £7,000, whilst £5,000 and even £6,000 were on several occasions placed to the credit of the owner of the winning horse.
On the day that Pyrrhus the First won the Derby, which was in the year 1846, the "time" taken to run the race was for the first time ascertained—it was two minutes and fifty-five seconds; but on two or three occasions two minutes and forty-three seconds was the time indicated; whilston three anniversaries the running of the race has exceeded three minutes, the distance being one mile and a half. Many racing men do not believe in the time test, thinking it impossible to ascertain with the necessary precision the precise moment of the start and finish.
Not till the advent of a sporting newspaper—now dead, but famous in its day,Bell's Life in London—did the Derby become popular with the people. It has been said that "Bell made the race," and the saying is undoubtedly to some extent true, as in the course of time that journal began to devote special attention to the Derby, giving a minute history of the breeding and performances of those horses likely to take part in the struggle. A feature of the work undertaken by "Bell" was greatly relished, namely, a very full description of the Sunday gallops of the various competitors on Epsom Downs, a special edition of the paper being issued with the information, containing also the latest quotations of "the odds." As time went on these features ofBell's Lifewere eagerly looked for and enjoyed, the circulation of the journal being considerably increased by the pains taken to give accurate reports. Then the day of the race came in for an immense amount of journalistic attention, the struggle itself and all its incidents being minutely described, the throng of people on the routes to and from Epsom, and all the varied occurrences which characterised the journey, being graphically described.