A Mirror of the Turf; Or, The Machinery of Horse-Racing Revealed, Showing the Sport of Kings as It Is To-Day

by James Glass Bertram

I.

Although many sketches descriptive of the Jockey Club, its members and stewards, have from time to time made their appearance in sporting journals, no consecutive history of that institution has yet been published; and even were all the dribblets of information about it which have percolated through the press added together, the result would be rather bald. Till the Club itself shall put forth an account of its history, or allow some credible historian access to its archives with the view of placing before the public a full narrative of its origin and its ways and work, as also an account of the men who originated it and those who have carried it on, I despair of ever knowing more of it than I do at present. Few persons, indeed, other than those very intimately associated with the "sport of kings," know much about the interior working of what is undoubtedly the most remarkable institution of our day. Nor has it been given even to persons deeply interested in the business of the turf to ascertain with precision the varied functions of the Club, or the mechanism by which it moves. It would require the sum of knowledge possessed by perhaps a score of well-informed outsiders to make up a chronicle that would form something like a history of the institution, or supply a reliable account of its means or motives of action, or the wonderful powers with which it has endowed itself.

The Jockey Club, without being incorporated by Act of Parliament, and without any legal constitution—a self-elected body, in fact—through its stewards—a council of three—acts as a tribunal, civil and criminal, in every matter pertaining to the turf, its authority in all racing matters being acknowledged throughout the United Kingdom. From its judgments there lies no appeal, there being no higher court. No alternative remains, "obey, or depart without the pale" is the order of the day. Sinners have occasionally shown fight, and bearded the lions in their den; but, as a rule, implicit submission is given to the mandates of the club; every one having a part, however trivial, to perform in the national pastime comes under its sway. Trainers, touts, jockeys, judges, and starters, all must submit to "the stewards," whose words are law. Trainers who may drug, or boys who may pull their horses, have cause to tremble; should their sins find them out, banishment from the turf at Newmarket—the chief scene of horse-racing in England—as well as from every other racecourse in the United Kingdom, would be certain to follow. A sharp eye is now kept by the stewards on all inconsistencies of form; should an animal fail in a task to-day, and accomplish a difficult feat to-morrow, it is almost certain the "council of three" will call to account those connected with the horse and demand explanation.

As has been stated, the inner history of the Club is not as yet public property. The Jockey Club is simply of the nature of a private society, and racing authorities differ somewhat as to the time when it was instituted. One writer says it was during the reign of George II,; another tells us the Club was constituted between the years 1750 and 1760, when a few gentlemen interested in the sport of horse-racing, and who, moreover, were in the habit of riding their own horses, banded themselves together, and became founders of the tribunal which at present governs the "sport of kings." The original title to enrolment, it has been stated, was the wearing of boots and spurs. The first official mention of the Club occurs in Heber's Racing Calendar for 1758, under the heading of "Orders," given for the purpose of compelling riders to weigh when they came in from running their horses in a race, on pain of being dismissed, which order is signed by Lord March and other noblemen and gentlemen then members of the institution.

In an excellent, although brief, sketch of the history of the Club contributed to the "Badminton Library," we are told that tradition points to its origin in the year 1750, before which time the usual meeting-place for gentlemen attending Newmarket was the "Red Lion Inn," the site of which is supposed to have been on the present Station Road. In 1752, the subscription-room was built, and it may be taken for granted that the Club would then be formed, or had been formed a little time previously. It was not till the year 1770 that stewards began to be regularly appointed, and their duties defined; there were stewards, however, eight years previously, but the functions they fulfilled are not known. From its beginning, the members of the Jockey Club were persons of high social position.

Strictly speaking, the Jockey Club had no authority or power to extend or enforce the observance of their laws at any other meetings than those held at Newmarket; but it soon became evident that a uniform and general application of its rules or laws was desirable, and therefore by a sort of tacit understanding it gradually became customary for all race meetings of importance to place themselves under the laws of the Jockey Club by a general consent and acknowledgment of its authority. In many cases, however, there was a doubt respecting the extent and power of application of the said laws, and therefore, in 1831, the Jockey Club notified that their rules and orders applied to Newmarket only, but they recommended their adoption to the stewards of other races, and in places where they were publicly adopted and recognised the Jockey Club would investigate and decide on disputes submitted to them for adjudication, but not otherwise. It was also made a condition that when the question or dispute submitted originated elsewhere than at Newmarket, the statement of the case must be reduced to writing, and must be referred through or with the sanction of the stewards of the races where it happened.

I am indebted for these remarks which, so far, indicate the rise of the Jockey Club to power, to an anonymous volume published in 1863, which contains many observations on the powers and duties of the Club, and the mode in which they ought to be carried into execution, the object of the commentator being to point out how wonderful a circumstance it is that the whole racing community can be held in check by a self-constituted body. That is certainly remarkable, but is not more so than that, at every race meeting, tens of thousands of pounds sterling change hands, as it may be said, by means of a nod of the head of one person to another, neither bill nor bond being required to bind the transaction, which as a rule is honourably implemented by both parties.

What probably in the beginning most helped to give the Club that power it now exercises was its interest in Newmarket Heath. For two centuries and more Newmarket has been to trainers and jockeys what various seats of some particular industry are to the persons interested in that industry. The Jockey Club, which has no palatial London dwelling-place—having, as a matter of fact, only an office there for the transaction of business—possesses a suite of apartments at Newmarket, and holds in its own right, or by lease—chiefly the latter—all the land of the Heath now being used for the various racecourses or public training-grounds, from which it derives a large income, each horse exercised at Newmarket being charged for at the rate of five guineas per annum. Considerable sums of money are also derived from charges of admission made at various stands and enclosures pertaining to the different racecourses, and these are being multiplied by order of the Club, which seems to be fashioning racing on the Heath pretty much in the same way as if the meetings held under its auspices were gate-money meetings.