II.
The "Rules of Racing," which have for a long period given law to the turf, and the code of honour pertaining thereto which all racing men respect and obey, have been from time to time revised and made more perfect by the Jockey Club, which numbers at the present time about one hundred members, and makes itself felt through the stewards, to whom, for all practical purposes, its powers are delegated. During their period of office, to which they are nominated by their predecessors, the stewards address those who are interested in the sport of horse-racing through the official "Calendar," which is published in London by the Messrs. Weatherby, of Old Burlington Street, who may be termed the mouthpiece of the Club. In racing circles these gentlemen are much respected, one of them being "keeper of the match-book," and it would be rather difficult to say what functions connected with horse-racing they do not take part in.
Messrs. Weatherby, in addition to being, as may be said, clerks of the course for all races run over Newmarket Heath, and therefore recipients of entries, scratchings, etc., also officiate in a certain sense as bankers to a considerable number of gentlemen who own race-horses and have payments to make in connection therewith. By payment of a slight commission on such transactions as take place, gentlemen are saved the trouble which pertains to receiving stakes they may win, or of paying personally such entry-money and forfeits as may have been incurred in the races they have been entrusted by clients to enter horses in. The gentlemen likewise keep a record of sportsmen who, for various reasons, prefer to pursue their career on the turf under an assumed name; as also a register of the racing liveries or "colours" selected by owners to be worn by their jockeys, and of these about nine hundred different arrangements are annually chronicled.
Among their other duties, Messrs. Weatherby edit and print the Book and Sheet Calendars of the Jockey Club, in which race meetings are announced, entries of horses in various races published, handicaps made public, and through which the general business of racing is made known to its votaries. Nominally the head-quarters of the Club are at Newmarket, but it may be assumed that the larger portion of the business is transacted at the offices of Messrs. Weatherby, in the great metropolis.
The Jockey Club is, of course, best known through its works and the laws laid down for the government of the turf. The "Rules of Racing" are entirely the work of the Club. For the information of persons who have never been behind the scenes, these rules may be here briefly glanced at. They provide for all the contingencies which may be expected to occur during the progress of sport; these are so well provided for, indeed, that if a jockey meet with an accident or be killed at the winning-post, provision is made for his being carried to the scales to be weighed. An explicit date is set down when flat racing shall begin and end in each year. The powers bestowed on the stewards of the different race meetings throughout the country are generally defined; the gathering has to be under their direction, they must regulate the conduct of all officials and persons coming to the meeting on business—that is, trainers, jockeys, and others. The power of punishing evil-doers is vested in the stewards, who may fine or suspend any person in fault. Stewards of meetings, it is commanded in the "Rules of Racing," shall exclude from the stands, and other places under their control, every person who has been "warned off" Newmarket Heath, persons who are in the unpaid forfeit list, also every jockey suspended for corrupt practices on the turf, while as a means of ensuring good order at meetings it is ordained by the "Rules of Racing" that "the clerk of the course, or corresponding official, shall be the sole person responsible to the stewards for the general arrangement of the meeting," a clause evidently devised to bring some kind of machinery to bear for the exclusion of roughs and welshers from the racecourses of the kingdom.
The following remarks will be generally accepted as being greatly to the point: "If an individual member of the turf suffers a pecuniary wrong, it is the Jockey Club to whom he applies for redress; and should his honour be assailed, he places his reputation before the same authority for vindication. In truth, looking up as the sporting public do to this body as the chief and sovereign head of their own community for either approbation or condemnation, and with such serious obligations on their own part, and weighty and grave matters to deal with and adjudicate upon as regards others, it behoves them to be careful in their own actions, and tender in investigating and deciding upon the action of others. To have the moral right of sitting in judgment upon and deciding a question of honour with respect to others, they must themselves be beyond reproach as reflected in their own character and actions; but their verdict can never be impeached as long as in their own persons they set an example to others of high and honourable conduct."