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

BUSINESS OF HORSE-RACING:

OFFICERS OF THE TURF.

I.

Very few of the many thousands who annually assemble on the breezy downs of Epsom to gaze upon the fierce contest which takes place for the "Blue Ribbon" of the turf, or who witness the Cup races at Ascot, have even a rudimentary idea of the "business," the real "work," in fact, which is incidental to horse-racing. They have never been behind the scenes, and have had no opportunity of becoming acquainted with the economy of a racing stable, or the labour and anxiety which pertain to training race-horses; nor do they care anything about strains of racing blood, they know nothing whatever about the sires or dams of the animals which win or lose the races on which they gaze with such interest.

The spectacle of the Derby or the Royal Hunt Cup, although brilliant and exciting in the extreme, is but the work of a minute or two and is soon forgotten, and so far as many who witness them are concerned, the whole affair might be an accident. The ordinary spectator of a great race is much in the position of a child at a theatre during the Christmas holidays, for all that master or missy cares or knows, the wonderful fairy pantomime may have dropped ready made from the clouds; children are concerned only about the sight as they see it, they think not of the brain-work it has cost, or the toil which has been endured in its preparation, or the outlay of money necessitated by its production. The business of the turf—before such a spectacle as "the Derby" can be shown on Epsom Downs—may be likened to the labour undergone in the production of a dramatic piece. Those who train our race-horses and arrange our sport upon the turf, find their work to be of a very onerous nature, it is much divided and much of it unknown to the general public.

The business matters pertaining to horse-racing are, as a rule, arranged by persons licensed by the Jockey Club—judges, clerks of courses, jockeys, all require the authority of the Club before they can act. Horse-racing has so long figured in the eyes of the unlearned in turf matters as a "pastime," that the idea of there being any "business" to transact in connection with it has often drawn from persons, who know no better, an expression of surprise; but before any race meeting can be advertised, or any race be run, much work of a thorough kind has to be got through, the whole machinery of racing has, in fact, to be evoked.

In the event of the meeting being a new one, which, for the purpose of illustration, the writer assumes, the whole machinery requires to be organised. A site for the meeting has to be selected, and then a racecourse has to be constructed. Commodious stables, either at the place of meeting, or near it, must be provided, as well as offices for the various officials, likewise accommodation for the public, in the form of a grand stand having galleries from which the different races may be witnessed. For the officials, and jockeys, and reporters of the press, rooms must be provided, as well as those bars and dining-places for the sale of viands, which are a prominent feature of our racing paddocks. The administrative officers of the meeting have to be appointed, either before or after the course has been laid down; they are, as a rule, selected before the affair is planned. There is also required a body of gentlemen to act as stewards, who, when necessary, form a court to which disputes arising in the course of a meeting can be referred for immediate settlement. Before a meeting can begin, the course must be approved and have its racing time fixed by the Jockey Club.

The principal officials required for the conduct of a race meeting are a clerk of the course, a handicapper, a starter, and a judge.

The clerk of the course receives—it is his chief duty—the entries for the different races, and also takes charge of the correspondence and general clerical business which pertains to a race meeting. This functionary is usually the mainspring of the meeting, he may, however, be "the hired servant" of the proprietors of the racecourse; in reality his position is dependent on how meetings he is connected with may be constituted. In addition to a clerk of the course, there may also be a "clerk of the scales": that is, a person entrusted with the important duty of weighing out and weighing in the jockeys, before and after riding, and seeing that each rider carries the exact weight apportioned to him.

The handicapper is an important functionary. Clerks of the course often officiate in the capacity of handicappers, or adjusters of the weights; sometimes, too, the office of handicapper and judge are combined; indeed, at some race meetings, the whole three offices are occasionally conjoined in one person; in theatrical parlance, the clerk of the course very often "doubles" the office of judge and handicapper. During a race meeting lasting over three or four days, the handicapper finds plenty of work, as, in addition to having apportioned weights to all the horses engaged in the larger handicaps, nurseries, and sweepstakes, many days, in some cases months, before the date of the meeting, he has to adjust the weights for those races which are run from day to day, for which horses are not entered till the evening before the day on which they are to run.