Age. Mar. and
April.		 May. June. July. Aug. Sept. Oct. and
Nov.
Five Furlongs— st. ℔ st. ℔ st. ℔ st. ℔ st. ℔ st. ℔ st. ℔
  Two years 6 0 6 2 6 7 6 9 7 0 7 4 7 7
  Three years 8 2 8 3 8 5 8 7 8 9 8 10 8 11
  Four years 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0
  Five, six and aged 9 1 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0
Six Furlongs—
  Two years 6 0 6 4 6 7 6 11 7 0 7 5 7 7
  Three years 8 4 8 6 8 8 8 10 8 12 9 0 9 2
  Four years 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7
  Five, six and aged 9 9 9 8 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7
One Mile—
  Two years .. .. .. .. .. 6 5 6 7
  Three years 7 9 7 11 7 13 8 2 8 4 8 5 8 6
  Four years 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0
  Five, six and aged 9 4 9 3 9 2 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0
One Mile and a Half—
  Two years .. .. .. .. .. 6 0 6 4
  Three years 7 7 7 9 7 11 7 13 8 1 8 3 8 5
  Four years 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0
  Five, six and aged 9 5 9 4 9 3 9 2 9 1 9 0 9 0
Two Miles—
  Two years .. .. .. .. .. 6 0 6 2
  Three years 7 8 7 11 7 12 8 0 8 3 8 4 8 5
  Four years 9 4 9 4 9 4 9 4 9 4 9 4 9 4
  Five, six and aged 9 10 9 9 9 8 9 7 9 6 9 5 9 4
Three Miles—
  Three years 7 1 7 4 7 5 7 7 7 9 7 11 7 13
  Four years 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0 9 0
  Five years 9 8 9 7 9 6 9 5 9 5 9 4 9 3
  Six and aged 9 10 9 8 9 7 9 6 9 5 9 4 9 3

In the year 1884 the managers of Sandown Park formulated the scheme of a race for a prize of £10,000, to be called the Eclipse Stakes, and to be run over a distance of 1¼ m. In order to secure a large entry, horses were to be £10,000 Races. nominated soon after their birth; owners who perceived the hopelessness of their nominations could withdraw at stated intervals by the payment of increasing forfeits; if their animals finally went to the post a stake amounting in all to £115 would have to be paid for them; and thus it will be seen that owners were really running for their own money, though if there were an insufficient number of entries the funds of the club might be taxed to supply the deficiency. The scheme was found to be attractive, and the example was followed at Leicester and at Manchester, at both of which places, however, it lapsed. At Newmarket, under the immediate auspices of the Jockey Club, the £10,000 races succeeded, and there were two of them each year. The Princess of Wales’s Stakes was run for the first time in 1894 at the First July Meeting, and the Jockey Club Stakes at the First October. The former has, however, now been reduced to £2000 added to a sweepstake of £30 each with a minor forfeit. In the year 1900 a fourth race of similar character, the Century Stakes, was originated at Sandown, but the experiment proved a failure, and the contest was discontinued.

The age of the thoroughbred horse is always dated from the 1st January. Foals are generally born in February, March or April, though not a few good horses have been born in May; they become yearlings, therefore, on the 1st Two-year-old Races. January following, two-year-olds twelve months later, and many of them begin to race in the following March, for flat racing always starts during the week which contains the 25th, except when Easter falls unusually early. In France no two-year-olds run until the 1st August, and discussion is frequently raised as to the respective wisdom of the English and French systems. It happens, however, that some young horses “come to hand” soon, and deteriorate with equal rapidity. They are, in fact, able to win races at the beginning of the season, and fail to hold their own later in the year against bigger and more powerful animals of their own age who have taken longer to mature; so that there is some argument in favour of the earlier date. The first noteworthy two-year-old race is the Brocklesby Stakes, run at Lincoln during the first week of the season. Sometimes the winner of the Brocklesby is really a good animal, as was the case with The Bard in 1885 and Donovan in 1888, but as a general rule when the autumn comes he is found to be far inferior to the winners of subsequent two-year-old races of good class. It is seldom that a first-class two-year-old appears before the Ascot Meeting about the middle of June, though horses of character sometimes run for the Woodcote Stakes at Epsom and in other contests elsewhere. The names of many of the most famous horses on the turf are found in the list of winners of the New Stakes at Ascot, which was first run in 1843 and maintains its character. In 1890 the Coventry Stakes was originated, and is regarded as a race of practically equal importance. The July Stakes at Newmarket is the oldest of existing two-year-old races, having been first run in 1786. The list of winners is a brilliant one. The Chesterfield Stakes ranks with it. The best two-year-olds are usually seen out at Goodwood, and as a general rule those that have chiefly distinguished themselves during the year, and are to make names for themselves later in life, are found contesting the Middle Park Plate at the Newmarket Second October Meeting and the Dewhurst Plate at the Newmarket Houghton. The Middle Park Plate is generally worth over £2000, the other races named are between £1000 and £2000 in value; but these are not the richest two-year-old prizes of the year, the value of the National Breeders’ Produce Stakes at Sandown, run on the day following the Eclipse, being between £4000 and £5000, and the Imperial Stakes at Kempton Park falling not very far short of £3000. As a rule, a colt who has been specially successful as a two-year-old maintains his capacity later in life, unless it be found that he cannot “stay”—that is to say, is unable to maintain his best speed over more than five or six furlongs; but it is frequently the case that fillies who have won good races as two-year-olds entirely lose their form and meet with little or no success afterwards.

Newmarket is called with reason “the headquarters of the Turf.” There are about forty training establishments in the town, each trainer being in charge of an average of thirty to forty horses, irrespective of mares, foals and Newmarket. yearlings. During the year eight race meetings are held on the Heath: the Craven; the First and Second Spring; the First and Second October—the First October usually occurring at the end of September; and the Houghton. These are contested on “the Flat,” the course which includes the Rowley Mile. It is said that the Rowley Mile is so called from the fact of its having been a favourite race-ground with Charles II. The First and Second July Meetings take place on another course, known as “Behind the Ditch,” the Ditch being the huge embankment which runs through several counties and has existed from time immemorial. The Craven Stakes for three-year-olds is an event of some importance at the first meeting of the year. It used to finish on an ascent at what is called the “Top of the Town,” a course over which the handicap for the Cambridgeshire was run. This course has now been abandoned and the stand pulled down. At the First Spring Meeting the Two Thousand Guineas and the One Thousand Guineas occur, as already stated, but the names do not represent the values of the stakes, which are, in fact, usually worth close on £5000 each. The July Stakes and the Princess of Wales’ Stakes are run at the First July Meeting. The Jockey Club Stakes is the leading event of the First October; the Cesarewitch and the Middle Park Plates follow in the Second October; the Criterion Stakes, another of the few races that once finished at the “Top of the Town,” the Cambridgeshire and the Dewhurst Plate take place at the Houghton Meeting. The majority of races finish at the Rowley Mile post; but there are three other winning-posts along the Rowley Mile. “Behind the Ditch” races finish at two different posts, one of which enables horses to avoid the necessity of galloping up the severe ascent of the “Bunbury Mile.” Although, as a rule, there is no better racing to be seen than the best events Ascot and other meetings. at Newmarket, the programmes are often spun out by selling plates and paltry handicaps, and a high level is nowhere so consistently maintained as at Ascot. The Ascot meeting is distinguished by the entire absence of selling plates, and much more “added money” is given than on any other course. Added money is the sum supplied by the directors of a race meeting, derived by them from the amounts paid for entrances to stands and enclosures; for in many races—the Ten Thousand prizes, for instance—owners run mainly or entirely for money which they have themselves provided. The Ascot Cup is generally spoken of as a race success in which sets the seal to the fame of a good horse. It is a prize of the highest distinction, and of late years has been of considerable value, the winner in 1909 having gained for his owner £3430. That the number of runners for this race should be invariably small—the average for many years past has been about six—is not a matter of surprise to those who are familiar with the Turf. There are very few horses possessing sufficient speed and staying power to make it worth the while of their owners to submit them to the exceedingly severe test of a preparation for this race, which is run over 2½ m. of ground at a time of year when the turf is almost always extremely hard everywhere, and harder at Ascot than almost anywhere else. There is no course on which more good horses have hopelessly broken down. All the prizes are handsome, and success at Ascot confers much prestige, for the reason that the majority of horses that run are good ones; but annually there is a list of victims that never recover from the effects of galloping on this ground. Goodwood also attracts horses of high character, though some unimportant races fill out the programme. Formerly there were many meetings around London, which fell into disrepute in consequence of the manner in which they were conducted. These have been replaced by well-managed gatherings in enclosed parks, and here the value of the prizes is often so high that the best horses in training are attracted. These meetings include Sandown, Kempton, Gatwick, Lingfield, Newbury and Hurst Park. Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Brighton, York and various other towns have race meetings twice or oftener in the course of each year. At the various fixtures over half a million of money is annually given in stakes. The largest sum ever won by a horse was the £57,185 gained by Isinglass in 1892-1895. Donovan follows with £54,935. In all probability these large totals would have been considerably exceeded had not Flying Fox—who had won in his first two seasons £40,090—been disqualified by the death of his owner, the duke of Westminster, as this colt was engaged in the four £10,000 races of 1900, in which to all appearance he could not have been beaten, so much was he superior to his contemporaries. The death of an owner of horses disqualifies the animals he has entered—a necessary regulation, as otherwise an heir might be burdened with a stable of horses the possession of which would entail heavy expense and serious responsibility on a person who perhaps had no knowledge of or taste for racing.

The value of an unquestionably good horse is enormous. It has been seen what handsome prizes are offered for competition, and when withdrawn from the Turf the horse may secure a large income to his owner at the stud. A Value of horses. stallion’s fee of 600 guineas (as in the case of St Simon) should mean well over £20,000 a year; and fees of 100 guineas and more are common. Proved merit on the Turf is considered essential in a sire, though there have been instances of horses, unsuccessful during their racing career, who have distinguished themselves at the stud: Wisdom, sire of the Derby winner Sir Hugo, and several notable examples might be cited. Mares are much more uncertain in this respect. On the whole, the famous mares that have won the Oaks, the St Leger and other leading races, have been apt to fail in the paddocks; but there is always a hope of success with them, and the large sum of 12,600 guineas was paid for La Flèche when she had ceased from active service on the Turf. For None-the-Wiser 7200 guineas was given; and 4600 guineas for Wedlock when well advanced in years, on the strength of her having been the dam of a good horse called Best Man. Well-bred mares that have shown no capacity for racing are, however, frequently the dams of good winners. Breeding is a lottery. An Australian enthusiast some years since published a book the object of which was to enable breeders to produce good horses by a species of mathematical calculation; but the fallacy of the “Figure System” was at once proved by the simple circumstance that in very many cases the own brothers and sisters of good winners, whose breeding conformed entirely to the system, proved to be utterly worthless for racing purposes. It is a fact difficult of explanation that the majority of famous winners have been privately bred by their owners. Many persons breed for sale, in some cases sparing no expense or trouble in the endeavour to secure good results, and yearlings sold by auction have fetched prices of from 10,000 guineas (paid for Sceptre, a daughter of Persimmon and Ornament, in 1900) downwards; sums of over 1000 guineas being frequently given. That so large a proportion of high-priced yearlings should turn out failures is not at all a matter for surprise, considering the uncertainties of the Turf, but it by no means follows that a high-priced yearling is necessarily an expensive animal; 5500 guineas was, for instance, given for La Flèche, who won for her owner £34,585 in stakes, and, as already observed, was subsequently sold for 12,600 guineas. The principal yearling sales take place during the July meeting at Newmarket and the Doncaster meeting in September. There are also sales at Ascot and elsewhere. The Royal Stud at Bushey Park, where Memoir, La Flèche, Best Man and other good animals were bred, has now been abandoned.

In many cases trainers have graduated from jockeys. The usual charge to an owner is 50s. a week per horse, but, as regards the cost of a horse in training, to this there are various additions irrespective of entrances to races, forfeits, Trainers and jockeys. travelling, jockey’s fees, &c. The recognized sum paid to a jockey is 3 guineas for a losing mount, 5 guineas for winning. In many cases special terms are made; the principal owners usually have a claim on a rider’s services, and for this call as much as £5000 per annum, exclusive of the usual riding fees, has been given.

From time immemorial until within a very recent period jockeys rode in much the same style, though, of course, with varying degrees of skill. Many hundreds of boys exercise daily at Newmarket and other training grounds, all of them necessarily having a firm seat in the saddle, for the thoroughbred horse is, as a rule, high-couraged and apt to play violent tricks; but though most of these lads find chances to distinguish themselves in trials and races for apprentices, probably not 5% grow into professional jockeys, increasing weight keeping many from the business, as a jockey has few chances unless he can ride well under 9 stone. Knowledge of pace is a rare gift or acquisition which is essential to successful jockeyship. The rider must also be quick to perceive how his own horse is going—what he has “left in him”; he must understand at a glance which of his rivals are beaten and which are still likely to be dangerous; must know when the moment comes for the supreme effort to be made, and how to balance and prepare the horse for that critical struggle. At the beginning of the race the jockey used to stand in his stirrups, with the idea of removing weight from the horse’s back and preserving perfect steadiness; towards the end of the race, if it were necessary to drive the animal home, he sat down “to finish.”

This method used to be adopted in all countries, but recently a new system came into practice in America. Instead of putting the saddle in the middle of the horse’s back, where it had always been placed previously, it was shifted forward on to the animal’s withers. The jockey rode with very short stirrups, leaning forward over the neck and grasping the reins within a few inches of the horse’s mouth. The appearance of this was ungainly in the extreme and an entire departure from ancient ways (though Fordham and a few other riders of great reputation had always sat much more forward than their contemporaries), but it was found to be remarkably effective. From the position thus adopted there was less resistance to the wind, and though the saving in this respect was largely exaggerated, in racing, where success or failure is frequently a matter of a very few inches, every little that helps is to be considered. The value of the discovery lay almost entirely in the fact that the horse carries weight better—and is therefore able to stride out more freely—when it is placed well forward on his shoulders. With characteristic conservatism the English were slow to accept the new plan. Several American jockeys, however, came to England. In all the main attributes of horsemanship there was no reason to believe that they were in the least superior to English jockeys, but their constant successes required explanation, and the only way to account for them appeared to be that horses derived a marked advantage from the new system of saddling. A number of English riders followed the American lead, and those who did so met with an unusual degree of success. Race-riding, indeed, was in a very great measure revolutionized in the closing years of the 19th century.

Of late years American horses—bred, it must always be remembered, from stock imported from England—have won many races in England. Australian horses have also been sent to the mother country, with results remunerative Foreign horses. to their owners, and the intermixture of blood which will necessarily result should have beneficial consequences. French horses—i.e. horses bred in France from immediate or from more or less remote English parentage—have also on various occasions distinguished themselves on English race-courses. That coveted trophy, the Ascot Cup, was won by a French horse, Elf II., in 1898, it having fallen also to the French-bred Verneuil in 1878, to Boiard in 1874, to Henry in 1872 and to Mortemer in 1871. In the Cesarewitch Plaisanterie (3 yrs., 7 st. 8 ℔) and Ténébreuse (4 yrs., 8 st. 12 ℔) were successful in 1885 and 1888; and Plaisanterie also carried off the Cambridgeshire as a three-year-old with the heavy weight of 8 st. 12 ℔ in a field of 27 runners. In most respects racing in France is conducted with praiseworthy discrimination. There are scarcely any of the five- and six-furlong scrambles for horses over two years old which are such common features of English programmes.

That the horses who have covered various distances in the shortest times on record must have been exceptionally speedy animals is obvious. The times of races, however, frequently form a most deceptive basis in any attempt Time. to gauge the relative capacity of horses. A good animal will often win a race in bad time, for the reason that his opponents are unable to make him exert himself to the utmost. Not seldom a race is described as having been “won in a canter,” and this necessarily signifies that if the winner had been harder pressed he would have completed the course more quickly. The following figures show the shortest times that had been occupied in winning over various distances up to the spring of 1910:—