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Horse-Racing
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
or Probably the earliest instance of the use of horses in racing recorded in literature occurs in Il. xxiii. 212-650, where the various incidents of the chariot-race at the funeral games held in honour of Patroclus are detailed with much vividness. According to the ancient authorities the four-horse chariot-race was introduced into the Olympic games as early as the 23rd Olympiad; to this the race with mounted horses was added in the 33rd; while other variations (such as two-horse chariot-races, mule races, loose-horse races, special races for under-aged horses) were admitted at a still later period. Of the training and management of the Olympic race-horse we are left in ignorance; but it is known that the equestrian candidates were required to enter their names and send their horses to Elis at least thirty days before the celebration of the games commenced, and that the charioteers and riders, whether owners or proxies, went through a prescribed course of exercise during the intervening month. At all the other national games of Greece (Pythian, Isthmian, Nemean), as well as at many of the local festivals (the Athenian Olympia and Panathenaea), similar contests had a prominent place. Some indication of the extent to which the passion for horse-racing was indulged in at Athens, for example, about the time of Aristophanes may be obtained from the scene with which The Clouds opens; while it is a significant fact that the Boeotians termed one of the months of their year, corresponding to the Athenian Hecatombaeon, Hippodromius (" Horse-race month "; see Plutarch, Cam. 15). For the chariot-races and horse-races of the Greeks and Romans, see Circus and Games.
Great Britain
There is no direct historical evidence to show that the ancient Britons addicted themselves to any form of this amusement; but there are indications that among some at least of the Germanic tribes, from a very early period, horse-racing was an accompaniment of their religious cultus. There can be no doubt that the Romans encouraged the pursuit in Britain, if they did not introduce it; traces of race-courses belonging to the period of their occupation have been frequently discovered. The influence of the Christian Church was everywhere at first strongly against the practice. The opinion of Augustine and other fathers of the church with regard to attendance at the spectacles, whether of theatre or of circus, is well known; those who performed in them were rigidly excluded from church fellowship, and sometimes even those who merely frequented them. Thus the first council of Arles, in its fourth canon, declared that those members of the church who drove chariots at the public games should, so long as they continued in that employment, be denied communion. (Compare the rule in the Ap. Const. viii. 32; ap. Bingham, Ant. Chr. Church, xvi. 4, io.) In many cases, however, the weight of ecclesiastical authority proved insufficient to cope with the force of old custom, or with the fascination of a sport the unchristian character of which was not very easily demonstrable; and ultimately in Germany and elsewhere the old local races appear to have been admitted to a recognized place among the ceremonies peculiar to certain Christian festivals.
The first distinct indication which contemporary history affords of horse-racing as a sport occurs in the Description of the City of London of William Fitzstephen ( c. 1174). He says that in a certain " plane field without one of the gates (quidam planus campus re et nomine - Smithfield, quasi Smoothfield) every Friday, unless it be one of the more solemn festivals, is a noted show of well-bred ( nobilium ) horses exposed for sale. The earls, barons and knights who are resident in the city, as well as a multitude of citizens, flock thither either to look on or buy." After describing the different varieties of horses brought into the market, especially the more valuable chargers (dextrarios preciosos ), he says: " When a race is to be run by such horses as these, and perhaps by others which, in like manner, according to their breed are strong for carriage and vigorous for the course, the people raise a shout and order the common horses to be withdrawn to another part of the field. The jockeys, who are boys expert in the management of horses, which they regulate by means of curb bridles, sometimes by threes and sometimes by twos, as the match is made, prepare themselves for the contest. Their chief aim is to prevent a competitor from getting before them. The horses too, after their manner, are eager for the race; their limbs tremble, and impatient of delay they cannot stand still; upon the signal being given they stretch out their limbs, hurry on the course, and are borne along with unremitting speed. The riders, inspired with the love of praise and the hope of victory, clap spurs to their flying horses, lashing them with whips, and inciting them by their shouts " (see Stow's Translation) .
In the reign of Richard I. knights rode Whitsuntide on steeds and palfreys over a three-mile course for " forty pounds of ready gold," according to the old romance of Sir Bevys of Hampton. The feats of the tilt-yard, however, seem to have surpassed horse-racing in popular estimation at the period of the crusades. That the sport was to some extent indulged in by King John is quite possible, as running horses are frequently mentioned in the register of royal expenditure; and we know that Edward III. had a number of running horses, but it is probable they were chiefly used for field sports.
An evidence of the growing favour in which horse-racing was held as a popular amusement is furnished by the fact that public races were established at Chester in 1512. Randle Holme of that city tells us that towards the latter part of Henry VIII.'s reign, on Shrove Tuesday, the company of saddlers of Chester presented to " the drapers a wooden ball embellished with flowers, and placed upon the point of a lance. This ceremony was performed in the presence of the mayor at the cross of the Roody or Roodee, an open place near the city; but this year (1540) the ball was changed into a silver bell, valued at three shillings and sixpence or more, to be given to him who shall run best and furthest on horseback before them on the same day, Shrove Tuesday; these bells were denominated St George's bells." In the reign of Elizabeth there is evidence from the poems of Bishop Hall (1597) that racing was in vogue, though apparently not patronized by the queen, or it would no doubt have formed part of the pastimes at Kenilworth; indeed, it seems then to have gone much out of fashion.
The accession of the Stuarts opened up an era of prosperity for the sport, for James I., who, according to Youatt, had encouraged if not established horse-racing in Scotland, greatly patronized it in England when he came to the throne. Not only did he run races at Croydon and Enfield, but he endeavoured to improve the breed of horses by the purchase for a high figure of the Arab stallion known as Markham's Arabian, which little horse, however, was beaten in every race he ran.
In 1607, according to Camden's Britannia, races were run near York, the prize being a little golden bell. Camden also mentions as the prize for running horses in Gatherley Forest a little golden ball, which was apparently anterior to the bell. In 1609 Mr Robert Ambrye, sometime sheriff of the city of Chester, caused three silver bells to be made of good value, which bells he appointed to be run for with horses on St George's day upon the Roodee, the first horse to have the best bell and the money put in by the horses that ran - in other words, a sweepstake - the bells to be returned that day twelvemonth as challenge cups are now; towards the expenses he had an allowance from the city. In 1613 subscription purses are first mentioned. Nicholls, in his Progress of James I., makes mention of racing in the years 1617 and 1619. Challenge bells appear to have continued to be the prizes at Chester, according to Randle Holme the younger, and Ormerod's History of Chester, until 1623 or 1624, when Mr John Brereton, mayor of Chester, altered the course and caused the horses to run five times round the Roodee, the bell to be of good value, 8 or;10, and to be a free bell to be held for ever - in other words, a presentation and not a challenge prize.
During James's reign public race meetings were established at Gatherley or Garterley, near Richmond in Yorkshire, at Croydon in Surrey, and at Enfield Chase, the last two being patronized by the king, who not only had races at Epsom during his residence at Nonsuch, but also built a house at Newmarket for the purpose of enjoying hunting, and no doubt racing too, as we find a note of there having been horse-races at this place as early as 1605. Races are also recorded as having taken place at Linton near Cambridge, but they were probably merely casual meetings. The prizes were for the most part silver or gold bells, whence the phrase " bearing away the bell." The turf indeed appears to have attracted a great deal of notice, and the systematic preparation of running horses was studied, attention being paid to their feeding and training, to the instruction of jockeys - although private matches between gentlemen who rode their own horses were very common, - and to the adjustment of weights, which were usually about io stone. The sport also seems to have taken firm hold of the people, and to have become very popular.
| [GREAT BRITAIN The reign of Charles I., which commenced in 1625, saw still more marked strides made, for the king not only patronized the racing at Newmarket, which we know was current in 1640, but thoroughly established it there, and built a stand house in 1667, since which year the races have been annual. Mention is likewise made in the comedy of the Merry Beggars, played in 1641, of races, both horse and foot, in Hyde Park, which were patronized by Charles I., who gave a silver cup, value ioo guineas, to be run for instead of bells. Butcher, in his survey of the town of Stamford (1646), also says that a race was annually run in that town for a silver and gilt cup and cover, of the value of £7 or £8, provided by the care of the aldermen for the time being out of the interest of a stock formerly made by the nobility and gentry of the neighbourhood. In 1648 Clarendon tells us that a meeting of Royalists was held at Banstead Downs, as Epsom Downs were then called, " under the pretence of a horse-race," so that horse-racing at Epsom was not unknown early in the 17th century; Pepys, too, in his Diary of 1663, mentions his having intended to go to Banstead Downs to see a famous horse-race. Cromwell is said to have kept running horses in the year 1653, but in 1654 he appears to have gone so far as to forbid racing for six and eight months respectively. After the Reformation in 1660, a new impetus was given to horse-racing, which had languished during the civil wars, and the races at Newmarket, which had been suspended, were restored and attended by the king; and as an additional spur to emulation, according to Youatt, royal plates were given at each of the principal courses, and royal mares, as they were called, were imported from abroad. Charles II. rebuilt the house originally erected at Newmarket by James I., which had fallen into decay. The Round course was made in 1666, and racing at the headquarters of the turf was regulated in the most systematic way, as to the course, weights and other conditions. Charles II. was the first monarch who entered and ran horses in his own name; and, besides being a frequent visitor at the races on Newmarket Heath, and on Burford Downs, near Stockbridge, where the Bibury Club meeting was held, he established races at Datchet. In the reign of James II. nothing specially noteworthy occurred, but William III. continued former crown donations and even added to them. Anne was much devoted to horse-racing, and not only gave royal plates to be competed for, but ran horses for them in her own name. In 1703 Doncaster races were established, when 4 guineas a year were voted by the corporation towards a plate, and in 1716 the Town Plate was established by the same authority to be run on Doncaster Moor. Nearly a century, however, elapsed before the St Leger was instituted. Matches at Newmarket had become common, for we find that Basto, one of the earliest race-horses of whom we have any authentic account, won several matches there in 1708 and 1709. In the latter year, according to Camden, York races were established, the course at first being on Clifton Ings, but it was subsequently removed to Knavesmire, on which the races are now run. In 1710 the first gold cup said to have been given by the queen, of 60 guineas value, was run for by six-year-old horses carrying 12 stone each, the best of three 4-mile heats, and was won by Bay Bolton. In 1711 it was increased to Too guineas. In 1712 Queen Anne's gelding Pepper ran for the Royal Cup of £Too at York, and her Mustard, a nutmeg-grey horse, ran for the same prize in 1713. Again in 1714 her Majesty's bay horse Star won a sweepstake of 10 guineas added to a plate of £40 at the same place, in four heats, carrying T 1 stone. In 1716 the Ladies' Plate at York for five-year-olds was won by Aleppo, son of the Darley Arabian. Racing and match-making continued to be a regular sport at Newmarket, and at York and Hambleton, and we also find a record of a race at Lincoln in August 1717 for a silver tea-board, won by Brocklesby Betty, as was the Queen's Plate at Black Hambleton in the year before. Between 1714 and 1720 there were races at Pontefract in Yorkshire for plates or money. The best of two out of three heats was to be the winner, provided the said horse was not distanced in the third heat - the distance post being 1 furlong from the winning post; and this appears to have been a usual condition. In or about the year 1721 Flying Childers is said to have run a trial against Almanzor and Brown Betty over the Round course at Newmarket (3 m. 4 f. 93 y.) in 6 m. 40 s., and another trial over the Beacon course (4 m. T f. 138 y.) in 7 m. 30 s. - which is fast even for a six-year old; but it is just possible that in those days the art of time-taking was anything but perfect. In 1721 George I. gave ioo guineas in specie in lieu of the gold cup at York presented by Anne, and the king's or queen's plates have been given in cash ever since. In 1725 a ladies' plate was run for on the 14th of September by female riders on Ripon Heath in Yorkshire. In 1727 Mr John Cheney established the Racing Calendar - an historical list of all the horse matches run, and of all plates and prizes run for in England and Wales of the value of Do or upwards in 1727, &c. No systematic records had till then been preserved of the running of the racehorses of the day, and it is only through the performances of certain celebrated horses and mares that we have any information of what actually took place, and even that is more or less of a fragmentary kind. At this time racing was thoroughly established as a national and popular sport, for there were upwards of a hundred meetings in England and Wales; but the plates or sweepstakes run for were for the most part of small value, as £10, £20, £30, £40, and sometimes £50. In 1727, according to Whyte, there were only a dozen royal plates run for in England: one at Newmarket in April for six-year-old horses at 12 stone each, in heats over the Round course - first called the King's Plate course; one for five-year-old mares at io stone each, in one heat, and another in October for six-year-old horses at 12 stone, in heats over the same course; one at York (which commenced in 1711) for six-year-old horses, 12 stone each, 4-m. heats; one at Black Hambleton, Yorkshire (of which no regular account was kept until 1715), for five-year-old mares, 10 stone, 4 m.; one at each of the following places, Nottingham, Lincoln, Guildford, Winchester, Salisbury and Lewes, for sixyear-old horses, 12 stone each, 4-m. heats; and one at Ipswich for five-year-old horses, 10 stone each. A royal plate was also run for at Edinburgh in 1728 or 1729, and one at the Curragh of Kildare in 1741. In 1739 an act was passed to prevent racing by ponies and weak horses, 13 Geo. II. cap. io, which also prohibited prizes or plates of less value than £50. At this period the best horses seldom ran more than five or six times, and some not so often, there being scarcely any plates of note except royal ones, and very few sweepstakes or matches of value except at Newmarket until after 1750; moreover, as the races were run in heats, best three out of four, over a course of several miles in length, the task set the horses before winning a plate was very severe, and by no means commensurate with the value of the prize. In 1751 the great subscription races commenced at York, the city also giving £50 added money to each day's racing. At Newmarket there were only two meetings, one in April and the other in October, but in 1753 a second spring meeting was established, and in that year the jockey Club, which was founded in 1750, established the present racing ground. In 1762 a second October meeting was added, in 1765 the July meeting, in 1770 the Houghton meeting, and in 1771 the Craven meeting. In 1766 Tattersall's was established at Hyde Park Corner by Richard Tattersall for the sale of horses; it remained the great emporium of horses, and the rendezvous for betting on horse races, until 1865, when, the lease of the premises at the Corner having run out, it was removed to Knightsbridge. We now come to a very important period - that at which the great three-year-old races were instituted. The St Leger was established in 1776 by Colonel St Leger, who resided at Parkhill, near Doncaster. On the 24th of September, during the Doncaster races, which took place annually The St in the autumn, at his suggestion a sweepstake of Leger. 25 guineas each for three-year-old colts and fillies was run over a 2-m. course; there were six competitors, the property of as many subscribers, - a very small beginning, it must be owned. The race was won by a filly by Sampson, belonging to Lord Rockingham, which was afterwards named Allabaculia. In the following year the same stake had twelve subscribers and ten starters, and was won by Mr Sotheron's Bourbon. It was not, however, until the succeeding year, 1778, that it was named the St Leger, in compliment to the founder, at the suggestion of the marquis of Rockingham. The stakes were increased in 1832 to 50 sovs. each, and the weights have been raised from time to time to keep pace with modern requirements. The Doncaster Cup, a weight for age race for threeyear-olds and upwards, was established in 1801. The course is nearly flat, of an oval or kite shape, about 14 m. round the town-moor. The Epsom Derby and Oaks were established in 1779 and 1780, the Oaks in the former and the Derby in the latter year. It is true that in 1730 Epsom races became annual., but run for in heats, the money required being raised by voluntary subscriptions, as well by the owners of booths on the downs as by the parties more immediately interested, whence arose the custom of charges being made by the lord of the manor for permission to erect booths, &c. during the racemeetings. On the 14th of May 1779 the twelfth earl of Derby originated the Oaks stakes (named after his seat or hunting-box " The Oaks " at Woodmansterne), a sweepstake for three-yearold fillies run on a course 1 z m. long. The race was won by Lord Derby's bay filly Bridget, bred by himself - her sire being Herod and her dam Jemima. In the following year the earl established a sweepstake of 50 sovs. each, half forfeit, for three-year-old colts. This, the first Derby, was won by Sir C. Bunbury's chestnut colt Diomed by Florizel, son of Herod, who beat eight opponents, including the duke of Bolton's Bay Bolton and Lord Grosvenor's Diadem. These two races have since been run for regularly every year, the Derby, which before 1839 was run on the Thursday, now taking place on the Wednesday, and the Oaks on the Friday, in the same week at the end of May. Ascot races, which are held on Ascot Heath, were established by the duke of Cumberland, uncle of George III., and are patronized by royalty in state or semi-state. They are 1727, but the races were for the most part plates and other prizes of small importance, though a royal plate for hunters appears to have been given in 1785. The Gold Cup was first given in 1807, and has been regularly competed for ever since, though from 1845 to 1853 inclusive it went by the designation of the Emperor's Plate, the prize being offered by the emperor of Russia. In 1854, during the Crimean War, the cup was again called the Ascot Gold Cup, and was given from the race fund. The Queen's Vase was first given in 1838, and the Royal Hunt Cup in 1843, while in 1865 a new long-distance race for four-year-olds and upwards was established, and named the Alexandra Plate, after the Princess of Wales. Goodwood races were established by the duke of Richmond on the downs at the northern edge of Goodwood Park in 1802,. upon the earl of Egremont discontinuing races in his park at Petworth. The races take place at the end of July, on the close of the London season. The Goodwood Cup, the chief prize of the meeting, was first given in 1812; but from 1815 to 1824 inclusive there was no race for it, with the single exception of 1816. During the latter half of the 18th century horse-racing declined very much in England, and numbers of meetings were discontinued, the wars which took place necessarily Two causing the change. From the beginning of the 19th , century, and especially after the conclusion of the French war in 1815, racing rapidly revived, and many new meetings were either founded or renewed after a period of suspension, and new races were from time to time established. Among others the Two Thousand Guineas at Newmarket for three-year-old colts and fillies, and the One Thousand Guineas for fillies, were established in 1809 and 1814 respectively, the Goodwood Stakes in 1823, the Chester Cup and Brighton Stakes in 1824, the Liverpool Summer Cup in 1828, the Northumberland Plate in 1833, the Manchester Cup in 1834, the Ascot Stakes and the Cesarewitch and Cambridgeshire Handicaps at Newmarket in 1839, the Stewards' and Chesterfield Cups at Goodwood in 1840, the Great Ebor Handicap at York in 1843, and, to omit others, the City and Suburban Handicap at Epsom in 1851, and;,the Lincoln Handicap in 1853. Two-ear-old racing was established very shortly after the great three-year-old races, and on a similar footing, that is to say, the competitors carried the same weights, with the exception of a slight allowance for sex, - the July Stakes at the Newmarket Midsummer Meeting having been founded as early as 1786. The Woodcote Stakes at Epsom succeeded in 1807, the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster in 1823, the Criterion Stakes at the Houghton Meeting in 1829, the Chesterfield Stakes at the Newmarket July meeting in 1834, the New Stakes at Ascot in 1843, the Middle Park Plate (or two-year-old Derby, as it is sometimes called) at the Newmarket Second October Meeting in 1866, the Dewhurst Plate at the Houghton Meeting in 1875, and the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood in 1877. (E. D. B.) Present Conditions. - Horse-racing, usually described as " the national sport," has greatly advanced in general popularity in the British Isles. There is no doubt that the best specimens of the English thoroughbred horse are the finest animals of their kind in existence; the value of an infusion of the blood for chargers, hunters, hacks, and other varieties is scarcely to be overestimated; and the only way of ascertaining what animals may be most judiciously employed for breeding purposes is to submit them to the tests of preparation for and performance on the turf. Racing is therefore a practical necessity. On some accepted authority, the origin of which is not to be traced, five races run each season by three-year-olds are distinguished as " classic." Of these the chief, by universal consent, is the Derby, which takes place at Epsom during the week which includes the 31st May. The Epsom course, on which the Derby has been run since its origin in 1780, is by no means a good one, in consequence of the abrupt turn at Tattenham Corner; and the severe descent after this turn is made is also held to be a disadvantage, though a really good horse should be able to act on ascents, descents and level ground with equal relative facility. In many respects the St Leger, run at Doncaster about the middle of September, is a better test, as here colts and fillies meet when both are presumably able to do themselves the fullest justice. September, indeed, has been called " the Mares' Month," for though fillies are eligible to run in the Derby, they are very frequently out of sorts and always more or less uncertain in their performances during the summer - only four have been successful in 129 contests for the stake - whereas in the autumn their numerous victories in the St Leger prove them to be at their best. It was the recognition of this fact which induced an alteration of the weights in the year 1882, previously to which fillies had carried 5 lb less than colts; the weights, formerly 8 st. 10 lb and 8 st. 5 lb, are now 9 st. and 8 st. r 'lb. The Doncaster course is superior for racing purposes to that at Epsom, where the Oaks, another of the " classic races," is run on the Friday following the Derby; the other two contests which come into this category being the Two Thousand Guineas for colts and fillies, and the One Thousand Guineas for fillies only. These races take place at Newmarket during the First Spring Meeting, the former always on a Wednesday, the latter on Friday. The expression " a Derby horse " is common, but has no precise significance, as the threeyear-olds vary much in capacity from year to year. It is generally understood, for instance, that Ormonde, who won the Derby in 1886, must have been at least 21 lb superior to Sir Visto or Jeddah, who were successful in 1895 and 1898. By their ability to carry weight the value of horses is estimated on the turf. Thus one horse who beats another by a length over a distance of a mile would be described as a 5-lb better animal. The term " handicap horse " once had an adverse significance which it does not now possess. In handicaps horses carry weight according to their presumed capacity, as calculated by handicappers who are licensed by the Jockey Club and the prizes were nothing more than the usual plates Ascot mentioned in the first Racing Calendar, published in g p employed by the directors of different meetings. The idea of a handicap is to afford chances of success to animals who would have no prospect of winning if they met their rivals on equal terms; but of late years the value of handicaps q terms; y p has been so greatly increased that few owners)resist the temptation of taking part in them. Horses nowadays who do not run in this kind of contest are very rare, though a few, such as Ormonde, Isinglass, and Persimmon, never condescended to this class of sport. The duke of Westminster did not hesitate to put his Derby winner Bend Or into some of the chief handicaps; and it is, of course, a great test of merit when horses carrying heavy weights show marked superiority in these contests to rivals of good reputation more lightly burdened. St Gatien, who dead-heated with Harvester in the Derby of 1884; Robert the Devil, who won the St Leger in 1880 and on several occasions beat the Derby winner Bend Or; and La Fleche, who won the Oaks and the St Leger in 1892, added to the esteem in which they were held by their successes under heavy weights, the colts in the Cesarewitch, the filly in the Cambridgeshire. Of the chief handicaps of the year, special mention may be made of the City and Suburban, run at the Epsom Spring Meeting over 14 m.; the Kempton Park Jubilee, over 1 m.; the Ascot Stakes, 2 m., and the Royal Hunt Cup, I m.; the Stewards' Cup at Goodwood, six furlongs; the Cesarewitch Stakes and the Cambridgeshire Stakes at Newmarket, the former 24 m., the latter now a mile and a furlong - till lately it was " a mile and a distance " - " a distance " on the Turf being a fixed limit of 240 yds. The cups at Manchester, Newbury, and Liverpool are also handicaps of some note, though it may be remarked that the expression a cup horse " is understood to imply an animal capable of distinguishing himself over a long distance at even weights against the best opponents. There are many other valuable stakes of almost equal importance, diminishing to what are known as " selling handicaps," the winners of which are always put up for sale by auction immediately after the race, in the lowest class of them the condition being that the winner is to be offered for f 50. No stake of less than £zoo can be run for under Jockey Club rules, which govern all reputable flat racing in England, nor is any horse ever entered to be sold for less than £50. As horses mature they are naturally able to carry heavier weights. Scale of Weight for Age. The following scale of weight for age is published under the sanction of the Stewards of the Jockey Club as a guide to managers of race meetings, but is not intended to be imperative, especially as regards the weights of twoand three-year olds relatively to the old horses in selling races early in the year. It is founded on the scale published by Admiral Rous, and revised by him in 1873, but has been modified in accordance with suggestions from the principal trainers and practical authorities. 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 14 m. In order to secure a large entry, horses were to be nominated soon after their birth; owners who per ceived 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 £io,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 190o a fourth race of similar character, the Century Stakes, was originated at Sandown, but the experiment proved a failure, and the contest was discontinued.
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