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3 1 9 ENGLISH RACING METHODS. The average American racegoer has little idea of the differences which exist in the management of a race meeting in this country and of one in England. Not only are the differences in the form of the sport itself , but things are accepted as a natural accompaniment of racing in one country which would be considered gross inconveniences in the other. So many minor differences exist, in fact, that from the beginning to the end of a racing day an American in England would find nearly everything connected with the meeting carried out in an entirely different manner from that which prevails here. In the first place, there is no such thing in England as getting on an electric car and being carried to the track in a !ow minutes. If a visitor wishes to attend any of the important meetings he will find it necessary to take a train and he will be lucky if he arrives at his destination in less than three or four hourB. Even Epsom Downs, where the Derby is run, is only to be reached by trains or cabs, and this last method of travel is prohibitive in price to one accustomed to payirg only a few cents for transpor-tion. It may be remarked at the outset that the question of price is the first and most important difference of the English and American racing games, a day in the former country costing about twenty times what the same period would cost here, presuming that the amount of the wagers was the same in both cases. At important meetings like that at Ascot it is necessary to make a special trip to the town UBelf and spend at least one night there. This same necessity prevails in the majority of the important meetings, nearly all the chief courses being located at some little town which owes its existence entirely to the racing. Upon taking a ticket to one of these places, should the visitor wish to travel first-class, he must pay six pence a mile for his transportation, or 12 cents in American money. The entrance fee to the course is also greater than here. While a free field exists at nearly all the meetings in Britain, it is only patronized by the lower of the three great English classes. Those who really support the racing are charged enormously for their attendance, three prices prevailing at the average track, and it is not until all three are paid that the visitor is I OOMTIUCKD ON 8BOOMD PAOK. i i i ENGLISH RACING METHODS. Continued from First Page. entitled to all the privileges of the grand stand, betting ring and paddock. The entrance fee is usually one guinea, or a trifle over . At the lesser meetings this covers admission to the paddock and grandstand, but at tlie large meetings one is merely admitted for this sum into the inclosure which corresponds to the American fence surrounding the stands. In the English course a stand is provided for those who wish to make no further | payment, but all those who desire to enter the j paddock and Tattersalls betting ring, where the responsible bookmakers assemble, are forced to pay another guinea. Admission to the I grandstand, which gives a view of the race at all points, is generally ten shillings extra, or about .40. Thus at a meeting similar in class to that of the best New York tracks, where the admission fee of covered everything, the stranger in England would be compelled to pay-over 2. Although there are stringent laws against betting, it has been decided by English judges that when no money changes hands there is no evidence of a wager. In consequence, each bookmaker has a clientele which he knows and with whom the wagers are recorded, to be settled later. If the person is unknown to the bookmaker, the money must be turned over to the latter, who gives no receipt for it, thus avoiding any damaging evidence in the shape of a token that bets have been made. Wagers, as a rule, are settled the day following, except at meetings like Ascot, when the Monday following the weeks racing is known as "Black Monday, on account of the customary squaring up necessary on that day. Besides the bookmakers in Tattersalls inclosure, there are also ready-money bookmakers in the guinea inclosure and in the tree field. The gentry who practice the profession in the free field, however, are as a rule of a low description, giving small odds and welching when an opportunity offers. The course has entirely different aspects from ths American track on account of invariably being of turf instead of soil. Instead of being oval or elliptical in shape, as Americans are accustomed to see it, it is often irregular in form, with the starting point of races at each distance far away from the grandstand. Steeplec basing and flat racing do not flourish on the same courses in England, nor at the same seasons, so in consequence a steeplechase course in the infield is rarely seen. There is no stand for the starter at the various points. Instead he remains upon the ground and directs the movements of the jockeys from there. There is seldom a course fenced in for any distance and in consequence they have a more open aspect than American tracks, which are fenced in and lined with distance poles and starters stands. On the other side only the stretch is fenced in. and this does not prevent the people from the field from swarming there during the intervals of the racing. This crowding of a course would never be tolerated in this country.
