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RACING IN THE YEAR OF WATERLOO. .1" ."",. •"""•mi i" take up a musty volume of li t Willi «•; l«ii,l-,| ■■• „f a hundred years ago. : "*"/" Period all Luropc was as much concerned lK1* m i,s u " "f a cetiturv later arc with 1 1.- «" ,Kai"«1- and compart* the racing of those far «.n days with that of the twentieth century. The annual official record of the fifty fifth year of i.oorge III was of moderate dimensions in comparison with those of normal limes in went years. In other respects, too. there i the world of difference. Lin there is at least one point in common —the familiar name Wcatherbv appears .hi the title m»w ol the volume of 1M5 ju»t as it does imw- "Crideiitljr tlie Chancellor «.f the i«-iiod had. like Mr. MeKoiuiH. Iieen searching for new sources of revenue, as we read in the preface liiat "on .11-" 1111: of the additional Stamp Inity, wliicli t.iok pluc- on the ihst „f Scpictiilier. ls]5. the snbscrip-tion 1.. the Kaciug Calendar" will in future lie twenty-six shillings | er annum: the first years subscription to be paid in advance" It may Ih-added thai anion;- places at wlii h Ihe beak could l.e oMained were "Mr. Partrkte, stable -taper, Rath, and the Coffee Room. Newmarket." Another in-t cresting item is a notice to the following effect: In confluence ol the many fatal accidents whieh have bappem-d by horses running too near the |»osts. ihe stewards at Newmarket MM have caused IkC large and fixed p.i»ts on the Heath to lie sur-rounded with turf banks, about five feet at the base, and sloping to the |tost at the height of about l.uir leet : and in other parts of the course, particularly where there are lurns. they have adopted ihe ruse of slender [Mists that will break oil any strong pressure." «»ne runs across some queer places devoted to the -IMirt of kings in the course of a stance through the index. Among these were Bodmin. Exeter, i:landf-ird. Barm t in these days content with a fair Kasiugsroke. Canterbury. Grimsby, Bridgwater, Kghani. iuildford and Holywell. Of i-ourse. Ascot. ..■•odwood. Laanea, Iioin-astcr. Warwick, Lincoln and •ther places in which racing still go"s on when the government jm riuii held their meeting in the early part of last century, bin it will c.ime as a surprise to souk f-lks wjio regard Newbury as a inod-.111 center to learn that the sport nourished like the green bav free in the days of their fathers grandfathers. Certain of the rules, too. make queer reading now. lor instance, we are told that "a Whim Plate is weight for age and weight for inches." Again, "Give-aud-Take Ilales are fourteen hands. 1" carry a stated weight, all above, or under, to carry extra, or be allowed, the proportion of .-vcii pounds for an inch." This may be a trifle beyond ones philosophy, but tlier«- is no occasion to quarrel with the decision that "the horse thai has his head in front al the Ending Po*t first wins the race." That seems reasonable enough. The tiacker was left in no doubt as to how lie sNkhI. the rules on betting being delight fully explicit. Thus, -the person who lays the odds has a light to choose bis horse, or the field." And again. •When a person has chosen his horse tin- field is what starts against him, but then- is 110 field without one starts with hint." I hen. what could be clearer than this as an "example": "I bei that Mr. Uobiu.sous bl. h. Sampson Absolutely wins the Kings Plate at Newmarket next uu cling: Ike liet i- lost though be does not start, and won though lie goes over the course himself." One. however, ponders over the following: "Bets made in pounds are paid in guineas." The s|n:rting writer of a century ago. one cannot help reflecting, was :,t :1 , si.lcrahb disadvantage. in one ros|ieol al least, with Ihe scribe of the present day. Tin- former could not introduce the new s.-ason bv trotting out thai hardy annual. "The -addling lull on the Carh .line" for the very sufli • lent reason that the Lincoln meeting was not as-soeiated wilh the aacajiaa of the racing year. That Honor in 1K13 fell u|kui Catterk-k Bridge, which set the ball rolling on the last Wednesday in March. as a matter of fact. Lincoln had to wait until ihe autumn for its one days racing. The Catterick Bridge meeting, which lasted two days, was the only one of the opening week, while in thai which followed, Middleham — which in these days is chiefly noted as a training center — had Ihe field to itself. Then came the first of the Newmarket functions, with ils Craven Stakes, an event which is still decided. Itacing appeared 10 lie conducted on something like the war time methods of Hie past couple of years a hundred years Lack, as after Newmarket had run its five-day course there was only one meeting, at Durham, during the next ten days, following which we come to the First Spring meeting at headquarters, the program for which was largely- made up of matches, though, of course, ihcre was also llie Two Thousand Guineas. In coti-■Mttea with thi- nee, which was won by a colt •teamed Tigris, we read that so and so "also ran. ■ .ut the judge could place only the first two." The whys and wherefores are not stated. The Ei»som return— there was only one meeting at the |»eriod — makes a lieculiar comparison wilh those in more recent volumes. The only race of tlie first day was the Wo«d -ote Stakes, for which there were six starters, and which was won by a filly bearing the name of Rivulet. The betting. by the way. reads: "Even betting and ii to 5 Rivulet." On the Thursday the card was confined to the Berhy. which was won by a famous colt in Whisker. Again the judge had to express his inability to do more than place the first two. On the Friday matters brighten:-.!, there being, in addition to "the Oak*, three minor races. Ascot was also an unpretentious affair in those davs. relatively shaking. »n lie- first day there were but four races, ou the second there were five, and on the third three, including the odd Cup. then, as now. run over two miles and a half. This was won by the Duke of York* Aladdin, which must have been a versatile sort, seeing that on the following day he won Mm* six furlongs Wokingham Stakes, on which occasion he carried 12S imnnds. the bottom weigh! lieing eighty-three pounds] The Royal meeting did not mouo|K lize the bill al" that time, as Beverley clashed with it on one day. But for the fact that it hapiiened to aice place on a Suudav, there— would probably have been lacing on the flay of tint, battle of Waterloo. On ila- Tuesday following a stari was made with the Hampton Meeting, ami it is interesting to note Ihe names of Mylese.V-.lljd Twickenham among the titles of tlie races. There were only four events, run in heats, during the three days ef the meeting, so That those present were not surfeited with their favorite siKirt. ...... One gets occasional reminders of the troublous limes of • that iiartieular period of the century. For example at Salisbury . one of the races was won bv a wit named Wolletdey. the runner up in the same event being an animal known as elliuglon. while in anoiber race at the same meeting, the Vaaaaaary Cer* it was only in accordance with the fitness -r things that Waterloo should defeat all comers. ..,.., ,_ ; odwood was held in late .Inly, as is in- case in these davs but whether it was then dignified wilh ihe prefix "Glorious" one is unable to say. There was certainly nothing strikingly glorious •ilioiit tie program for the fixture, which was con-n„ed to two days. On the first day there were but two evenis. but on the final afternoon— or raom-inc. it may have been — the menu contained five York was evidently a fairly inqioriant meeting in lvl", ihe Augusl fixture la ling seven .lays, though then- was no "El or" on the card. Boor-aster came •iloii" somewhat later than is the case now. the meeting starting on a Saturday late 111 S -penile.-.-. The creel a I trad ion was. of course, the St. tat, while others events which were then run and re tain their places to the present, day were the Fitz-william Stakes, the Corporation Plate and tie Don easier Stakes Doncaster was almost immediately followed bv the three autumn carnivals at New- iiiikc and with the Houghton meeting the season ciine to a close. And this apparently will likewise owing to-but this is a digression this year, "no happen I Las nothing • do with the good old days of a ceniurv ago.-"J. P- «*•. to London Sporting Life.
