CHAPTER VII 



RACING 



FROM my boyhood racing and steeplechas- 

 ing have perhaps been the greatest of my 

 many recreations. At any rate, during a 

 period now extending well over half-a-century, 

 it has been my pleasure and delight to observe 

 the very many changes that have occurred in 

 both branches of the sport, always with a true 

 and keen interest in its welfare. Breeding and 

 racing in my time have certainly not been marked 

 with a lack of improvement. On the other hand, 

 I think it must be generally admitted that both 

 racing and steeplechasing were never more ably 

 managed than they are in the present era. The 

 recent war may be here mentioned as the best 

 of tests. It is true that for the time beinor it 

 shook the very foundation of horse breeding, as 

 it did others of our great industries. The war 

 over, however, mark the result: 191 9 gave us a 

 year of records not only in racing but in general 

 history — the record of peace after a record war ; 



140 



