49 



long be upheld in a free and sport-loving 

 country ; and it is without surprise we find 

 the Government, five years later, with- 

 drawing from a position which must have 

 made it excessively unpopular. The next 

 law (18 Geo. II., c. 34, sec. xi.) opens with 

 the announcement that, whereas the thirteen 

 Royal Plates of 100 guineas value each, 

 annually run for, as also the high prices 

 that are continually given for horses of 

 strength and size are sufficient to encourage 

 breeders to raise their cattle (sic) to the 

 utmost size and strength possible, "There- 

 fore it shall be lawful to run any match for 

 a stake of not less than ^50 value at any 

 weights whatsoever and at any place or 

 places whatsoever." 



The effect of this " climbing down " 

 measure was naturally to introduce lighter 

 weights. Thus in 1754, to take an example 

 that presents itself, Mr. Fenwick's Match'em 

 won the Ladies' Plate of 126 guineas at 

 York carrying nine stone, as a five-year- 

 old ; six-year-olds carrying 10 stone, four- 

 mile heats; and in 1755 Match'em beat 

 Trajan at Newmarket carrying 8 stone 7 Ibs. 

 Perhaps it is not too much to say that the 

 Act of 1745 was the first step towards 

 modern light-weight racing. It must be 

 4 



