6 7 



used for conveying a horse from training 

 quarters to the race course. Lord George 

 Bentinck, who managed Lord Lichfield's 

 racing stable, resolved at the last moment 

 to run Elis in the St. Leger, and astonished 

 the betting fraternity by producing him at 

 Doncaster in time for the race ; to do this 

 he had borrowed a van which had been 

 constructed to carry fat cattle to Smithfield 

 Show. The fact that Elis won the St. Leger 

 to which he had been brought in this, then 

 novel, fashion no doubt did something to 

 stimulate the practice of transporting race 

 horses thus ; but the van was gradually 

 superseded by the horse-box, which was 

 first employed for the purpose about 1840. 



Railways, as they spread over the country, 

 did much to increase the number of meet- 

 ings held and to increase the numbers of 

 entries. We find that in the period between 

 1827 and 1837 the number of horses run- 

 ning increased from 1,166 in the former 

 year to 1 2 1 3 in the latter ; while during the 

 period between 1860, when railroads had 

 become numerous, and 1870, the number of 

 horses running rose from 1,717 in the former 

 year to 2,569 in the latter. 



The development of the daily sporting 

 press and the spread of the telegraph system 



