TURF LIFE IN THE COLONIES. 13 



accommodation at both tliese places is far ahead of 

 that on the principal English courses. 



Racing in the Sunny South is more of a pleasure 

 than a business. Thousands of people are not cooped 

 up in small rings, as though they were so many 

 sheep crowded into a pen. There is plenty of elbow 

 room, and even on a Melbourne Cup day at Fleming- 

 ton there is ample room for the ladies to promenade 

 on the spacious lawn, although there are from fifty to 

 eighty thousand people present on the course. Ten 

 thousand is a very small attendance at a great race 

 meeting in Australia, although it does not reach this 

 number at suburban meetings, without it be an 

 exceptional day. 



It is this feeling of freedom and comfort makes 

 turf life in the Colonies so enjoyable. There is so 

 much geniality and goodwill about it. Although 

 men are keen about making money, and occasionally 

 indulge in sharp practices, most owners are not averse 

 to the public knowing what their horses can do, and 

 what chances they have of winning. No owner I ever 

 met liked to be forestalled in the betting market, nor 

 is it natural he should be. It is not in human nature 

 that such should be the case. Granted the public pay 

 freely towards the race-fund, in the shape of gate- 

 money, they should not forget that keeping race- 

 horses is a very expensive game. The public know 

 exactly what they pay to go to a race-meeting to 



