RACING OFFICIALS, 6i 



of the necessary funds in the way of added money (we are 

 not now speaking of Newmarket, Ascot, or Goodwood, where 

 the staff is as it were ex officio that of the Jockey Club), and he 

 does practically appoint the stewards — i.e. he requests a certain 

 number of gentlemen of local influence, or of position and ex- 

 perience on the turf, to accept the office, and if at the time of 

 the meeting none of them appear upon the scene, and have 

 not chosen their substitutes, he has to find deputy stewards 

 from the turfites present, and to affix their names in some con- 

 spicuous place, that men may know with whom they have to 

 deal. One of his principal labours is the sohciting of entries — 

 * canvassing ' it is called — a work which has to be carried on 

 for weeks, or it may be months before the meeting, and for 

 which purpose it is necessary that he should be known to all 

 (racing) men, and, if possible, personally popular. One of the 

 most successful men ever known in this line was the late Mr. 

 John Frail, of Shrewsbury, who may fairly be styled, in more 

 ways than one, the father of clerks of courses. Entries he 

 would have, and entries he got somehow. He is said to 

 have invented the system of entrance fees, which have now 

 been universally adopted, and which are a large source of 

 revenue to every racing executive. 



CLERK OF THE COURSE. 



The clerk of the course is expected to look to every detail 

 of the business : — the arrangement of the weighing-room, 

 press-room, jockeys' room, the posting of the gatekeepers, the 

 ordering of the course — all more or less devolves upon him, and 

 during the progress of the meeting he is supposed to be, and is, 

 ubiquitous ; he it is who knows the men who may have a free 

 pass into stand or paddock, he it is who suggests the summary 

 ejection of evil-doers. He has to provide good temper for 

 himself and for his patrons, he has to explain away the burdens 

 laid upon other men's horses, yet no one will touch his load 

 with a little finger. If everything goes right, he is passed 



