RACING IN THE 'PROVINCES? 91 



crowds on to the ground itself, there being then a tolerable 

 certainty that a given percentage will avail themselves of the 

 further accommodation of stands, &c. ; and these calculations 

 being made, as they now are, with nice accuracy, the committee 

 or clerks of the course may order their ' broad sheet,' with its 

 large promise of added money, not only without fear of failing 

 to meet their liabilities, but with every confidence that a margin 

 of much gain will be left over for all concerned in the venture. 



As an instance of what can be done by this system of trading 

 on racing may be cited a North-country company of which the 

 original shareholders have turned their capital over six or seven 

 times in the course of a few years, and wherein for i,2oo/. 

 worth of original shares, upwards of 8,ooo/. was recently 

 offered and declined. 



With enterprises of this nature, open meetings, like Ascot, 

 Epsom, Doncaster, Goodwood, and York can alone successfully 

 compete, arid of these the first named is facile princeps. Under 

 the able administration of Col. Seymour, Capt. Bulkeley, and 

 Mr. Cades, the Secretary, its funds acquired considerable pro- 

 portions, and a large and annually increasing capital was held 

 in trust by the Master of the Buckhounds, Capt. Bulkeley, 

 and Mr. Garrard. It was here that the first recorded bonus 

 of i,ooo/. was added to a stake, to wit the Alexandra Plate, 

 a race of three miles for four-year-olds and upwards, which was 

 inaugurated by the success of the celebrated mare Fille de 

 1'Air, the property of Count de Lagrange. Since that time 

 the wealth and the liberality of the Royal Meeting have in- 

 creased part passu, till in these days so great is the value of 

 the prizes, so great the prestige which attaches to the winning 

 thereof, that all which is most excellent in horseflesh, most am- 

 bitious in ownership, is annually attracted to that favoured spot. 



As long as the Derby is run for at Epsom, which, for aught 

 we know, may be to the end of time, so long will Epsom con- 

 tinue to fascinate the public, and people will flock to the Downs, 

 in the hope, or on the pretence, of seeing a race which not 



