330 HISTOEY OF THE EOYAL BUCKHOUNDS AND ASCOT RACES. 



ending 1739 these hole-and-corner racing fixtures — at which a 

 thoroughbred race-horse rarely ran — attained unenviable noto- 

 riety, and were almost universally condemned by the public 

 and in the press. At length the remonstrances of the members 

 of the Jockey Club and others had the desired effect. A bill 

 was introduced in Parliament, in which were embodied certain 

 provisions calculated to put a stop to the atrocities perpetrated 

 under the disguise of horse-racing. The outcome of this bill 

 was the Act of Parliament, 13 George II. c. 19, pursuant to 

 which it was enacted that from and after June 24, 1740, no 

 person was allowed to enter, start, or run any horse, mare, or 

 gelding for any race unless the animal so entered was the 

 bond fide property of the person by whom it was entered. 

 No person could enter more than one horse in any race. No 

 plate could be run for under the value of 50^., any infringe- 

 ment of this stipulation being liable to a penalty of 200^. ; five- 

 year-old horses to carry 10 stone, six-year-olds 11 stone, and 

 seven-year-olds, 12 stone each. The owner of any horse carrying 

 less weight to forfeit 200^. The entrance money to go to " the 

 second best horse," and not to what is now technically called 

 the " Fund." The Act did not apply to Scotland or Ireland, nor 

 to matches run for at Newmarket or York. The primary object 

 of this Act was to hamper the objectionable hole-and-corner 

 " race meetings " above referred to, at which one of the chief 

 prizes was a cask of beer to the person who overtook and 

 lifted a pig by the tail — the tail having been well greased 

 for the occasion ! For a time, at least, the purport of this 

 Act had the desired effect, inasmuch as these objectionable 

 " race meetings " could not conform to the dictates of the law. 

 Unfortunately, in passing the Act, such genuine races as those 

 run for at Ascot and elsewhere by horses owned by staghunters 

 and hunt-servants — to whom a large stake was not a primary 

 object — had been overlooked ; consequently, as Ascot was too 

 poor to raise sufficient money, or to increase the 40 and 20 

 Guinea Plates to two of 50^. each, this meeting had to drop 

 out of the annals of the turf during the ensuing four years. 

 1740. — We were now at war with Spain. At home military 



