144 THE TURF 



good can't be far off/ May it prove so 

 here ! l 



The alteration in the amount of the St. 

 Leger stakes will do something towards 

 abating trickery at Doncaster. The sum 

 subscribed was twenty-five sovereigns, play 

 or pay. It is now fifty sovereigns, half 

 forfeit. The lightness of the old charge 

 induced several ill-disposed persons to bring 

 their horses to the post, purposely to create 

 false starts ; and it will be recollected that, 

 in 1827, there were no less than eight of 

 these, to which the defeat of Mameluke 

 was chiefly attributed. The grand-stand 

 on this course is one of the finest in Eng- 

 land; and if the genius of taste had pre- 

 sided at the building of it, we scarcely know 

 what improvement could have been made. 

 The betting-room has been considered 

 thoroughly Greek ! 



Although we have reason to believe that 

 there have been fewer attempts at turf 



1 An amendment in these matters is already apparent. 

 The eyes of noblemen and gentlemen have been opened 

 to certain proceedings, and the turf is evidently in a 

 more healthy state than it was when these papers first 

 appeared in the Quarterly Review. 



