THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



being eligible ; but in view of the handicap 

 terms those dogs which possess speed, and 

 scale 9 to 12 lbs. amongst the light-weights, 

 and over 17 lbs. in the heavy ones, are con- 

 sidered to have the best chance. 



About a dozen years ago an effort was made 

 to give the sport a little more tone. Several 

 ladies and gentlemen of influence were 

 induced to give their patronage and prac- 

 tical support to races which were run in 

 the south of 

 England, a 

 favourable 

 opportunity 

 occurring in 

 connect ion 

 with the show 

 of the Ladies' 

 Kennel Asso- 

 ciation, which 

 was held in 

 the Ranelagh 

 Club grounds 

 at Barn Elms. 

 The difficulty 

 of disassoci- 

 ating such 



When rabbit- 

 coursing was more 

 in vogue it was tin- 

 custom to arrange 

 the handicaps ac- 

 cording to the 

 height of the com- 

 petitors at the 

 shoulder, and not 

 by weight. 



Whippet racing 

 in some form or 

 other has existed 

 much longer than 

 the generality of 



the present day fanciers imagine, for this 

 writer can rely on his memory for at least 

 half a century, and even so long ago the 

 patriarchs of the period were prone to 

 recount the wonderful deeds performed by 

 famous Whippets of yet earlier years. 



MG FOR THE PISTOL SHOT. 



WHIPPET RACING. 



competitions from the squabbling and com- 

 monplace surroundings which were prevalent 

 proved too much for the endurance of those 

 who had undertaken the responsibility, 

 and no headway was made, although 

 Royalty gave its patronage to the event, 



