202 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



Ralph Harper, of Kearsley, a mining hamlet 

 situated half-way between Manchester and 

 Bolton. Probably no man living is so 

 thoroughly acquainted with Whippet racing 

 as he, in fact, it is pretty generally conceded 

 that he has forgotten more about the sport 

 than most others know. Another trust- 

 worthy handicapper is Mr. Large, of Wolver- 

 hampton, whose bitch Nance is at the present 



MR. J. J. HOLGATE'S SHIRLEY DIXIE 

 BY SHIRLEY BANNER SHIRLEY DAISY. 



time playing an important part in big events ; 

 while Mr. Joe Chadwick, of Higginshaw, 

 frequently takes charge of the very largest 

 meetings with credit to himself and to the 

 satisfaction of all interested. 



Reference has been made to the attendant 

 who releases the dog for a race. He is 

 officially termed a "slipper" ; and so much 

 depends upon his efforts, that his ability 

 has to be taken into account by the handi- 

 capper, as will be seen by the following 

 rules, which, though somewhat quaintly 

 worded, can be easily understood, and are 

 still in force : — 



Ip _Any slipper not having slipped three 

 winners in 1905 will be allowed one yard ; or 

 four winners half a yard, and one yard in the 

 final, or second day all through, providing he 

 claims and names his dog, before the first heat is 

 run, to the referee ; but must slip the dog all 

 through till beaten. 



2. — If a slipper claims allowance and 

 the dog is beaten first time through, he can claim 

 the same for second and final rounds (of course, 

 for such dogs as he may then be engaged to slip). 



3. — If with the one yard allowance a 

 slipper's dog wins, he s entitled to half a yard 

 and one yard in the final after till he has slipped 

 three more winners. 



4. — No owner will be allowed to change 

 slipper after claiming, for one slipper must slip 

 the same dog all through till he is beaten, or 

 the dog will be disqualified. 



5. — If two dogs are handicapped off a 

 mark, and one claims the allowance, that dog 

 shall start on the left hand side. 



It does not follow that the best-looking 

 Whippet is the best racer, otherwise many 

 of the champion show dogs would never 

 have seen a judging ring in a show, for the 

 majority of them have been disposed of by 

 their breeders because they were not quite 

 fleet enough to win races. The value of 

 such Whippets as, in the opinion of experts, 

 are quite qualified to win prizes has very 

 much improved of late years, partly be- 

 cause classes are liberally provided for them 

 at all the shows of importance, but primarily 

 because a few remarkably fine specimens 

 had the good fortune to go into the possession 

 of exhibitors who had the opportunity to 

 attend a large number of shows, in which 

 they figured successfully in variety classes. 

 Of these some of the most noted have been 

 shown by Mr. F. H. Bottomley, whose 

 prefix " Manorley" is well known. Another 

 good one is Ch. Southboro Seniority, now 

 the property of Mr. L. Crabtree, though she 

 has probably seen her best days ; Mr. H. H. 

 Taylor's Fleetfoot, too, though not a cham- 

 pion, has deservedly won scores of prizes ; 

 while a comparatively new aspirant to fame 

 in this direction is Mr. W. Proctor, who has 

 recently bought several good specimens of 

 the breed, amongst which Lottie Hampton 

 has made a decisive mark already by winning 

 at some dozen or more shows. These 

 owners, with Mr. W. Proudlove, are the 

 more prominent northern exhibitors, but 

 Mr. J.J. Holgate must not be overlooked, 

 for he invariably brings out something 

 better than ordinary at the championship 

 shows. The late Mr. A. Lamotte, one of 



