SIXTY YEARS ON THE TURF 



and another Mr. William Day has seen fit to be very- 

 severe on some of his contemporaries, particularly 

 when his pen was dealing with the dead. Therefore 

 there is the less reason for refraining to point out to 

 Mr. William Day that his own claims to perfection 

 cannot go unchallenged. If Mr. Day will turn to 

 his "Calendar" of 1850 he will find, on page Iv., 

 these words : 



" At a meeting of the Jockey Club, held at New- 

 market on Wednesday in the Second October Week, 

 1850, it was — 



" Resolved — That any horse running for a selling 

 stake or plate shall be liable to be claimed by the 

 owner of any other horse in the race for the price 

 for which he entered to be sold and the amount of 

 the stake — the owner of the second horse to be first 

 entitled to claim." 



This, I take leave to think, is pretty explicit, and as 

 the Rule is repeated in the '51, '52, and '53 volumes 

 it is clear that, despite Mr. Day's emphatic pro- 

 nouncement, Virago, according to Jockey Club law, 

 could on that November day at Shrewsbury have 

 been claimed. As a matter of fact, her party were 

 very uneasy till the claiming time had expired. 

 After her defeat, and when retention was assured, 



81 



