214 ON THE RACE COURSE. 



as far as they possibly can, any thing incorrect that 

 may occur, — such as foul riding ; or a race may be 

 claimed by the owner of the second horse, from other 

 causes. Their attention and observations here may 

 materially assist them in deciding disputes, which 

 (as recommended by the stewards of the jockey club) 

 should be immediately settled, since the witnesses may 

 easily be assembled, and in the weighing-yard, with 

 the gates closed, they may, unmolested by the crowd, 

 hear the evidence on each side relative to the dispute 

 in question, and give their final decision on the spot. 

 The next person to be mentioned, is the clerk of 

 the course, who is to act entirely under the direction of 

 the stewards, and whose duty it is to carry such of their 

 orders into execution as may be entrusted to him. He 

 should be a respectable, well conducted man, and 

 intelligent in the common rules of racing ; as at many 

 country meetings, with a view of giving as little 

 trouble'as possible to the stewards, the clerk's situation 

 becomes a place of trust. He is often commissioned 

 to receive and hokKthe whole or part of the funds, 

 such as the subscriptions to the plates and stakes, and 

 entrance^money, the money collected at the stand, and 

 the fees for the weights and scales, all of which he is 

 to be accountable for to the stewards. The horses are 

 generally named to the clerk of the course ; he should 

 therefore, in due time, be put in possession of the rules 

 and articles of the plates, stakes, and matches that are 

 to be run for at the meeting. He should make himself 

 thoroughly acquainted with all these things, as on the 



