A 



THE TURF 



INTRODUCTION 



ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT 



A DULLER task could scarcely be undertaken than 

 that of endeavouring to trace the history of horse- 

 racing from material furnished by the vague and 

 contradictory accounts of the earliest writers on the 

 subject. It may safely be assumed that racing dates 

 from the period when two energetic men found 

 themselves side by side on high-couraged horses. 

 Whether the steeds or their riders were first fired by 

 the spirit of emulation no one can say ; but surely such 

 a prehistoric spin was the nucleus of the Derby. This 

 is not a theme that could profitably be enlarged upon 

 by a writer whose object is to be practical. Antiquity 

 will be entirely disregarded ; and, skipping over 

 centuries, no effort will be made to summarise the 

 history of Newmarket, or relate what potentates and 

 princes have shaped and sustained the sport upon the 

 historic Heath. There is so much to be said about 



B 



