WEIGHT-FOR-AGE RACES 49 



them are made in the chapter headed " Famous 

 Horses." The two Newmarket Ten Thousand 

 Pounders date from 1894. 



Other more or less notable weight-for-age races are 

 the Alexandra Plate at Ascot, the only three mile 

 contest run regularly. It is always fixed for the 

 last day, and, as the Cup has been run for on the 

 previous afternoon, and stayers are so few, the field is 

 invariably very small, owners of Cup horses seldom 

 being willing to subject their animals to the ordeal of 

 two such races, especially on the well-nigh inevitably 

 hard ground. The Doncaster Cup (1801) must also 

 be mentioned, and the Jockey Club Cup, over the 

 Cesarewitch course, at the Houghton Meeting ; but 

 for the last twenty years there have never been more 

 than half a dozen starters for the latter ; four times it 

 has resulted in a walk over, and on seven occasions 

 been reduced to a match. ;The Champion Stakes, also 

 at the Houghton, must not be omitted, by reason of the 

 good horses that have won it — Jannette, Rayon d'Or, 

 Robert the Devil, Bend Or, Tristan (twice, besides a 

 dead heat on a third occasion), Paradox, Ormonde, 

 Bendigo, Friar's Balsam, Amphion, Orme and La 

 Fleche. The conditions of the Challenge Cup and 

 Whip will be found set forth in the " Rules of Racing," 

 and need not be repeated. The Whip is a trophy con- 

 taining hairs from the tail of Eclipse. 



