154 THE TURF 



and one of these, the Royal Hunt Cup, is perhaps 

 only second in general interest to the Cambridgeshire. 

 The Ascot Stakes and the Wokingham are also events 

 of importance, though the former is over two miles, 

 and nowadays for all long distance races, except the 

 Cesarewitch, fields are usually no better than moderate. 

 The Ascot Cup stands out by itself as the great race 

 of its kind. A few years since it was generally under- 

 stood that a race for a Cup was invariably, like the 

 Cup at the " Royal Meeting," as it is called, over 

 a long distance of ground ; but in this respect things 

 have altered on many courses, and Cups are often 

 run for at distances of less than a mile. Nearly all 

 the stakes at Ascot are of considerable value. The 

 Cup is now worth as a rule not far short of ^4,000 ; 

 the Coronation Stakes for three-year-old fillies often 

 amounts to over ^3,000, and the St. James's Palace 

 and Hardwicke Stakes are also reckoned in thousands. 

 The Hardwicke, it may be remarked, was named after 

 the late Earl, who revised the Ascot programme dur- 

 ing his tenancy of the Mastership of the Buckhounds. 

 The Ascot course is circular, and only some sixty-six 

 yards short of two miles round. The ground rises 

 and falls, with a finish up-hill, which is a severe test 

 of a horse's ability, and some of the best jockeys who 

 ride and who have ridden there say that races are 

 not seldom lost because riders do not appreciate the 

 severity of the finish, and so make their effort too 

 soon. The oreat drawback to Ascot, as a rule, is 



