RACE COURSES 157 



Spring, the Second Spring ; the First October, which 

 usually takes place at the end of September, the 

 Second October, and the Houghton. The two 

 Summer meetings, the First and Second July, are 

 held on another course, familiarly described as " Be- 

 hind the Ditch." The course runs parallel to the 

 famous " ditch " which was erected — for it is an 

 embankment as well as a ditch proper — in time im- 

 memorial for military purposes, and may still be traced 

 through several counties. Here there are two winning 

 posts : one opposite the stand at the top of a hill, the 

 other, the new T.Y.C., which is 5 furlongs 142 yards, 

 at the bottom of the rise, so that it is not nearly so 

 severe. How trying this hill is to horses is shown by 

 the frequency with which they fail to carry a penalty 

 up it. There can scarcely be a better proof of a 

 horse's merit than success in a race " A.F.," assuming, 

 of course, that the field is made up of good animals. 

 "A.F." are initials that signify "Across the Flat," 

 and the course consists of the Rowley Mile together 

 with 2 furlongs beyond it at the start. It is quite 

 straight, with ascents and descents just enough to try 

 a horse's action ; for though it is in no part very steep, 

 if an animal cannot come down a hill, a consequence 

 of bad shoulders or of his beinor what is called 

 " upright " in front, the descent into the Abingdon 

 Mile Bottom is sufficient to make him falter. A 

 straight course is more arduous than one round turns, 

 in "negotiating" which an animal must be slightly 



