lyo THE TURF 



were better favourites until just before the start, when 

 Lottery passed them in the betting as he did presently 

 in the race. 



In i860 was first run a steeplechase which seemed 

 likely to become extremely popular, but has not ful- 

 filled its promise. This was the National Hunt 

 Steeplechase, to be contested over four miles at such 

 different places as the Stewards of the National Hunt 

 might annually select ; the horses to be maidens and 

 the jockeys gentlemen or qualified riders, that is to 

 say, not (admittedly) professional. Owners of good 

 horses were at first exceedingly keen about this race 

 and put by animals expressly for it, but with the 

 exception of Why Not it has rarely fallen to a notable 

 'chaser, and it is hampered by the clause which con- 

 fines it to maidens. A four-year-old has rarely suffi- 

 cient stamina to win — though Nord-Ouest, a French 

 importation of that age, won at Newmarket in 1897 — 

 and men who own horses of capacity are as a general 

 rule unwilling to forego the prospect of success else- 

 where, and to keep them on purpose for this race. It 

 nevertheless continues something of an attraction, and 

 managers of steeplechase meetings bid for its inclu- 

 sion in their programmes. They usually pay the 

 National Hunt Committee something between ^500 

 and £1,000. A National Hunt Juvenile Steeplechase 

 for four-year-olds, about two and a half miles, is run 

 on the day after the more important event. The two 

 are worth about ^800 and /^300 respectively. It 



