ADVANTAGES OF THE VAN. 69 



despatched with comparatively little fatigue, and 

 no wear and tear, to run at meetings to which it 

 would have been impossible for them to proceed 

 by road. At that time there were not more than 

 250 horses in training at the metropolis of the Turf, 

 while far larger numbers were prepared for their 

 engagements at various provincial places. In this 

 manner the van was of immense advantage to race- 

 horses, and also to their owners and trainers, and, 

 like many other reforms initiated by Lord George 

 Bentinck, it was of untold benefit to all who took 

 an interest in horse-racing. Indeed the introduction 

 and universal employment of vans inaugurated a 

 revolution in the management and engagement of 

 race -horses. When it is remembered that Mr 

 John Scott's Cyprian walked from Malton to 

 Epsom and won the Oaks on May 20, 1836, and 

 was immediately despatched on foot to Newcastle- 

 on-Tyne, where on June 22 she won the Northum- 

 berland Plate, having taken nearly a month to 

 walk 300 miles from Epsom to Newcastle, it is 

 easy to understand that, previous to the employ- 

 ment of vans, young horses were often temporarily 

 worn out, and sometimes lamed for life, by long 

 journeys on the hard road. 



Some two or three weeks before the St Leger 

 of 1836 it became evident that Elis was being 

 backed for large sums, and that the market was 

 being worked actively by some persons who, as 

 Lord George had reason to suspect, were betray- 



