AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE 129 



CHAPTER IX 



" Loving the sport for its dear sake alone, 



Hating the base defilers of its fame, 

 Winning unmoved, losing without a groan, 

 Equal to either fortune of the game." 



IN the " sixties " the purity of the Turf, the early 

 racing of two-year-olds, and the alleged deterioration 

 of the thoroughbred were burning questions, just as 

 they are now in the closing months of the century. Sir 

 Joseph Hawley and Mr. Chaplin had recommended 

 the discontinuance of two-year-old racing as one 

 remedy. These gentlemen, while not disposed to believe 

 that the breed of horses had degenerated, expressed 

 their opinion that if the system of running two-year-old 

 races was persisted in for twenty years more, the 

 degeneration so often spoken of would surely be felt. 

 They accordingly argued that two-year-olds should not 

 be run before the 1st of July. In racing law no man was 

 better read than Lord Derby, and if we can challenge 

 the purity of the Turf in these days, we are still thankful 

 that there are yet noblemen and gentlemen identified 

 with it whose integrity, public worth, and influence 

 hold in check the evil influences which, if once let loose 

 and unrestrained, would soon bring upon the sport 

 ample reason for it being described as a degrading 

 pursuit. Lord Derby went deeper into the question 



