SECRETARY'S REPORT. 181 



been so remarkable that it has been affirmed by an excellent 

 authority that tlic worth of a modern race-horse was proportion- 

 ed to the amount of Herod blood in his veins. 



Eclipse, whose history has been given, got three hundred and 

 forty-four winners, which earned about $800,000. 



There are now in Great Britain, some five hundred breeding 

 establishments which produce annually about fourteen hundred 

 Thoroughbred foals. 



There are, also, one hundred and fifty-three race-courses, tlie 

 most celebrated of which are those at Newmarket, Epsom and 

 Doncastcr. The races are patronized and sustained principally 

 by the wealthy nobility, although f 25,000 are annually paid by 

 government to aid in supporting the most important ones, upon 

 the supposition that they are essential to the preservation of the 

 horse in his greatest perfection. 



Formerly, the courses were six miles in length, or there 

 were heats of four miles each, and the weights carried were 

 heavy, so that the race was a thorough trial of the real strength 

 and speed of the mature horse. Now, yearlings are run for 

 half a mile, and all the best colts and fillies are entered at two 

 years of age, and most of them spoiled before they are four 

 years old, after which they are called aged horses. There 

 are often more than fifty competitors entered for the plate, 

 purse or stakes offered, the' value of which sometimes exceeds 

 $80,000. 



So great has been the effort to bring forward young stock 

 prematurely for these purposes, that foals of eleven months 

 attain a height of fourteen hands and a girth of five feet; and 

 at two years of age they appear almost grown and well furnished 

 with muscle. This rapid development is followed, as might be 

 expected, in the great majority of instances, by an equally 

 speedy decay, and a sound, old racer is scarcely ever seen. 



The average height of the Thoroughbred horse is fifteen 

 hands and three inches, but the average weight seems to be 

 " nothing to speak of," as it is never mentioned. In form lie 

 resembles somewhat the Arabian, but is taller and longer. His 

 neck is less arched, lighter and of greater length. His hind- 

 quarters long, deep and powerful, while his legs are long and 

 slender, though the muscles of the arm and thigh are well 

 developed. That the legs are too delicate is proved by the iact 



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