NEWMARKET 27 



been obliged to adopt modern ideas and to charge gate- 

 money wherever it is possible. What really killed the bulk 

 of these meetings at cathedral towns and a host of other 

 small country fixtures along with them was the enacting 

 of the rule that every race must be of the clear value of 

 ;^IC)0 to the winner, and the advent of the gate-money 

 enclosure. The rule and the enclosure meeting came into 

 existence at about the same time, and, as many of the 

 country meetings were held on common land, and were 

 not able to levy a charge for the outside portions of the 

 course, they found themselves unable to guarantee five or 

 six races of ;^ioo apiece, and so ceased to exist. 



A constant complaint that is nowadays made is that we 

 have too much racing ; those who put forward this re- 

 iterated opinion being certain sections of the racing world. 

 Turf writers, for instance — and turf writers referred to in 

 this connection are the critics of racing as distinguished 

 from those whose duty it is to report the meetings — are 

 continually telling us that the supply of horses is not 

 equal to the demand. Owners and trainers sometimes tell 

 us the same thing, too ; but an examination of the facts 

 goes to prove that fields are on the whole larger than 

 they were fifty years ago, and that during the half-century 

 the number of horses in training has about doubled. 



In 1827 1,166 horses carried silk ; in 1865 the number 

 had risen to 2,042; whilst in 1897 3. 5^6 faced the starter. 

 The great increase has been with regard to the two-year- 

 olds ; and quoting figures again, we find that in 1827 only 

 142 two-year-olds ran, and 361 three-year-olds. Thirty- 

 eight years later, in 1865, the two-year-olds had passed 

 the threes as far as numbers are concerned, 659 of the 

 former having carried silk, against 572 of the older ones. 

 In 1897 there was even a greater change, no fewer than 

 1,358 two-year-olds having run, against 941 three-year-olds. 



The number of four-year-olds and upwards running at the 

 present day is very little larger than it was more than 

 seventy years ago. 



Whether Newmarket is the oldest racecourse in the 

 country, or not, is a matter of no moment. Racing has been 



