48 THE ENGLISH TURF 



ville Stakes, Exning Stakes, Spring Two-year-old Stakes, 

 the Breeders' Plate, and the Bedford Plate. The meeting 

 is badly off for handicaps, there being nothing more im- 

 portant than the Newmarket Handicap (run Across the Flat 

 — one mile and two furlongs), and the Flying Handicap on 

 the Rous Course. 



The First July Meeting generally commences on one of 

 the last two or three days in June, though, as a rule, it is not 

 finished until the month of July is reached. The running at 

 all the three meetings held in the spring takes place on the 

 Flat, with an odd race or two finishing at the Portland Stand, 

 up the severe Criterion Hill. The headquarters of the racing 

 at the spring meetings are the Rowley Mile Stands, and the 

 various courses used are portions of the four-mile Beacon 

 Course ; but the scene is transferred nearly a mile for both 

 the July fixtures, when all the racing takes place " behind 

 the Ditch," on portions of what used to be called the Summer 

 Course. The earlier of the two gatherings is much the more 

 important. Two-year-old races form a strong part of the 

 programmes in both weeks, the July Stakes at the first, and 

 the Chesterfield Stakes at the second fixture, generally 

 bringing out the best class. In 1894 the Princess of Wales' 

 Stakes, of the value of ^10,000, for three and four-year-olds, 

 was established, and this is the most important stake decided 

 at Newmarket in the summer. It is run on the Bunbury 

 Mile, and has already been won by such as Isinglass, St. 

 Frusquin, and Flying Fox. It is decided on the third day 

 of the fixture, on which is also run the July Cup, a six- 

 furlong race which is generally won by the best sprinter of 

 the year. The July Stakes for two-year-olds is decided on 

 the first day of the meeting, and this is one of some half- 

 dozen races which are considered to be true tests of the 

 two-year-old form of the year, the others being the Wood- 

 cote Stakes at Epsom, the Coventry and New Stakes at 

 Ascot, the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, and the Middle 

 Park and Dewhurst Plates, run at the Newmarket autumn 

 fixtures. Besides the July Stakes, two-year-olds can run 

 this week in the Exeter Stakes, the Stud Produce Stakes, 

 the Plantation Stakes, the Fulbourne Stakes, and the 



