66 THE ENGLISH TURF 



horses are not allowed to fulfil their engagements, the 

 state of the going is always responsible. Provided there 

 have been plenty of showers beforehand, the best horses 

 are always allowed to run, and except through the accident 

 of its being very lightly weighted in one of the four or 

 five handicaps, it is impossible for a really bad horse to 

 win. 



The course is in many ways the best in the kingdom. 

 As already remarked, it cannot be compared with New- 

 market as a stretch of galloping ground, but it has some 

 advantages even over headquarters, and the chief of them is 

 that almost every inch of the racing — except the actual starts 

 on the new mile — can be seen from the stands. But the 

 statement that the course is in many ways one of the best 

 in the kingdom can by no stretch of courtesy be made to 

 apply to the going. The Ascot Course is Crown property, 

 and is to a certain extent under the care of the Master of 

 Her Majesty's Buckhounds. The heath is also common 

 land, and in consequence all sorts of difficulties have arisen 

 from time to time, with the result that it has been no easy 

 matter to keep the turf in good order. Indeed, I have 

 known some parts of it to be very bad, with an uneven 

 surface and a scanty crop of poor grass, and some years 

 ago I actually found — near the Brick-kilns — holes deep 

 enough to turn a horse over, if he happened to put his 

 foot in one of them. Of late years, I am glad to say, 

 there has been a marked improvement in this respect, and 

 when, not long since, I walked the full circuit, there was 

 no room for complaint except that the ditch, on the right- 

 hand side below the hotel turn, was not railed off for some- 

 thing like a quarter of a mile. For over a mile and a 

 quarter new white rails have been placed, but there is a 

 piece to which the rails do not extend, and on the right, 

 or inside of this piece, there is an awkward ditch, almost 

 entirely covered with gorse and other growths. This ditch 

 is practically hidden, and luckily the spot where the rails 

 are absent is so far from home that accidents are unlikely 

 to occur. Still, it is a dangerous place for a bolter, and 

 just as bad should a horse be bored to the right by 



