ASCOT AND GOODWOOD 67 



one of his opponents. The circuit of raihng should most 

 certainly be completed, for the cost would be a mere 

 nothing, and such a course as Ascot should be railed in 

 all round. 



After an inspection I made in the year 1898 I came to 

 the conclusion that some pains must have been taken with 

 the going. The grass had been evidently well manured and 

 top-dressed, with the result that there was a thick, close 

 covering of herbage, altogether different from the state of 

 affairs I alluded to just now. It struck me, however, that 

 the soil of the course was very poor, and in all probability 

 the ground requires strong dressing every year, and 

 constant care and attention, if it is to show the same 

 appearance that it did at the meeting of 1898. I am sorry 

 to say that two years later things were as bad still. The 

 result of my inspection went to suggest that it is possible 

 to provide good going at Ascot, or rather to provide a 

 course with an even surface and a good covering of grass. 

 But there are no hydrants on the ground, as at the racing 

 enclosures, therefore, in times of drought, hard going 

 cannot be prevented. Another serious drawback is that 

 people are allowed to walk where they like between the 

 races, and, if the weather is dry, the run-in of about a 

 quarter of a mile becomes so worn before the end of the 

 week that it presents a surface more like glass or ice 

 than a racecourse of turf, and when this condition is 

 reached it of course becomes difficult for horses to 

 maintain their foothold. In 1898 I saw a filly slip up 

 and turn end over end on her way to the post, whilst of a 

 beaten favourite I overheard a jockey remark that the 

 animal in question was " slipping about all over the shop 

 in the last three hundred yards." I made a mental note 

 of the remark, and was not surprised when the colt — a 

 two -year -old — won two valuable races elsewhere within 

 the next four weeks. It might be a difficult matter to 

 prevent the great mass of people coming on to the course, 

 but it is done at Doncaster, York, and elsewhere, and in 

 the interests of sport it ought to be done at Ascot. 



When there is a semi-state procession the course is 



