72 THE ENGLISH TURF 



is a very fair test of merit. The Swinley Course is the 

 last mile and a half of the round course, and is therefore 

 practically half a mile on the descent, about three furlongs 

 nearly level, and the last five furlongs uphill. The only 

 race of a mile and a quarter (the Ascot High Weight 

 Stakes) is run on the same course, starting a quarter of a 

 mile nearer home. The New Mile is straight, and the 

 starting-post is hidden from the stands by a rise in the 

 ground. The first two furlongs are on the ascent, then 

 comes a drop of about two furlongs to the junction with 

 the round course, and the last half mile (more or less) 

 is the last half-mile of all the Ascot courses. The New 

 Mile is fifty-four yards short of a mile, and the three miles 

 of the Alexandra Plate lose these fifty-four yards plus the 

 sixty-six yards that the circuit is short of two miles, so the 

 entire distance is a hundred and twenty yards less than 

 three miles. The Wokingham Stakes is run on the last 

 six furlongs of the New Mile, the T.Y.C. is the last 5 fur- 

 longs and 136 yards, and the five-furlong races are run on 

 the last five furlongs of the same. 



The New Mile at Ascot is not altogether a success, and I 

 think it would have been for the great benefit of the 

 meeting had Lord Ribblesdale's proposal been entertained a 

 few years ago. During his tenure of office as Master of 

 the Buckhounds it occurred to Lord Ribblesdale that it 

 was impossible to see what was taking place at the starting- 

 post in races on the New Mile, and also that, as the grand 

 stands are parallel to the course, no satisfactory view of 

 races run on that course can be obtained by more than 

 a few people. He therefore designed another New Straight 

 Mile, the starting-post for which would have been further 

 out from the stands, and a better view of both the start and 

 the racing would have been a natural consequence. This 

 proposal met with the full approval of the Stewards of 

 the Jockey Club, but, as they very pertinently observed, 

 it was for the ruling powers of the Ascot Meeting to 

 make the change, not the Stewards of the Jockey Club, 

 whose only duty in connection with Ascot was their steward- 

 ship. Unfortunately Lord Ribblesdale went out of office 



