EPSOM 113 



therefore not exactly popular, but horses ought to run over 

 all sorts of courses, and as the Two Thousand and St. Leger 

 are decided on ground that is almost flat (especially when 

 compared with Epsom), I think it all for the best that the 

 Derby and Oaks are run on such an up-and-down course. 

 The turn at Tattenham Corner is certainly rather abrupt 

 — too abrupt to be free from danger, indeed — and the run- 

 in is not a particularly long one ; nevertheless, the horses 

 which take part in the Derby seldom run wide, and though 

 accidents at Tattenham Corner are not unknown in connec- 

 tion with the chief race of the year, they very seldom occur, 

 in spite of the fact that the jockeys all try to get places 

 as near the inside as possible. The Derby Course in use 

 at the present time measures a mile and a half, and is 

 shaped after the form of a horseshoe. The start takes 

 place at what is called the High Level starting-post (into the 

 " forties " it used to run behind Sherwood's house), which 

 is about half a mile from the stands, on the opposite hill, 

 and some few hundred yards below the gate into Sher- 

 wood's training stables. For the first half-mile the ground 

 is on the ascent, but it becomes more level where the New 

 Course joins the old one close to the well-known landmark 

 called the Furzes. Hereabouts the line bears slightly to 

 the left, and then comes the long hill down to Tattenham 

 Corner, perhaps the steepest hill to be found on any race- 

 course except that of Brighton. Down the hill the horses 

 are gradually turning left-handed, and at Tattenham Corner, a 

 short half-mile from home, they sweep into the straight, up 

 the last three furlongs of which there is a very gentle rise to 

 the winning-post. Good shoulders are generally considered 

 most necessary for a favourable show on the Derby Course, 

 but it is a fact that many horses thought to be too straight 

 in the shoulder have accomplished the descent in faultless 

 fashion, whereas many of the "just the sort for Epsom," 

 and " made for the course," have failed. There seems to 

 be no sort of reason why a horse which is on the leg should 

 not win the Derby, if he is truly made in other respects, 

 and to quote recent examples I need go no further back 

 than Jeddah, Persimmon, Isinglass, and Common, of whom 

 I 



