128 THE ENGLISH TURF 



population has increased, they come in greater numbers, 

 and Doncaster on a St. Leger day is a sight to be seen 

 and wondered at. And what is more, strange as it must 

 seem to anyone accustomed only to the giddy Epsom crowd, 

 it is an absolute fact that with nine hundred and ninety- 

 nine of every thousand the racing is the sole attraction. 

 They come to see the horses they have heard about and 

 read about all the past year, and many of the humblest 

 save up their wages in order to be able to pay their 

 entrance money to the paddock, and so gain a nearer sight 

 of their favourites. Mix with any part of the crowd in 

 the St. Leger week, and the conversation will be horse 

 and all horse ; but if you move slowly through the throng 

 on the hill at Epsom, shutting your ears to the shouts of 

 bookmakers, you will find that the racing is quite a minor 

 feature of the holiday, and that the mob is attracted by 

 a hundred and one distractions, of which the Derby is 

 one of the least. At Doncaster there is no " fun of the 

 fair." The crowds pour into the town and march stolidly 

 on by the High Street, Hall Gate, and the broad avenue 

 of Bennetthorpe until the course is reached. There is no 

 chaff, next to no humour, and the average unit is never 

 pulled up during his two-mile tramp except by the insidious 

 tones of the tipster, or else to buy a packet of the inevitable 

 butter-scotch, which in warm weather is a thirst stimulator 

 of the first order. The Bennetthorpe is a magnificent 

 approach to the racecourse, the road being of great width, 

 and the sidewalks so broad that the crowd can advance 

 ten or twelve abreast. It is beautifully shaded with fine 

 old limes, and on the St. Leger day it is one moving mass 

 of humanity from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Those who wish to 

 drive up can do so at an average price of one shilling per 

 head, and the road allows of four or five vehicles being 

 driven abreast. It used to be a somewhat dangerous journey 

 when hundreds of empty vehicles were returning to seek 

 fresh loads, for, though policemen formed a line down the 

 centre of the road, some impetuous driver was always 

 breaking out of the ranks, and to see three or four " wrecks " 

 between the town and the course was no unusual thing. 



