152 THE ENGLISH TURF 



autumn meetings, and is the headquarters of the South- 

 down Club, a nursery of gentlemen riders which is exceed- 

 ingly popular with a certain section of race-goers. At each 

 of the three Lewes fixtures sundry events are confined to 

 gentlemen riders, and a majority of these are run over a 

 distance of ground. At the same time the programmes are 

 strong all round, and at the Summer Meeting, which closes 

 the Sussex fortnight, three important races are decided, in 

 addition to the gentlemen riders' and plating events. The 

 three are the Astley Stakes for two-year-olds, worth some- 

 thing less than ;^i,ooo, the Lewes Handicap of ;^i,ooo, over 

 a mile and a half of ground, and the De Warrenne Handi- 

 cap of five furlongs, which forms a sort of consolation 

 stakes to the Stewards' Cup at Goodwood. More than one 

 beaten Stewards' Cup favourite has made amends by win- 

 ning the De Warrenne Handicap ; but the Lewes Handicap 

 is the more important race, and at times it has had consider- 

 able bearing on the Autumn Handicaps, having been won in 

 1895 by Marco, afterwards successful in the Cambridgeshire, 

 and two years later by the Australian Merman, who supple- 

 mented this success by winning the Caesarewitch. The 

 Lewes courses are well adapted for long-distance racing, 

 what is called the New Course being two miles and a half, 

 while the Old Course is half a mile less. In either there is 

 a fair amount of give and take, and both are somewhat 

 severe in their early stages. The run-in has a curious dip — 

 at no great distance from the winning-post, and as a rule 

 horses endowed with stamina are seen to advantage. 



Harpenden, in Herts, has a rather nice course of two 

 miles in circular form. It is situated on common land, and 

 a single one-day meeting in the early summer is all it aspires 

 to now, the programme providing for platers only. Not 

 much more can be written in favour of Huntingdon, where 

 there has been no racing since 1896. The course, situated 

 on the Water Meadows by the river Ouse, is nearly two 

 miles round, and generally good going, but for many years 

 the meetings — generally held in July — have been on the 

 down line, and though Newmarket is not far away, runners 

 have been very scarce. In 1896 a two-days' programme 



