156 THE ENGLISH TURF 



important Northern fixtures, and all are of old standing, 

 though Chester has now become an enclosure, where gate 

 money is charged. All through the century Chester 

 Races, which are held in May, have been exceedingly 

 popular, and a clear date is always given to the fixture. 

 This popularity is both local and general, or in other words, 

 Chester Races are supported by owners, trainers, and race- 

 goers from all parts of the kingdom. It is curious now 

 to note the changes which have occurred with regard to 

 many of the meetings since the advent of the railway era. 

 Previous to that time English racing was carried on in 

 some half-dozen circuits. In the North there was a York- 

 shire Circuit (which included Newcastle-on-Tyne). A little 

 further south there was a circuit which embraced Lancashire, 

 Cheshire, Shropshire, and what may be termed a Northern- 

 Midland district. Besides Liverpool, Manchester, Newton, and 

 Chester, all of which remain, such places as Preston, Knuts- 

 ford, Newcastle (Staffordshire), Stone, Stafford, Uttoxeter, 

 Walsall, Wolverhampton (before the days of Dunstall Park), 

 Lichfield, Shrewsbury, Stoke, and some seven or eight 

 Welsh meetings were held, all of which have disappeared, 

 and the Chester Meeting is the only fixture under Jockey 

 Club Rules for half a dozen counties or more. Then there 

 were a Western Circuit, a Southern Circuit, a Scotch Circuit, 

 and an Eastern Circuit, and, except when considerable stakes 

 were in question, Newmarket - trained horses were rarely 

 taken into the North, West, or North- West of the country. 

 When railway travelling became general and the service 

 improved, say from 1845 onwards, these circuits were 

 gradually merged into each other, so that at the present 

 day we have two sets of meetings, the greater and the less, 

 and the greater absorbs the travelling body of race-goers, 

 including the strongest part of the ring, every week. 



Those who follow the meetings, be they owners, trainers, 

 jockeys, bookmakers, backers, or what not, begin their year 

 at Lincoln in March, and go on from that place to Liver- 

 pool, where the Grand National is run. The first week of 

 the season is a very heavy one, with racing from Monday 

 morning to Saturday night, and Lincoln and Liverpool 



