160 THE ENGLISH TURF 



generally held in the week following the Houghton Meeting. 

 This latter fixture, though it often brings out plethoric fields, 

 does not rank so high as the Spring Meeting. It is probable 

 that much of the importance which surrounds the first of 

 the Lincoln fixtures is due to the fact that the meeting is 

 the first of the year, and not because the programme is a 

 particularly strong one. The Lincolnshire Handicap and 

 the Brocklesby Stakes are doubtless fairly important events, 

 and the former race, even now that ante-post betting is so 

 little indulged in, commands a list of quotations for six 

 or seven weeks previous to its decision. Take away the 

 Lincolnshire Handicap and the Brocklesby from the Lincoln 

 card, and little would remain but plating events. As it is, 

 however, even these plating events, minor handicaps, and 

 what not, have special significance because they are the first 

 of the year. Nineteen trainers out of twenty wish to run 

 something at Lincoln, if only that they may secure some 

 idea of the form with a view to trying the rest of their 

 teams, and, moreover, many horses which had been stumped 

 up in the previous summer have been in nice work for many 

 weeks before Lincoln, and their owners are naturally anxious 

 to get a race out of them before the ground becomes hard. 

 Considering that the meeting is held in the last week of 

 March, the going is almost certain to be good. It may of 

 course be too soft and holding, and in a dry spring it may 

 be somewhat firm, but under no circumstances can it be very 

 hard, for the winter rains are never out of the ground so 

 early, and the sun has not been powerful enough to bake 

 the surface as it does later on in the year. Visitors to 

 Lincoln are always prepared to find the March winds in 

 full play, and frequently experience a very bitter time. 



The Lincolnshire Handicap is now decided on the second 

 day of the meeting, and this is another of those races which 

 attract an enormous crowd. It is possible that on a fine 

 day the attendance is almost as big as it is at Chester on 

 the Cup day, for Lincoln has a wide open course over which 

 the crowd becomes scattered in all directions, whereas at 

 Chester there is much more concentration. The streets are 

 thronged from an early hour on the Handicap day, and 



