164 THE ENGLISH TURF 



week a great falling off from Lincoln as regards the number 

 of runners for the flat races. At the same time, thanks 

 chiefly to the extraordinary interest which the Grand 

 National excites, Liverpool Spring Races have immense 

 popularity, and the big steeplechase draws sportsmen — 

 sportsmen, be it understood, distinguished from sporting men 

 — from all parts of the United Kingdom. On no English 

 course do Irishmen collect in such force ; nowhere else are, 

 say, fifty masters of hounds to be seen in the same paddock, 

 and at no other gathering do the cross-country owners, 

 trainers, and jockeys mix in such numbers with their 

 brothers of the flat. Even if there were no Grand National 

 or no jumping events at all the programme is a strong one, 

 but the big steeplechase stands out as its piece de resistance^ 

 and there are hundreds of hunting men from all over the 

 kingdom who make an annual journey to Liverpool for 

 the purpose of seeing the race for the cross-country blue 

 ribbon, although they are not in the habit of attending races 

 regularly. And all this crowd assembles every year in 

 spite of the fact that it is a most difficult matter, even for 

 those at the top of the stands, to obtain a really good 

 view of the race. The start, the middle — when the horses 

 pass the stand for the first time — and the finish can all 

 be seen, but unless the light is particularly good it is 

 impossible to make out the colours when the field is in 

 the " country," and if, as sometimes happens, there should 

 be mist or a fall of snow, nothing can be seen but the 

 three points of the race mentioned. Even if the weather 

 is fine, the sides of the course, and particularly in the 

 neighbourhood of the fences, are lined with people through- 

 out the contest ; thus when the field have journeyed a 

 short way into the " country " little can be seen but the 

 bobbing caps and jackets of the riders, as their mounts 

 take the fences. Should the light be fairly good the 

 second and last circuit of the course is the most pleasing, 

 and also much the most exciting part of the race. In 

 the first round the runners are clustered together, and a 

 large majority of them are standing up. Down the side 

 stretch alongside the railway the cluster gradually breaks 



