MODERN ENCLOSED COURSES 187 



fixture following Chester, and the autumn gathering falling 

 between the First and Second October Meetings at New- 

 market, At the May Meeting the Royal Two-year-old 

 Plate is the feature of the first day, and the Jubilee Stakes 

 of the second, and without doubt the last-named race is now 

 the most important of the Spring Handicaps. Commenced, 

 as its name implies, in 1887, this race gained popularity at 

 the first attempt, and curiously enough it quickly became 

 remarkable for a succession of wonderful performances. No 

 modern handicap has such a record, and the upshot is that 

 the entry always includes many of the best horses in train- 

 ing, and it can boast of a better class than that of any other 

 of those races known as the Spring Handicaps. The stake 

 is now worth between i^2,ooo and iJ'3,000, and in its first 

 year it was won by that good and popular horse Bendigo, 

 who carried 9 st. 7 lbs. to victory, and whose success 

 " broke " a host of small bookmakers, as did that of Victor 

 Wild, when he won his second Jubilee nine years later. 



Good as Bendigo's performance was, it did not equal that 

 of Minting, who won in 1888 with 10 stone in the saddle. 

 This, indeed, stands out as the best mile-handicap perform- 

 ance of modern times, and almost equals the marvellous 

 feat of Vespasian, who won the Chesterfield Cup at Good- 

 wood, in 1869, under the crushing weight of lost. 4 lbs. In 

 the following year a three-year-old won for the first time, 

 the late General Byrne's Amphion, and he too was in the 

 first class on his course from a mile to a mile and a quarter. 

 That he could not really stay was proved when he threw 

 down the gauntlet to Sheen on the Caesarewitch Course, 

 in one of the Plates for which Mr. C. D. Rose provided 

 the funds with a view to encourage distance races ; but he 

 was a very handsome horse, and at the moment he has 

 made a bigger name at the stud than either Bendigo or 

 Minting, having sired Dieudonne, Altesse, and other speedy 

 ones, whereas Bendigo has been a signal failure, and 

 Minting's fame will have to depend upon a host of better- 

 class platers, unless he follows in the footsteps of his sire, 

 Lord Lyon, and sires a really good one when a very old 

 horse. The Imp, who won in 1890, was moderate, but so 



