MODERN ENCLOSED COURSES 199 



be denied that equine quality is attracted to Derby, as well 

 as quantity, and at the three principal fixtures — held in 

 May, September, and November — a high standard is 

 reached. The Spring Meeting is the least important of the 

 three, although handicaps of i^i,ooo and £S'^ ^^^ included 

 in the programme. In September there are several handi- 

 caps well worth winning, and also two editions of the 

 Champion Breeders' Foal Plate, one for two and the other 

 for three-year-olds. The date, however, is not a particularly 

 good one, for the meeting almost invariably occupies the 

 week which intervenes between York and Doncaster, and 

 many who go the Northern Circuit remain in Yorkshire 

 during this particular week. Then the ist of September 

 very often falls in the Derby week ; but in spite of these 

 drawbacks huge fields are generally forthcoming, and the 

 Midlands are the home of so many thousands of race-goers 

 that the attendance is always good. 



Quite the most important of the Derby fixtures is the 

 last, that which is held in mid-November, in the last week 

 but one of the racing year. This meeting is celebrated for 

 the size of its fields, and it sometimes happens that an 

 aggregate of over one hundred runners per day is secured. 

 Many of the prizes are valuable, notably the Derby Cup, a 

 mile handicap, which is of the value of ^2,000. Then there 

 are valuable Nurseries on each day of the meetings, and 

 other good handicaps besides the Cup. Many good-class 

 horses are always to be found at this meeting, and perhaps 

 the Derby Cup takes more winning than any of the Autumn 

 Handicaps, the Caesarewitch and Cambridgeshire excepted, 

 although some trainers will not have it that the Caesarewitch 

 is a difficult race to win. Speed of the highest kind is 

 required in this race, as there is always a large field and 

 something to bring them along from the fall of the flag. 

 The mile course on which it was run until 1900, when the 

 distance was increased to a mile and a half, is straight for 

 the last six furlongs, and wide, with a big rise and fall. 

 The round course, on the other hand, is rather congested, it 

 being only a mile and a quarter in extent. It is a good 

 deal used, there being several handicaps of a mile and a 



