SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



Plate of j5o' was raised by subscription and run 

 for on the last day of the meeting. The winner 

 was Sir John Shelley's Fantail, who beat five others. 

 This plate was given by the Brighton folk down 

 to the year 1783, when ' Brighthelmstone ' had 

 become of sufficient importance to support a race 

 meeting of its own. 



In 1775 the meeting was flourishing. In ad- 

 dition to the King's Plate, run on the first day 

 (3 August), there was a sweepstake of 15 guineas 

 each and the Lewes Plate of ^50. Onthesecond 

 day no fewer than five races were contested, the 

 Member's Plate of 5 o, a sweepstake of 2 5 guineas 

 each, the Duke of Richmond's Plate of 50, the 

 aforesaid ' Brighthelmstone' Plate of ^50, and an- 

 other sweepstake of 25 guineas each. In 1780 

 famous owners like Mr. O'Kelly, owner of 

 Eclipse, and Sir Charles Bunbury were running 

 horses. In 1790 the Prince of Wales, who at 

 that time owned a large racing stable, won a 

 sweepstake of 25 guineas with Smoker, while 

 his Pegasus walked over for the King's Plate. 

 In 1800 the Prince again won the King's 

 Guineas with Knowsley, by Sir Peter. In 

 1810 Lewes had two days' racing and 

 was well patronized. The Earl of Egremont, 

 then at the zenith of his racing career, won the 

 King's Plate with Election, as well as a sweep- 

 stake of 10 guineas with 20 added, and the 

 Ladies' Plate of 60 guineas. In 1816 there were 

 three days' racing. Lord Egremont gave two 

 prizes of 50 guineas each, and was himself among 

 the winning owners, carrying off the King's Plate 

 with Wanderer, a sweepstake with the three-year- 

 old Scarecrow, and a 6o-guinea cup, given by the 

 town and vicinity, with the same horse. 



While various race meetings sprang up like 

 mushrooms in Sussex during the eighteenth and 

 nineteenth centuries, only to die away after a 

 more or less brief career, Lewes, with one short 

 period of depression, was always maintained ; and 

 formed, with the more important meetings of 

 Goodwood and Brighton, the backbone of the 

 county racing. In 1830 there was little change 

 in the nature of the sport, or the value of the 

 stakes. Lord Jersey's Glenartney, ridden by J. 

 Robinson, was an important winner and carried 

 off the Ladies' Plate of 50. During the 'forties, 

 Lewes declined ; and the racing in the year 1842 

 was reduced to the Queen's Plate ; while in 1 844 

 the Queen's Guineas was the only race, the 

 winner beingthe Duke of Richmond's well-known 

 horse, Red Deer. By 1850 the meeting was re- 

 viving again, and in its one day offered three 

 races, a sweepstake of 5 with 50 added, the 

 Queen's Plate won by the Duke of Bedford's 

 St. Rosalia, and a sweepstake of 3 with 40 

 added. In 1855 Lewes was distinctly recover- 

 ing, and again supported two days' racing, with 

 five events on each day. The Queen's Plate 

 was won by Mr. Pattison's Joshua (ridden by 

 Wells) from four other horses. 



In 1864 a spring meeting was held as well as 

 the August fixture. There seems to have been 

 fair racing at the new meeting, the principal 

 event being the Spring Subscription Handicap of 

 jiO with ,100 added, which was won by Mr. 

 Samuel's Fontenoy. These two meetings have 

 been held regularly ever since. In 1874 Lewes 

 advanced further and held three race meetings in 

 the year. After 1877, when the Jockey Club 

 made the rule that ^300 must be given on each 

 day and not less than jioo to any one race, 

 Brighton, Goodwood, and Lewes were the 

 only meetings under Racing rules which 

 survived. In 1880 there were still three 

 meetings at Lewes, the principal one being the 

 old summer gathering, held in August. By this 

 time the value of racing stakes was rising in all 

 parts of the country, and Lewes had considerably 

 increased its prizes. At the summer meeting the 

 more important stakes included the De Warenne 

 Handicap, sweepstake of 20 each with ,200 

 added, won by Donate ; the Astley Stakes, 25 

 and 500, won by Prince SoltykofPs Scobell ; 

 the South Down Club Welter, 15 and 250, 

 won by Mr. R. S. Evans' Mr. Dodd, ridden by 

 the famous gentleman rider Mr. W. Bevill ; 

 the Lewes Plate of 350, won by Montrose ; 

 the Priory Stakes, ^15 and ^300, won by 

 Althotas ; the County Cup of ^200, won by 

 Essayez; and the Lewes Handicap, ^15 and 

 j2oo, won by Mr. Dodd. Lewes at this period 

 attracted a fair class of horse, and its position 

 has been ever since maintained. In igoo the 

 Lewes Handicap, run for at the summer meet- 

 ing, of the value of 439, was won by Mr. G. 

 Edwardes' Santoi. In 1 906, still following the 

 modern tendency, a further addition was made 

 to the value of stakes. At the summer meeting 

 the Lewes Stakes were worth to the winner 

 j 2,245, while owners of the second and third 

 horses took ^450 and ^2OO each. In addition, 

 the nominators of first and second horses 

 received 150 and ^70 respectively. The race 

 was won by Mr. Arthur James's Gorgos, a 

 prominent Derby horse of the year, which beat 

 Prince William and six others. At the same 

 meeting the Astley Stakes, worth to the winner 

 ^640, was won by Mr. W. Hall Walker's 

 Polar Star. The race-course, which lies on the 

 down, above the town, is open to the public, 

 and ranks, with Epsom and a few others, among 

 the old uninclosed meetings. 



Brighton racing dates from the year 1783, 

 when, on 26 and 27 August, three events 

 were contested, one being a pony race. A 50 

 plate for four-year-olds two-mile heats was 

 won by Mr. Adams' Puff, with Mr. O'Kelly's 

 Adjutant second, and the Duke of Richmond's 

 Trentham third. A sweepstake of 5 guineas, 

 with an added purse of 30 guineas, for ponies, 

 wound up the first day's sport. On the second 

 day a ^50 plate, for horses of all ages, 'the best 



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