BEGINNINGS OF REAL RACING AND GENEALOGIES OF BLOOD STOCK. 93 



with all his faults, had done a great deal for the English Turf. The young 

 sportsman whose adventures I noticed at The Hague in the last chapter, was no 

 doubt added to the list of gentleman-riders on his return to within more reasonable 

 distance of Newmarket, where the names of Ashton, Staple, and (ieere, are also 

 remembered about this time for their match-riding; and of course the number of 

 gentlemen who took a prominent part in less important meetings must have been 

 very large. 



As to the course itself, I cannot do better than quote from the same memoirs of the 

 Grand Duke of Tuscany's travels which I have already mentioned. "The race- 

 course," writes his observant secretary, " is a tract of ground in the neighbourhood of 

 'Newmarket, which, extending to the distance of four miles over a spacious and level 

 meadow, covered with very short grass, is marked out by tall wooden posts, 

 painted white. These point out the road that leads directly to the goal, to which 

 they are continued the whole way ; they are placed at regular distances from one 

 another, and the last is distinguished by a flag mounted upon it, to designate the term- 

 ination of the course. The horses intended for this exercise, in order to render them 

 more swift, are kept always girt, that their bellies may not drop, and thereby interfere 

 with the agility of their movements ; and when the time of the races draws near, they 

 feed them with the greatest care, and very sparingly, giving them, for the most part, in 

 order to keep them in full vigour, beverages composed of soaked bread and fresh eggs. 

 Two horses only started on this occasion, one belonging to Bernard Howard of 

 Norfolk, and the other to Sir - - Elliot [probably the owner of Flatfoot\ They left 

 Newmarket saddled in a very simple and light manner, after the English fashion, led 

 by the band, and at a slow pace, by the men who were to ride them, dressed in taffeta, 

 of various colours, that of Howard being white, and that of Elliot green. When they 

 reached the place where they were to start, they mounted, and loosening the reins, 

 let the horses go, keeping them at the beginning, that they might not be too eager at 

 first setting off, and their strength fail them in consequence at the more important 

 part of the race ; and the farther they advanced in the course the more they urged 

 them, forcing them to continue it at full speed. When they came to the station 

 where the King and the Duke of York with some lords and gentlemen of His 

 Majesty's Court were waiting on horseback till they should pass, the latter set off 

 after them at the utmost speed, which was scarcely inferior to that of the racehorses ; 

 for the English horses, being accustomed to run, can keep up with the racers without 

 difficulty ; and they are frequently trained for this purpose in another raceground out 



