l8o A HJS70KF OF THE ENGLISH TURF. 



famous course, though Swift's letter to Stella, on August 10, 1711, records that 

 Queen Anne and her consort were at Ascot at this earlier date as well ; and it may 

 be noted that races for hunters are recorded there in 1722, though the " Calendar" 

 does not contain the " Qualifications for a Hunter " till forty years later. 



Sir Walter Gilbey quotes a writer in the Spoiling Magazine of 1810 on the 

 question of the Royal Plates, as follows : 



"... Gentlemen went on breeding their horses so fine for the sake of shape and 

 speed only. Those animals which were only second, third, or fourth rates in speed 

 were considered to be quite useless. This custom continued until the reign of Queen 

 Anne, when a public-spirited gentleman (observing inconvenience arising from this 

 exclusiveness) left thirteen plates or purses to be run for at such places as the Crown 

 should appoint. Hence they are called the King's or Queen's Plates or Guineas. 

 They were given upon the condition that each horse, mare, or gelding should carry 

 12 stone weight, the best of three heats over a .four-mile course. By this method 

 a stronger and more useful breed was soon raised ; and if the horse did not win the 

 guineas, he was yet strong enough to make a good hunter." 



I incline to believe, with Berenger, that the Royal Plates owe more to the 

 generosity of the Queen than to the legacies of any individual sportsman ; but, 

 whatever their origin, their good effect was undoubted, for an animal able to carry 

 twelve stone over three four-mile heats could hardly be described as a mere " racing 

 machine." That Her Majesty was as much interested in the breed of horses as a 

 whole as in any special development of the thoroughbred, is clear from other inci- 

 dents in her reign. In those days the horse was practically the only means of loco- 







motion, and such an interest is easily intelligible. To-day things have very much 

 changed. Railways had not so very long established themselves before it was 

 publicly acknowledged by a Royal Commission that if it were not for the Turf 

 horse-breeding would fall into decay. In times when people go to Ascot and Good- 

 wood in a motor-car it may be thought that a still greater opportunity lies before the 

 conscientious breeder of bloodstock ; for in spite of every effort to drive the horse 

 off the high roads he is still useful across country, on the race track, and in the field 

 of battle. It was at Blenheim, at Ramillies, and Malplaquet, that Marlborough used 

 his cavalry as it had never been used before. The lesson was never forgotten until 

 for many weary months De Wet taught the British army the value of superior 

 mobility in the South African campaigns. 



The Duke of Marlborough, who owned several good racers and had been on the 



