CHAPTER XI 



THE GUZERAT CUP 

 By Captain H. E. MEDLICOTT, 3rd Skinner's Horse. 



THE Guzerat Cup was instituted in 1885. Previous 

 to this there were annual gatherings of sportsmen 

 from Guzerat and Bombay, but there was no com- 

 petitive event before this year. The Cup was 

 subscribed for by " The sportsmen of Guzerat." 

 A competitor could enter as many horses as he 

 wished, and had a separate chance for each horse ; 

 in fact the horse won and not the man. This rule 

 was so palpably favourable to the rich man that it 

 was altered, and from 1886 onwards the rule that 

 " the man wins and not the horse " has been adhered 

 to. This is the fundamental difference between the 

 conditions of the Guzerat and Kadir Cups. When 

 there has been a sufficient quantity of pig, com- 

 petitors have been allowed two chances, otherwise 

 only one. In each of the two chances a competitor 

 may ride anything he likes, the same horse, or 

 different ones. This rule, as I have said, was made 

 to put a poor man on equal terms with a rich one ; 

 but to ensure this the horse of the one-horse man 

 must keep going throughout the meet. This, 

 however, was not sufficient to allow the poor man 

 to compete with any degree of success against the 



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