98 FLAT-RACING EXPLAINED. 



ciirred on the Manchester course several years ago, 

 which, I am bound to say, at the time greatly im- 

 pressed me. This was in the years 1891 and 1893, 

 in the Salford Borough Handicap, distance one 

 mile, when both these races were won by that ex- 

 ceedingly useful horse, Workington, the property 

 of that good all-round and popular sportsman, the 

 Right Hon. James Lowther, M. 1\ 



Manchester — or perhaps I should say New Barns 

 — Race-course is to all appearances perfectly flat. 

 I have seen it from the stand and enclosures many 

 times, but I have never been over it. I had the 

 temerity on one occasion to ask permission of the 

 executive to do so, and in my weakness, as a last 

 resource in my endeavor to accomplish that desired 

 end, I stated, in the interest of my readers, the pur- 

 pose I had, when my request was refused — and not 

 in very polite terms either, I thought. 



However, I have seen some good horses run 

 there, and when the ground is drj'^ some good rac- 

 ing, but it very seldom is dry. It was dry, however, 

 when Workington beat good fields on both occa- 

 sions; but the most remarkable thing was tliat, not- 

 withstanding the long interval, and he was then 

 an aged horse, he ran the course in 1893 in pre- 

 cisely the same time he had done so two years 

 previously. The time was 1 minute 42 4-.5 seconds, 

 or, for purposes of comparison, 2 2-5 seconds slower 



