248 HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 



third three times. If the race is concluded in four heats, and 

 two horses have each second place in tMO heats, the one that is 

 second in the last heat is the better of the two. 



Stay a Distance. Ability of the horse to stay a dis- 

 tance, depends, (the horse being in good health and condition), 

 upon, 1, The breathing power being good, or, in other words, 

 the capacity of lung expansion being perfect ; 2, the muscles 

 working to advantage; 3, the entire conformation being of the 

 required kind, and 4, the action of the limbs well balanced. 



Steadiness in a trotting liorse is as much a virtue to be cultivated as 



speed. The liorse that sticks to his work, under any system, has 



the advantage over the flighty, headstrong performer.— Kentucky 



Stock Farm. 



S. t. b. These letters given in a pedigree mean that 



the horse to which they refer is "said to be" by a given horse, 



or out of a given dam. 



Steeplecliasing^. A contest over a given number of 

 miles of "fair hunting country" — generally understood as mean- 

 ing a section of country having pastures, plowed fields, hedges 

 of different sorts, with and without ditches, posts and rails, 

 open brooks and other obstacles, for the purpose of testing the 

 best and speediest horse. Originated in Ireland in 1752. It 

 is said the term arose from a party of fox-hunters on their 

 return from an unsuccessful chase, who agreed to race to the 

 village church, the steeple of which was in sight ; he who first 

 touched the church with his whip to be the winner. This 

 account of its origin appears very probable. But the first 

 steeplechase of which there is any accurate mention was in 

 1752, which was run over four and a half miles of country from 

 the church of Buttevant to the spire of St. Leger church. It 

 was not, however, till 1803 that the first regular steeplechase 

 took place in Ireland, the "added money" to a race that year 

 being "a hogshead of claret, a pipe of port and a quarter-cask 

 of rum." This value was that they proved the excellence of 

 the animal and tested the horsemanship of the rider. The old 

 system was dangerous in the extreme and turf annals record 

 many serious accidents resulting therefrom. In 1820 it was a 

 favorite amusement with young fox-hunters, and men ventured 

 large sums on the ability of their horses to cross a country. 

 The meets in Ireland at that time were held for three days, 

 during wiiich the distance ran was four miles with six five-foot 

 walls to take for the first day ; on the second day the walls 

 were reduced six inches, and on the third day six four-foot 

 walls formed the course. In France in 1834, the start was 

 "down the Rabit Mount, a short but steep declivity full of 

 holes, after which several ugly places were crossed, including a 



