64 HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND 



other considerations upon which it were tedious 

 to dwell, it was thought advisable, if not abso- 

 lutely necessary, to guarantee a lowest value for the 

 Derby and Oaks (^5,000 and ^4,000 respectively, 

 without prejudice), and to tempt subscribers by 

 instituting a second (earlier) forfeit of 10 sovs., 

 though the original subscription and forfeit re- 

 mained the same. The weights for the Derby 

 have varied noticeably. In 1780, colts 8 St., 

 fillies 7 St. II lb., altered in i 784 to colts 8 st. 3 lb., 

 fillies 8 St. ; in 1801 to colts 8 st. 3 lb., fillies 7 st. 

 12 lb. ; in 1803 to colts 8 st. 5 lb., fillies 8 st. ; in 

 1807 to colts 8 St. 7 lb., fillies 8 st. 2 lb. ; in 1862 

 to colts 8 St. 10 lb., fillies 8 st. 5 lb. ; and lastly, 

 in 1884, to colts 9 St., fillies 8 st. 9 lb., all of 

 which goes to illustrate the 1 utility of drawing 

 comparisons from the timing or clocking of races 

 unless every particular can be taken into account. 

 The Derby was run in a snow-storm when 

 Bloomsbury won in 1839, and there was snow — 

 but not, it would seem, during the race — on the 

 day when Mr. Chaplin's famous Hermit won in 

 1867. There was a dead heat for the Derby in 

 1828 between the Duke of Rutland's Cadland and 

 the Hon. Edward Petre's The Colonel (which was 

 run off and won by the former), and in 1884 



