152 HORSE-RACING IN ENGLAND 



still have to do with the turf, even at Doncaster ; 

 so that, let us hope, matters must have improved, 

 or Lord Cleveland must have made that remark 

 in his haste, as King David made his about the 

 universality of lying. 



It was in the reign of William IV., moreover, 

 on June 3, 1837, that the now common, though 

 not yet universal, ' gate-money ' meetings began 

 to loom upon the vision of the race-goer, and the 

 'sport of kings' began to lose the charm, which 

 had hitherto been one of its greatest attractions, 

 of being perfectly open to the poorest of the poor. 

 For at that date was opened the short-lived 

 ' hippodrome ' at Bayswater, the proprietor where- 

 of, by the way, a Mr. John Whyte, is said to 

 have been the inventor of the invaluable ' tan- 

 gallop ' and the projector of the Benevolent Fund 

 which has become identified with the name of 

 Lord George Bentinck, who provided it with a 

 very handsome ' nest-egg,' laid by a testimonial 

 proffered in acknowledgment of his own services. 



