BEGINNINGS OF RACING. n 



that the race-horse as now known to us began 

 to be developed. That monarch, determined 

 England should be foremost in the art of horse- 

 breeding, purchased from a Mr. Markham an 

 Arabian horse that set a distinct mark on the 

 national stud ; the animal is reputed to have cost 

 ^154, a very considerable sum of money in the 

 days of the first James. The horse proved a 

 "duffer" on the racecourse, but was doubtless of 

 service in " blooding " the then courser of the 

 nation. The King, not disheartened by the want 

 of the quality of speed in the foreigner, purchased 

 the White Turk from Mr. Place. The Duke 

 of Newcastle havinof taken a dislike to the 

 Arabians, endeavoured to write them down in 

 his work, the "General System of Horsemanship." 

 His opinion of the horse was that it possessed 

 size, but, lacking substance, was not a weight 

 carrier. During the reign of James I., horse- 

 racing began to grow into a popular sport, and 

 the rules and regulations then introduced for 

 its conduct developed in time into the elaborate 

 system with which we are now familiar. 



Of the Darley Arabian which laid the founda- 

 tion of our modern stock of racing horses, a brief 

 account may not be without interest. 



The Mr. Darley who obtained and sent to 

 England this celebrated animal, was a merchant 

 in the Levant with a wide circle of acquaintances ; 

 being a hunting man and Yorkshire to boot, he 

 was possessed of good knowledge of horse flesh. 

 Knowing the value of the Arabian horse, he 

 exerted his interest to procure a famous example 

 of the breed, and was so successful as to obtain 

 a very fine animal at a moderate sum. The 



