A 



MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



BEGINNINGS OF RACING. 



The origin of horse-racing cannot be fixed by any 

 quotation of dates, as none are extant to show by 

 whom the first race was planned, the terms on 

 which it was run, the distance traversed, the kind 

 of horses which ran, the men who trained them, 

 or the jockeys who rode them. 



It may, however, be taken for granted that, 

 as an Enghsh sport, horse-racing began in homely 

 fashion, and, in the days of old, centuries ago that 

 is to say, was a very different pastime from what it 

 is to-day. 



Attempts have often been made to trace the 

 beginnings of horse-racing, but not with much 

 success. It has been assumed by writers on 

 the subject, that there would in the first place 

 be trials of strength of a friendly description 

 among neighbours, matches, perhaps, between 

 horses which their owners looked upon as being 

 animals above the common run. Scientific, or 

 planned racing, in other words, the elaborately 

 arranged contests with which, as a nation, we are 

 familiar is, it may be said, a comparatively modern 

 pastime. But the sport of horse-racing, as we 



B 



f 



