48 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



the sum of added money is very large, the 

 meeting is not only self-supporting, but profitable. 

 It is but fair to give much of the credit of the 

 success of the Ascot meetings of recent years to 

 Lord Hardwicke, who, when he officiated as 

 Master of the Buckhounds, did all he could to 

 add to the attractiveness of a meeting which had 

 long been celebrated as providing one of the 

 most fashionable gatherings of London society. 

 Ascot, which has been a seat of racing for so long 

 a period, has seen several generations of sportsmen 

 come and go ; but to-day it is more gay and 

 brilliant ; more attractive to fine ladies and gay 

 cavaliers than it ever was before. Princes and 

 Princesses continue to give it their patronage, 

 and the most celebrated horses of the kingdom 

 compete on its green turf for the liberal prizes 

 with which the meeting has been endowed. 



It is not so easy as it may appear to compile 

 an exact history of any racecourse. As regards 

 Ascot, one writer tells us that the racecourse, or, 

 as he calls it, the " Manor of Ascot," is private 

 property, whilst another authority distinctly states 

 that it is " the property of the Crown," and that, 

 in consequence, no rent is exacted tor the race- 

 course. Fees of all kinds, however, are taken in 

 the various enclosures, and, as a matter of course, 

 admission to the grand stand and paddock has to 

 be paid for as at other meetings ; but as much 

 of the money taken is given to be raced for, the 

 charges may be tolerated. The accommodation 

 now provided tor the public at Ascot is some- 

 thing like what it should be ; although it still 

 might be improved, it is wonderfully good when 

 compared with what it was half a century since. 



