78 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



spectator of a great race is much in the position 

 of a child at a theatre during the Christmas 

 hoHdays, for all that master or missy cares or 

 knows, the wonderful fairy pantomime may have 

 dropped ready made from the clouds ; children 

 are concerned only about the sight as they see 

 it, they think not of the brain-work it has cost, 

 or the toil which has been endured in its pre- 

 paration, or the outlay of money necessitated 

 by its production. The business of the turf 

 — before such a spectacle as "the Derby" can 

 be shown on Epsom Downs — may be likened to 

 the labour undergone in the production of a 

 dramatic piece. Those who train our race- 

 horses and arrange our sport upon the turf, find 

 their work to be of a very onerous nature, it 

 is much divided and much of it unknown to 

 the general public. 



The business matters pertaining to horse- 

 racing are, as a rule, arranged by persons 

 licensed by the Jockey Club — judges, clerks of 

 courses, jockeys, all require the authority of 

 the Club before they can act. Horse-racing 

 has so long figured in the eyes of the unlearned 

 in turf matters as a " pastime," that the idea 

 of there being any " business " to transact in 

 connection with it has often drawn from persons, 

 who know no better, an expression of surprise ; 

 but before any race meeting can be advertised, 

 or any race be run, much work of a thorough 

 kind has to be got through, the whole machinery 

 of racing has, in fact, to be evoked. 



In the event of the meeting being a new 

 one, which, for the purpose of illustration, the 

 writer assumes, the whole machinery requires 



