98 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



horses into a state of unrest, for the sake of 

 delaying the start, until some tiny boy mounted 

 on a favourite is beaten with cold and fatigue 

 before the race is even begun to be run. Such 

 tactics have been often resorted to ; they seem 

 to form a feature of " jockeyship." As all who 

 frequent race-meetings know, the starter has a 

 great deal in his power. 



That the gentlemen who officiate as starters 

 at the present time are honest in their vocation, 

 men whom no bribe would tempt to go wrong, 

 however large it might be, may be taken for 

 granted. But it was not always so ; there was a 

 time in the history of the turf, when the duties of 

 starter were entrusted to any Tom, Dick, or 

 Harry, with the result that they were carelessly, 

 if not dishonestly performed. Nothing is more 

 annoying to an owner of a valuable horse than to 

 see the animal distressed by a number of false 

 starts — especially when it has been heavily backed 

 and is thought to possess a great chance of se- 

 curing a victory. On such occasions the power of 

 a horse is frittered before racing begins, and its 

 winning chance lessened thereby. At one period 

 of turf history, according to an authority already 

 mentioned, the duties of starter were so inefficiently 

 performed that Lord George Bentinck, who re- 

 formed many of the abuses incidental to the 

 sport of kings, used himself voluntarily to under- 

 take the task of starting the horses whenever a 

 great event was about to be decided. From his high 

 position in the turf world, his experience acquired 

 as an active steward of the Jockey Club, and the 

 fact of his being the proprietor of many valuable 

 horses, as well as of an immense breeding stud, 



