THE CLASSIC HACES. 125 



doings can, at the best, be only a matter of guess 

 work, and, on the principle that a man may do 

 as he likes with his own, it is nobody's business." 



That is one way of putting the case, and that 

 " a man's horse is his own and he can do with it 

 as he pleases," has often figured as an excuse for 

 very flagrant instances of turf immorality ; but, it 

 has been suggested that the Oaks has been less 

 marked by chicanery than other races. 



III. THE DERBY. 



One hundred and ten years have elapsed 

 since Diomed won the first race for what has 

 since been called the "Blue Ribbon of the Turf," 

 and to-day the Derby is as much in favour 

 as it has been in any previous year. Countless 

 thousands assemble on Epsom Downs to witness 

 each recurring anniversary. During the first 

 thirty years of its existence the race was of slow 

 growth so far as the subscribers and the number 

 of horses running was concerned, but its popu- 

 larity was soon to grow, and considering the 

 difficulties of locomotion on bad roads and other 

 obstructions, the attendance on the Downs on 

 the day set for the great struggle became very 

 considerable, although nothing like what it was 

 destined to become when railways had made 

 travelling easy and inexpensive. 



It was propounded as a question in the 

 columns of one of the sporting journals some 

 years ago that it would be interesting to know 

 how many men were alive who had seen the 

 race run about the year 1820, or even a year 

 or two later ; but I do not know if any, or how 



