THE CLASSIC RACES. 141 



kingdom to take part in a race for the benefit 

 of a joint stock company ! 



As was recently said by a popular writer, 

 the race for the Derby still attracts tens of 

 thousands of people to Epsom to see it decided; 

 but for all that it is thought by persons well 

 qualified to offer an opinion that the great race 

 has begun to decline, and that, unless those 

 most interested in its popularity — namely, the 

 lessees of the racecourse — take immediate steps 

 to increase the value of the stake run for to 

 a still greater extent than has been yet done 

 the entries will diminish. 



Gentlemen up till 1890 have run for their own 

 money only, but as there are now several races 

 where the stakes total up to a much higher sum 

 than in the Derby, it stands to reason that owners 

 of likely horses will prefer to run them for the 

 races of greater value. The Company which 

 claims to have a vested interest in the " Blue 

 Ribbon of the Turf" will require to supplement 

 the value of the race by adding a few more 

 thousands to the stake. They have made a 

 beginning, but they will require to do more in 

 the way of money-giving if they are to keep 

 pace with the big sums now offered as an induce- 

 ment for men to enter horses in other stakes. 



IV. THE TWO THOUSAND AND ONE THOUSAND 

 GUINEAS. 



" The titles make a big mark in the annals of 

 the Two Thousand," wrote, a few years since, a 

 well-known sporting journalist. And so they do, as 

 a glance at the list of winning names will show. 



