HANDICAPS. 151 



since the race was first run, on which occasion 

 there were twenty-six subscribers of £2^ each, 

 and as ten runners came to the post, the value of 

 the stakes to the winner, including the sum given 

 by the Cesarewitch, was ^715. The first winner 

 of the event was Cruiskeen. In course of time the 

 Cesarewitch became the greatest of our English 

 handicaps, over two hundred horses having in some 

 years entered to take part in the struggle. As 

 may be supposed good fields are usually the result 

 of large entries, as many as thirty-seven horses 

 having, in 1862, been sent to the post, and on 

 another anniversary of the race thirty-six tried 

 conclusions. 



The Cesarewitch cannot be said to be 

 "famous" for its surroundings; on the contrary, 

 the struggle has often enough been accompanied 

 by an evil odour of finesse and chicanery, con- 

 sequent on repeated attempts to throw dust in 

 the eyes of the handicapper, or, to state more 

 plainly what is meant, to " cheat " that important 

 functionary. To non-racing people such a state- 

 ment will doubtless require explanation. All 

 handicaps are more or less a "game of weights," 

 and that may be more particularly affirmed of 

 the Cesarewitch. In such races as the Derby 

 and St. Leger, the horses which contest the 

 prize run on uniform terms, the weights of all 

 being equal, mares being allowed a deduction ; 

 but in the Cesarewitch, Cambridgeshire, and 

 similar contests, the horses are all "handicapped," 

 in other words they are allotted to be ridden at 

 weights which will represent their merits, or 

 supposed merits ; for, as has been hinted else- 

 where, much pains is often taken to hoodwink the 



