ABOUT THE JOCKEY CLUB. 361 



the sum of knowledge possessed by perhaps a 

 score of well-informed outsiders to make up a 

 chronicle that would form something like a historj'- 

 of the institution, or supply a reliable account 

 of its means or motives of action, or the wonderful 

 powers with which it has endowed itself. 



The Jockey Club, without being incorporated 

 by Act of Parliament, and without any legal 

 constitution — a self-elected body, in fact — through 

 its stewards — a council of three — acts as a tribunal, 

 civil and criminal, in every matter pertaining to 

 the turf, its authority in all racing matters being 

 acknowledged throughout the United Kingdom. 

 From its judgments there lies no appeal, there 

 being no higher court. No alternative remains, 

 " obey, or depart without the pale " is the order of 

 the day. Sinners have occasionally shown fight, 

 and bearded the lions in their den ; but, as a rule, 

 implicit submission is given to the mandates of 

 the club ; every one having a part, however 

 trivial, to perform in the national pastime comes 

 under its sway. Trainers, touts, jockeys, judges, 

 and starters, all must submit to "the stewards," 

 whose words are law. Trainers who may drug, or 

 boys who may pull their horses, have cause to 

 tremble ; should their sins find them out, banish- 

 ment from the turf at Newmarket — the chief scene 

 of horse-racing in England — as well as from every 

 other racecourse in the United Kingdom, would 

 be certain to follow. A sharp eye is now kept by 

 ' the stewards on all inconsistencies of form ; should 

 an animal fail in a task to-day, and accomplish 

 a difficult feat to-morrow, it is almost certain the 

 "council of three" will call to account those 

 connected with the horse and demand explanation. 



