THE RACE-HORSE. 539 



the chase, and Charles II. added to and repaired it, after it 

 had fallen into decay during the Civil Wars, frequently grac- 

 ing it with his presence during the races on the adjoining 

 Heath. The original palace of James has long been sold 

 and applied to other uses. The structure erected by Charles 

 is chiefly used for training-stables. Mansions in and around 

 the elegant little town are the memorials of success on the 

 turf. Club-rooms, coffee-houses, billiard-tables, and circu- 

 lating libraries, afford relief from the ennui of the intervals of 

 business. They very air seems tainted with the spirit of the 

 place ; and, from the Three Tuns to the aristocratic rooms 

 of the Jockey Club, all is redolent of betting and play. The 

 very boys of the place, we are told, consume their winter 

 evenings in cock-fighting and dog-matches, and at halfpenny 

 roulette tables stake their all as freely as their betters. The 

 racing-ground is reckoned the finest in England, from the 

 variety of its surface, and the dryness, softness, and elasticity 

 of the turf. It is in the vicinity of the town, is four miles in 

 length, and is vested in the Jockey Club, as holding it under 

 the Duke of Portland. The training-grounds, a mile and a 

 half in length, are equally suited to their purpose. Four 

 hundred horses are frequently to be seen in training during 

 the greater part of the year ; and the spectacle of so many 

 fine creatures at their daily exercise on the heath is scarce 

 inferior in curiosity and interest to that of the final exercise 

 of their powers. The racing-ground is in eighteen divisions, 

 termed Courses, of which the longest is the Beacon Course, 

 4 miles 1 furlong 138 yards : the next, the Round Course, 

 3 m. 4 f. 187 yds. : the last division of the Beacon Course is 

 3 m. 45 yds. : the middle portion of the same course 2 m. 

 97 yds. ; and so on to the Yearling Course, 2 f. 147 yds. 

 The variety of these courses, some on the rise, some on the 

 descent, and some flat, afford means of selecting ground for 

 matches suited to the age, strength, and qualities of the 

 horses. The chair of the Judge is on wheels, moveable from 

 place to place. The duty of the Judge is to declare the 



