THE RACE-HORSE, 563 



horses ? What is the main support of this machinery \ And 

 who are the workmen who set in motion its countless wheels ? 

 Whence is derived that incredible capital which is put to 

 the hazard of chances in this deep and exciting game ? 



The horses of the turf are reared or acquired by many 

 persons of the community, from the stabler, the training- 

 groom, the horse-dealer, to the farmer, the country gentle- 

 man, the master of fox-hounds, the opulent merchant, the 

 banker, the peer. None is excluded from this lottery of fair 

 prizes, and every one may derive reputation and advantage 

 from the possession of a horse qualified to take his place in 

 lists confined to no order of chivalry, and demanding no 

 heraldry but the purse. No difficulty anywhere exists in 

 obtaining horses of the privileged caste. Great numbers of 

 them break down in the preliminary trials, and many of the 

 purest blood, after having run the first desperate match 

 which disables them for ever, may be purchased for the price 

 of carrion. Nothing, then, is so easy as to obtain the ma- 

 terials for rearing the solitary Race-Horse, or, if the means 

 allow, the extended stud ; and, accordingly, if we shall look 

 to our racing calenders, and inquire into the history of the 

 horses entered to run at the different courses, we shall find 

 that they are derived from every class of dealers and breeders 

 in the country. At the same time, there are always indi- 

 viduals of opulence and rank, who have made the business 

 of the turf an especial concern, and maintain extensive studs, 

 from which they can make a fitting selection. 



Turning to the last century, which may be termed the 

 golden age of the turf, we find amongst its unwearied sup- 

 porters the Devonshires, the Boltons, the Rutlands, the 

 Portmores, of those days ; but perhaps the greatest sup- 

 porter of the turf of the last age was William Duke of Cum- 

 berland. This Prince possessed the most numerous stud in 

 the kingdom. He was the owner of Herod, and of many fine 

 horses. Herod, it has been seen, was the progenitor of a 

 vast number of distinguished racers. In 1764, he beat the 



