THE JOCKEY CLUB 133 



The turf had not then become the ' Tom Tiddler's 

 ground ' it has since become for peer and pleb ; true, 

 there was a fringe of 'blacklegs,' etc., round the 

 noble sport as at the present day, but a glance at the 

 Calendar will show that racing, at Newmarket in 

 particular, was carried on by the elite. Further, the 

 classic races, such as the 'Two Thousand,' 'Derby,' 

 ' Oaks,' etc., are now termed, did not exist ; so that 

 if an owner desired to win a big stake, he had to 

 provide it himself by making a match. Again, that 

 ruler of the turf, the Jockey Club, was scarcely out of 

 leading strings. True, it had then been established 

 several years ; but its members were few in number, 

 and its rules and regulations nothing like the code 

 now in existence, while many of its London meetings 

 were held at the Star and Garter Tavern, Pall Mall. 

 Such, then, was the condition of both the Turf and its 

 'master.' Nor would the Turf have reached the 

 popularity accorded to it at the close of the last 

 century, but for the exertions of men devoted to the 

 sport, as the Dukes of Cumberland and Grafton, 

 and Lords March, Clermont, Grosvenor, and Barry- 

 more. 



The year 1768 was a desultory one in his lordship's 

 career; even his correspondence with Selwyn does 

 not take it out of the ' rut ' of commonplace. In 



