The First Race Meetings 35 



and from the very first race which was run over 

 the Newmarket Course, on the nineteenth day of 

 February, 1760, absolute knowledge can be had, 

 not only of all the races run in or near Charleston, 

 but of those run at other courses in the old state of 

 South Carolina previous to 1760. Over the York 

 Course, which was situated on Charleston Neck, 

 there had been a number of matches run, and in 

 the South Carolina Gazette of February i, 1734, 

 there is an extensive account of the running of 

 a race by unnamed horses over this Neck Course 

 for the prize of a saddle and bridle valued at £20. 

 The race was run on the first Tuesday in Febru- 

 ary, 1734, mile heats, four entries. The horses 

 carried 10 stone (140 pounds), white riders. 

 This last was one of the stipulations of the race. 

 So, as far as any history goes, this affair at mile 

 heats, with 140 pounds and white riders up, was the 

 first event ever run in Carolina, and it is doubt- 

 ful if many races of real thoroughbred character 

 had occurred in this country before that. A kind 

 of sport which came to be known as quarter-rac- 

 ing had been indulged in between the Virginians 

 and the Carolinians along the borders of those 

 two states for many previous years. But they 

 were match affairs between horses whose speed 



