THE POSITION OF THE TURF 15 



What is quite clear at present is that the average 

 American does not stay anything like so well as the average 

 Australian. The rank and file of the Americans we have 

 seen in this country do best at a mile, and few of them can 

 go further than a mile and a half. Some exceptions there 

 have been, notably Foxhall, who won the Caesarewitch as 

 a three-year-old under 7 st. 12 Ibs., and I need hardly 

 write that no horse who was not a first-rate stayer could 

 have done this. That race, however, took place nearly 

 twenty years ago, and since that time hundreds of Americans 

 have been sent to this country, not one of whom will be 

 handed down to posterity as a great or even good stayer. 

 The late Lord William Beresford, racing in partnership with 

 Mr. Lorillard, had great success in 1898 and 1899 with horses 

 imported from America, but the best of them were best at 

 a mile, and very seldom were the colours carried in a long- 

 distance race. What is lacking in the American system it 

 is difficult for one who has not raced in that country to 

 know, but$ speaking broadly, and judging from what has 

 been seen in England during the last quarter of a century, 

 I have no hesitation in saying that English-bred horses are 

 better stayers than their transatlantic neighbours, and that 

 the Australians have a pull over us in the matter of stamina. 

 It cannot be too well borne in mind that the Australian im- 

 portations to this country have been very small compared 

 with those from America, and that the opinion here expressed 

 is derived entirely from what the imported horses from 

 either country have done on English courses. 



The question as to whether the horses of the present day 

 are better or worse than those of, say, half a century ago, 

 is a difficult one to decide, yet it is constantly argued, 

 both on paper and in conversation among racing men. My 

 own opinion is that the rank and file of the modern race- 

 course are nearly as bad as bad can be, but I am not at 

 all sure that the same was not the case fifty years ago, and, 

 in any circumstances, it would appear to be almost impossible 

 for anyone to speak definitely. The best of the present day 

 I am inclined to think are as good as any which have pre- 

 ceded them ; but even here the experts differ. Men who 



