162 THE ENGLISH TURF 



the trial horses of their Brocklesby candidates may find out 

 what form those horses are in. No doubt many of the 

 youngsters for the last-named prize are backed, or allowed 

 to run loose, as the case may be, on the strength of their 

 trial horse's performance on the previous day, and the race 

 is a most useful one. Still, the Lincolnshire Handicap is 

 the great event of the second day, in fact of the meeting, 

 and though the class is on the whole not quite so good 

 as that to be found in the City and Suburban or Jubilee 

 Stakes, the race always brings out some of the best milers 

 in training, and is seldom won by a bad horse. It is an 

 accepted article of faith that the race is a most difficult 

 one for a three-year-old to win, but the fact really is that 

 very few three-year-olds are entered, and in some years not 

 a single horse of that age goes to the post. It is therefore 

 not surprising that there are only half a dozen young horses 

 on the list of winners ; but if a good three-year-olp! is really 

 prepared for the race he generally wins, or runs very well, 

 and not so long ago three of that age were first, second, and 

 third. The best performance the Lincolnshire Handicap has 

 known was that of Clorane, a magnificent big chestnut, who 

 carried 9 st. 4 Ibs. to victory in a field of eighteen. No other 

 horse has ever been successful with 9 stone in the saddle. 



The Brocklesby has been in existence rather more than 

 forty years, and lately it has reached over ;i,ooo in value. 

 It is now cut down a little in order to conform with the 

 new rules, but a big subscription will always cause it to 

 remain a valuable race. Considering how early in the year 

 it is run, it is astonishing what a number of good horses 

 have won the stake. The Bard, Donovan, Semolina, and 

 Minting Queen are four good ones who made their dbut 

 at Lincoln, but it often happens that the Brocklesby form is 

 very bad, and it is occasionally won by something that does 

 not aspire beyond plating form at the end of the season. 

 The reason for the variation in class of Brocklesby fields is 

 easily found. If the weather has been favourable for train- 

 ing operations during the previous two months, if, that is 

 to say, Lincoln follows an open winter, then a great number 

 of two-year-olds are ready to run. If, however, training 



