MODERN ENCLOSED COURSES 211 



enormous burden of 9 st. I2lbs. In 1 894 Ravensbury carried 

 9 st. 4 Ibs. to victory, beating a good-class field of eighteen, 

 and I am inclined to think that this was as big a performance 

 as that of Carlton, as Ravensbury had behind him Cypria, 

 who ran a dead-heat for the Caesarewitch ; Clorane, winner 

 of the Lincoln Handicap, Royal Hunt Cup, and a host of 

 good races ; Ragimunde, successful in the Caesarewitch and 

 Great Metropolitan ; Bushey Park, who won the mile and 

 three-quarters Great Yorkshire Handicap and also a Liver- 

 pool Cup ; Paddy, who had won this race two years before ; 

 Dare Devil, hero of two Chester Cups and a Northumberland 

 Plate ; and several other good winners. To every one of the 

 above Ravensbury was giving a lot of weight, and he won in 

 great style, being ridden by Barker, who is chiefly known as 

 a steeplechase jockey. 



Quite flat is the Manchester Course, with no gradients 

 whatever, and naturally in the Cup races there must be 

 a considerable amount of easing-up round the turns. The 

 run-in, however, is about a thousand yards, and dead-level, 

 so that stamina is quite as requisite here as it is elsewhere, 

 and more so than at Chester, for instance. Several steeple- 

 chase meetings are held during the winter months, and as 

 a general rule these are well supported by Irish -trained 

 horses. No doubt the executive make it worth while for 

 owners to send nags from the Curragh and elsewhere to run 

 at Manchester ; and in the flat-racing season it often occurs 

 that some of the most valuable prizes go to the sister isle. 

 Of the several cross-country fixtures held at New Barns, the 

 Easter Meeting is the most important, for its programme 

 includes the Lancashire Handicap Steeplechase of three 

 miles and a half, worth 2,000, and a hurdle-race worth half 

 that amount, besides other valuable prizes. The Lancashire 

 Steeplechase yields in importance only to the Grand 

 National, and it is invariably productive of a large field, 

 composed of the best-class cross-country horses in training. 

 All the same, the race does not take so much winning as the 

 Grand National, and, especially if the going be good, speed 

 is more served than great jumping ability and excessive 

 stamina. The fences are much lower and more easily 



