NEWMARKET AS IT WAS. 135 



Lord George Fitzroy had the management of his 

 stud ; but the Duke himself I never saw. 



Talking of the old days at Newmarket calls vividly 

 to mind the difference between the amusement 

 afforded then and now. Then, to canter to the 

 Ditch stable to see the horses saddled and take their 

 preliminary canter before starting, and return to 

 the winning-post in ample time to see the finish, was 

 real enjoyment. Then you could catch more than a 

 glimpse of any horse you wished to see. Now many 

 are invisible altogether, or, at any rate, to those who 

 may be specially interested in them. How changed, 

 indeed, for the worse to-day is almost everything con- 

 nected with the ancient place, as well as the racing 

 itself ! Instead of riding on to the course on hacks, 

 most people now start from the Coffee Room in 

 close carriages, and are set down at the back of the 

 Stand, which they seldom leave during the races, 

 unless it be to visit the adjacent ' Birdcage,' where 

 their wishes may be gratified, or their hopes disap- 

 pointed, just as they may or may not see the favourite, 

 or any other horse ; as there is no certainty, but the 

 reverse, that the particular horse may not be saddled 

 elsewhere. I am not the only one that thinks so. I 

 have heard many of the old sporting habitues of the 

 place say the same, and that they now prefer Epsom 

 and Ascot to Newmarket in its altered form. 



But I must return to my recollections of the 

 Bentinck family. The Duke's son, Lord Henry, I 



