Institution and Early Growth 



arranged as reception rooms, and the upper part afforded 

 good accommodation for the Royal Family and suite to 

 view the races. The roof was capable of containing nearly 

 a hundred persons. Our illustration will convey a good 

 idea of its architecture. 



The meeting of 1830 was a disastrous one. Rain fell 

 Incessantly, the Royal 

 Stand was closed on 

 account of the King's 

 illness, and sport was 

 poor ; indeed, the 

 entries for the Gold 

 Cup only numbered 

 ten, barely enough 

 to pay for the prize, 

 and only four horses 

 came to the post. 

 The last was owino^ 

 to an unwise and 

 most ungracious rule 

 enforced by the King, 

 under which " com- 

 mon fellows " — that 



/'v; / 



WILLIAM IV. 



IS to say, any one 



not a member of either White's, Brooks', or the Jockey 



Club, were prohibited from competing tor the Ascot Cup. 



In the following year the Gold Cup was In worse plight, 

 Its excluslveness being so severe that only two horses 

 answered the bell — certainly good horses, but, compared 

 with the meeting of 1829, what a spectacle! Sir M. 

 Wood's b. c. Cetus ridden by Robinson beat Lord Exeter's 



65 F 



