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breaking, leaves a mark upon his breast, which mark, whenever it is a 

 near thing, is deemed decisive of victory. 



It may be remarked here, that in one particular, horse racing in Italy 

 differs from all other parts of the world. It is the only part of the civi- 

 lized world, in which horses are started without riders, having only a 

 surcingle round the back, with spurs suspended, the action of the animals 

 serving " to prick the sides of their intent." 



Not to be too classical, however, let us now see what are the earliest indi- 

 cations of racing in our mother country. We gather from a little work, 

 on the " Sports and Pastimes of England," that something like racing 

 was set on foot there in the ninth century, during the reign of Athel- 

 stane ; and that several race horses were sent as a present by Hugh Ca- 

 pet to i.\thelstane, when the latter was in treaty tor the hand of Hugh 

 Capet's sister in marriage. The habit of racing, to test the value of 

 horses by their gaits and speed, became more general soon after this 

 period. 



In the reign of the Second Henry, Smithfield was the great horse 

 mart, where the knowing ones were wont to assemble, either to buy, or 

 to sell — to prove the excellency of their horses, it is recorded that they 

 were usually matched against each other. King John owned running 

 horses, for their cost and keep are fi-equently alluded to in the accounts 

 of his expenses. Three of the Edwards — the Second, the Third and the 

 Fourth — as, al so, the Eighth Henry, were breeders of horses ; the last 

 named monarch had some stock, which he imported from the East. Ra- 

 cing, then, appears, for the first time, to be more scientifically pursued 

 than previously. In the reign of Elizabeth, and her successor, James, 

 we detect in the sport a new and improved order of things. Private 

 matches among the gentry became more frequent, and several new pub- 

 lic race courses were established — more attention was paid to training, 

 the horses being brought to the post in better condition. 



Both Prince Henry and the First Charles were well inclined to all ru- 

 ral sports ; but the one died early, and the other was too much beset by 

 the harassing anxieties of his reign, to afford him leisure to i'ndulge 

 much in the pleasures of the Turf. In his time, however, it is said that 

 the first valuable public prize ever offered, was i-un for in the town of 

 Stamford — it was a silver gilt cup and cover. Soon after this, the Duke 

 of Buckingham's Helmsley Turk, and Lord Fairfax's Morocco Barb, were 

 brought to England, and greatly improved the native breed. Helmsley 

 Turk got Bustler, and Bustler got Blunderbuss ; Morocco Barb got the 

 dam of the celebrated Spanker. 



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