143 



Again, while I admit that public trainers, as a rule, bring horses to the 

 post in better condition than do the private men, I am of the most 

 decided opinion that the sport would be better sustained and maintained 

 by having our horses for steeplechasing trained at home. Thereby 

 would be created sporting emulation and rivalry among owners other 

 than that which they have on a racecourse. 



Our gentry now are not nearly so well ofif as they used to be, and they 

 can't do things they once did, nor can they do almost anything in the 

 same style. 



Deplorable, also, is the fact that they don't now look upon steeple- 

 chasing, as a branch of sport, in the same light as did their forefathers. 



To bring back to our gentry their old incomes is an impossibility, but 

 to regenerate in them the love of steeplechasing is by no means 

 impossible ; on the contrary all that is needed is to bring hack to 

 steepleclmsing its original system. 



I am now tired of this dissertation, and so I am sure will be my 

 readers, so I shall not bother myself or them with further remarks or 

 comparisons, but will blurt out that I am firmly of opinion that, as 

 far as steeplechasing is concerned, the love of sport is fast giving way 

 to the love of gain. Owners don't care a fig now for winning a race, 

 except in so far as they gain by it ; and they would rather lose a race 

 and thereby make money, than win the race and get nothing. Horses 

 are used now as machines for gambling, and not, as of old, as winners 

 of glory to their owners ; nor is steeplechasing any longer an institution 

 for improving the breed and stamina of the hunter ; on the contrary 

 "hunters" — bless the mark! — are now expected to improve steeple- 

 chasing. 



How long the present system will last time alone can tell, but my 

 opinion is the grand old sport is fast going down hill. It is not, how- 

 ever, too late to put on the skid, and if the authorities would do so with- 

 out any more delay perhaps the upset of the coach may be prevented. 



I need not say I hold our I.X.H.S. Committee in the greatest esteem, 

 and would, in every way in my power, support them. It is, therefore, 

 painful to me to hear that body spoken of in the disrespectful manner 

 some sections of the press and public at times adopt. It is a body of 

 gentlemen in whom everyone should place confidence, and to whose 

 decisions all should bow. Without such a body to regulate our steeple- 

 chasing, constituted as it must be with absolute power, the sport would 

 soon fall to the ground, precisely as did the prize-ring of England when 

 the Corinthian columns were taken from under it. Censors and Vv^ould- 

 be reformers should bear this in mind. 



During the past few years our Steeplechase Committee have efi'ected 

 some great improvements, both in their legislature and the way meet- 

 ings are conducted, but there remains a lot more for them to do — 

 luckily, however, not as much as have the Turf and Jockey Clubs. 



We in Ireland are fortunate in having as rulers of our racing and 

 steeplechasing a body of men, young and practical in their ideas. 



