184 



horses ? To answer that question requires a tidy bit of consideration 

 and figuring up. We must take into account railway fares, hotel 

 bills, car hire, admission to stand-house, luncheon, then comes the 

 inevitable trifle spent upon drink to counteract the effects of heat 

 in summer, cold in winter, or, in the absence of both, for the sake of 

 conviviality. An odd bet or two we shan't include, but surely we 

 must not eliminate the sum which has to be spent upon" ourselves' 

 new coats, our wives' new gowns." 



Now bulking all the above items of expenditure, which for any 

 ordinary individual are simply unavoidable, in a greater or less degree, 

 if he attends a race-meeting, we cannot come at a lower estimate by 

 way of average than that of £5,000 for each of these meetings. £5,000 

 multiplied by 95 gives £475,000, and is the sum which, at the lowest 

 possible calculation, people spent in Ireland in 1891 for the purpose 

 of attending our race-meetings. 



That large amount has to be increased by whatever may be spent by 

 local gentry in entertainment of whatever visitors they may have 

 with them for the races, also by whatever has been laid out upon 

 erection of stand-houses, keeping them in repair, men employed in 

 the enclosures and on the course, together with scores of other 

 incidental but necessary items of expenditure too numerous to 

 particularise much less calculate the cost of. 



I shall now give a table of the foregoing figures which will show at 

 a glance 



The value of oue Irish racehorses, what was spent by owners 

 to race them, and what was spent by the public to see 



THEM RACE IN 1891. 



Value in money of 603 flat races and steeplechases ran for £39,144 



Value of 1,095 horses which started, at £150 £164,250 



Value of 675 horses which did not start, at £150 101,250 



Total value of 1,770 horses 265,500 



Keep and training of above starters £85,410 



Keep and training of above noa-starters 34,850 



Total keep and training of 1,770 horses 120,260 



Travelling expenses of horses to meetings 11,000 



Entrance fees and stakes 11 ,000 



Jockeys' fees and expenses 9,800 



Owners' expenses to meetings 2.200 



Total cost of keep and racing above horses 154,260 



Amount spent by public attending Irish meetings in 1891 475,000 



Total expenditure £629,260 



The sums paid by owners in purchasing horses I cannot estimate; the 

 amount is considerable, but it has to be left out of the estimate. 



In Ireland each boy in a training stable has to look after two horses— 

 we have some 1,800 racehorses, therefore we have over 900 boys 

 employed, not to speak of head lads and trainers. 



