185 



Far more difficult is it to arrive at an approximation of the expenses 

 of racing in England, but I must try to do so. 



According to the Racing Calendar we find that for steeplechases and 

 hurdle-races there started in 1891 about 3,200 horses; for flat-racing, 

 about 2,320— totalling 5,520. These include the horses which raced in 

 Ireland ; we must therefore deduct their total of 1,095, which leaves 

 4,425 starters for races of all sorts in England in 1891. We shall call it 

 4,420. The number of steeplechase meetings was 268, and that for 

 flat-racing 110. These total 378, and do not include Irish meetings. 



The value in money of stakes given for flat-racing amounted to 

 £448,695. Unfortunately there is no return of what was given for 

 steeplechasing or hurdle-racing in the English Calendar. I therefore 

 have to take a shot at the figure, and I put it at about £500 a meeting, 

 or, say, £130,000. Neither has Weatherby a return of the number of 

 races run. Of course by counting the races from the pages of the 

 Calendar and adding up their value to the winner we could arrive at 

 the amounts, but that would be a very troublesome job and would 

 take longer time than I at present have to spare for such purposes. 



(Perhaps Messrs. Weatherby might see their way to have these two 

 yearly totals given in future editions of their excellent and accurate 

 Calendars. ) 



Now, the expenses all round of racing in England are a great deal 

 more than double those in Ireland. Men have much longer journeys to 

 go to see their horses run. The bills of English trainers are higher 

 than ours, but they are; not twice as high. Subscriptions to their 

 races are four-fold higher than to Irish, for not alone is the entry 

 fee high, but for nearly all English events there are sweepstakes of 

 from £5 to £50 with a proportional amount of forfeits. In Ireland 

 such embargoes are practically unknown. The expenses of the New- 

 market jockeys to Ascot and Epsom, not to speak of Goodwood and 

 other far-off meetings, are, it is needless to remark, vastly more than 

 are ours to Cork and Baldoyle, while the special retainer fees to some of 

 the crack professionals equal quite the sum total paid to all our jockeys. 



In fairness it may therefore be accepted as a fact that racing 

 is much more than twice as expensive in England. But I shall put 

 it down at only double and calculate the English expenses upon the 

 same lines as I did the Irish. 



Assuming that there is a like proportion of non-starters to starters, 

 we would have in round numbers 2,700 horses, which in 1891 did not 

 start for a race. They, like the Irish, had to be kept, and many of 

 them trained. Adding these 2,700 non-starters to the 4,420 starters, 

 we come at a total of 7,120. 



The arithmetic at last becomes somewhat simple, viz. : — 



If the expenses of racing and keeping for racing 1,770 horses be 

 £154,260, what would be the like expenses of 7,120 horses ? The answer 

 is £620,526. Double that is £1,241,052. 



Let us turn the last two figures into noughts so as to make the sum 



