424 



at £50 each, so that 246 entries, for which £4,860 was paid, together with 

 the interest, was lost to the owners and went to the fund of the Epsom 

 Grand Stand Company, it finding only £1,000 for the race ! 



If owners had entered for that race, say, on February 1, 1892, at 1 per 

 cent, on the £6,500, they would have had to pay £65 in the first instance 

 and another £65 on whatever horses were left in on May 1, which would 

 practically represent the starters. No doubt heavy sums, but the plan 

 would be far better than that now existing. Besides, the public would 

 have a pretty fair idea what the field would be. The effect of entering 

 horses for races a long time before they can run for them is simply to 

 gull the public, fieece the owners, and aggrandise the race companies. 

 The practice should, therefore, be stamped out. 



With all their keenness and ability to take care of themselves, owners 

 have remained quiet over this question of stakes far too long. Many 

 of them are con{^tituted with the happy-go-lucky sentiment, and take for 

 granted everythi&g is right that is laid before them by the powers that 

 be ; while the remainder have got so accustomed to be skinned that 

 they, like the eels, do not realise the enormity of the abuse. 



The system, nevertheless, is manifestly preposterous, and would not 

 for one moment be entertained by any community other than the 

 owners of racehorses. 



In addition to bringing entries and forfeits to a minimum, race- 

 course companies should be required to find free quarters and grub for 

 horses attending their meetings as well as for the lads in charge. 



Railway companies should also give a carte blanche to all racehorses 

 and their attendants. 



Under even the most favourable and fortunate circumstances, racing 

 is not a profitab'e calling for any man, and then to make stakes balance 

 expenses, much less show a profit, judgment and prudence, combined 

 with rigid economy, must be practised systematically. 



Owing to our monstrous system there are many men in England 

 this moment whose racing accounts have often shown, for ten years 

 on a stretch, a systematic loss of from £5,000 to £10,000 a year. One 

 of the best known and most popular of our noblemen has for eleven 

 years lost £11,000 a year through breeding and racing alone— for he 

 does not bet. At last he has produced a really good horse, and could 

 probably get for him £10,000 or £15,000, and if he turns out well 

 and has good luck he may win in stakes perhaps £30,000 ; but what 

 will that be to the owner in the face of a debit of £121,000 1 



Lucky it has been for racing that all through its history we have had 

 from the ranks of the mercantile class accessions of wealthy men. To 

 these sportsmen is owed a heavy debt of gratitude, for without that re- 

 inforcement the sport could not have been maintained in the high 

 position it has always stood. Theee rich men have, however, done a 

 serious injury without intention. They have run up the prices of 

 yearlings, the offspring of fashionable stallions, to a figure altogether 

 beyond their value. As a result, the fees for service of th^se st^llioog 



