PREFACE. 



A PORTION of the following work, which the 

 Author has here endeavoured to blend, with a 

 very large amount of new matter, into a Turf manual, 

 recently appeared, under two distinct titles, in The 

 Sporting Review. It has been his wish to make it 

 as little as possible a mere invoice of men, horses, or 

 races ; and hence, even at the risk of disturbing the 

 context, he has often gladly turned aside to pick up 

 " a bit of character " by the way. With the secret 

 lore of veterinary surgeons and book-makers he has 

 not presumed to meddle. He has simply written of 

 the Turf as he has known it for some years past, not 

 through the feverish medium of the betting, but as 

 its leading features have been brought to his mind 

 by an occasional stroll on to a racecourse on a crack 

 afternoon, through the boxes at Tattersall's, or among 

 the paddocks of a stud-farm. Although he has 

 taken the utmost pains to avoid them, by seeking 

 the best available means of information, he cannot 

 but fear that, having to deal with times and scenes 

 in so many of which he bore no part, he may have 



