l8 THE BLUE RIBBON OF THE TURF. 



5,000 sovs. for the winner, 500 sovs. for the nominator 

 of the winner, SOO sovs. for the owner of the second, 

 and 200 sovs, for the owner of the third, Colts 9 st, 

 tilhes 8 St. 9 lb., then three-year-olds ; by subscription 

 of 50 sovs, each ; half forfeit if declared by the first 

 Tuesday in January, 1890, and 10 sovs, only if de- 

 clared by the first Tuesday in January, 1889; any 

 surplus to be ^J'tid to the v»-innGr. About a. mile and a 

 half, starting at the high-level starting-post. 237 sub- 

 scribers ; closed July 10th, 1888.' 



These new conditions are certainly an improvement 

 on those which up till this time have governed the 

 finance of the Derby, As all who take an interest in 

 the sport of horse-racing are aware, the terms on which, 

 for many ^^ears, horses have been entered for the 

 Derby are £25, an additional sum of that amount 

 having to be paid by those sportsmen who order their 

 horses to be run in the race. At first the amounts 

 paid were fixed at guineas, but in 1825 sovereigns 

 Avere substituted. Many years passed away before the 

 Derby became of much value. Not till the year 1831, 

 when Spaniel won, did the entries for the race exceed 

 100 horses, and sixteen more years elapsed before 

 they numbered 200, whilst it was not till 182 T that 

 as many as twenty horses came to the starting- 

 post. 



Up till 1880 owners never seemed to think they 

 should do other than follow their predecessors, and 

 enter their horses on the terms prescribed. True, an 

 occasional irrumble Avas heard about the avariciousness 

 of the Epsom authorities; but it was not till the offer 

 of much higher stakes at other meetings began to be 



