FINAXCIAL ASPECTS OF THE RACE. 21 



that the receipts of the Grand Stand amount to many 

 thousand pounds, and increase year by year. Shares 

 are occasionally oll'ered for sale, and bring big prices, 

 which points, of course, in the direction of very liberal 



dividends.' 



II. 



In the absence of authentic information, the early 

 history of the Derby, as regards its tinance, can only 

 form matter for speculation. When first the race was 

 run, its surroundings were of the most primitive kind, 

 and at that period no pre-visions of its future celebrity 

 as what may be termed a ' national event ' had been 

 indulged in, nor, in all probability, would the lord of 

 the manor of that day have the least idea that in the 

 course of time the ground on which the race took 

 place would be worth a thousand pounds per annum ; 

 nor could it then have occurred to any person that 

 before sixty years would elapse there would be required 

 a Grand Stand of large dimensions, and many smaller 

 erections of a similar kind, to accommodate the tens 

 of thousands who annually journey to Epsom to gaze 

 on the great struggle for the ' Blue Ribbon of the 

 Turf.' 



Certain particulars regarding the erection of the 

 Stand have, it is right to say, been made public. It 

 was erected in 1829-30, at a cost of about £14,000, the 

 capital required being raised without any difficulty in 

 shares of £20, of which 1,000 were issued. In Mr. 

 Brayley's ' History of Surrey,' it is stated that tlio 



