FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF THE RACE. \^^ 



\ 

 dlcatcd, both in handicaps, and in relation to the 

 Derby, Oaks, and St. Leger, by co-operating to provide 

 a big race ? 



It should be brought home to those chiefly in- 

 terested that the persons who derive so great a pro tit 

 from the Derby and Oaks should be compelled to 

 disgorge a larger portion of it than they seem in- 

 clined to those who in reality provide the sport — 

 namely, the ladies and gentlemen who run their 

 horses, some of which have cost thousands of pounds 

 to purchase, and hundreds of pounds to maintain. 

 Who would constitute himself an advocate for levia- 

 than stakes, the gains of which go to enrich mere 

 speculators, who in all probability have no soul for 

 sport or, at any rate, for the sport of kings ? If 

 an enormous stake were to be formnlated, the excite- 

 ment Avhich would attend its decision, if decided so 

 near London as Epsom, would probably be very gr^at* 



Many of the facts and figures pertaining to the 

 Derby are of exceeding interest. It will be seen from 

 the following tables that during the first ten j^ears of 

 the race the total stake run for never exceeded 1,250 

 guineas (calculating the amount from the number of 

 entries and runners) ; whilst in the ten years ending 

 with 1884, the average value of the stakes, as ascer- 

 tained in the mode indicated, was £5,655. The entry 

 in 1879 is the largest that has been recorded, exceed- 

 ing that of Lord Lyon's year by four, and resulting 

 in the biggest return for a Derby yet known. The 

 average of the entries divides into 228 horses per 

 annum, and the running horses average seventeen per 

 annum over the ten years indicated. As regards the 



