34 THE BLUE RIBBON OF THE TURF. 



the animals which run second and third, it may be 

 assumed that nine-tenths of the horses which face 

 the stnrter will be trying, and when that becomes 

 generally known the place-odds will certainly expand, 

 and very properl}'.* 



Think of the fact that for such a race as the St. 

 Leger. the conditions bear that the owner of the 

 second horse shall receive 200 sovs., and the third 

 100 sovs. out of the stakes ! To some extent the 

 claims of the owners of the second and third horses to 

 be more liberally dealt with is being recognised in the 

 bisr stake races which are becoming common. In the 

 Lancashire Plate, for instance, the horse that follows 

 the winner to the winning-pose wins for its owner 

 1,000 sovs., and 500 sovs. for ihe nominator as well. 

 But the disparity between the 12,000 sovs. which fall 

 to the winner, and the 1,000 sovs. assigned to his 



* The following remarks by a practical sportsman, although 

 uttered a few years ago, are apropos to the argument : ' One would 

 assuredly look with more favour on these races, and others that 

 are sure to follow on an even larger monetary basis, were the 

 .sum of money to be given more equitably divided ; as at pre- 

 sent arranged, the competitions to which I refer are simply a 

 benefit to one horse, or rather to its ownei-. Why, for instance, 

 should Sir Bevys contribute so large a sum as £7,000 to its 

 owner's coffers, and nothing worth speaking of be paid on 

 account of the animal that followed it home ? Assuredly the 

 Derby, and other large stakes, require to be readjusted. It is 

 alwa>s desirable to see big fields competing, and many of the 

 small fields now seen would be larger were an inducement held 

 out to those who own the horses to run them against those 

 animals that are supposed to have the race at their me^-.y. Two 

 years ngo, a friend of mine who had a good horse entered for 

 the Derby would have run him if he could have backed him for 

 a place on reasonable terms ; but the best offer he got was 7 to 

 2, and that for an animal that was only supposed to have a 

 50 to 1 chance to win.' 



