over a I14 milss course is given as varying from 2.03 to 2.10 2/5 

 and the time of an ordinary meeting as the above mentioned one with 

 a time record of 2.11 for li/4 miles compares very favorably indeed.^° 



South African Race Horse owners have off and on sent some of 

 their winners to England and in 1906 Campfire II, bred by Sena- 

 tor Charles Southey and owned by Sir Abe Bailey, won the Derby 

 and other important matches and now stands at Stud in England at 

 a high fee and his progeny is constant among winners. 



' ' The ' great game ' ' in order to flourish requires to be managed 

 by men who are independent of it either for their recreation or 

 whose prolity and love of fair play are above suspicion." Racing 

 in South Africa has fine future though a somewhat ignoble past. ' '^^ 



Captain Hayes' conditions are more than fulfilled. Since 1900 

 more and more of the wealthy mine owners took to horse-breeding 

 and the South African Turf Club is at present in a most flourishing 

 condition. 



The last part of his remark refers to the days when the "sweep- 

 ings of Tattersall's stables" found their way to the Cape and almost 

 everyone wanted to own a race horse. Even earlier, although the 

 race course was patronized by the great breeders by entering their 

 horses, very few, however, graced it with their presence. In 1882 

 we find that "an extraordinary custom prevails here of an owner 

 entering his horses in an assumed name as if it is a disgrace to a 

 gentleman to be the acknowledged proprietor of a race horse. "^- 

 At this period and very largely to-day the best horse-breeders were 

 of Dutch extraction and the Dutch Reformed Church being very 

 orthodox regarded racing as a "game of chance" and therefore, con- 

 trary to the church's laws. 



The absence of the majority of the best breeders naturally les- 

 sened the spirit of fair play and the strict observance of the rules 

 of the course ; betting and its attendant evils, unjust handicapping 

 and other underhand dealings gave racing a bad repute. To-day 

 adequate laws govern all matters pertaining to the race course and 

 gentlemen breeders and horsemen are at the head of affairs. There 

 are purses for various types of runners and the turf is undoubtedly 

 still a very high test of the ability and stamina of the individuals 

 bred and entered by the different breeders. 



(20) M. W. Harper. Management and Breeding of Horses WIS. 



(21) Captain M. W. Hayes "Among Horses in South Africa 1900. 



(22) William Wilherforce "State of the Cape of Good Hope in 182S." Lon- 



don 1823. 



92 



