48 
GEORGE II. (1727-1760). 
An important step was taken in regard 
to the Turf by George IJ. in 1740; some 
of its provisions will be found in Ponzes Past 
and Present (pp. 8 and g), but it contained 
other clauses of a far-reaching character. 
This law (13 Geo. II., c. 19) provided that 
every horse entered for a race must be 
bond fide the property of the person entering 
it, and that one person might enter only 
one horse for a race on pain of forfeiture. 
The weights to be carried were prescribed: 
A 5-year-old was to carry 10 stone. 
A 6-year-old ,, RS II stone. 
A 7-year-old ,, . 12 stone. 
Any horse carrying less was to be forfeited 
and his owner fined £200. Every race 
was to be finished on the day it began, 
that is to say, all heats were to be run off 
in one day. The Act went even further. 
It declared that matches might be run for 
a stake of under £50, only at Newmarket 
and Black Hambleton in Yorkshire, under 
a penalty of £200 for disobedience. Prizes 
elsewhere were to be of an intrinsic value 
of at least £50, and entrance money was 
to go to the second horse. 
So drastic a measure as this could not 
