51 
well as in London and elsewhere a place of their 
own, to which not every blackguard who could pay 
a certain sum of money would have as much right as 
they to claim entrance.” 
The conjecture is a most plausible one; 
but it was not long before the Club showed 
that it intended to support racing in practical 
fashion, for at the Newmarket meeting in 
May, 1753, two Jockey Club Plates were 
given for horses belonging to members of 
the Club. 
It is stated that, in the year 1752, sixty 
throughbred stallions, of which only eight 
were reputed imported Arabs, were standing 
for service in various parts of England; 
fees, as may be supposed, were low. A 
horse named Oronooka headed the list at a 
fee of 20 guineas ; another, Bolton Starling, 
covered at 84 guineas ; but the usual charge 
was one, two or three guineas. Flying 
Childers in the earlier part of the century 
stood at 50 guineas, then at 100 guineas, 
and one season at 200 guineas. 
There is little to note concerning the 
“Road” or other spheres of equine work 
during this reign. The roads were as bad as 
ever, and travel was so slow that in 1740 
Metcalf, the blind road-maker, walked the 
200 miles from London to Harrogate more 
