SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



own breeding, viz. Rock Sand by Sainfoin 

 (who won for Sir James his first Derby in 

 1890) out of Roquebrune by St. Simon. A 

 corky, stylish, but rather small colt is Rock 

 Sand : he was a good deal superior to all 

 he met at Epsom, but as in the case of Sceptre 

 and Ard Patrick the last chapters of this 

 horse's career are not yet written. 



As far as the general public are concerned it 

 is not too much to say that Epsom is the most 

 popular racing centre in the kingdom. On 

 all the six days — two of the Spring meeting 

 in April, and four of the Summer fixtures at 

 the end of May — enormous crowds attend, 

 and even in these days of many special trains, 

 the road is more used than any other road 

 which leads to a race meeting. At the Spring 

 fixture the City and Suburban and Great 

 Metropolitan Handicaps have an enormous 

 hold on the general public of London and its 

 environs, and at the Summer meeting the 

 programme for each of the four days is so 

 strong that the attendance is always very 

 great. Indeed on what used to be called the 

 ' ofFdays ' (Tuesday and Thursday) the crowd 

 is ten times as large as that which would be 

 seen, were similar racing in progress at an 

 enclosed meeting ; and this rather suggests 

 that a large section of the British public is 

 still averse from putting down its shilling, or 

 half-crown entrance fee to a course. 



There is, however, another and greater 

 reason for the popularity of Epsom, and that 

 is the character and situation of the course, 

 which affords a view of the racing, which 

 cannot be rivalled on any other open course 

 save Goodwood and on no enclosed course 

 but Sandown Park. At Epsom the stands 

 and enclosures are placed on the side of a 

 somewhat steep hill, the various enclosures 

 sloping downwards to the running track. 

 Then again a great many of the races — the 

 Derby, Oaks, Great Metropolitan, and City 

 and Suburban to wit — are run on round or 

 oblong courses and the horses are never out 

 of view, and are never more than two-thirds 

 of a mile away, in point of actual distance 

 from the stands. Racing in fact is very 

 easily seen at Epsom except on the new 

 straight course which commences out of sight 

 of the stands behind the railway station at 

 Tattenham Corner. This new course is 

 used for short distance races only, and if they 

 run seven furlongs the horses are not seen for 

 a furlong and a half. They then come 

 rather straight into the line of vision, and 

 from the stands it is diflScult to see what is 

 taking place ; from the coaches and car- 

 riages opposite the winning post, however, a 

 fair view can be obtained. 



In the long races, in all of which the horses 

 have to come round Tattenham Corner, the 

 runners keep as near the far side — furthest 

 away from the stands — as possible, that being 

 the shortest way home, and in such races the 

 spectators on the various stands, or on the 

 high ground above the course, have a splendid 

 view. ' The Hill,' too, situated in the centre 

 of the Derby course, is a fine coign of vant- 

 age, but is a long way from the winning post, 

 and those who watch the racing from this 

 point have a good view of the earliest parts 

 of each contest, but cannot see much of the 

 finish, owing to the dense mass of vehicles 

 and people which congregate on the rails of 

 the run in. 



The Epsom course is situated at a high 

 altitude on down land, and during some eight 

 or nine months of the year it affords capital 

 going, but in a droughty summer the track 

 becomes very hard and dry and horses have 

 had to gallop through clouds of dust in the 

 Derby week. If the summer should be wet, 

 the going is generally good, and, though there 

 is no supply of water laid on, the running 

 track has, at the beginning of recent Derby 

 weeks, presented a beautiful surface of emerald 

 green. Unfortunately — no matter what 

 weather conditions may prevail — the half 

 mile which forms the run in, gets terribly 

 worn by the end of the meeting, owing to 

 the crowd rushing on to it at the conclusion 

 of each race, and moving up and down in 

 enormous numbers until the course is cleared 

 again. 



The start for the Derby, the Oaks, Epsom 

 Gold Cup, and other races of a mile and a 

 half, takes place at the High Level starting 

 post on the rising ground opposite but to the 

 west of the stands, and the course is of horse- 

 shoe shape. For nearly half a mile there is 

 a gradual rise, but the ground becomes more 

 level when the new or present course joins 

 the old one. The old course used to begin 

 behind Sherwood's house and the starting post 

 was much farther from the stands than the 

 present one. This more level ground ex- 

 tends through that part of the course generally 

 called ' the Furzes,' and which is the highest 

 point the horses reach. Shortly after passing 

 the mile post the track bears to the left and 

 begins to slope downwards ; broadly speaking 

 there is nearly half a mile of descent, some 

 of it quite steep, to Tattenham Corner. The 

 turn into the straight is somewhat sharp and 

 horses not well in hand are apt to go wide, 

 but once round the corner there is a broad 

 run in of between three or four furlongs, and 

 the latter part of this rises slightly towards 

 the winning post. Whether the course is a 

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