THE RACE-HORSE. 
PLATE II. 
VESTRIS, Eleven Years Old, the Property of the late Emanuel Hutchins, Esq. of Cregane Castle; 
by Whalebone, out of Varennes (sister to Quadrille and Fandango), by Selim: her Dam, Canary 
Bird, by Whiskey or Sorcerer, out of Canary, sister to Hippocampus, by Coriander. 
The progressive steps have been referred to by which a race of Horses has been formed of recognised lineage, destined to a 
particular end, and possessed of a class of common characters. Although early importations of the lighter Horses of the countries 
of the Mediterranean had contributed to form the class termed Running Horses, it was not until the reign of James I. that a 
race of Horses in the country was especially devoted to the Course. James, while in his native country, had displayed a strong 
passion for field-sports and rude horse-races; and on his accession to the English Crown, he had the means afforded him of 
gratifying his tastes. He soon established regular Courses; and, before the expiration of his reign, a code of regulations was 
formed, which became the foundation of the refinements of the modern Turf. Charles I. was not less attached to horse-races 
than his father, but he brought greater taste and judgment to the pursuit; and he would have been one of the great improvers of 
the English Horse, but for those civil disturbances which deprived him of repose and life. Notwithstanding the bloody dis¬ 
sensions of this period, the passion for horse-racing gained ground amongst the people, whilst the ancient sports of the tilting-yard 
were partially continued. Cromwell, with all the severity of his character, showed no distaste towards these pastimes. He had 
probably the sagacity to perceive the national advantages to be derived from improving the Breeds of Horses through the medium 
of popular sports. He cultivated his own stud with care, and did not disdain to exhibit his skill of four-in-hand. But it was to 
Charles II. that the final establishment of horse-racing, as a system and fashion of the opulent, is to be ascribed. It was a 
sport entirely suited to his own gay temper, while it was pursued with renewed eagerness by the people, tired of the fanatical 
severity of recent times. Charles sent abroad his Master of the Horse to make purchases for his stud. Two Barbs which he 
imported are familiarly known as the Royal Mares, and stand the first in rank amongst the parents of the turf-horses of England. 
He continued all his life to take extraordinary delight in this amusement. The place where he used to sit at Newmarket, sur¬ 
rounded by his joyous Court, can yet be pointed out as the King’s Chair. James II. partook of the same feeling, and attempted to 
pursue the same pleasures during his brief and agitated reign. King William did not disdain this sport of the nation, and paid 
great attention to the improvement of the Royal stud. Queen Anne had a decided taste for the same pursuits, and kept a con¬ 
siderable number of race-horses. Amongst those which we read of in the racing annals of the time, are the now well known 
names of Pepper and Mustard, which seem to have been the most successful. The two first Sovereigns of the House of Hanover 
gave way to the public feeling: George III. was a judicious patron of the Turf: and George IV., long the gay leader of 
elegance and fashion, was strongly devoted to this class of spectacles. 
The lighter horses for speed introduced previous to the reign of James I. were Spaniards, Barbs, and Turks. But King 
James, on his accession to the English Crown, resolved to try the Arabian, with which his reading had probably rendered him 
familiar. He purchased a horse of that race, imported from the East by an English merchant, Mr Markham, for which he paid 
the sum, great in those days, of L.500. This horse, however, in no way distinguished on the turf or for his stock, attracted little 
attention. The Duke of Newcastle, who afterwards wrote a remarkable work on Horses, took an especial dislike to this little 
Arabian, abused him as a bony creature, good for nothing, because, being trained to the course, he could not run. This opinion 
seems to have exercised a great influence on the breeders for the turf; and it was not until after the lapse of more than a hundred 
years that the neglected Arabian was again resorted to. During this long period, Barbs and Turks from the Levant were the 
horses chiefly imported, and mingled in blood with the pre-existing race. 
Of the foreign horses early introduced into England, one, familiarly known as the White Turk, was the property of Mi- 
Place, the stud-groom of the Lord Protector Cromwell. Another was brought by the Duke of Berwick from the siege of 
Buda, in the reign of James II.; and a third, the Byerly Turk, became the most distinguished of all the foreign horses of that 
period. He was the charger of Captain Byerly in the wars of William in Ireland, about the year 1689. Of the lineal 
descendants of this horse, one was King Herod, born in 1758, bred by his Royal Highness William Duke of Cumberland, 
brother of George II. This fine horse, on retiring from the turf, was employed as a stallion, and got 497 winners at our 
