Part 6

The Marquis of Rockingham comes to the front in 1752, when he gives a plate of £50, to be run for by four-year-olds that had never won £50--the trophy was taken by Cato, the property of Mr. Bowes. At Doncaster, in the year 1755, we find a programme of five races provided, and a match thrown in the bargain. In those days, sport was taken in leisure, the programme being spread over the week, at the rate of one race per diem. Matches, in 1756, seem to have been "all the go," as no less than seven were brought off on the Town Moor in that year, three of them being won by the Marquis of Rockingham, who had by this time begun to play a prominent part in the Doncaster struggles.

IV.

Epsom must now be noticed, if only to say that racing took place there long before the Derby was thought of, or the Oaks either; but the beginning of sport on the now famous downs cannot be determined by any mention of dates. The place, however, was long, long ago largely frequented as a health resort, becoming at certain seasons the temporary residence of fashionable people who assembled to drink "the waters" and hold social communion. Sport of some kind became a necessity, and King James I., who dwelt in the palace of Nonsuch, at Epsom, passed much of his time on horseback, being fond of hunting and also of "horse matches," which frequently took place, to the great delight of the visitors.

In the reign of Charles I., horse-racing on Banstead Downs would appear to have been pretty well established on an organised plan; references to the sport by Pepys are numerous. Looking over the pages of a "Racing Register" for 1727, the writer found a notice of meetings held on the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th of May, when various "give and take" plates were run for and decided. For the time, the trophies raced for at the meetings in question were of some value, one of them being a gold cup worth forty guineas.

Beginning in the year 1730, racing became annual at Epsom, and was thereafter carried on with great regularity, and continued to grow in importance. In 1736, five days' racing was arranged to take place at intervals. Ten years later, a plate of the value of £50, bestowed by the Prince of Wales, was one of the trophies run for. In 1756 the total sum of £200 was raced for at Epsom; in 1766 the amount had been raised by fifty pounds. In 1782 two meetings were held, in the course of which a good many events fell to be decided.

The celebrity of Epsom as a seat of sport is, of course, due to its being the place where is run England's most celebrated race, "the Derby," some notes on which will be found in this volume. More than a hundred years have elapsed since Diomed carried the colours of his owner to victory in the first race for those now popular stakes, under circumstances of social life which have greatly changed. Not one of the spectators who witnessed Diomed's Derby victory would, in all probability, be endowed with the power of forecasting the growth of the pastime, or the ability to see in his mind's eye the huge proportions it would in time attain, or the money value which would attach to the winning horses, or "the annual expenditure of the tens of thousands of pounds," which would mark the recurrence of the event as it grew in popularity alike with the owners of competing horses and those who came to witness the race.

It was the Duke of Cumberland, William, uncle to George III., who instituted the Ascot Meeting, more than a century and a half ago. The first reliable notice of racing at this Royal seat of sport gives 1727 as the year of commencement, when two prizes were contended for, the larger being of the value of forty guineas, the other ten guineas less than that sum. In the following year one race also of the value of forty-two pounds took place. For some years afterwards the racing at Ascot was of an intermittent sort, as no sport took place in the years 1729, 1731-4, nor yet in the years 1737-8, nor in 1740-3. A Yeoman Pricker's Plate of £50, for hunters only, was instituted in 1744, and, twenty-five years later, namely, in 1769, the Members and Corporation of Windsor each subscribed £50 to be raced for. The Duke took immense interest in the sport at Ascot, which, in its earlier days, was of a somewhat primitive kind, as were the surroundings vastly different in every way from what they are to-day.

"A memory has been kept up" of some races contested on the Royal ground, more particularly of one race, the Oatlands Stakes, run on the 28th of June, 1791, when it was said a hundred thousand pounds changed hands. The victorious horse on the occasion was the Prince of Wales's Baronet, which won the race from eighteen competitors. There were forty-one subscribers of a hundred guineas each, half forfeit, and the value of the stakes to the owner of the winning horse was 2,950 gs. The race is said to have been witnessed by about 40,000 persons; but order was so badly maintained that the venue of the race was shifted in the next year to Newmarket, where the Oatlands Stakes was run for in April, the money value involved being 3,725 gs., a large sum for those days.

During the close of the last century, Ascot races enjoyed immense popularity; they lasted for a week, and afforded a fund of amusement to all who witnessed them. They were beloved of the King--"the good old King George III."--who, for a number of years, never missed being present. He was, at any rate, never absent when the hundred guineas was run for, which he gave for horses that had been out with the stag-hounds.

The gambling pure and simple which, for a long series of years, was a leading feature of the Ascot festival, is not now tolerated, although unlimited betting is permitted. There were E. O. tables by the score, the owners of which were made to subscribe a hundred guineas for the benefit of the racing fund. These tables were established in tents and marquees, where all were suited who pleased to try their fortune; even those who gambled with pence were made welcome. In these "Royal old days," Ascot, in the way of the times, was quite as fashionable as it is to-day. Every house and cottage within two miles of the course was occupied either by pleasure-seekers, or persons who had business to transact in connection with the horse-races. The rents charged were exorbitant; the persons who could give accommodation having learned to make hay while the sun was shining. But sport was good, and the surroundings were exciting. A feature of the scene, which has long since been dispensed with, was the hundreds of booths erected for the accommodation of visitors. Some of these canvas houses were most commodious, and were used both for dining and sleeping in. The King and Queen and "the first gentleman of Europe" used to pass along the lines of the booths.

"Royal Ascot" is richly endowed with racing prizes, and it is gratifying to know that, although the sum of added money is very large, the meeting is not only self-supporting, but profitable. It is but fair to give much of the credit of the success of the Ascot meetings of recent years to Lord Hardwicke, who, when he officiated as Master of the Buckhounds, did all he could to add to the attractiveness of a meeting which had long been celebrated as providing one of the most fashionable gatherings of London society. Ascot, which has been a seat of racing for so long a period, has seen several generations of sportsmen come and go; but to-day it is more gay and brilliant; more attractive to fine ladies and gay cavaliers than it ever was before. Princes and Princesses continue to give it their patronage, and the most celebrated horses of the kingdom compete on its green turf for the liberal prizes with which the meeting has been endowed.

It is not so easy as it may appear to compile an exact history of any racecourse. As regards Ascot, one writer tells us that the racecourse, or, as he calls it, the "Manor of Ascot," is private property, whilst another authority distinctly states that it is "the property of the Crown," and that, in consequence, no rent is exacted for the racecourse. Fees of all kinds, however, are taken in the various enclosures, and, as a matter of course, admission to the grand stand and paddock has to be paid for as at other meetings; but as much of the money taken is given to be raced for, the charges may be tolerated. The accommodation now provided for the public at Ascot is something like what it should be; although it still might be improved, it is wonderfully good when compared with what it was half a century since.

The first stand erected at Ascot for the accommodation of the public was built by, or at the cost of, a Mr. Slingsby, one of the Royal tradesmen of the period, a master bricklayer, who was a favourite with His Majesty "King George III. of blessed memory." This stand, which was a substantial structure, capable of affording a view of the races to about 650 persons, was in use till about the year 1840. Two or three years before that date, a movement for the erection of a larger and more convenient structure took place, and resulted in the formation of a company with a capital of £10,000, subscribed in hundred-pound shares. The money, after considerable difficulty, having been found, the chief corner-stone of the building was laid in its place by the Earl of Errol, on the 16th of January, 1839, and the occasion of the opening of the stand was signalised by the presence of Her Majesty, who sent for the jockey who rode the winner of the Ascot Stakes, a boy of the name of Bell, and after complimenting him on his skill and judgment as a rider, kindly presented him with a ten-pound note. The excellent riding of this tiny jockey excited an immense amount of admiration, the boy being almost a mere child, and only weighing fifty-six lbs. When before the Queen, upon being asked his weight by Her Majesty, he replied, much to the amusement of the Royal suite: "Please, ma'am, master says as how I must never tell my weight."

The constitution of the new stand company provided for the application of the profits realised in the following fashion: To begin with a dividend of five per cent. to be paid to the shareholders, but curiously enough, according to the constitution of the company, this dividend fell to be paid before the wages of the stand servants! When the dividend, the check-takers and other servants had been paid, a sum of £500 was then to be allotted for the redemption of five of the shares, selected by ballot out of the total number. Of the money which might be left after that had been done, two-thirds was ordained to be applied to the enrichment of the race fund, and one-third to be divided among the shares, by way of a bonus, so that, in the course of twenty years, the stand would become altogether the property of the racing fund. This, as it may be called, Tontine plan of dealing with the shares of the Ascot Grand Stand proved, in a sense, a little gold mine for the shareholders who were so fortunate as not to be balloted out of the concern, which, from the first, was exceedingly remunerative.

In the very first year, the substantial benefit accrued of £700, whilst a bonus of eight and a half per cent. was paid to the shareholders. As in each year the number of participating shares became reduced, the dividend, of course, was correspondingly increased in amount, the final dividend on the last five shares having been the handsome one of £175. It should be stated here, that whilst all the profits of the stand and paddock were absorbed by the company for division in the mode which has been stated, the Master of the Buckhounds drew money from those "betting" on the course, for booths, also for stands for carriages. The sum taken in the first two or three years was moderate enough, but from £300 taken in the first year, it had increased in the third racing season to £1,500, and the money received from these sources of income is annually increasing. About £15,000 were expended a few years ago in improving and adding to the accommodation provided by the grand stand, every department of which is now regulated by the Master of the Buckhounds; and as the renewed lease obtained from the Crown has still over forty years to run, it is probable that additional improvements will be entered upon.

The Ascot Meeting is the next great event in the turf world to the Epsom Summer Carnival. How rich and varied the stakes are which are now run on the Royal heath, has been indicated. The various courses are in fine condition; and the attendance at the meeting, which lasts for four days, and with which no racing fixture is allowed to clash, is, in fine weather, enormous; and, although it appears to be impossible to eliminate the welshing element, Ascot is kept tolerably free as yet, notwithstanding its proximity to London, from the rowdy element.

During the lifetime of Prince Albert, Her Majesty frequently patronised the meeting, riding up the course with a numerous suite in what was called "Ascot State." The Prince and Princess of Wales now take Her Majesty's place in this ceremonial, and as they come upon the scene receive a most cordial welcome from the assembled thousands. The fashionable day par excellence is "the Cup day," a day on which the upper ten assemble on the Royal heath in their greatest numbers, "the ladies ablaze with dresses of gorgeous hues, tempered with trimmings of taste." This racing trophy--the Cup--which many owners of race-horses would rather win than any other race however richly it might be endowed, was founded, in 1771, by the Duke of Cumberland, the subscription being limited to 5 gs. each.

VI.

The rise and progress of the Goodwood Meeting may be briefly recorded. Like Ascot, it is one of the fashionable gatherings of the season. The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, on hospitable thoughts intent, opens wide the doors of his commodious mansion; but as he can only entertain a limited number of his own personal friends, the wonder is that the stands are so crowded with spectators. The distance of Goodwood Park from London is more than twice the distance of Ascot, and yet as many persons seem to frequent the one meeting as the other; hundreds are contributed from Brighton, Portsmouth, and other towns, and hundreds go from and return to London every day of the meeting. All the towns and villages in the vicinity of Goodwood Park are crowded by the strangers who have come to assist at the meeting, Chichester, in particular, being the abiding-place of a host of visitors. The houses and cottages round about fill with lodgers, and country seats are crowded with guests, all eager to take part in the brilliant scene which, in fine weather, is worth making a day's journey to see.

The annual meeting in the Duke of Richmond's park forms a fine theme for the pen of the descriptive reporter, and has been "gushed" over, in certain of the daily newspapers, in "a perfect paroxysm of word-painting phrases" during the last twenty years on each succeeding anniversary of the race. Nor is the work of the "Economist," who translated the silks and satins of the toilettes of "England's fairest daughters" into vulgar money's worth, to be ignored. His estimate that the dresses and "other belongings" of the four hundred and fifty most fashionable women, from their dainty morocco shoes and silken sandals, up to the wondrous head fabrics which crowned the high-born, delicate ladies seen at the two great fashionable meetings of the season, would cost at the least £200 for each person, is, perhaps, even too moderate; the total cost of the toilettes of that army of the fair would, perhaps, on the average of the Goodwood season, be full a £100,000. Was it not, for instance, recorded by the public press in a scandal case, that the Ascot and Goodwood trousseau of one fair but frail dame, of twelve dresses and the accordant "other things" of shoes, fans, gloves, lace and lingerie, had been charged £1,128? The "Economist's" argument is that horse-racing, despite its evils, must be tolerated for the good it does to trade, for the crowds it sends over the railways, for the gospel of eating, drinking, and dressing which it so eloquently preaches, all employing tradespeople, and, consequently, circulating money.

Coming to the facts connected with the institution of the Goodwood Meeting, it has to be stated on the authority of various historians, that the meeting was founded in a sportive moment by some officers of the Sussex Militia, in conjunction with the members of a local hunt club. The races so organised first took place in the course of the month of April, 1802, a good beginning being made with a purse of £613, little more than the half of which was public money, the sweepstakes entered for amounting to £300.

The meeting was in every respect a successful one, and was continued in 1803 and 1804, but with less popularity, the subscription having fallen off to a very serious extent. In 1810, there were but two days of sport, the money run for being a little over £200. Nor up till the year 1827 was there much improvement; till 1825 the public money subscribed did not total up to a large sum, it varied from £80 to £300, whilst the money received as sweepstakes amounted to something between £60 and £600. Two years later, as has been stated, a great improvement began in the financial resources of the meeting, as was obvious enough from the amount of money which was run for, the total sum in that year exceeding £2,000. In 1829 the racecourse was altered and improved, and the amount of cash expended in the shape of stakes was £3,285. The year following the new grand stand was opened; and in 1831 the Royal purse of 100 gs. was procured to be annually run for.

From this period Goodwood races made great progress; and between the years 1832 and 1835, the average annual amount of the stakes contested for was £6,000. In 1837 the amount had increased to £11,145; and what with the large sum of money spent upon improvements by the Duke of Richmond, and the personal exertions and good management of the late Lord George Bentinck, this meeting made such wonderful progress, that in time it not only rivalled, but even eclipsed many of the other principal meetings.

In 1845, the value of the stakes run for amounted to the large sum of £24,909, a substantial proof that the title of Princely Goodwood was not misapplied. These races, however, fell off somewhat after Lord George Bentinck's death, but yet rank in the first class.

Ascot and Goodwood have been dwelt upon at some length, when compared with the few pages devoted to Epsom and Doncaster; but in the case of these meetings, a considerable portion of space has of necessity been devoted to the Derby and St. Leger, which helps to make an even balance.

VII.

I do not intend at present to say much about gate-money meetings. The premier position must undoubtedly be accorded to that held at Manchester. The best proof of the success which has attended the company carrying on business at New Barnes is, that it has been able to pay enormous dividends to its shareholders, and that its hundred-pound shares, when any are offered for sale, command six or seven times the original price. The Whitsuntide meeting at Manchester, when the weather is favourable for such out-door sports, is attended by hundreds of thousands of persons, all of whom have to pay for their admission to the race-ground at the rate of one shilling or sixpence a head--those desirous of making use of the grand stand, the paddock, and other accommodations, pay for these at the usual rate. It is but fair to say that the vast assemblage of spectators at Manchester conduct themselves wonderfully well. When anything exciting occurs--when a giant roar is set up, it is of course "the voice of the people" that is heard--it is the horny handed "sons of toil" chiefly who rush to New Barnes on the great racing days, and in every respect the scene presented is a contrast to the shows of Ascot and Goodwood, where the "silks and satins" of the upper ten outshine the cottons of Lancashire. But the aim of its promoters is achieved, inasmuch as it brings plenty of grist to their mill, ten thousand shillings counts as five hundred pounds, and ten times that amount is "money," even in "brass-loving" Lancashire.

There is abundance of racing at Manchester, many of the handicaps being enriched by the addition of munificent sums of money. But in respect to the "added money," is it all gold that glitters even at Manchester? It has been complained at any rate that, when the management seem to give a pound, they in reality only give half of that sum; they get back, such is the accusation made, a moiety of what they give in entrance fees or in shares of surplus money from the disposal of winners of selling races. In this matter of what is called "added money," a writer, who comments on the subject, explains that such sums must be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt. For instance, in the matter of a Nursery plate in which a hundred pounds is given from the race fund, it must be taken into account that thirty-two subscribers pay three sovereigns each, so that in such case all that is really given is four pounds, the subscribers running their horses for ninety-six pounds of their own money. There is no charge of any kind made for admission to the heath during the four days of Ascot, and yet the value of the stakes run for there in 1881, as has been stated, amounted to more than thirty-two thousand pounds.