by Mr Parkhurst, in 1711. Ascot, by the Duke of Cumberland,

uncle to George III. Doncaster, by Colonel St Leger, in 1778.
Goodwood, by the Duke of Richmond, who died in 1806.

The Jockey Club began in the time of George II. Its latest
rules, by which races are regulated, were enacted in 1828.

Tattersall's, the 'High Change of Horse-flesh,' was established
by Richard Tattersall, near Hyde Park Corner--hence termed 'The

Corner'--in 1766, for the sale of horses. The lease of the
ground having expired, the new premises at Brompton were erected,

and opened for business, in 1803.
On the accession of Queen Victoria the Royal stud was sold for

L16,476, in Oct., 1837.[71]
[71] Haydon, Book of Dates.

Among the distinguished men who have supported the turf in this
country may be mentioned George IV.[72] and William IV.; the late

Duke of York; the Dukes of Richmond, Cleveland, Grafton, Bedford,
and Beaufort; Marquises of Exeter and Westminster; Earls of

Glasgow, Stradbrooke, Wilton, Chesterfield, Eglintoun, Verulam,
and Lonsdale; Lords George Bentinck, Foley, Kinnaird, &c.; and

last, though not least, the Right Honourable Charles James Fox.
As to the turf, Fox used always to animadvert on his losses, and

repeatedly observed--that 'his horses had as much bottom as other
people's, but that they were such slow, good ones that they never

went fast enough to tire themselves.' He had, however, the
gratification of experiencing some few exceptions to this

imaginary rule. In April, 1772, he was so lucky at Newmarket as
to win nearly L16,000--the greater part of which he got by

betting against the celebrated Pincher, who lost the match by
only half a neck. The odds at STARTING were two to one on the

losing horse. At the spring meeting at Newmarket, in 1789, Fox
is said to have won not less than L50,000; and at the October

meeting, at the same place, the following year, he sold two of
his horses--Seagull and Chanticleer--for 4400 guineas. In the

course of 1788 Fox and the Duke of Bedford won 8000 guineas
between them at the Newmarket spring meeting, and during these

races Fox and Lord Barrymore had a heavy match, which was given
as a dead heat, and the bets were off.

[72] For some period previous to 1790, George IV. had patronized
horse-racing and pugilism; but in that year, having attended a

prize fight in which one of the boxers was killed, he ceased to
support the ring, declaring that he would never be present at

such a scene of murder again; and in 1791 he disposed of his
stud, on account of some apparently groundless suspicion being

attached to his conduct with regard to a race, in the event of
which he had little or no real interest.

On coming into office with Lord North, in 1783, Mr Fox sold his
horses, and erased his name from several of the clubs of which he

was a member. It was not long, however, before he again
purchased a stud, and in October he attended the Newmarket

meeting. The king's messenger was obliged to appear on the
course, to seek one of the ministers of England among the

sportsmen on the heath, in order to deliver despatches upon which
perhaps the fate of the country might have depended. The

messenger on these occasions had his badge of office, the
greyhound, not liking that the world should know that the king's

adviser was amusing himself at Newmarket, when he should have
been serving him in the metropolis. But Charles Fox preferred

the betting rooms to Downing Street.
Again, in the year 1790, his horse Seagull won the Oatlands

stakes at Ascot, of 100 guineas (19 subscribers), beating the
Prince of Wales's Escape, Serpent, and several of the very best

horses of that year--to the great mortification of His Royal
Highness, who immediately matched Magpie against him, to run four

days afterwards, two miles, for 500 guineas. This match, on
which immense sums were depending, was won with ease by Seagull.

At this period Lord Foley and Mr Fox were confederates. In those
days the plates averaged from L50 to L100.

Lord Foley, who died in 1793, entered upon the turf with a clear
estate of L1800 a year, and L100,000 ready money, which was

considerably diminished by his losses at Newmarket, Ascot, and
Epsom.

The race-horse of this country excels those of the whole world,
not only for speed, but bottom. There is a great difference,

however, between the present race and that of fifty or sixty
years ago; for in those days four-mile heats were the fashion.

The sporting records at the end of the last century give the
following exploits of horses of that and previous periods.

Childers, known by the name of Flying Childers, the property of
the Duke of Devonshire, was looked upon as the fleetest horse

that ever was bred. He was never beaten; the sire of this
celebrated horse was an Arabian.

Dorimont, belonging to Lord Ossory, won prizes to the amount of
L13,360.

Eclipse was allowed to be the fastest horse that ever ran in
England since the time of Childers. After winning largely for

his owner, he covered, by subscription, forty mares at 30 guineas
each, or 1200 guineas.

Highflyer, by King Herod, was the best horse of his day; was
never beaten, nor paid forfeit but once. His winnings amounted

to above L9000, although he only ran as a three, four, and five
years old.

Matchem stood high both as a racer and as the sire of many of our
most favourite horses. As a stallion he realized for his master

more than L12,000. He died in 1781, at the advanced age of
thirty-three.

Shark won a cup value 120 guineas, eleven hogsheads of claret,
and above L16,000 in plates, matches, and forfeits.[73]

[73] Lord William Lennox, Merrie England.
Among recent celebrities must be mentioned Lord Stamford, who is

said to have engaged Jemmy Grimshaw, a light-weighted jockey, at
a salary of L1000 a year.

The most astounding 'event' of late years was that of 1867, when
the horse Hermit--previously represented as being in an unfit

condition even to run, won the race--to the unspeakable ruin of
very many, and inflicting on the late Marquis of Hastings the

enormous loss of about L100,000, which, however, in spite of
unseemly rumours and, it is said, hopes of that nobleman's ruin,

was honourably paid, to the day and hour.
But if ruin did not immediately come upon the young marquis,

still the wound was deadly, inflicted as though with the ferocity
of a demon. In his broken health and rapid decay sympathy was

not withheld from him; and when a premature death put an end to
his sufferings, and was speedily followed by the breaking up of

his establishment and the dispersion of his ancestral effects,
most men felt that he had, perhaps, atoned for his errors and

indiscretions, whilst all united in considering him another
unfortunatevictim added to the long list of those who have

sacrificed their fortune, health, and honour to the Gambling
Moloch presiding over the Turf of England.[74]

[74] The 'Odds' or probabilities of horse racing are explained in
chapter VIII., in which the entire 'Doctrine of Chances' is

discussed.
Such are the leading facts of horse-racing in England. One

cannot help observing that the sturdy strength and muscular
exertions of an Olympic charioteer of old exhibit a striking