HORSE-KACING. 237 HOBSE-EACING. duced Highflyer, and the Godolphin Arab was the grandsjre of Matchen. Among the horses whose names have become houseliold words may be mentioned: Diomed (who won the Derby in 1780 and was imported to America ) ; Bay Middle- ton, The Flying Dutchman, West Australian, Blink Bonny, Hermit, Galopin, Bend Or, Saint Simon, Saint Blais, Ormond. and Persimmon. There is no radical difTercnce between the methods of training horses for fiat racing in England and America, except in the time of tak- ing the foal in hand. In England the majority of foals are practically left to nature until well into the second year. In America, on the other hand, so considerate a. trainer as W. E. Wishard ■would have them backed when weanlings at nine months, and tried out when fifteen months old. But then, in California, owing to clhnate and grass, the young ones mature very qiiickly. In England the training of the young racer com- mences in his second year under a trainer. A thorough preparation for a great race is a long and troublesome operation, depending largely npon constitution, general capacity, and tempera- ment. Ordinarily the colt is gradually brought from a naturally loose condition to the greatest perfection possible: first by steady and continu- ous walking exercise, then proceeding by gradual stages to gentle galloping and sweating, and fin- ishing by testing the capacity of the colt against a competitor at a distance equal to the forthcom- ing race. It has been found that, practically, the speed of almopt all horses can be equalized by addition or subtraction of weight to be carried when running: and so nicely is this adjusted that the handicaps arranged on this principle provide some of the best races in the year. See Handi- capping. The most celebrated race-course in England is Newmarket, established in 1667, where the Cambridgeshire, the Cesarewitch, the 1000- guineas, and the 2000-guineas are annually run. There are six meets there in the year, in May, July, and October, each occupying two weeks, with an interval of a week between them. The Derby (see Derp.y D.^y) has been run at Epsom since 1730, and the Oaks since 1770. The Ascot meeting has been continuous since 1727, and (Joodwood since 1802. The other most important races are at Doncaster, Lincoln. Chester, and on the Curragh of Kildare, Ireland. The Jockey Club, a semi-public organization, is the flat rac- ing authority. In France within the last thirty years great interest has been taken in breeding and racing the thoroughbred. The Grand Prix de Paris, which is run at Longchamps, near the capital, is one of the great races of the world. Austria, too, has its enthusiasts, and in Australia flat racing is a national pastime. In America, the first and natural home of the thoroughbred was in the South, where the early settlers were of the class which in England made tlic breeding and care of high-mettled horses one of their delights. Many well-kno^vn horses were imported. Diomed. the Derby winner already mentioned, of the Byerly Turk blood, was one of them. He was brought over by Col. John Hoomes, of Virginia, and became the sire of Sir Archy, who in turn was the father of Ameri- can Eclipse. Vingt I'n. and other well-known horses. Another of these importations was Mes- senger, by Blais (the son of Flying Childers and grandson of the Darley Barb) out of Turf, a de- scendant of the Godolphin Arabian, thus com- bining on both sides the best thoroughbred blood in the world. Breeding continued with great suc- cess; so that in 1881 the late Pierre Lorillard was able to send over to England his Iroquois and win the Derby. Breeding establishments known all over the world are scattered throughout Ken- tucky and Tennessee, and there are many enthu- siastic owners of thoroughbreds. Even in the North, flat racing flourished as early as 1812. In 1830 Barefoot, a Saint Leger winner, found a home in Westchester, N. Y., and was raced there against his great rival American Eclipse. The Wagner-Grey Eagle contests caused unparalleled interest there in the autumn of 1839; and Lexington and Le Comte had their famous meetings in New Orleans in 18.54-55. The Civil 'ar was a temporary check to thor- oughbred racing, and although scarcely a city of any size was without a, course, it was not until the American Jockey Club was formed, with the late August Belmont as chairman, and Jerome Park (in 188G) was made the Mecca of the sport by Leonard Jerome, that racing in the modern sense became a widely spread pastime. In 1881 the Coney Island Jockey Club opened the Sheeps- bead Bay Track; in 1888 Mr. .John A. Morris built Morris Park ; the next year Monmouth Park at Long Branch was created by Mr. Withers, and this was followed by the Brooklyn Jockey Club's course at Gravesend. On these four courses sums approaching $500,000 were annually added to the entry fees, for competition. Saratoga has long had an annual meet of importance, and the Washington Park Club of Chicago and the Ken- tucky Racing Association have an antiquity greater than anj' of the Eastern associations. Other important racing centres are New Orleans, Louisville, Little Rock, Ark.; Roby, Ind. ; New- port, Ky. ; and Washington, D. C. The Pacific Slope is represented by the San Francisco Jockey Club and the New California Jockey Club, whose principles are gradually coming into accord with those guiding the Eastern Jockey Club, probably with a view to an often discussed amalgamation. Many noted horses, besides Iroquois, already mentioned, have been produced in America, of which the best known have been Lexington (a direct descendant of Diomed). Silver Fox. a son of Blais, Maud Hampton, Kentucky, Tourna- ment, Firenze, La Tosca, Ethelbert, Salvator,. Imp, Kinley Mack, Ballyhoo Bey, Commando, Tommy Atkins, and Nasturtium. One fundamental difference between American and English thoroughbred race-courses is that the former are bare earth floors, and the latter are covered with a close-fitting carpet of grass. The straight mile record on the grass was, singu- larly enough, made at Lingfield by the American bred Caiman in I m. 33 s. ; while on the dirt course the mile record on a circular track was made by an imported horse. Orimer, at Washing- ton Park. Chicago, in 1 m. 38 s. The advent of American jockeys in England in the years 1900-01 worked a complete revolution in the style of riding in a flat race, and their fame ha.s extended to every part of Europe where thoroughbred racing exists. The main point in the American ftyle is the placing of the jockey's weight well forward on the horse's withers and a crouching attitude, which reduces the resistance of the air against the jockey's body.
