Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/215

203 HORSE-RACING.] HORSE 203 Few handicaps ever reach 2000 in value ; but to the Manchester Cup of 1880 the sum of 2000 added money was advertised, being the largest amount ever given to a single race, of course irrespective of the stakes of the individual entries. In regard to the sums won by individual horses we may instance 18,681 won by Gladiateur as a three year old, and 18,025 by Lord Lyon, both of whom won Guineas, Derby, and St Leger ; 17,850 by Formosa, who divided the Two Thousand Guineas, and won the One Thousand, Oaks, and St Leger; 11,755 by Achievement, who took the One Thousand and St Leger, after having won 10,387 as a two year old; and 12,074 by Wheel of Fortune, including the One Thousand and the Oaks, after having taken 7605 as a two year old. The treatment or training of racers is essentially a trade of itself, for horses intended to run for stakes are either sent, if few in number, to a public training stable, such as those at Newmarket and other places, or else, when numerous, are prepared for their engagements by a private trainer, the treatment in both cases being the same. The usual charge per horse in a public stable is from 2 to 2 J guineas a week, which includes feeding and grooming. Racing has made considerable progress in other countries besides Great Britain, notably in France, Germany, and Austria-Hungary, whithor some of the very best bred English horses and mares have from time to time been exported to increase the numbers of thoroughbreds reared on the Continent. Thence have been sent to compete in England such horses as Jouvence, Baroncino, Monarque, Dollar, and Flageolet, winners of the Goodwood Cup in 1853, 1855, 1857, 1864, and 1873 respectively; Gladiateur, winner of the Two Thousand Guineas, Derby, and St Leger in 1865 ; Fille de 1 Air, Reine, and Enguerrande, winners of the Oaks in 1864, 1872, and 1876 ; Mortemer, Henry, Boiard, and Verneuil, winners of the Ascot Cup in 1871, 1872, 1874, and 1878; Chamant, winner of the Two Thousand Guineas in 1877; Sornette and Dutch Skater, winners of the Doncaster Cup in 1870 and 1872 ; and Rayon d Or, winner of the St Leger in 1879. From Austria-Hungary have come Kisber, winner of the Derby in 1876, and the unbeaten filly Kincsem, winner of the Goodwood Cup in 1878. In France especially, enormous strides have been made in racing, and, when the .superiority of its climate over that of England is considered, it is not surprising that French horses have achieved a fair measure of success in the leading races of the English turf. American horses have sometimes been sent over to com pete in England, but on the whole they have not been very successful, as they have found the English horses too good for them. Their chief successes have been those of Prioress in the Cesarewitch in 1857, of Starke in the Goodwood Cup of 18G1, and of Parole in the Newmarket Handicap and the City and Suibtirban and Metropolitan Stakes at Epsom in 1879. Steeple-chasing and hurdle-racing take place dtiring the winter months, partly in amalgamated meetings of flat and cross-country races, and partly in meetings purely ac;oss country and over fences. The chief event is the Liverpool Grand National, run at Aintree towards the close of the hunting season. It dates from 1839, and, though formerly won by well-bred hunters, now commonly falls to thorough breds cast off from racing stables as too slow for the flat, as do nearly all the steeple-chases ;ind hurdle-races. Its value averages from 1500 to 1700. There are many meetings in the provinces and in the London district at which steeple-chases and hurdle races are run, but the more important of them are at Croydon, Sandovvn Park near Esher, Lincoln, Rugby, Warwick, Bristol, &.c. The prizes are nearly always won by thoroughbreds. (E. D. B.) HOUSE-RACING AND TROTTING IN THE UNITED STATES. Horse-racing was indulged in to a limited extent in Maryland and Am en- Virginia as early as the middle, of the 17th century, particularly can rac- iu the latter colony. Most of the inhabitants of both were either ing. from the British Isles or were descended from parents who had immigrated from them, and they inherited a taste for the sport. The animals used for this purpose, however, were not highly prized at the time, and the pedigree of not even one of them has been pre served. A horse called Bully Rock by the Barley Arabian out of a mare by the Byerly Turk, granddam by the Lister Turk, great-granddam a royal mare, foaled 1718, is the first recorded importation of a thoroughbred horse into America. He was imported into Virginia in &quot;1730. In 1723 the duke of Bolton bred a mare named Bonny Lass by his celebrated horse Bay Bolton out of a daughter of the Darley Arabian. She became celebrated in England as a brood mare, and was the first thoroughbred mare, according to the records, that was carried to America. This is supposed to have been in or after 1740, as the Stud-Book shows she produced in England after 1739 a filly by Lord Lonsdale s Arabian, and subsequently became familiar to the public as the granddam of Zamora. The importations increased very rapidly from this period, and many valuable shipments were made before the war which resulted in a separation of the colonies from the mother country. This acquisition of thoroughbred stock increased the number and value of racing prizes, and extended the area of operations into the Carolinas in the South, and New Jersey aiid New York in the North. The first race run in South Carolina was in February 1734, for 20. It took place over &quot;the Green, on Charleston Neck. This shows that the earlier races in America were actually on the turf, as they have always been in England. The next year a Jockey Club was organized at Charleston (1735), and a course was prepared, such as those which have since come into general use throughout the States, from which the tuif is re moved and the ground is made as nearly level as maybe. They are generally oval in shape, and a mile in length, with posts a fur long apart. A race of greater distance than one mile is accom plished by traversing the track the necessary number of times to complete the distance prescribed by the conditions of the race. Alter the establishment of the government of the United States (1776), the importation of thoroughbred horses from England became quite common, and selections were made, from the best stocks in the United Kingdom. This continued and even increased as the country became developed, down to 1840. The following Derby winners, were among those carried into the States : Diomed, who won the first Derby in 1780 ; Saltram, winner in 1783 ; John Bull, winner in 1792 ; Spread Eagle, winner in 1795 ; Sir Harry, winner in 1798 ; Archduke, winner in 1799 ; and Priam, who won in 1830. The most important and valuable importations, however, proved to be Jolly Roger, Fearnought, Medley, Traveller, and Diomed in the last century, and Glencoe, Leviathan, Tranby, Lexington, Margrave, Yorkshire Buzzard, Albion, and Leamington of the present century. The best results have been obtained from Diomed and Glencoe. Diomed sired one horse, Sir Archy, who founded a family to which nearly all the blood horses of America trace back. He was foaled in 1805, in Virginia, and became celebrated as a sire. The superi ority of his progeny was so generally conceded, that they were greatly sought after. From this period, too, the number and value of races increased ; still they were comparatively few in number, and could not compare in value with those of Great Britain. Up to I860 the value of racing prizes was quite inadequate to develop large breeding establishments, or to sustain extensive training stables. During that year the number of races run was about 250, of the estimated value of $100,000 (20,000). The institution, however, was in a healthy condition, and gained rapidly in public favour, when the civil war between the North and the South broke out, which raged for four years. Breeding establishments were broken up during that time; the horses were taken by the armies for cavalry purposes, for which service they were highly prized; and racing was completely paralysed for that period. It took some time to regain its strength ; but an era of prosperity set in, about 1870, and it has since continued to grow ami extend the area of its operations, until it lias become the chief sport and amusement of the more populous cities of the States. In 1874 there were 958 races run of the value of $496,772 ; in 1875, 866 races, of the value of $490, o 19; in 1876, 782 races, valued at $485,509 ; in 1877, 907 races, valued at $441,652; in 1878, 1058 races, valued at $461,395; and in 1870, 1221 races were run, of the, value of $545,624. In 1877 as many as 1093 horses started; in 1 878 there were 1 382, and last year 1 524. This increase in the value of racing events, and the consequent demand for horses of this class, have stimulated the breeding interests of the country. There are only four prominent breeding establishments which breed and sell the foals produced as yearlings to the public annually. There are, however, a large number of private breeding establishments, some of them nearly or quite as extensive as the public studs. The number of brood mares in the country is about 2100 ; the stallions