EX MBRIS LIBRARY UNIVERSITY?" PENNSYLVANIA yttmJioiae <Prrm/ FAIRMAN ROGERS COLLECTION ON HORSEMANSHIP OoL ^ v/ <v JWi.^ EACING REMINISCENCES VOL. II. I'lllXTKD BY BrOTTISWOODB AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE LONDON RACING REMINISCENCES AND EXPEEIENCES OP THE TUEP BY SLR GEOEGE CHETWYND, BART. IN TWO VOLUMES—VOL. II. SECOND EDITION LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. AND NEW YOEK: 15 EAST lG ih STREET 1891 All right! reserved NEW BOLTON •< CENTER CONTENTS THE SECOND VOLUME EXPERIENCES OF THE TURF CHAPTER PAGE I. Hints to Backers and Young Owners 3 IT. Trying Horses .... 47 III. Race-Goers and the Ring 58 IV. Handicapping .... 71 , V. On Breeding and Training 83 VI. The Rules of Racing 121 VII. The Action against Lord Durham 142 APPENDIX 151 </> t II. > .;: Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/racingreminisc02chet ; EXPERIENCES OF THE TURF CHAPTEK I HINTS TO BACKERS AND YOUNG OWNERS That the practice of betting is in many ways mis- chievous and calculated to do harm is a truism which need not be disputed ; but men always have betted, and doubtless always will bet, and it would be affec- tation and senseless prudery to exclude the subject from a book on the Turf. Newspapers condemn the custom in one column and publish the latest odds in the next ; solemn dignitaries denounce it and sit down to play whist for sixpenny points, which is practi- cally very much the same thing. I have therefore thought it well to give here some of the results of my experience and observation of wdiat is called the ' Turf Market.' If the young lover of racing is not inclined to bet, it is, no doubt, well for him to avoid it if he is, he may derive matter for reflection from the remarks of one who has habitually taken the odds, and on occasions laid them, for many years past. Mr. Chaplin one day at York, in my hearing, offered to bet Lord Falmouth from 500Z. up to any amount that Hermit became the sire of a winner of the Derby before Kingcraft did. ' Bet about it ? No, I don't wish to bet,' was Lord Falmouth's reply : 4 EXPERIENCES OF THE TURF 4 when you are trying to impress your audience in the House of Commons with your views on a certain ! ' subject, you don't bet with them about it ' No,' ' ! said Mr. Chaplin, but I should like to ' After all, there is much to be said for a man who has the courage of his opinions. There is a ring of sincerity in a man's offer to back his skill or judgment on the merits of a horse or anything else, and there are many excuses to be made for him, provided that he acts with due moderation. I set my face against heavy gambling. Eveiy day we have proofs of the ruin it leads to, but it is possible to be severe to the limits of priggishness and prudery. Even so grave ' a journal as the Spectator ' has had a word to say in semi-defence of wdiat may be described in the jargon of the day as ' an occasional flutter,' for a number not— very long since contained the following remarks : ' In games of chance you do learn to realise practically what it means in life to have the odds against you, as men so often must have them against them in much more serious matters, and matters where it is far less possible to calculate the amount of the odds against them. You might learn, too, and often do learn, how much piquancy is given to otherwise very stupid occupations by the uncertainty of the issue. And you certainly get a very good opportunity of practising equanimity in small reverses and magnanimity in small successes. If a game be made more cheerful by a little of the excitement of pure chance as to who will be the gainers and who the losers, as games have been made and will be made more cheerful as long as human nature and youth remain what they are, we ; GAMBLING 5 can see no more harm in losing small sums for such a purpose than in losing them for the purposes of a cooling drink in summer or a hot drink in winter. But the difference between gambling and almost every other amusement is that it combines no advantage of a higher order with the advantage of excitement. It does not involve exercise ; it does not teach anything, unless it be a little coolness and self- control ; it does not cultivate the sense of beauty, like gazing; at beautiful scenes ; it does not sustain the body ; and, unless very moderately indulged in, instead of refreshing and restoring, it rather heats and exhausts the mind.' Another writer has said, ' Gambling is not gambling when you gamble within your means,' and if this be so gambling is doubtless to be condemned but, as just observed, against such gambling I earnestly warn young readers, for they will have seen in many places in this book how very often apparent certainties were beaten for one of a hundred different reasons. If a young man came to me and asked me if I would advise him to go on the Turf, I should reply, ' ; without a moment's hesitation, No ' believing that even if he was very well off, and if he hardly ever made a bet, and so had little experience of the vexa- tions of losing, he would be spared much annoyance. His temper would not be improved by the practice of ' going racing,' and he would avoid the thousands of petty jealousies, quarrels, pretended friendships, false congratulations, the ups and downs, the mortifi- cation of being beaten by a head, the accidents— all of which weigh down the scale too heavily on one ! G EXPERIENCES OF THE URF side ; whilst the other contains a few victories, though truly they are pleasant enough when they come If, however, my advice were asked on the sub- ject of forming a stud by some one who was bent on devoting himself to the sport, I should strongly recommend the purchase of well-bred fillies as year- lings. They might or might not win races, but if they turned out worthless as racehorses they would be valuable to breed from, if j udiciously mated. I should also advise the purchase of a few well-bred young mares in foal, so that a beginning might be speedily made without having to wait several years. Eighty per rent, of our best racehorses have been bred in private studs, although such horses as Doncaster, Galopin, Sefton, Merry Hampton, and Wenlock were bought at public auction. As regards the purchase of yearlings, the risks and chances are increased by the fact that while one is never certain that the best-looking animals will race, it is exceed- ingly difficult to make sure that the youngster is of a promising sort. Gentlemen who breed for sale must fatten their j^earlings to please the eye of the public when they are led into the Ring, and, what is of more importance to them, to hide their defects. Nothing is more common for men who have pur- chased youngsters for high prices—animals that have looked svmmetrical enough till the breaking tackle has been put on them, and they have been put into work—to find, when the fat has been sweated off them, that a melancholy alteration has been wrought in a few weeks. They now discover that the expen- sive yearling has a ewe neck, is slack in the ribs, BUYING HORSES 7 long in the back, or has some other too obvious fault that had not been apparent when he was lusty and gross. Before buying a yearling he ought to be most carefully examined, special attention being paid to see whether he stands perfectly true, and that he is not back at the knees—a fatal fault in any horse. Care should be taken to ascertain that his feet are of good size (one contracted foot being a serious defect), that he has good shoulders and arms, clean limbs and hocks, and that he is well ribbed up. Never buy a horse with a mare's head ! Some years ago I and a friend gave 2,600 guineas for Goldsmith, a son of Hermit and Crucible. We asked Mr. Mannington, the well-known veterinary surgeon, to look the horse over, with the result that he told us he could find no fault in him except that he ' had a mare's head.' In spite of this we bought him, but our swan proved to be a goose—the horse turned out a very moderate five-furlong plater. It is always best to purchase animals that have running blood in them on their dam's side, and it is dangerous to give high prices for animals out of untried mares. A purchaser ought always to make up his mind about what sum he thinks an animal is worth, and not to be carried away in bidding, in spite of the eloquence of Mr. Tattersall and the subdued admiration of the by- standers ; and he ought never to give an unlimited commission to buy any animal. Years ago a brood mare, Lady Bothwell was her name I believe, was sent to Tattersall's in London to be sold. Two gentlemen, one of them the late Sir Richard Sutton, instructed their representatives to buy her, each 8 EXPERIENCES OF THE TURF believing she would go for about 500/.