Very few of the many thousands who annually assemble on the breezy
downs of Epsom to gaze upon the fierce contest which takes place for
the "Blue Ribbon" of the turf, or who witness the Cup races at Ascot,
have even a rudimentary idea of the "business," the real "work," in
fact, which is incidental to horse-racing. They have never been behind
the scenes, and have had no opportunity of becoming acquainted with the
economy of a racing stable, or the labour and anxiety which pertain
to training race-horses; nor do they care anything about strains of
racing blood, they know nothing whatever about the sires or dams of
the animals which win or lose the races on which they gaze with such
interest.
The spectacle of the Derby or the Royal Hunt Cup, although brilliant
and exciting in the extreme, is but the work of a minute or two and
is soon forgotten, and so far as many who witness them are concerned,
the whole affair might be an accident. The ordinary spectator of a
great race is much in the position of a child at a theatre during
the Christmas holidays, for all that master or missy cares or knows,
the wonderful fairy pantomime may have dropped ready made from the
clouds; children are concerned only about the sight as they see it,
they think not of the brain-work it has cost, or the toil which has
been endured in its preparation, or the outlay of money necessitated by
its production. The business of the turf--before such a spectacle as
"the Derby" can be shown on Epsom Downs--may be likened to the labour
undergone in the production of a dramatic piece. Those who train our
race-horses and arrange our sport upon the turf, find their work to be
of a very onerous nature, it is much divided and much of it unknown to
the general public.
The business matters pertaining to horse-racing are, as a rule,
arranged by persons licensed by the Jockey Club--judges, clerks of
courses, jockeys, all require the authority of the Club before they
can act. Horse-racing has so long figured in the eyes of the unlearned
in turf matters as a "pastime," that the idea of there being any
"business" to transact in connection with it has often drawn from
persons, who know no better, an expression of surprise; but before any
race meeting can be advertised, or any race be run, much work of a
thorough kind has to be got through, the whole machinery of racing has,
in fact, to be evoked.
In the event of the meeting being a new one, which, for the purpose
of illustration, the writer assumes, the whole machinery requires to
be organised. A site for the meeting has to be selected, and then a
racecourse has to be constructed. Commodious stables, either at the
place of meeting, or near it, must be provided, as well as offices for
the various officials, likewise accommodation for the public, in the
form of a grand stand having galleries from which the different races
may be witnessed. For the officials, and jockeys, and reporters of the
press, rooms must be provided, as well as those bars and dining-places
for the sale of viands, which are a prominent feature of our racing
paddocks. The administrative officers of the meeting have to be
appointed, either before or after the course has been laid down; they
are, as a rule, selected before the affair is planned. There is also
required a body of gentlemen to act as stewards, who, when necessary,
form a court to which disputes arising in the course of a meeting can
be referred for immediate settlement. Before a meeting can begin, the
course must be approved and have its racing time fixed by the Jockey
Club.
The principal officials required for the conduct of a race meeting are
a clerk of the course, a handicapper, a starter, and a judge.
The clerk of the course receives--it is his chief duty--the entries
for the different races, and also takes charge of the correspondence
and general clerical business which pertains to a race meeting. This
functionary is usually the mainspring of the meeting, he may, however,
be "the hired servant" of the proprietors of the racecourse; in reality
his position is dependent on how meetings he is connected with may be
constituted. In addition to a clerk of the course, there may also be a
"clerk of the scales": that is, a person entrusted with the important
duty of weighing out and weighing in the jockeys, before and after
riding, and seeing that each rider carries the exact weight apportioned
to him.
The handicapper is an important functionary. Clerks of the course often
officiate in the capacity of handicappers, or adjusters of the weights;
sometimes, too, the office of handicapper and judge are combined;
indeed, at some race meetings, the whole three offices are occasionally
conjoined in one person; in theatrical parlance, the clerk of the
course very often "doubles" the office of judge and handicapper. During
a race meeting lasting over three or four days, the handicapper finds
plenty of work, as, in addition to having apportioned weights to all
the horses engaged in the larger handicaps, nurseries, and sweepstakes,
many days, in some cases months, before the date of the meeting, he has
to adjust the weights for those races which are run from day to day,
for which horses are not entered till the evening before the day on
which they are to run.
A handicapper must be resourceful and ever on the alert, ready on
every opportunity to display, in practical fashion, his abounding
knowledge of the qualities and previous achievements of horses, so as
to be able to place the various animals on an equality in an overnight
handicap. Race meetings are largely dependent on "the go" and ability
of the person engaged as handicapper, because owners and trainers are a
rather jealous class, and quite able to detect at once, and resent, by
withdrawal of their horses for the race, and their non-entry in future
contests, any flagrant instance of favouritism. At some race meetings,
perhaps, as many as fifty separate weights will have to be adjusted,
from day to day, during the progress of sport, besides those assigned
to horses in standing events before racing began.
No meeting is perfect without the assistance of the "starter," an
official whose business it is to start the competing horses. The duty
of the starter, more particularly when there is a large field of
young horses (two-year-olds), is difficult to perform satisfactorily,
especially when the short distance to be run (say five furlongs) is
taken into account; it is of the utmost importance, therefore, that
each horse shall start on equal terms. A starter must possess firmness
and decision of character in no ordinary measure, as he may have at
times as many as forty jockeys under command, several of the boys being
mounted on very unruly animals, while others may be wilfully goading
their horses into unruliness on purpose to delay the start, thereby
so fatiguing the younger riders as to make them lose command of their
horses, and thus lose their chance of winning.
Starters have necessarily much in their power; and instances are known
of such officials having occasionally favoured a particular horse, by
allowing it to obtain what is called, in racing parlance, a "flying
start," or some other advantage. Disobedient jockeys may be complained
against by the starter to the stewards, who will reprimand them for
trivial offences, or perhaps suspend them from riding during the
continuance of the meeting for grave faults; or remand consideration of
the case to the higher tribunal of the Jockey Club, as may be deemed
right.
The starter officiates at one end of the course, the judge at the other.
A judge on a racecourse is entrusted with very onerous duties, and,
seeing the value of the interests with which he is entrusted, ought to
be a man of rare integrity; and so far as can be known, racing judges
to-day are men of honour in their calling. Not only the integrity of
the judge, but his powers of observation are of the utmost importance,
when it is considered that hundreds of thousands of pounds sometimes
change hands on his fiat--a fiat, be it understood, from which, as
a rule, there is no appeal. A race is sometimes so nearly what is
known as a "dead heat," that persons express dissatisfaction with the
decision of the judge and assert that the second horse undoubtedly
earned the verdict of victor. So close upon some occasions is the
contest, that the leading jockeys themselves are unable to say which
animal has won till its number has been hoisted on the indication
board. Where a numerous field of horses compete in a short race,
half-a-dozen of the number may gallop so evenly that it is sometimes
very difficult for the judge to say which of them has arrived first
at the winning-post. A novice in the judge's box during an important
race would be a misfortune, the verdict of that official being, in
almost every instance, final, even in the case, upon occasion, of an
obvious blunder; and, as is well known, blunders have more than once
been made by racing judges; because of the winning horse having escaped
his notice, the race has in consequence been awarded to a horse which
ought to have been placed second.
In addition to the important officials whose duties have been briefly
indicated, there are one or two others employed in various capacities,
as money and check takers, door keepers, course clearers, etc. One
official must be briefly alluded to, he is a self-appointed one, who
is not in receipt of any salary, but gets his "chance"; that official
is "All right," a man who attends in the weighing room, and who, when
the contending jockeys have been weighed in after the race, and it is
ascertained that no objection of any kind has been offered against the
winning horse, comes into the paddock and shouts out the welcome words
"All right," to signify that those who have been betting may proceed
to settle accounts. This most useful functionary is paid at the end of
each meeting by a voluntary subscription from bookmakers and others
interested in the good news which he disseminates.
The racing officials mentioned hold their offices on good behaviour.
No starter, judge, or other functionary can afford, by an exhibition
of delinquency, to brave the wrath of the Jockey Club. To be "warned
off" Newmarket Heath and all other places where the stewards of the
Club have power, implies professional extinction. No functionary of
the turf under the ban of the Jockey Club would find employment. What
being "warned off" Newmarket Heath means to an owner of horses may be
quoted: "When a person is warned off Newmarket Heath under these rules
(the rules of racing), and so long as his exclusion continues, he shall
not be qualified to subscribe for, or to enter or run any horse for
any race either in his own name or in that of any other person, and any
horse of which he is part owner shall be disqualified."