So long ago as the year 1860 Lord Redesdale introduced a Bill into the
House of Lords, in which it was proposed that, after January 1st, 1861,
no horse should start for any racing prize carrying less than 7 st.,
under a penalty of £200 and forfeiture of the horse so running. The
measure was opposed by Lord Derby, who thought the superior old horses
would be placed at a disadvantage by having to carry 11 and 12 st. But
why not, was asked, seeing that every colt running in the Derby carries
9 st., and every filly only 5 lb. less than that, whilst no horse in
any race, it is now the rule, shall carry less than 6 st.? In favour
of an increase in the scale of weights our two most popular handicaps
may be cited. The Cesarewitch has only been won by horses carrying
less than 6 st. on five occasions since 1860. Two Cambridgeshires only
have been carried off during the last thirty years by animals bearing
weights under 6 st. The City and Suburban Handicap has been won three
times since 1860 by horses weighted under 6 st. The Lincolnshire
Handicap has only been won once since 1860 by a horse under 6 st. Why
a horse of any kind, even a horse of the most mediocre quality, should
ever have been asked to carry the feather weight of 5 st. 7 lb. now
seems preposterous! That a minimum weight of 6 st. 7 lb. should be
fixed upon, with a range of 3 st. 7 lb., or even 4 st., as between
highest and lowest, has been recommended by many who have at heart the
best interests of the turf. No ill would result in consequence to the
noble animal, and the scale would certainly admit of more _men_ being
employed to ride.
Much could be said on both sides of this question, but there are
many engaged in racing who would never at any time have the weights
interfered with--they are such believers in use and wont. This,
therefore, is one of the matters to which the Jockey Club should again
turn their attention; there is more in what is asked for than the
mere fixing of a weight suitable for the competing horses, or for the
bringing together of the sixty or seventy animals entered for some
well-known handicap.
What are called "flattering handicaps" very often result in failure
when the acceptances come to be declared. We read occasionally in the
newspapers that "the Messrs. Asterisk have, as usual, succeeded in
putting together an admirable specimen of their art, the fifty-nine
horses entered being apportioned such weights as makes it difficult to
find a flaw in the handicap," etc. etc.; but despite this flattery and
a liberal bonus of added money, probably not one-third of the horses
entered are found to cry content on the appointed day.
It is long since a professional handicapper was advocated. Admiral
Rous was looked upon by the racing world as being, in his day, an
adept in the art of handicapping; but a flaw was frequently discovered
in some of his indictments, and in the opinion of really good judges
better handicaps than those which, after the Admiral's death, emanated
from the office of the Messrs. Weatherby were never made. Now that
gate-money meetings are coming into vogue, the professional handicapper
is imperatively required. A gentleman who put together the weights for
a big race to be run at one of these gate meetings was heard to say,
when his handicap was published: "By George, sir, I didn't know my own
work"--it had been so mangled to suit particular owners, some of whom
were shareholders in the concern. The appointment by the Jockey Club of
an official handicapper for their own meetings was a move in the proper
direction.
Another racing reform which would naturally result from the raising of
the scale of weights would be the abolition of boy jockeys, who are
really a blot on the turf. Many of these spoilt children of fortune
would be better at school than engaged in riding horses which many of
them are quite unable to manage. A lad weighing 6 st. 7 lb. cannot, it
is true, be very much of a man; but an increase of even half a stone on
the present lowest weight would give a wider choice of horsemen than at
present, and as the weights would be increased all round, older jockeys
would more frequently obtain a mount than is now the case. Many of the
liliputian riders are so early spoiled by one or two successes that
it is to be regretted the system which called them into being was not
abolished before it had time to take root. Many gentlemen have long
since seen the evil of entrusting great interests to mere children.
It has been often said of child jockeys when they have been employed
to ride horses pitched upon to carry the fortunes of a stable, but
which have failed to win the race, that "it was not the horse that
was beaten, but the boy." It is earnestly to be desired, then, in the
interests of all concerned that weights should be raised all round to a
standard that will admit of a larger number of horses being ridden by
men.
As to the distances fixed for races, it may be assumed that the Jockey
Club should be able to lay down such rules as would be acceptable to
the majority of owners. And here again the gambling element comes
into notice in relation to the increasing desire that seems to be
entertained for "short spins" for races, that is, of a mile or less.
The horses which can be calculated upon to run for two miles and a half
may almost be enumerated on the ten fingers, so that there is little
room for betting on the result of races in which they take part. The
pronounced "stayers" are easily named, and, as a rule, these only
will be backed in long-distance races. In Cup contests, for instance,
the betting is in many cases nil, or at all events extremely limited,
which renders such struggles distasteful to the betting division
of our turfites. It is not so in the case of other races. There is
abundant scope for betting in connection with the Lincoln Handicap,
the Goodwood Stewards' Cup, and similar fixtures. The Cambridgeshire,
too, is usually a good betting race for the bookmakers! In the fast
run scrambles over six or seven furlongs, it is, in most cases, very
difficult to pick the winner when from eight to fourteen horses are
contending, hence a great amount of betting becomes incident to such
races, and it is the betting element which plays the chief part in
modern horse-racing; but, as it may be taken for granted that most of
the members of the Jockey Club are themselves betting men, any reform
of the kind indicated will be slow to make its appearance.
Of "added money" and other details of Jockey Club legislation it is not
necessary to say more than that a better definition of added money than
that in use would be a benefit to all concerned. The Club has the power
to decree what it pleases, and the sooner it exercises still greater
authority in all such matters the better. It may be found in the end
that it will be desirable to classify meetings and grade the stakes
accordingly.
With respect to the amounts of money run for, some reforms have already
been established, and it may prove that by lessening the number
of races and doubling the stakes, some three-day meetings may be
advantageously compressed into two days, which would be a gain to all
concerned, except, perhaps, the bookmakers, for there is occasionally
more betting over a small stake than there is upon one of three times
the amount where the competing horses are, it may be, of a higher
class. Another phase of racing economy may be here alluded to, and
that is the propriety of peremptorily limiting the sport, so that
it may not occupy more than four days of the week. There is not now
any Saturday racing at Newmarket, and it would be well if none were
permitted elsewhere; there should also be, as a general rule, no racing
on Mondays. The tendency of late has been to increase the number of
Saturday meetings, and in all likelihood ere many years are past we
may have in England racing on Sundays! When it is considered that many
seats of sport are far distant from Newmarket, from whence a large
number of the competitors are brought, it is early enough to begin
racing on the Tuesday, and Saturday should be left a clear day for
going home.
The comfort of all engaged in the business of the turf would be greatly
enhanced were the racing limited to four days; even the bookmakers, it
is believed, would be glad to acquiesce in such an arrangement.
As is well known, the death of the nominator of a horse for a race
renders the nomination void--a hard case in some instances, but for
which no remedy has yet been devised. Much controversy has been
expended from time to time on this feature of turf economy, and in
all probability a solution of the various problems involved when the
death of a nominator takes place may some day be arrived at, when the
proposal of "deposit your nomination money" may after all be found to
be the best way out of the difficulty. With the payment of such large
sums of ready money as would be involved, there would undoubtedly
be a considerable falling off in the entries of certain classes of
races--which many turf men think would prove an advantage.
Other disturbing matters which require to be dealt with by the Jockey
Club are as pressing as these which have just been noticed. The "rough"
and "welshing" element was never so rampant on some of our racecourses
as it is at present, and the turf of late, even at Newmarket, has been
invaded by brigades of blackguards, who, by means of the numerous lines
of railways, find easy access to scenes from which they were excluded
in former years by distance and cost of transport. The presence
of numberless bands of insolent roughs, some of them in intimate
confederacy, it is said, with the lower class of bookmakers, has not
tended to the elevation of horse-racing, nor does it add to the good
name of its votaries.
The complaints that find utterance as to the blackguardism which takes
place on some racecourses are painful to contemplate. The welsher,
in many places, seems not only to be tolerated, but encouraged. If a
complaint be made of the most barefaced robbery by these persons, there
is, at some meetings, no redress. The welsher is to all intents and
purposes a thief under another name, and on various racecourses is
allowed to rob all and sundry with immunity from all consequences. As
to the racecourse rough, he, too, is allowed to do pretty much as he
pleases, and the members of the brigade to which he belongs have the
resources of civilisation at their command. At one Epsom Summer Meeting
a party of these bullies attacked a foreign gentleman, denounced him as
a welsher, and robbed and maltreated him at the very entrance of the
Grand Stand! Every person who has heard the cry of "welsher" uttered
at a race gathering knows that it is the precursor to a scene of cruel
violence and positive outrage.
No one can accord sympathy to the professional welsher; but bad
as he is, he must be protected from lynch law. There ought to be
some properly constituted tribunal to which he should be held
responsible--his offence is the obtaining of money by false pretences,
and it is incumbent on the Jockey Club to devise machinery for the
trial and punishment of these pests of the turf. And care must be
taken that the racecourse roughs are not allowed to devise plots with
the object of having respectable persons attacked and robbed under
the false plea of their being welshers. These are matters of police,
on which the Jockey Club may, in all fairness, be asked to legislate.
It has already done a little something in that way, but it ought to
organise a band of special constables to assist in the regulation
of the ring. Habit and repute welshers are as well known and as
easily identified as the popular jockeys. They should be prevented
from entering any of the rings where betting is carried on, and if
found betting "outside" should be promptly handed over to the police
to be punished as rogues and vagabonds. A few sentences of sixty
days with hard labour would very speedily diminish the regiment of
welshers; as for the unmitigated rough, his fate should be that of
the garroters--twenty lashes! It is somewhat remarkable that in some
districts welshers are promptly dealt with by the authorities, while at
other seats of sport they escape all consequences!
In the interests of law and order on the turf, the honest bookmaker
should be licensed by the Jockey Club, and by the exhibition of a blue
ribbon in his buttonhole, or some other mark of identification, be
able to present himself to those desirous of betting as a person who
would at once pay whatever amount he bargained to lose. These modes
of dealing with the honest and dishonest betting men are obviously
logical; at any rate, the hints given afford a foundation for action of
the kind indicated, that it is surprising they have not already been
acted upon.
The Jockey Club at the present time takes no official cognisance of
disputed bets, that part of the business of racing being left to a
committee of Tattersall's; but this inaction on the part of the Club
is a blunder. It will be well for them to form a tribunal to deal with
all disputes about bets--a tribunal which would give a prompt and,
above all things, a logical decision, and so carry on from precedent to
precedent. The present laws of betting are much in need of overhauling;
indeed, to use an old phrase, they require "a new stock, lock, and
barrel."