The "Rules of Racing," which have for a long period given law to the
turf, and the code of honour pertaining thereto which all racing men
respect and obey, have been from time to time revised and made more
perfect by the Jockey Club, which numbers at the present time about one
hundred members, and makes itself felt through the stewards, to whom,
for all practical purposes, its powers are delegated. During their
period of office, to which they are nominated by their predecessors,
the stewards address those who are interested in the sport of
horse-racing through the official "Calendar," which is published in
London by the Messrs. Weatherby, of Old Burlington Street, who may be
termed the mouthpiece of the Club. In racing circles these gentlemen
are much respected, one of them being "keeper of the match-book," and
it would be rather difficult to say what functions connected with
horse-racing they do not take part in.
Messrs. Weatherby, in addition to being, as may be said, clerks of the
course for all races run over Newmarket Heath, and therefore recipients
of entries, scratchings, etc., also officiate in a certain sense as
bankers to a considerable number of gentlemen who own race-horses and
have payments to make in connection therewith. By payment of a slight
commission on such transactions as take place, gentlemen are saved the
trouble which pertains to receiving stakes they may win, or of paying
personally such entry-money and forfeits as may have been incurred in
the races they have been entrusted by clients to enter horses in. The
gentlemen likewise keep a record of sportsmen who, for various reasons,
prefer to pursue their career on the turf under an assumed name; as
also a register of the racing liveries or "colours" selected by owners
to be worn by their jockeys, and of these about nine hundred different
arrangements are annually chronicled.
Among their other duties, Messrs. Weatherby edit and print the Book
and Sheet Calendars of the Jockey Club, in which race meetings are
announced, entries of horses in various races published, handicaps
made public, and through which the general business of racing is made
known to its votaries. Nominally the head-quarters of the Club are
at Newmarket, but it may be assumed that the larger portion of the
business is transacted at the offices of Messrs. Weatherby, in the
great metropolis.
The Jockey Club is, of course, best known through its works and the
laws laid down for the government of the turf. The "Rules of Racing"
are entirely the work of the Club. For the information of persons who
have never been behind the scenes, these rules may be here briefly
glanced at. They provide for all the contingencies which may be
expected to occur during the progress of sport; these are so well
provided for, indeed, that if a jockey meet with an accident or be
killed at the winning-post, provision is made for his being carried
to the scales to be weighed. An explicit date is set down when flat
racing shall begin and end in each year. The powers bestowed on the
stewards of the different race meetings throughout the country are
generally defined; the gathering has to be under their direction, they
must regulate the conduct of all officials and persons coming to the
meeting on business--that is, trainers, jockeys, and others. The power
of punishing evil-doers is vested in the stewards, who may fine or
suspend any person in fault. Stewards of meetings, it is commanded in
the "Rules of Racing," shall exclude from the stands, and other places
under their control, every person who has been "warned off" Newmarket
Heath, persons who are in the unpaid forfeit list, also every jockey
suspended for corrupt practices on the turf, while as a means of
ensuring good order at meetings it is ordained by the "Rules of Racing"
that "the clerk of the course, or corresponding official, shall be the
sole person responsible to the stewards for the general arrangement
of the meeting," a clause evidently devised to bring some kind of
machinery to bear for the exclusion of roughs and welshers from the
racecourses of the kingdom.
The following remarks will be generally accepted as being greatly to
the point: "If an individual member of the turf suffers a pecuniary
wrong, it is the Jockey Club to whom he applies for redress; and
should his honour be assailed, he places his reputation before the
same authority for vindication. In truth, looking up as the sporting
public do to this body as the chief and sovereign head of their own
community for either approbation or condemnation, and with such
serious obligations on their own part, and weighty and grave matters
to deal with and adjudicate upon as regards others, it behoves them
to be careful in their own actions, and tender in investigating and
deciding upon the action of others. To have the moral right of sitting
in judgment upon and deciding a question of honour with respect to
others, they must themselves be beyond reproach as reflected in their
own character and actions; but their verdict can never be impeached as
long as in their own persons they set an example to others of high and
honourable conduct."