Rule 14 forbids yearlings to run for public stakes under pain of disqualification, but this Rule does not apply to matches, which are not public

races.

Rule 17.—A clause has been added to punish persons who, by fraud or misrepresentation, succeed in starting a horse after he has been legally scratched.

Rule 18 declares the nomination of a Produce Stake to be void if the mare drops her foal before the 1st of January.

Rule 24 now applies to horses and mares which have produced winners in any country.

Rule 37.-In weighing horses before or after a race, no whip or substitute for a whip shall be allowed in the scales; and a jockey riding a beaten horse shall be fined not less than 107. nor exceeding 25l., if he does not return to weigh after the race.

N.B.—It has always been optional to weigh with the whip, or drop it and decline to carry it to the scales; it has been ascertained that whips loaded with quicksilver can be made to weigh 5 or 6 lbs., and exchanges have been made after the race.

Rule 38 disqualifies horses carrying more than 2 lbs. overweight without a declaration at the proper time: a due consideration is always made for

overplus occasioned by exposure to heavy rain and mud, and the stewards are bound to admit the plea, and to give the defendants the benefit of a doubt, when there is clearly no attempt at fraud. The margin of 2 lbs. may be equally claimed when the horse is registered to carry extra weight.

In running the best of heats, declarations of changing gentlemen riders for jockeys carrying their specified extra weight, or vice versâ, or any other alterations of surplus weights may be legally made thirty minutes before the time of starting, by public notice affixed.

If a difference of opinion exists before the race respecting the weight to be carried, the owner may secure himself by declaring to carry the top weight, if the stewards are absent, or are incompetent to decide.

Rule 40 is not applicable to matches.

Rule 51.-A merciful alteration has been made in running heats, that when two horses have each won a heat, they only can start again.

Rule 56 is evaded by a very disreputable system of selling by auction, and thereby depriving the owner of the second horse of his legal claim.

Rule 66.-There are three varieties of complaints which must be made within three distinct periods of time.

1st. Complaints of foul riding, of horses not running the proper course, or of any other irregularities occurring in the race: these objections must be made within fifteen minutes.

2nd. Objections to the qualifications of the horse or of the rider, or of incorrect entrance, must be brought before the authorities before the meeting terminates.

3rd. In the event of fraudulent entry or nomination, running under a false description, the charge may be investigated within the year: all these alterations have been made since 1852.

In the minor country race-courses, the clerks of the course advertise, "That in the event of a dispute the decision of the stewards is final." This exposes a wonderful ignorance of the British constitution and of the laws of the land-it is the boast of every man in this country that he can appeal to a Court of Law if he fancies himself aggrieved. I am deeply impressed with the incapability of a Court of Law to decide all racing disputes, after hearing the late Lord Chancellor Campbell instruct the jury, in a very simple case at Cardiff, to ignore the rules of racing. He explained to them that they were the judges of the law and the fact, when it was evident neither the judge, counsel, or jury comprehended

the point at issue. horses running under a false description, or of incorrect pedigree in which there may be a counter swearing, when it is very politic to appeal to a Court of Law, to have the benefit of legal acuteness to elicit the truth-for instance, Running Rein's trial in 1844; but the verdict in St. Giles's trial Derby, 1832, was in violation of racing lawhe was entered with an incorrect pedigree-technical objections are better disposed of by racing men; like disputes at whist or billiards, eminent players or billiard markers form a better tribunal than the whole bench of judges. The Jockey Club, although considered by orthodox sportsmen as the final court of appeal, never dream of attempting to deprive any man of his lawful rights to refer his grievance to a legal tribunal— we bow to the supremacy of the law.

There are some cases of

CHAPTER IV.

ON STARTING-RIDING RACES-JOCKEYS.

THE bête noire of racing is the unsatisfactory system of starting, and the helplessness of the official starter to control the audacity of the young jockeys, who frequently set him at defiance. Many persons ascribe the failures to the numerous short races. But some of the worst starts on record are of the Derby and St. Leger.

In the olden time, when the Baker started the horses at Epsom, it was considered a good business if they got off within the hour.

The late Lord G. Bentinck put an end to these follies. Invested with full power to fine and suspend, he had no difficulty in starting a large field for a half-mile race. He laid down a rule that the evidence of the jockey was not to be listened to, and the statement of the starter not to be contradicted. The theory was unconstitutional, but in practice it worked well; his success was perfect; the present situation of racing affairs differs widely