Goodwood Racecourse

“ At Royal Ascot the handicappers are only the servants of higher powers; at Goodwood the moneys derived from the annual meeting, whatever they may amount to, are placed to the credit of the noble Duke on whose estate the races are run. The revenue from the race meeting annually held in Goodwood Park is reputed to be large, and as in a comparative sense little addition is made to the stakes, the profits are probably considerable. About Epsom and its grand stand, information of an interesting kind has been frequently published. ”

“ It is impossible to lose the feeling that the right place for cattle—even for Alderneys—is the meadow. Cows in a park [Pg 40] are a poor makeshift; parks are for deer. To my eyes Goodwood House has a chilling exterior; the road to the hill-top is steep and lengthy; and when one has climbed it and crossed the summit wood, it is to come upon the last thing that one wishes to find in the heart of the country, among rolling Downs, sacred to hawks and solitude—a Grand Stand and the railings of a race-course! Race-courses are for the outskirts of towns, as at Brighton and Lewes ”

“ Fond of horse-racing and breeding, he was elected to the Jockey Club in 1887, but was not very fortunate on the turf. In 1898, however, he won the Goodwood Cup with King's Messenger, which both in 1899 and 1900 carried his master's colours to the post for the Great Metropolitan Stakes at Epsom. ”

“ I suppose that peerage cost the old devil the deuce of a sum. Even baronetcies have gone up frightfully nowadays, I’m told. And he’s started a racing-stable. By the way, put your last collar-stud on Ocean Breeze for the Goodwood Cup. It’s a cert.”
“I’m going to.”
“It can’t lose. I mean to win enough on it to marry Charlotte with. You’re going to Goodwood, of course?”
“Rather!”
“So are we. We’re holding a meeting on Cup day just outside the paddock.”
“But, I say, aren’t you taking frightful risks? Your uncle’s sure to be at Goodwood. Suppose he spots you? ”

“ These are races on which plenty of speculation takes place, so that the loss of the "great" handicaps is not of much moment, there being so many other outlets for the gambling instinct of the nation, which was never so strong as it now is. The races for the Ascot Stakes and the Goodwood Stakes do not give rise to betting of any consequence till the days set for their decision; nor does speculation, as of old, begin on the Portland Plate, decided at Doncaster, till the names of the runners are known. ”

“ The ladies clap their hands and utter weak sounds of joy or distress, and the cadgers, tramps, and more polished pickpockets, are now beginning to reap their harvest in the midst of the excitement and momentary frenzy.
The race is a two-mile stretch, and only five horses are entered. The prize is the Goodwood Cup, valued at three hundred sovereigns.
Two of the horses entered are four-year-olds, and the others are three-year-olds. The great Jewish banker and member of Parliament, Baron Rothschild, has entered "Restitution," a four year old, who is ridden by Daley, an Irish jockey of fame. ”

“ Remarkable stories have occasionally been told of fortunes won by means of the Cesarewitch; big prices being obtainable at an early date, persons who know of a "good thing" for this race are able to back it to win a considerable sum at little risk. Mr. Parr, the owner of Weathergage, who won in 1852, sacked many thousands, it is said, by the victory of his horse. That animal proved a fortunate purchase to Mr. Parr. Bought out of a Newmarket stable for a comparatively trifling sum, and having been well tried with a horse called Clothworker, he was entered for the Goodwood Stakes. ”

“ There is no course on which more good horses have hopelessly broken down. All the prizes are handsome, and success at Ascot confers much prestige, for the reason that the majority of horses that run are good ones; but annually there is a list of victims that never recover from the effects of galloping on this ground. Goodwood also attracts horses of high character, though some unimportant races fill out the programme. Formerly there were many meetings around London, which fell into disrepute in consequence of the manner in which they were conducted. ”

“ His absorption in politics, which had newly aroused his interest, led him to dispose of his race-horses.
"In the autumn of this year (1846) at Goodwood races," says Disraeli, "the sporting world was astonished by hearing that Lord George Bentinck had parted with his racing stud at an almost nominal price. Lord George was present, as was his custom, at this meeting held in the demesne of one who was among his dearest friends. Lord George was not only present, but apparently absorbed in the sport, and his horses were very successful. ”

“ On the next day, fully equipped, and with all that was necessary for our distinguished position, we set out for Newmarket Heath, even now the glory of the racing world, not forgetting Goodwood, which is more or less a private business and fashionable picnic.
I shall not attempt to describe Newmarket. No one can describe, the indescribable. I will only say it was not the Newmarket which our later generation knows. ”

“ Perhaps more popular than this park, however, is Riccarton Racecourse, five miles out from the centre of the city. Horse-racing is a national sport, and this is the best equipped track in the Dominion, offering every November a $10,000 stake. ”

“ The race is the most popular of British sporting events. The Ascot races are patronized by royalty; the world of fashion is to be found at Goodwood; but Derby-day draws to Epsom a vast crowd of every class. During the European War the race was suspended, but a substitute Derby was run at Newmarket from 1915 to 1918. ”

“ The distance of Goodwood Park from London is more than twice the distance of Ascot, and yet as many persons seem to frequent the one meeting as the other; hundreds are contributed from Brighton, Portsmouth, and other towns, and hundreds go from and return to London every day of the meeting. All the towns and villages in the vicinity of Goodwood Park are crowded by the strangers who have come to assist at the meeting, Chichester, in particular, being the abiding-place of a host of visitors. ”

“ S—— then communicated to him his suspicions, and, after some conversation, the owner finally gave him full authority to use his own discretion as to whether or not he would allow the jockey that was engaged for Cockcrow to ride him, S—— saying that he should not make up his mind till the morning of the race, and requesting the owner not to show himself at Goodwood till the day after the race. ”

“ Trainers, touts, jockeys, judges, and starters, all must submit to "the stewards," whose words are law. Trainers who may drug, or boys who may pull their horses, have cause to tremble; should their sins find them out, banishment from the turf at Newmarket—the chief scene of horse-racing in England—as well as from every other racecourse in the United Kingdom, would be certain to follow. A sharp eye is now kept by the stewards on all inconsistencies of form ”

“ On reaching Goodwood, it seems, the gentlemen of the party had got out, leaving the ladies to take a drive round the park in the phaeton. One or both of the ponies must then have taken fright at something in the road, for Mrs M—— had scarcely taken the reins when the ponies shied. Had there been plenty of room she would readily have mastered the difficulty; but it was in a narrow road, where a gate obstructed the way. Some men rushed to open the gate—too late. ”

“ He has begun to talk about Goodwood already.”
“He will grow out of his excessive addiction to sport,” said Lucian.
“Indeed,” said Lydia. “And what will he grow into?”
“Possibly into a more reasonable man,” said Lucian, gravely.
“I hope so,” said Lydia; “but I prefer a man who is interested in sport to a gentleman who is interested in nothing.”
“Much might indubitably be said from that point of view. But it is not necessary that Lord Worthington should waste his energy on horse-racing. ”

“ Newmarket may truly be styled the classic ground of racing, and it is there only that this delightful sport may be said to exist in perfection. No crowd, no booths impede the view; none of those discordant noises which make a perfect babel of other racecourses distract the attention. The number of spectators seldom exceeds 500, and they are mostly of the higher classes, the majority on horseback, with perhaps a few close carriages and barouches. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Racing matters, which have received of late years such astonishing development, were then in an infantile condition, it may be believed. Hyde Park was probably the first race-course. The next arena (literally) was the Old Sandy Course near Botany. To this unimproved tract I remember trudging with school comrades in 1836, when we witnessed a closely contested race, in heats too, between Traveller and Chester, the former winning. Frank Stephen rode a mule that day, who kicked all the way there and back. ”

“ There are thirty-one different racecourses at Newmarket, ranging from a little over a furlong, to the Beacon course of four miles, while, during the year, seven meetings take place at which about two hundred and fifty races are decided. Newmarket, as well as being head-quarters of the turf, so far as sport is concerned, is also a resort of many trainers: several stables of importance being located at that place. The Jockey Club being eminently conservative, none beyond the stewards and its principal servants know anything about its financial position; but it is supposed to be growing wealthy. ”

“ It is affirmed that the business of horse-racing is seen at its best at Newmarket; but such a statement may be taken for what it is worth, as the arrangements made at the gate money meetings are remarkably perfect. It is quite on the cards that the racing tracks at Newmarket will speedily be so enclosed that no outsider will be able to witness the sport, various movements in that direction having already taken place. ”

“ But Newmarket does by no means hibernate with the end of October and merely come to life again in the spring. When the flat-racing ends, the hurdle-racing takes up the thread of sport, and allied with these winter activities are the runs of the Drag Hounds.
There are many courses on the Heath: the Old Cambridgeshire, nearest the town, where the historic Red Post, the Duke’s Stand, and some of the old saddling-stables still remain; the long four-miles’ Beacon Course, little used in its entirety, now that a two miles’ contest is thought a good race ”

“ The natural idea of anyone attending for the first time is that there will be an awful crush; but such is the excellence of Newmarket as a racecourse that there is none whatever, and every one, either on foot or in the stand, can see every race from start to finish, with the exception of those run on the Cesarewitch course, and then no one can see the horses until they come into the straight, with the exception of a bare sight of the start, and a glimpse of them as they pass the Gap, which may be caught by keen-eyed people in the stand. ”

“ He was a man who had once—in the days of racing—been called a "sport." He might still be called "horsey" and would consider the term a compliment. But Eddie Kaboff's fame and fortune had both dwindled since the good old betting days when little swindling games larded the solid profits of crooked races. One by one his thoroughbreds had given up their stalls to truck horses, just as Eddie's diamond studs had given place to plain buttons.
His beady black eyes watched the two newcomers on their way across the lot, but he gave no sign of recognition until Hicks and Owen reached the door. ”

“ It will be gathered from the foregoing summary, brief as it may be thought, that horse-racing to those engaged in it is somewhat of a serious pastime. "It takes a bit out of a jockey" to ride two or three races per diem, whilst trainers as a meeting progresses have much to do; owners also, with "thousands" invested in entry moneys and bets, have anxious moments to endure. In short, without devoted, never-ceasing attention to the business incidental to the turf, horse-racing as a pastime for the people would speedily come to an end. ”

“ There was the great Grey Surrey, and lastly that ‘dark,’ unassuming, dangerous Mendicant of Greyford’s with Mr. Wilfred Effingham up.
That gentleman had never ridden a race before, but was a fair cross-country rider before he saw Australia, and since then the riding of different sorts of horses had, of course, tended to improve both seat and hands. He was aware of the principles of race-riding, and though Bob Clarke, Hamilton, Forbes, and Churbett had semi-professional skill, he yet trusted, with the befitting courage of youth, to hold his own in that tilt-yard. ”

“ In the green oval enclosed by the race track and grown suddenly brilliant, the carriages, wagons, and automobiles of the patrons of the fair were huddled together; the hoods and tops of these were now being thrown back with a cheerful clatter, revealing the bright-garbed occupants; and behind the grandstand, horses were being led from their stalls and harnessed for the next event. The throng that had packed the grandstand during the rain seemed now to bubble up and boil over at the edges ”