who had directed his jockey not to win. The
crime was not so much one of commission, as
of discovery; or what would the stewards say
to the decision of some of their own Newmarket
handicaps? There is a race run annually at Ascot
Heath, known as the Royal Hunt Cup, but which,
so far as it has anything to do with the Royal
Hunt or hunters, might as appropriately be
called the Royal Yacht Cup. It is a handicap
run over just one mile, and nine times out of
ten, it is carried off by some miserable weed
with five or six stone on his back. The horse
that won it last year was a four-year-old, which
carried the crushing weight of five stone twelve
pounds, and never won a race previously, and
has now, after this tremendous performance,
been taken out of work! The Royal Hunt!
Was there ever such a burlesque of a title?
Mark that narrow stilty leggy animal, boring
away at the unfortunate lad on his back, who
has actually taken off his shirt in order to ride
the weight, and may very possibly have to hang
for an hour or so about the post on a raw
March morning, with no better protection
against the elements than a red silk jacket and
a pair of the thinnest possible "continuations."
Scarcely any sum would buy the ugly creature
now; though he may be of no earthly service
save carrying a wasted boy over half a mile of
ground, and win a handicap. But then there
will be some thousands pocketed if he win, and
though starters may threaten and stewards may
storm, he must never "go" until he is well in
front, though they fine him five pounds every
five minutes. At Northampton the other day,
with snow still on the house-tops, an hour was
consumed in starting the field tor the Spencer
Plate: a race of five furlongs, to which we only
regret that a master of hounds, and altogether
so good a sportsman as Lord Spencer, should
ever give his name or his countenance.

In Ireland, where they have become seriously
alarmed on the subject of horse-breeding, the
Royal Agricultural Society has been taking
evidence. A Mr. Farrell, says in his: " We
have at present a few good two-year-olds; but
we have no three-year-olds, no four-year-olds,
and no five-year-olds worth anything— you
could not find one. The horses bred here
now would have been turned loose on the
Curragh in olden time as useless. They would
lie down under the weights carried long ago
before they reached the end of the course.
No horse bred now would have a chance for a
Queen's plate with even some half-bred horses
which we had thirty years ago, such as Hesperus
and Barebones. I think our horses are
getting worse and worse every year. I don't
know a single horse of this year that could have
run for the distances and with the weights of
former plates— not one. At the end of the race
it was a pity to see Tourist or Oldminster
coming in. They had no speed, and appeared
quite unable to carry their weights. I
would not like to breed from any horse which
ran for a Queen's plate this year. The poor
spindle-shanked horses we have now can carry
no weight, or run any distance. They cannot
keep their pace for more than a few hundred
yards. If we continue to breed from these we
will soon have no good horses at all in this
country. They are getting more weedy every
year. You could not expect a good hack-car
horse from them. Our right class of horses
began to decline when handicapping commenced
with three-year-old and two-year-old horses.
Handicapping is a very bad principle in racing,
and a great cause of such a bad class of horses
being now bred. Runs for two years' stakes
injure us very much. No horse should be
allowed to run for a Queen's plate that has run
as a two-years-old"

This is coming to the point; but it may be
asked, who is this Mr. Farrell, and what does he
know about the matter? Mr. Farrell, then,
although for many years a resident in Ireland,
was born in England, and brought up at
Newmarket in the stables of one Mr. Robson, the
great trainer of his day. Mr. Farrell left for
Ireland in 1814, where he himself has trained
for the Marquis of Sligo, and other leading
sportsmen, on the famous Curragh of Kildare.
He speaks, with full acquaintance of both the
past and the present: of what horses were in
England and Ireland, and what they now are.
We have no hesitation in saying that his is the
most direct and valuable of all the opinions
given; and we are glad to see that the
committee, in their report, call the attention of the
government to it, as the advice of " the oldest
and most experienced trainer at the Curragh,
and whose evidence must be considered as a
faithful and important record of fifty years'
intimate practical knowledge of the English and
Irish turf."

Will the government turn their attention to
this subject? Will they come to understand
that the countenance they give to racing, as at
present conducted, is simply encouraging a
national evil? The five or six thousand pounds
spent yearly, in providing royal plates to be run
for, is money worse than thrown away. One mare
took seventeen of these prizes during last
season; frequently without any competitor
appearing against her. Either these plates should
be withdrawn, or they should be re-issued under
carefully revised conditions. As Mr. Farrell
says, no horse that has ever run at two years old
should be allowed to run for a royal plate; and
no plate should be presented to any meeting,
where any races were under a mile, or where
any horse of any age ever carried less weight
than eight stone seven pounds. Of course,
this would interfere materially with the betting
and the handicaps, but the sooner they are
interfered with the better: not merely for the
breed of horses, but for the turf itself. Then,
again, why should not the former weights for
these royal plates be reverted to? Why should
not a horse be as well able to carry twelve
in 1864 as he was in 1800? At Salisbury,
last year, the conditions were, three years old to
carry seven stone eight pounds; four years old,
nine stone seven pounds; five years old, ten