The most celebrated race-course in England is Newmarket, established in 1607, where the Cambridgeshire, the CPSil rewi teh, the 1000 guineas. and the 2000-guineas are annually run. There are six meets there in the year. in May, July, and October. each occupying two weeks, with an interval of a week between them. The Derby (see DERBY Axe) has been run at Epsom since 1730. and the Oaks since 1779. The Ascot meeting has been continuous since 1727, and Goodwood since 103. The other most important races are at Doncaster, Lincoln. Chester, and on the Curragh of Kildare, Ireland. The Jockey Club, a semi-public organization, is the flat rac ing authority. In France within the last thirty years great interest has been taken in breeding and racing the thoroughbred. The Grand Prix de Paris. which is run at Longchamps, near the capital, is one of the great races of the world. Austria, too, has its enthusiasts, and in Australia flat rating is a national pastime.
In America, the first and natural home of the thoroughbred was in the South. where the early settlers were of the class which in England made the breeding and care of high-mettled horses one of their delights. Many well-known horses were imported. Diomed. the Derby winner already mentioned, of the Byerly Turk blood, was one of them. He was brought over by Col, John Hoomes, of Virginia. and became the sire of Sir Archy. who in turn was the father of Ameri can Eclipse, Vingt t'n, and other well-known horses. Another of these importations was Mes senger, by Blais (the son of Flying Childers and grandson of the Darley Barb) out of Turf, a de scendant of the Godolphin Arabian, thus com bining on both sides the best thoroughbred blood in the world. Breeding continued with great suc cess; so that in 1881 the late Pierre Lorillard was able to send over to England his Iroquois and win the Derby. Breeding establishments known all over the world are scattered throughout Ken tucky and Tennessee, and there are many enthu siastic owners of thoroughbreds.
Even in the North, flat racing flourished as early as 1812. In 1830 Barefoot, a Saint Leger winner, found a home in Westchester, N. V., and was raced there against his great rival American Eclipse. The Wagner-Grey Eagle contests caused unparalleled interest there in the autumn of 1839; and Lexington and Le Comte had their famous meetings in New Orleans in 1854-55.
The Civil War was a temporary check to thor oughbred racing, and although scarcely a city of any size was without a course, it was not until the American .Jockey Club was formed, with the
late August Belmont as chairman, and Jerome Park (in 1880) was made the Mecca of the sport by Leonard W. Jerome. that racing in the modern sense became a widely spread pastime. In 1881 the Coney Island Jockey Club opened the Sheeps head Bay Track; in 1888 Mr. John A. Morris built :Morris Park; the next year Monmouth Park at Long Branch was created by Mr. Withers, and this was followed by the Brooklyn Jockey Club's course at Gravesend. On these four courses sums approaching $500,000 were annually added to the entry fees, for competition. Saratoga has long had an annual meet of importance. and the Washington Park Club of Chicago and the Ken tucky Racing Association have an antiquity greater than any of the Eastern associations. Other important racing centres are New Orleans, Louisville, Little Rock. Ark.; Roby, Intl.; New port, Ky.; and Washington, D. C. The Pacific Slope is represented by the San Francisco Jockey Club and the New California Jockey Club, whose principles are gradually coming into accord with those guiding the Eastern Jockey Club, probably with a view to an often discussed amalgamation.
Many noted horses, besides Iroquois, already mentioned, have been produced in America, of which the best known have been Lexington (a direct descendant of Diomed). Silver Fox. a son of Blais. Maud Hampton, Kentucky, Tourna ment, Firenze, La Tosea, Ethelbert, Salvator, Imp, Kinley Mack, Ballyhoo Bey, Commando,. Tommy Atkins. and Nasturtium.
One fundamental difference between American and English thoroughbred race-courses is that the former are bare earth floors, and the latter are covered with a close-fitting carpet of grass. The straight mile record on the grass was. singu larly enough. made at Lingfield by the American bred Caiman in 1 nun. 33 s.; while on the dirt course the mile record on a circular track was made by an imported horse, Orimer, at Washing ton Park. Chicago. in 1 m. 3S s.
The advent of American jockeys in England in the years 1900-01 worked a complete revolution in the style of riding in a flat race, and their fame has extended to every part of Europe where thoroughbred racing exists. The main point in the American style is the placing of the jockey's weight well forward on the horse's withers and a crouching attitude. which reduces the resistance of the air against the jockey's body.