A Mirror of the Turf

The origin of horse-racing cannot be fixed by any quotation of dates, as none are extant to show by whom the first race was planned, the terms on which it was run, the distance traversed, the kind of horses which ran, the men who trained them, or the jockeys who rode them. It may, however, be taken for granted that, as an English sport, horse-racing began in homely fashion, and, in the days of old, centuries ago that is to say, was a very different pastime from what it is to-day. Attempts have often been made to trace the beginnings of horse-racing, but not with much success. It has been assumed by writers on the subject, that there would in the first place be trials of strength of a friendly description among neighbours, matches, perhaps, between horses which their owners looked upon as being animals above the common run. Scientific, or planned racing, in other words, the elaborately arranged contests with which, as a nation, we are familiar is, it may be said, a comparatively modern pastime. But the sport of horse-racing, as we know it to-day, has undoubtedly been elaborated from those simple trials of equine strength that took place centuries ago, which may, in many instances, have been arranged to promote the selling of horses.