ROYAL RACING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 304, 19 December 1908, Page 4

ROYAL RACING.

iliere is no doubt that our King, though a man of many tastes, aad devoted all his life to many forms of sport, preterm racing tu any other. It is, however, only 0 i eouiparalively late years that l a . l u> ,-„,, Ilur , t „ iu U|( , t events, and kept up a„ extensive training establishment. It is more than forty years since hethen a mere boy, and stationed at the Cunagh Camp -Hon a military race on a horse of hi: own, named Rupee and since that start ne ha» known raeinin every branch, \\„:i great races, and owned some of the i..iesl horses ever bred. HIS MAJESTY'S FIKSI WINNER. ' The first winner which his Majesty owned was a steeplechaser named Leonidas 11., which Captain Hope Johnstone piloted first past the post in the Aidershot Cup as long ago as 1«8U; but his lirst flat-race success was achieved by Counterpane, ridden by Archer, at Sandown, in 1880.

In those early days of Royal racing, John Porter, then King's trainer, was | singularly unsuccessful in his choice of brood marcs for the Royal stud. It was his lucky purchase of Fcrdita 11. which altered the long ruu of ill-luck, and brought the King's colours to the fore. John Porter paid £OOO for this beautiful mare, aud she was the mother of the trio of famous horses, I'lorizcl It., Persimmon, and Diamond Jubilee.

Of these, the first ran in twenty two races, and won eleven, the value of tin; combined stakes being just under £3OOU. Diamond Jubilee ran eleven times, and won six; but these were races of such importance that the stakes were worth nearly £30,000. Persimmon, one of the greatest horses that ever lived—won seven out of nine races. He was only twice beaten. His winnings aggregated the enormous sum of £34,721).

£30,000 W'OX IX A YEAR. The successes ol the Royal stable ha>e varied greatly from year to year, .beginning in 18'Jl witih stakes north just over £4,900, they were down to £l'Jo in the following year. In IBUS they rose to in 1800 they-were £26,819; and the record year was 1900, when the Koyal horses, under the care of Mr. Harsh, won all but £30,000. From the perusal of figures like these, it might be supposed that the Kings hobby is a very paying one—especially as these winnings do not include the sale of young horses, and other similar income, which has amounted to as much

as £25,000 in a single year. But the expenses of racing are so enormous that it is probable that the balance on the credit side is only small. Perdita. 11. cost, as we nave said, only £9OO. iShe was a marvellous bargain, for her progeny won between them £200,000. But first-class brood mares are far more costly. La Fleche, for instance, brought 12,000 guineas. Good, yearlings cost from £I,OOO to £2,000 apiece, and every racing owner must buy them. Four out of live turn out disappointments, and are sold for a fifth, or a tenth, of what tlley were purchased for.

To keep a racing stud is a most costly business. The weekly cost of each horse varies from a pound up to fifty shillings. Fifty shillings used to be the regular charge for the keep and training of a horse of any age; but the King set the fashion a good many years back of paying his trainer three guineas a week.

Every horse that leaves its stable for racing purposes must have its attendant. At Ascot the charge for a box for a racing animal is £3 a week. Half a guinea a day is charged for the lad's keep, and seven-and-six for that of the horse.

The trainer's salary may be put, at the very lowest, at a thousand a year. The King probably pays very much more. ' The jockeys' fees are higher still. Maher has received £5,000 a year as first jockey to the King's stable. Travelling expenses for horses, their attealants, for trainer, and other employees, mount-up enormously. Horses cost far more to move than human beings. A horse-ticket, for instance, from Xewinarket to Liverpool costs about £5 return, or a little over £0 including the fare for the lad. EXPEXSES ARE ENORMOUS. 1 Entries forraees and forfeits run away with great sums of money. The subscription for the Derby or the Oaks is £SO. For the Princess of Wales' Stakes and the -Jockey Club Stakes they arc more than double as much. For the Eclipse Stakes, the subscription is even higher. It is £lls, and this has to be paid eighteen months before the meet-

ing. One must not forget such items as racing colours, saddlery, horse clothing, and the like. All these accessories are expensive. Cap and jacket for the jockey mem a five-pound note; top-boots, two guineas; breeces, two pounds ten. A racing saddle costs five guineas; a bridle, thirty-five shillings; spurs, say, half-a-guinea. Horse clothing is more expensive. A complete outfit for a horse in training means £ls a year. Insurance is almost universal in racing stables, and the premiums are naturally heavy. Taking it all iii all, you may safely assert that the yearly outgoings in connection with a first-class racing stable are never less than £IO,OOO, and often run to treble that sum.