A Backward Glance on Shang-watching those who desire to gallop] in the dark and remain throughout the morsing for those who perform more openly. hai's Racing History: The Old Sporting Spirit "After an absence of only 12 short years, and what a change has dean wrought in the 'Model Sottlemont,' so spoke a well known sportsman to me the other day. When asked for his impressions he continued; "I am more than agreeably surprised with the growth of the port—it has been stupendous, and hardly anyone in my day could possibly have visualized such a transformation, but of course you know that my sole interest in life then—after business—was centred on the China pony with all the attendant, Joys attaching to racing, paper hunting and polo. The love of my youth is) still very strong in me. Give me the conditions which obtained in my days.' We had two Race Meetings a year; training was taken up very seriously by owners and Jockeys alike; the rails were patronized by as keen @ crowd of Sportsmen as the most critical of men would wish to meet: jokes and chaff bubbled on all sides and the conversation centred round the ponies and their prospects of putting up good gallops. All this merriment was duly recorded in the inimitable lines penned by the well beloved and much respected 'Daybreak' in 'Sport and Gossip,' which eased publication some 20 years ago and is still missed to-day, John Peel and the sound of his famous horn did not appeal more to hunting men of his day than did 'Sport and Gossip' on a Sunday! morning to the patrons of all local sporty. Breezy und critical with higher tone of true sportsmanship it scored many friends but hurt the susceptibilities of no one. Even those who were the most criticized were at the same time the Keonest to read the pithy paragraphs of 'Daybreak' and to be whole-heartedly in: accord with the sarily such a part of the life of ths port in those less material days that it was considered sufficiently a func tion to be reported in extense as a. special feature in the local papers at least a couple of times a week while the Season lasted, although there were not as many followers of the turf then as now "Taking place as they did twice year our old Spring and Autumn Meetings were considered the two great social functions of the year, When women vied with each other in Gisplaying the Tatest in dress, As necessary adjunct to such display, it was "natural to have convivial gatherings on the part of leaders of society, to which were invited coal and from the Outport mit of these functions It shall, however, be my endeavour in. Various notes through the Present season to re-instil the spirit of the past in these pages token of regard towards one of the finest of sportsmen that ever adorned the local turf and wrote under the name of "Daybreak.
T would like to have written something about the forthcoming Meeting on this occasion but the Race Books have only just come oat, so in my next article T shall attempt to write fully on the chances of the various ponies competing in the races.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.