SPORT sportsmen whom the county has produced ; rather must the circumstance of Kent's loss of popularity as a racing area be at- tributed to the fact that the position of the county is out of the beaten track of the regular race-goer, and that the means of communication to and from its principal centres of sport have never been of the best. The race meetings of Kent have therefore always been almost entirely of local interest. In its day the south - eastern corner of England was a noted field for sport and sportsmen ; and no county can boast of a more faithful set of local Turf followers. Kent race meetings have been remarkabh' numerous in the past, and on Kentish soil have lived and flourished a goodly company whose names were associated with the early history of the sport. But from a review of the history of Kentish racing, extending over a period of something like two hundred years, it is abundantly clear that the county has been more prolific in the production of blood stock than in the exhibition of their prowess upon the race-courses which lie within its boundaries. FLAT RACING Although horse-racing of a kind was un- doubtedly recognized in Kent as a popular sport during the earlier years of the eighteenth century, it is not until the year 1 73 5 that any par- ticular records of interest are found. The first note of importance that we can discover tells of the holding at about this period of meetings at Barham Downs near Canterbury, where the sport seems to have been of a very similar kind to that in vogue at other meetings in various parts of the country. The events were quite local in character and most of them were carried out under very primitive conditions. Mr. John Cheny, a racing his- torian of the period, has left behind him a very interesting treatise bearing the some- what extravagant title of An Historical List of all the Horse Matches Run and of all Plates and Prizes run for in England {of the value of Ten Pounds and upwards) in 1733-36. From this carefully compiled volume we learn that Canterbury had its one day's racing at that time on Barham Downs, and the pro- gramme in 1736 consisted of a single event only. The extract is worth giving if only for the quaintnessof the nomenclature of the competitors : Barham Downs, Kent, 1736. On the 27 inst (August) at Barham Downs, Kent, the Associated Annual Prize of 10 gns was run ; 10 stone — one heat. Mr. Winter's bay m Cat . . .1 M. Aldwell's chest, m Plain Dealer . 2 Mr. Crosier's bay h Cripple . . 3 Mr. Wall's roan g Strawberry . . 4 Mr. Dennis' dun g Smuggler . . 5 Mr. Hornsby's chest, m Clumse) . . 6 Mr. Oakley's bay g Bacchus . . 7 It would seem from the conditions of the ' Associated Annual Prize ' that prior to the publication of Mr. Cheny's chronicles there had been racing of some sort on Barham Downs, although it is probable that no other racing of any importance had been held in the county. This is the earliest discoverable record of bona fide horse-racing in Kent. It is worthy of note, in passing, that Mr. Cheny's records, which of course bear an earlier date than those of Messrs. Weatherby, and like the latter were published by county subscription, contained the names of ten subscribers only for the county of Kent in the year mentioned. Among these we find that three are referred to as ' Esquires ' — Richard Hornsby, John Corbett, and Richard Denne ; while the plain ' Misters ' include the names of Bellamy, Harrison, Winter, West, Arnold, Lee, and Crofter. In only one instance among the foregoing can we trace the name of any family known to latter day race-goers ; and there is little doubt that the Mr. Hornsby here referred to as taking part in the 1736 Barham Annual Prize came of the same stock as the Hornsby of to-day, whose name will always be associated with the training of that popular horse, Victor Wild. Canterbury Races became more important in 1739, when a King's Plate was granted to the fixture by George III. It was decided on 18 July, and was of the value of 100 guineas. The conditions further describe it as being the ' eighth Royal Prize of the year.' Dismal, a grey horse belonging to Mr. South, was the winner, and appears to have had a walk-over. For a considerable time after this date Canterbury enjoyed fame in the racing world ; but by degrees the popularity of the Bar- ham Downs meeting began to wane, and Tenterden, another early scene of racing in Kent, went the same way as Canterbury ; its supporters were attracted elsewhere and its race-course was buried by the plough- share. At the present time (1907) there is only a single meeting under Jockey Club Rules in the county, that weU-tried venture at Westsnhanger near Folkestone. Amon^ other old-established meetings on Kentish soil was that in the Isle of Thanet 493
