circumstance remains an everlasting memorial to the unimpeachable integrity of the gentlemen who officiated in an honorary capacity in those times. Of the three, Mr. William Leonard is still with us, and still continues to watch a race with the enthusiasm of youth. But this ancient history is altogether too absorbing. Were our pen to have its head, it would most assuredly bolt with us, and we would career round the course until sundown, and therefore we must pick up our reins and proceed more steadily upon our way. We were arguing that the different decades were dominated by groups of sportsmen, certain breeds of horses, and we have not yet definitely left the starting barrier of ’66. From 1866 until well into the ’seventies, the same group of sportsmen were still ruling the roost, the same breeds of horses were carrying on their respective lines. The stock of Fisherman, through Maribyrnong, of Sir Hercules, through Yattendon, and of Kelpie, through Fireworks, were even yet the mainstay of the breed. But fresh names, both of men and steeds, were, of course, creeping in. Old Mr. James Wilson, with his Dinah and Musidora lot, came, held sway for many years, and is succeeded by his son, young James. The Chirnsides, too, stepped forward, and did an immense deal for the turf when they brought out three shiploads of blue-blooded mares and young ones, straight from the breaking-up sale of old Sir Tatton Sykes’ stud at Sledmere. Many of the mares are landmarks in the modern stud book, but the purchases of Mr. Tom Chirnside might have even been more successful had they been effected at another time. Old Sir Tatton had his own ideas on breeding, and he indulged more in the rearing of the thoroughbred horse itself than in the racehorse pure and simple. The comments of the Press of the day, made upon the arrival of the ships bearing their precious burdens, inferred that the mares landed were very good-looking indeed, but that most of them were more like weight-carrying hunters than racers. Unconsciously, the critic was paying them the highest compliment which was possible. The blue jacket and black cap of the house of Chirnside are still carried to victory every now and again by the horses owned, and, for the most part, bred by Mr. Andrew. The colours are a symbol of everything that is fair and square. The period extending between 1875 and the early ’nineties is brilliantly illuminated by the name of the Hon. James White.