Thirteen
850
"There was a grand stand, filled with swells and crinoline; but the native ones afforded more scope.... The races lasted three days; but the last day deserves particular mention, as the Celestials had a race themselves on native ponies. started, but four or five of the riders fell off first go; the merriment of the spectators baffles all description; however, the dismounted cavaliers showed great pluck and got up, grinning, as if nothing had happened; four of them kept well together, and a lucky fellow came in, in gallant style, amid great applause; but some of the others were nowhere and many of the quadrupeds came in without riders, seemingly enjoying the fun as much as anybody else. A good race finished the sport, and Hongkong went to dinner, and was merry."
Another good account of racing in the Colony at that period appeared in the London Times from its Hongkong correspondent, and will be given in the next instalment.
Yesterday, an account was given of what an Annual Race Meeting in Hongkong looked like in the Fifties, including a London paper's report contributed by a special correspondent sent out here.
The London Times also had a Hongkong correspondent out in China, as far back as the early years of the Colony. In the Times of April 15, 1858, appeared a letter from its special correspondent in China, from which I take the following extract relating to the races in Hongkong:
"The Englishman's holiday followed. If anyone is desirous of seeing good, steady, old-fashioned racing, where there are no crosses, and where every horse is started and ridden to win, I am afraid he must go to Hongkong. A Londoner cannot conceive the excitement caused in this little distant island by the race week. It is the single holiday of the merchants. They spend weighty sums in importing horses from all parts and training them for the contest. We may smile at this truly English mania struggling against strong discouragement; but the means of amusement are not numerous at Hongkong.
"When we first see the race-course in the 'Happy Valley' we're half tempted to declare that it is the most picturesque spot in the whole world. The scenery, however, must not distract our attention while Snowdrop is making the running. The Grand Stand and the booths, and the stables, and all the properties of the turf, by no means forgetting the luncheons and the champagne, are all in first-rate order. The one mile and a half of road between the 'Happy Valley' and the city of Victoria is at the proper time crowded with vehicles and horsemen and pedestrians, and sometimes the pace is rapid, and sometimes one of the party blows a horn. The Wong-nei-chong Stakes are of foreign sound, but also are the Cesarewitch. Six Arabs come forth to dispute the Canton Cup, the most important of the six races of the first day: if the pace is not very fleet the contest is severe and the run honest.
"Enthusiasts from Shanghai sometimes come down and win away the honours from the great stables of Victoria; the Capulets and Montagues of China meet here in friendly emulation, and 'Sir Michael' and 'Snowdon' are important champions. So also are the st. 7 lb. men, the gentlemen jocks, who, principally supplied by Her Majesty's Army and Navy, seem wonderfully brilliant to the eyes of the clustering thousands of Chinese.