The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-06 00:00:00

THE SPURTIA G IiEVIEIV.

" The Racing in April," by " Craven," contains a
good account of the events of the past month, probably
the most interesting, though not the most exciting period
of the year to the turfite, New horses make their ap
pearance, the pretension of many nominal fliers receive
the coup de grace, while others come out in a style and
figure that render them truly formidable to those who have
opposed them lustily, and excite the hopes of their friends
to the highest pitch; who confidently predict unheard of
wonders as to their future performances. Even the
favourites appear in a new light. Some of the victors of
the past year, yield easy triumphs to others of whom
they made no account in bye-gone times ;
places are reversed, the last, frequently becomes
first, and the first last. Meanwhile every race is watched
with the closest scrutiny—every indication that, by a
possibility can throw any light on the great event of the
year, is diligently observed and duly calculated on.
Craven is a keen sportsman, and his comments will be
found worthy of the closest attention of " the betting
fraternity." The continuation of "The Handbook 01
the Chase," by the Editor, gives a good account of some
of " the holiday hunts;" amongst which, the packs 01
Lord Fitzhardinge and. Redesdale, and of the Duke of
Beaufort, occupy conspicuous places. The present chap-
ter on Metropolitan_ Horses, by Harry theover, is de-
.voted to the hack, or road-ster. Harry, as usual, is
:eloquent on the several.qualifications and defects of this
humble description of .nag. We shall allow him to state
for himself one of. the essentials:—

" Showy action is now so indispensable in the metropolitan
horse for every purpose, that dealers are aware it is useless
to purchase anything for the London market that.does not
possess it : in fact all the horses that have it are collected in
London. If one of our ancestors was to look at us now, he
would very naturally be struck by the altered action of
London horses, and would probably think we had im-
proved, or at least altered, our breed. He would be
right as to the different action of the horses he would
see in the streets; but it must be remembered that
if among the thousands bred, all those with lofty action are
brought here, and those that have it not are left in the coun-
try, it does not follow that our general breed is altered to the
extent he might be led to imagine by what he might see in
London, though I doubt not but that breeders do, as far as
they can, now endeavour to get into a strain of high-goers,
and probably will even do so with still greater attention; for
a colt, however good he may be in other respects, is now
valueless without this fashionable style of going."
Ladies horses, too, and even the pony, come under his
"
observation. " Highland Sports and Quarters 7 is con-
ht of for-
tinned, by Linton, who is tantalised by the s
bidden deer during a journey to a villageig with the
g Life from
euphonious name of Ballahulish. "Sporting 0
London," by Lord William Lennox,kteotu
inh all of which n
steeple-
chasing, fishing, boating, and cm
varied amusements accounts of extraordinary perform
ances are given. The transactions noticed are not of
very recent date, but they will ever be interesting to
the amateur. Another amusement which may be en.
joyed at a cheap rate from London, is Jack.
son's Hunting-grounds, where "a man may have a
gallop of an hour over a grass country, in winch every
species of fence may be found, for is. fid. " Intercepted
Correspondence from Northamptonshire" is continued,
while the followers of old Izaac will be propitiated by
" A Week's Fishing in South Devon." " The Resources
of a Country Gentleman" urges the national advantages
derivable from the taste for field sports. Among our
landed gentry, the number of persons engaged are
roughly estimated as follows :
" In the various papers published during the winter
months, it will be found there are four packs of hounds which
hunt five and six days in the week—Earl Fitzhardinge's,
Lord H. Bentinck's, Sir Richard Sutton's, and Mr. Assheton
Smith's; and I am convinced I am not exceeding the num-
ber of horses kept in each establishment by rating them at
fifty; thus there are two hundred horses; and allowing a
man to two horses, one hundred men are engaged. There
are upwards of twenty packs which hunt four, and occasion-
, ally Ave days in the week, to which may miff* as a

low average twenty-five horses to each, alistskluently five
hundred horses will give employment to two hundred and
fifty men. About forty packs hunt three days in the week,
using fifteen horses each, which, amounting to si x hundred,
employ three hundred men. Thirty packs two da ya a week,
with ten horses to each, will be three hundred torses, and
consequently one hundred and fifty men. In the numerous
fox-bunting establishments, therefore, eight hundred men
are engaged.
"It may be computed that at the very least one hundred
sportsmen are regular attendants upon the four first-named
packs, who on the average keep three horses a-piece— -of
course many keep considerably more; they will at that l ow
rite have an aggregate of twelve hundred horses and .six
hundred men. The twenty packs hunting four days in the
week, supposing them to havo an equal number of attendanti,
each keeping two horses, will be two thousand horses, azd
one thousand men. Forty packs hunting three days a week,
and reducing the estimate of the number of attendants to
sixty, and allowing them the average of a horse and a half
each, will be three thousand six hundred horses, and one
thousand eight hundred men. There will then be about
twenty-six packs to account for, which hurt two days in the
week : supposing they have only forty regular attendants,
keeping the same average number of horses as above, they
will possess one thousand five hundred and sixty homes, and
seven hundred and eiglity men. Summing them up, we find
nearly four thousand men engaged in the care of hunters
alone."

A considerable quantity of sporting intelligence, " the
State of the Odds," and the Coursing Calendar, close
an excellent number. There are two good engravings
also,—" All on the Downs," and portraits of the grey.
hounds, Moses and Albemarle.