I missed also the superfluity of jockeying which delays and
enhances the thrill of the start with us, and I thought the
English were not so scrupulous about an even start as we are.
But, above all, I missed the shining faces and the gleaming eyes
of the black jockeys, who lend so much gayety to our scene, where
they seem born to it, if not of it. The crowd thickened in
English bloom and bulk, which is always fine to see, and bubbled
over with the babble of multitudinous voices, crossed with the
shouts of the book-makers. Having failed to enter any bets with
the book-makers of The Pavement in York, I did not care to make
them here. With all my passion for racing, I never know or care
which horse wins; but I tried to enter into the joy of a
diffident young fellow near me at the Grand Stand rail, who was
so proud of having guessed as winner the horse next to the winner
at the first race; it was coming pretty close. By the end of the
third or how far they exceed those of the Saratoga track.
Possibly one does not do its extent justice because there is no
track at Doncaster: there is nothing but a green turf, with a
certain course railed off on it.
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