“BETWEEN THE FLAGS.”

New Zealand Times, Volume LVII, Issue 2530, 8 June 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

“BETWEEN THE FLAGS.”

• Tho way in which flagged steeplechase courses catno t0..b0 adopted in England is somewhat curious (says an exchange). “Tommy " Coleman, iof St. Albans,' became imbued with ihe idea that a rightaw »y race of four miles or so, though,doubtless, exciting enough to those who took part in it, did not afford as much fun as it might to the spectators, :who, if lhay went to the start, soon lost sight of the horses; while, if they took up thoir position at the winning post, they seldom saw anything but a hollow victory. Accordingly his inventive mind planned tho out and home race, so that the race ended where it begun. He did not at flrst ; fl a g his course ; but had men with flags concealed in ditches or behind hedges, and they, as the horses approached, showed themselves and their flags to guide the riders on their way. This was the first step towards breaking down tho old point-to-point form, of stepplechasing, and the innovation having been once introduced, it was an easy step to the use :uf. flags stuck in the hedges as we see them now ; hedges wore next trimmed and made up instead of being left, as formerly,- in- their natural ’unkempt state. To Coleman is also due the invention of the hurdle race which he devised, as he explained, “ especially to please the ladies," who, when the St, Albans Steeplechase became a going concern in 183 X, accompanied thoir husbands andbrothersingreatiiumbers. Thestceplechasetwo miles out and home, was from a spectacular point of view, an improvement on the old straightaway race ; but Tommy Coleman thought that a raco run in so confined an area that the horses should never bo out of sight would be a still greater attraction ;so it turmd out; and his hurdle races were run round a couple of fields to the delight of the ladies, for whose pleasure they wore arranged.