Untitled

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IV, Issue 204, 21 June 1894, Page 5

One of the new rules of racing adopted in Victoria is somewhat confusing. The rule is number 52, and runs “ No entry will be accepted in respect of any horse over one year old for any race unless such horse be described by a name.” And following out that rule the V.R.C. officials have insisted upon owners describing horses, although only yearlings, by name. The framers of the rule could surely not have intended this, for there is no such thing as a horse fifteen months old. He is either a yearling, two, three, four, five, six years, or aged. Race horses birthdays are August Ist, no matter when they were foaled, and a horse may have been twenty-three months in this world and still be a yearling. The framers of the rule intended their regulation to apply to two-year-olds, but by some means or other the officials of the Victoria Racing Club appear to have taken an entirely different construction. Yearling races are not allowed, so why should racing authorities compel owners to name their horses before they are eligible to run ?