a term used to denote any swift course, applied, especially, to a contest of speed in running, walking, riding, driving, sailing, rowing, swimming or any other mode of progression. In athletics, running races for distances varying from 50 yards to 25 miles, are now among the regular events, and furnish, perhaps, the most interesting contests (See ATHLETICS). During the period when bicycles were in great vogue, bicycle races were also common at such meets, as well as at fairs and special race meetings. Automobile and motorcycle races have recently taken a prominent place among sports, though less popular, because more expensive. Inter-collegiate rowing races have long attracted wide attention in both England and America and are not only interesting for the skill displayed by the participants, but are spectacular and thrilling for the spectators. International rowing races have recently been arranged and have proved both interesting and profitable. The international yacht races between representatives of England and America have been conducted at frequent intervals for nearly fifty years and have invariably aroused the greatest enthusiasm. Doubtless the most universally enjoyed of all racing sports are the horse races, which furnish the principal amusement features at the autumn fairs in all parts of the country and at many special racing meets in the larger cities of both England and America. The length of the course at these races varies from one-half a mile to two miles, and several "heats" are run in each race, the horse which ranks best in all or in a majority of the heats or shows its superiority according to a prearranged standard being declared the winner. The race horse has been developed by careful breeding and training, through sacrificing all qualities to that of high speed for comparatively short distances. Such horses are classed according to the character of their stride, as trotters, pacers or runners. Usually, separate races are provided for each class, and often restrictions are made as to age, sex, speed or other special characteristics. The fastest time made up to 1906 by a trotting horse in a race was made by Cresceus in 1901, it was a mile in 2 minutes 3 1/4 seconds. Lou Dillon several times trotted a mile behind a running horse and a wind shield in 1:58 1/2. The pacing record in a race was set by Star Pointer in 1897 at 2:001/2, although Dan Patch, in 1905, in an exhibition heat, covered a mile in 1:55 1/4. The running record is the fastest of all; it is 1:37 2/5 for a mile, and was made by Dick Welles in 1903 and by Kiamesha in 1905. The famous English Derby has been held at Epsom, England, near London, almost every summer since 1780. It is witnessed by sportsmen from all parts of the world and is made a fashionable society event. The same is true of the so-called Derby races in different parts of America, as at Brighton Beach, L. I., and Chicago, III. The latter has been discontinued.