The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #59418 Message #1976638
Posted By: Rapparee
22-Feb-07 - 10:11 PM
Thread Name: BS: The Mother of all BS threads
Subject: RE: BS: The Mother of all BS threads
Race courses used to be stuffed with fluffy goose feathers so that if the horses fell down they wouldn't get hurt. That's why they were called "Downs." But it was found that the jockeys got too comfortable laying there and that they were making the horses deliberately fall so that they could catch a bit of a nap. So they did away with the stuffing and ran the races on plain old dirt. But the name, "Downs," stuck.
By the way, the drink of which the losers partook was called the "Downs Comforter."