Also smock race. [SMOCK sb. 1 b.] A race in which a smock was offered as a prize to be run for by women or girls.
1707. Lond. Gaz., No. 4356/4. The next Day will be a Smock Race run for by Maids in the same Park.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., x. I don’t like to see my daughters … red with walking, and looking for all the world as if they had been winners at a smock-race.
1805. Sporting Mag., XXV. 304. A smock-race and a jingling-match were to take place.
1825. Brockett, N. C. Gloss., s.v., There used to be frequently, in my recollection, smock races among the young country wenches in the North.
So Smock-racing vbl. sb.
1878. Lecky, England in 18th C., iv. I. 566. Among other amusements, smock-racing by women was kept up there [Pall Mall] till 1733.
