CHAPTER VIII 



CONFORMATION 



THE following discussion of the race-horse, 

 especially with regard to the purchasing of 

 him as a yearling, is not meant for the man 

 who has by experience and observation acquired 

 expert knowledge ; but there are, it is to be hoped, 

 many of the rising generation who will keep the 

 game going, and these may perhaps derive some 

 satisfaction and perhaps instruction in reading what 

 follows. 



First of all it is proved beyond all doubt that 

 animals that have gone successfully through the 

 mill — i.e. the test of the race-course, which 

 quickly sifts the good from the bad — are those most 

 likely themselves to beget good performers. The 

 test of the race-course is one of the factors that 

 has made the British thorouQrhbred the foremost 

 breed in the world. Thus, in scanning a pedigree, 

 we look for a line of good-class winners, especially 

 on the side of the sire. Many a controversy has 

 been indulged in as to which is the most potent 

 in transmitting its qualities to the next generation 

 — the sire or the dam — -and there is no doubt facts 



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