208 RIDING 



heavy ground, often in heavy rain, sometimes in a snowstorm. 

 At Flemington the going is always ' on the top of the ground/ 

 and that difference alone is quite sufficient to account for the 

 few seconds' difference in the average time between the English 

 and Victorian Derbies. 



Between the average time of the Epsom Derby and the 

 Derby in New South Wales for the past ten years there is 

 a difference only of the smallest fraction, the English is nearly 

 2 min. 45^ sees., while the average of ten Flemington Derbies 

 is two seconds better, or 2 min. 43^ sees. 



Until some Australian crack has measured speed with 

 English horses in some of our big races, or an Australian 

 youngster, having achieved success on the English turf, returns 

 to run in his native land, or until an English sportsman, 

 attracted by the value of some totalisator-aided stake and the 

 prospect of a good sale in Australia, sends out a horse who 

 would be accurately handicapped with the English cracks of 

 the day, we shall have no ' line ' through which to judge. It 

 appears to me that, considering the far greater number of 

 horses in training, the wide range of blood which every owner 

 of a brood mare in England has to select from, and the large 

 sums of money there lavished on all the accessories of a training 

 establishment, it is reasonable to suppose that the Australian 

 animal has not yet acquired superiority over his English compeer. 



In Australia, as in England, there is a tendency to curtail 

 the length of races ; nevertheless, on the average, the length of 

 colonial courses is greater than at home. It is probable that 

 faeforte of the Australian racehorse lies in his staying powers. 

 I have been particularly struck with the general leg soundness 

 of colonial horses ; not only an absence of curbs and spavins, 

 but a freedom from ' bursal enlargements ' which usually figure 

 so conspicuously on an English veterinary surgeon's certificate. 

 I attribute this entirely to the great number of days and nights 

 in the year during which the colonial horse is turned out ; even 

 those who habitually keep harness-horses in a stable make a 

 point of giving them a run during part of the year. 



