The Clerk of the Course. 55 



smith ; this is a ~brutum fulmen. It would be difficult 

 to find a gentleman steward so void of sense as to 

 countenance this outrage, which sets racing and 

 national law at defiance. Omit that encourage- 

 ment to vice, " Horses that have started twice 

 without winning allowed 5 Ibs., three times or 

 more 9 Ibs." This is the excuse for running horses 

 out of condition to get them beaten, and to reap 

 the reward of false play ; instead of stating in your 

 programme, " All winners of handicaps to carry 

 extra penalties after the weights appear," say, 

 " Winners of handicaps with public money added" 

 because this will not affect private handicap sweep- 

 stakes. Never publish your handicaps during the 

 racing season one day before there is a necessity 

 every day's running throws a light on the subject ; 

 but the sooner you bring out the spring handicaps, 

 which close in January, the larger will be the 

 acceptance, because the owners are flattering 

 themselves that their screws will stand another 

 preparation, and they do not discover before March 

 that the hard work and ill-treatment of the two- 

 year-olds has brought their racing form to a stand- 

 still, and that they have not made the natural im- 

 provement since the autumn. 



In all sweepstakes closing on a certain day, 

 which may fail for the want of a stated number 



