STARTING. 405 



In many cases the efforts of a jockey at the post are under- 

 stood and assisted by his horse. For instance, the once cele- 

 brated Nutbush, who was well-nigh invincible at five furlongs, 

 would never start, no matter what her jockey did, until the 

 starter dropped his flag. Then she went into her bridle in an 

 instant, and was nearly always clear of her field in the first 

 hundred yards, thus adding an immense advantage to her 

 magnificent turn of speed. 



The saying that a man will generally beat a boy when it 

 comes to racing, is equally true when applied to starting. 



" At the start, boys (for I allude to them the light weights 

 of the present, day) are generally left at the post or get badly 

 off, and ride their horses to a standstill before half the distance 

 has been gone over in the vain hope of gaining their lost 

 ground " ( William Day). It often happens that in a big 

 handicap, after two or three false starts, the light weights 

 are " all over the place," and their horses are fretful and out 

 of hand. When they return with difficulty to the starter, 

 they are unable to get them quickly " on their legs," and they 

 let them " go all abroad," with the certainty of running them 

 to a standstill before they can take a pull ; while one of the 

 top weights, who on public form appears to have several 

 pounds the worst of the handicap, gets off well in front with 

 his horse cool and collected, and is not caught by the lightly- 

 penalised ones, until their bad start, or misapplied efforts, 

 have deprived them of the greater part of the advantage 

 which they appeared to have on paper. After that, when it 

 comes to a finish, what chance can a tired boy have against 

 a strong, resolute man ? 



