THE RACING CHRONOMETER 105 



not, however, imagine that the Australian and 

 New Zealand courses are inferior to those of 

 their Mother Country ; as a matter of fact the 

 Melbourne and Sydney race-courses are vastly 

 superior to Epsom and Sandown. Finishing 

 being less studied in the colonies, jockeys on the 

 other side of the equator are apt to make the 

 pace much hotter from the start. 



Possibly some day racehorses may start with 

 an " energyometer," an instrument that will 

 record the amount of energy left in them when 

 their race is over. The scientists will draw 

 interesting conclusions from the energyometer 

 and the stop-watch, but the racing man will only 

 grow more sceptical than ever. For so long as 

 horses are well-trained flesh and blood, and until 

 jockeys ride all alike, "book form "will be con- 

 stantly upset, and this is not surprising when 

 we reflect that even vessels built on the same 

 lines scarcely ever sail alike. Nor is it advisable 

 that racehorses should perform like hobby horses, 

 for, if they did, interest in steeplechasing and flat- 

 racing would be greatly diminished. 



We must never reduce racing to a certainty, 

 or the stands will remain empty owing to no 

 enthusiasm being awakened — a foregone con- 

 clusion ceases to be a race. Betting also would 

 be abolished, because, according to a gambler's 

 most sacred law, "It is not fair to bet on a cer- 

 tainty." Though unable to prove it, we may 

 take it for granted that the speed of the modern 

 racehorse has greatly improved. Ormonde and 

 St. Simon in their day must have been un- 



