96 PREPARATION. 



opportunity was given to them of showing their supposed 

 improved form and of displaying their luxurious appearance 

 in the (supposed) very pink of condition, leaving, as was said, 

 nothing to be desired to insure the most splendid success, 

 but a good start and no accident. All seven that ran were 

 disgracefully beaten, one only obtaining even a third place. 

 I should mention that I had another horse with me about 

 whose training there was no order, who won the Queen's 

 Vase, and it is almost needless to add that before the race 

 his condition was as much abused as that of the others was 

 lavishly praised. 



Now all this was not business. It was simply a useless 

 and costly repetition of an experiment which had signally 

 failed over and over again to my own knowledge, and had been 

 tried with the same fatal results by my ancestors. In order to 

 prevent another fiasco I was requested to run the same 

 horses as I liked at Goodwood seven weeks afterwards. On 

 arriving there their condition was thought much too light ; 

 but the result of their respective races will give the most 

 convincing proof that they were not— and show the superiority 

 of light or (as I think) well-trained horses over those that are 

 only thought fit to run when big. One of them won, beating 

 a large field carrying 8 st. 4 lb., or 6 lb. more than he carried 

 at Ascot. Another carried off the Molecombe after a severe 

 race with a mare hitherto considered invincible, and also won 

 again afterwards. Whilst the third beat a large field for 

 another race, and followed up her success by winning again. 

 The other two were placed, being only just beaten. 



Now to do bare justice to this most important part of the 

 subject, and to proceed still further and show not only (as I 

 have done) that horses are better for racing purposes for the 

 time being when light, but also that they arc not the worse 



