TRAINERS AND TRAINING 29 



matter with another one's leg, whether it is a 

 blow or a slight sprain ? Another of his string, 

 who certainly ought to have won a recent race, 

 made a very poor show, and he can only conclude 

 that the animal, so useful at home, will not do 

 his best on a racecourse. And then not seldom 

 he has a grievance against the handicappers. A 

 good, game, generous mare, who can always be 

 trusted to give her running, has at least 7 lb. 

 more than she should have for an approaching race, 

 and in the same event he sees something entered 

 that, unless he was altogether mistaken, was 

 certainly not " out " a few days before, but is 

 here weighted as if it had been beaten on its 

 merits. Then perhaps he is listening every morn- 

 ing to the most promising animal in his stable, 

 trying to persuade himself that there is not the 

 suspicion of a " noise." Anxiety is never absent, 

 especially if he has a famous horse in his charge. 

 The trainer wants good horses, of course ; you 

 cannot win races with bad ones, at any rate races 

 worth winning ; and I may perhaps add that it 

 is his chronic condition to want a few more than 

 he has — perhaps, it may be, just a few more than 

 he ought to have. The horses are all-important ; 

 but scarcely less so, as far as his comfort is con- 

 cerned, is his employer, and I have no hesitation 



