TRAINERS AND TRAINING 51 



and the more awkward at it they become. Of 

 course there were bad starts with the flag, and 

 on the whole it took longer to get horses off, 

 though with the gate, as everyone knows, delays 

 are often tedious. With the flag, however, if a 

 horse was left he did sometimes make up his 

 ground, and with the gate he seldom or never 

 does so. I suppose it has, as they say, " come 

 to stay," and we must make the best of it, but 

 it adds greatly to the uncertainty of results, and 

 I agree with the remark I read the other day, 

 that it renders some good horses absolutely useless 

 for racing purposes. 



In conclusion, I have to add a few words about 

 the trainer's duties on the racecourse. He will 

 have engaged stabling if, as at most places, there 

 is none on the course — an enormous convenience 

 if there be, as there is now at some of the more 

 modern meetings. His travelling lad will come 

 to him on his arrival, give him full details of the 

 horses' well-being, and receive instructions as to 

 their treatment ; and, of course, the trainer will 

 visit and inspect them carefully at the earliest 

 possible moment. It need scarcely be said that 

 he will not be guided by the race card or the 

 newspapers as to the weights they are to carry. 

 These he will himself have calculated and checked 



£ 2 



