JOCKEYS AND JOCKEYSHIP 115 



horses are about in a race ; and especially if you are 

 in front, believing that you have w^on, to be quite 

 sure that nothing is coming with a rush to beat 

 you on the post. All the same, some jockeys look 

 about them a great deal too much — possibly they 

 have an idea that there is danger from a certain 

 animal that they have been told is sure to win — 

 and you often see them keep looking round, over 

 their left shoulders perhaps, when the danger is 

 really coming, and comes, from the right. I could 

 give you lots of instances of all these things that I 

 am talking about, only I don't want to mention 

 names and seem to be criticising other jockeys — 

 who often beat me. One thing certain is that it 

 interferes with a horse to keep turning round in 

 the saddle. There is really no reason in it either. 

 If you keep your horse going and anything comes 

 alongside, you can do your best to shake him off 

 when he gets up to you — you don't want to look 

 behind you for him. Why jockeys do it is often 

 because they don't want to win too far ; but if a 

 jockey is well in front, keeps looking back till he is 

 a few lengths from the post, and then eases when 

 he sees he is quite safe, the handicapper and people 

 who are watching the race can judge quite well 

 what he has in hand, and it makes no difference 

 whether he has won by two lengths or five or six. 



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