X 

 HANDICAPPERS AND HANDICAPPING 



BY A HANDICAPPER 



The word " handicapping," derived, it may be, 

 from hand in cap, in reference to an old mode of 

 settHng a bargain by taking pieces of money out 

 of a cap, signifies, so far as concerns horse-racing, 

 the allotment or imposition of different weight to 

 the various horses entered in a race in such a 

 manner that if perfectly accomplished all the horses 

 starting will run a dead heat. This is a high ideal 

 to be aimed at, and one that time has shown to be 

 incapable of realisation, for the simple reason that 

 whilst the person to whom the adjustment of the 

 weights is entrusted is performing his task (granted 

 it may be with all the skill, ability, and acumen 

 of a practised hand), a thousand and one little 

 obstacles are standing in the way and militating 

 against his hope of accomplishing what must be 

 the very acme of his aspirations. The state of the 



