HANDICAPPERS 217 



to seven furlongs and an easy mile, but no further ; 

 whilst those which have run and won at a mile, 

 but have not been tried at a further distance, may 

 reasonably be expected to stay a mile and a half, 

 or even two miles, in the same class of company. 



The statistics of the last forty years' racing, 

 which are before me, all tend to prove this ; but, 

 of course, every now and then there are notable 

 exceptions. The framer of weights must, however, 

 take no risks ; if in any doubt, he should accept the 

 very best form of the horse as a guide ; indeed this 

 form should undoubtedly be always taken as the 

 safest criterion in estimating the capacities of 

 horses ; for the task that they have once per- 

 formed they may perform again, and it is only 

 convincing proof of their decadence and retrogres- 

 sion on the turf that can justify you in allowing 

 them a rapid and material fall in the weights. 

 Above all, the handicapper must be well acquainted 

 with the nature of the various racecourses with 

 which he deals. On some courses the going is at 

 all times very dead, on others it is elastic and firm. 

 A subsoil of clay is productive of much jar or 

 concussion to horses' legs in droughty weather, 

 whilst that of a sandy or peaty nature is less sub- 

 servient to climatic changes. The gradients and 

 declivities of Epsom and Brighton are vastly 



