HANDICAPPERS 



231 



handicapping ; there is not time, as a rule, 

 thoroughly to thrash out all the ins and outs of 

 horses' running, both direct and collateral ; a 

 certain race has to be fixed upon, and the book 

 taken as the guide ; it may or may not be right, 

 but the result is that handicappers are too closely 

 tied down to the book for fear of a complaint 

 being lodged against their handicapping, con- 

 sequently they are practically debarred from handi- 

 capping men unless they are prepared to prove 

 that in such and such a race a horse was not 

 running upon his merits. This is, of course, a 

 strong statement not always easy of corroboration, 

 and in its absence a horse that has been con- 

 spicuously " down the course " may roll home, 

 though, except for this weak spot, as it has been 

 termed, considerably more weight might have been 

 placed upon his back ; but you are, unfortunately, 

 tied down by the book — " the book, and nothing 

 but the book ! " Admiral Rous, who is often 

 quoted- as the greatest handicapper of all times, 

 stood in a different position — he was an absolute 

 dictator in the matter of weights, his ruhng was 

 never called into question ; and therein probably 

 lay his success. Still, complaints against handi- 

 cappers are comparatively few, and all good sports- 

 men accept the situation with equanimity, giving 



