training-groom's reflections. 369 



will see how fast and how long he can fly under 

 the weight, and for rather a longer length than 

 he will have to run in the first race. It is true 

 that private trials are not at all times to be de- 

 pended on like public running ; but, as our colt is 

 so very good-tempered, and from his having been 

 tried in rather large parties, I do not think he is 

 likely either to swerve or shut up when running 

 in public; because, when we took him with the 

 other horses to the April meeting, in our neigh- 

 bourhood, (where our second-best colt ran), 

 merely to accustom him to the crowd, he was but 

 a yearling; yet, from the little I saw of him, he 

 kindly followed the horses on each day of their 

 running at the meeting, up between the rails of 

 the course, through the crowd, to the passing of 

 the winning post, without shewing any symptoms 

 of either fear or vice ; and, on questioning Charles, 

 the head lad, who was on a hack riding with him, 

 and Sam, who rode him, they both said he was 

 not the least alarmed in going up between the 

 rails, nor did he shew any symptoms of being so 

 after he was pulled up, nor on his being walked 

 about among the crowd on the outside the rails; 

 and what goes further to prove this is, the colt, 

 on returning home each day from the meeting, 

 ate, drank, and rested well; in fact, he has al- 



VOL. II. B B 



