12 THE TURF 



only), John Porter (on the flat), J. Prince, W. F. 

 Robinson (on the flat), and F. Webb, the last-named 

 having ridden in the Grand National, though only on 

 one occasion. There could not be so good a way of 

 obtaining practical experience of every detail of the 

 sport ; for no one can tell the condition of a horse 

 better than the jockey who rides day after day and 

 year after year ; and to get a horse into perfect con- 

 dition is the aim and end of the trainer's art. At the 

 same time, that this apprenticeship is not essential is 

 proved by the successes, for example, of the famous 

 Dawson family. The four brothers, of whom Matthew 

 and John are happily still busily engaged in their 

 profession, and the two sons of the latter, John and 

 George, have for a long time past most successfully 

 superintended large stables of horses, George in parti- 

 cular having been associated with many notable 

 triumphs, for he was fortunate in finding animals of 

 especial excellence — Ayrshire, Donovan, Semolina, 

 Memoir, Mrs. Butterwick, and Amiable, all classic 

 winners — under his control. 



The modern trainer is a far more prosperous person 

 than the old training groom ; but if his rewards are 

 higher he has more work to do in the majority of 

 cases, for racing has enormously increased during the 

 last half century ; usually trainers have a larger 

 number of horses to look after, and it is a common 

 thing for owners to rely much — in some instances 

 exclusively — on their trainer's advice as to when horses 



