TRAINERS 15 



are to canter and which to gallop ; in going round the 

 stable once a day, accompanied by the head lad, who 

 will be ready to answer all questions ; and attending 

 race meetings where he may look on at, or occasionally 

 assist in, saddling his horses when they are about to 

 run. He is supposed by the outside world to have an 

 almost positive knowledge of what is going to win ; so 

 that he can bet as much as he pleases, with a comfort- 

 able conviction that he will make a great deal of 

 money, and can experience no possible disappointment 

 or vexation in this matter, except, indeed, habitual 

 displeasure at the shortness of the price which the ring 

 will lay against his "certainties." It seems such easy 

 work to canter over the heath or the downs, to inhale 

 the fresh morning breeze, to watch, chatting to a 

 friend, while the string come past, beckoning with his 

 whip for some to go a litde faster, or raising his hand 

 to check the pace of others. Then there is the 

 pleasurable excitement of the trial, in which, of course, 

 the right horse always wins with 10 lb. more on his 

 back than the touts can possibly imagine he carries ; 

 and so back to a luxurious breakfast — after wiring off 

 in cipher to make arrangements for winning a fortune 

 on the good thing just brought to light— a meal made 

 more enjoyable by perusal of sporting journals, full of 

 compliments on his skill, astuteness, and the perfect 

 manner in which yesterday's winners from his stable 

 were turned out. 



That is the conventional view, and it is not entirely 



