TRAINERS 19 



is best able to judge over what distance of ground a 

 horse is Hkely to be seen to the greatest advantage, 

 that is to say whether or not he stays. This he judges 

 from the way in which the animal does his work. 

 This is a more difficult process than the inexperienced 

 might imagine. "If you want to find out whether a 

 horse can get a mile and a half, gallop him the course 

 and see," would be the simple philosophy of the 

 unpractical ; but he may get a mile and a half when 

 he has done work over something like the distance, 

 and the question is whether it is worth while to train 

 him and try him for such a course with the not 

 improbable effect of impairing his speed if he is in 

 truth not even a miler ? The owner, if he has any 

 familiarity with the sport, will see whether his horse 

 appears to finish his races strongly, to be " running on " 

 at the end, and will draw his own deductions ; but on 

 the all important question of an animal's best distance, 

 the trainer will almost certainly be the safer guide. 

 He must also necessarily be a sound judge of pace and 

 of riding, or else his trials are likely to be very wrong 

 and his reading of public running likewise much at 

 fault. He must be sure whether a trial is run at a 

 good pace, and whether the boys have been able to " get 

 out " their horses — whether, in fact, it has been the 

 equivalent of a true-run race. To him generally falls 

 the important duty of giving the jockey orders how to 

 ride — after or without consultation with the owner 

 according to circumstances. If the trainer has not a 



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