20 THE TURF 



keen appreciation of horsemanship, subsequent 

 confusion is Hkely to arise, as he will not know what 

 his horse had in hand if he wins, or what happened in 

 the course of the race — whether any legitimate excuse 

 can be found for defeat — if he was beaten ; and it is 

 very desirable that the trainer should form his own 

 opinion instead of depending upon the explanation of 

 the average jockey, who, for instance, if he did not get 

 well away when the flag fell, will be found not inapt 

 to declare that he was first off Some jockeys can and 

 will give a trustworthy account of what has happened 

 in a race, but these are a very small minority, for by 

 no means all of them possess sufficient keenness of 

 observation to take in what other animals are really 

 doing, and if they themselves have done anything 

 clumsy or stupid in the race they will not improbably 

 find an excuse in some misleading explanation. The 

 trainer's work is unending, and it is rather the custom 

 to ignore his labours and to underrate his share of 

 success when it is achieved. The jockey who has 

 narrowly and luckily escaped defeat by a head when 

 he would have won comfortably by a couple of lengths 

 if he had done justice to the horse and obeyed orders, 

 is eulogised for having ridden a brilliant race ; while 

 the labour of the trainer, who has overcome many 

 difficulties in bringing the animal to the post fit and 

 well, is too often lightly esteemed, or accepted as a 

 matter of course. Appreciation of a handicap is 

 another requisite, that the trainer may perceive what 



