CHAPTER II 



TWO-YEAR- OLD RACES WEIGH T-FOR- AGE RACES 



TWO-YEAR-OLD RACES 



It must be assumed that by a happy combination of 

 gentleness and firmness, by good hands, a strong seat 

 in the saddle, and a temper most under control when 

 most severely tried, the yearling has been backed, 

 after the preliminary processes of bitting, saddling and 

 lunging ; that he has been accustomed to daily exercise 

 with his companions, led by a placid old horse ; and 

 that, after being "jumped off," he has shown the 

 possession of such speed as suggests that he is worth 

 training. The ist of January comes, and he is a two- 

 year-old, with a prospect of running possibly in as 

 short a time as three months. In some instances two- 

 year-olds are entered for races before they are born, as 

 for example in the Buckenham Stakes at the New- 

 market First October Meeting, for which subscribers 

 name three mares and send the produce of one 

 to the post. In various other races the animals 

 are entered as foals, and in others again at different 

 periods of their yearling existence. It will readily be 



