NEWMARKET 59 



than any other description of race, and with many horses 

 a continuous subjection to these delays means total ruination 

 of the temper. It cannot be denied that rogues and 

 " welshers " are very common at the present time, and five- 

 furlong racing is in a very great measure responsible for 

 these vices. Of course there are horses who can race and 

 will not, whose tempers, from foalhood onwards, are naturally 

 bad; but the horse who deliberately "cuts it" just when 

 he appears to be winning in a canter is, in nine cases out 

 of ten, the victim of too much sprint racing. He has been 

 jumped off, and pulled back after going a hundred yards 

 or so, times without number. At first he does not know 

 what is intended of him, but after a while he resents the 

 whole thing, and as soon as he finds that he has to struggle 

 hard to beat his opponents he tries to stop, preferring the 

 hiding his jockey may possibly give him to running his 

 race out. With the starting-gate coming into universal use 

 most of the trouble at the start will have disappeared. 



Another great disadvantage of five-furlong racing is that 

 it tends to make bad jockeys. Boys who are just beginning 

 to make their mark should not be asked to bring their 

 horses through from end to end ; but this is what is required 

 of them in five-furlong races, and it causes them to adopt 

 a thoroughly bad style, which only the very best survive. 

 To learn a knowledge of pace, or how to wait, is almost 

 impossible for a boy when riding in a five-furlong race. An 

 older and really skilful jockey may do it, but a boy cannot. 

 He is all hurry and bustle, and far too anxious to get home 

 in these short cuts, and unless he gets a lot of riding in 

 longer races he stands very little chance of making his way. 

 That five-furlong racing does not suit a majority of the 

 horses who take part in it I am quite sure. That it was 

 not altogether acceptable to the public before the advent 

 of the starting-gate, on account of the long delays at the 

 post, is pretty certain, and that it is not in the best 

 interests of the improvement of the breed is proved by 

 the fact that breeders, as a general rule, fight shy of 

 patronising stallions who have retired from the turf with 

 the reputation of being speedy sprinters and nothing more. 



