praise an^ Blame 153 



told him on the platform — he did not stay to see 

 the race — I had won. It was a funny finish alto- 

 gether, as I'm afraid it quite finished " Mr. Bruton," 

 the owner of ' Prince Rupert,' and also Mr. Trewent, 

 they having had a " royal dash " on their horse. 

 Another funny part of the story was, I had not won 

 a race since Northampton, but had been obliged to 

 put up with second place over twenty times. I 

 was concjratulated all round on ridino- a fine finish, 

 but it was nothing of the sort ; it was the other 

 horse stopping that made mine win. 



This gives me an opportunity of saying how 

 often jockeys are judged and blamed — some- 

 times by people who know nothing whatever of 

 riding, or the theory of it, and at other times by 

 people who speak at hazard, and don't give them- 

 selves time to think. Having once said a thing, 

 nothing will persuade them to alter it, no matter 

 what injury it may cause an inoffensive horseman. 

 I do not for one moment mean to say jockeys 

 are blameless or infallible, but what I do say is, let 

 a man take time to consider before he makes a 

 charge against a rider, and be quite certain he has 

 good grounds for it, as, having once done it and 

 injured a man's character, it takes a long time for 

 the latter to retrieve it. 



