PREFACE 



book that I need mention is The Turf, by Mr. 

 Alfred E. T. Watson. It is as polished and 

 scholarly as is everything that comes from the pen 

 of " Rapier," but it appears to me that the author 

 has attempted so much in so small a compass that 

 he has done little more than touch the fringe of 

 his subject, which, indeed, was doubtless all he in- 

 tended to do. 



To cover the ground thoroughly between 1865 

 and 1896 would necessitate the production of 

 about half-a-dozen volumes the size of this one, 

 and I have thought it wiser to give as complete 

 histories as possible of a few great horses, rather 

 than to produce hasty and unfinished sketches of 

 three or four times the number. I have devoted 

 myself almost exclusively to horses rather than to 

 men. In the first place, I may frankly confess to 

 regarding the former as infinitely the more inter- 

 esting of the two, and, in the second, it is possible 

 to write perfectly freely and truthfully about them 

 without any serious fear of giving offence. When 

 one is dealing with men the case is altogether 

 different. If they are still living, a plain and un- 

 varnished tale of the careers of some few of them 

 would probably lead to libel actions, whilst I 

 should be reluctant indeed to write one word 

 against any of those who have gone from us. 

 " De mortuis nil nisi bonum " is a maxim in which 

 I am a firm believer, though I do not interpret it 

 to mean that, because a man is dead, it is necessary 

 to write a fulsome eulogy of him, but rather that, 

 where it is not possible to give honest praise, a 

 discreet silence should be preserved. 



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