BREEDING. 3 



and excellence, than those we have to-day. Upon 

 the point there is just this, that, if we except what 

 are called the "classic races," there are no certain 

 or ascertained facts to judge by. 



It is out of the question to place reliauce on han- 

 dicap running as any sort of guide to relative su- 

 periority, such as is referred to, so we are left to 

 glean what we can from weight-for-age races. If 

 we take by way of test the winners of the Derby or 

 St. Leger at particular times in the past, and en- 

 deavor to compare them with the winners of those 

 races in recent years, the only possible link is de- 

 rived from the published time in which the respec- 

 tive races were run. This in itself is of no value 

 whatever, unless accompanied with accurate details 

 of the climatic conditions that existed, and, above 

 all, the precise state the ground was in. But even 

 with these data to go upon, only a general idea can 

 be arrived at, leaving practically all else undeter- 

 mined. 



However, to show the absurdity of attempting to 

 deduce anything from the stated time in which races 

 were run, in the almost forgotten age when that 

 splendid horse Eclipse carried all before him, we 

 have only to call to mind that that celebrity was 

 accredited with having covered a mile in the utterly 

 impossible time of one tninute. Whatever Eclipse 



