20 FLAT-RAGING EXPLAINED. 



neither of which was of the least possible value 

 so far as the merits of the horses were concerned. 

 In all probability all the horses running were, to 

 adopt the method so popular with some people, 

 "waiting to make one run or dash," with the result 

 that the race was run at no sort of speed, the whole 

 lot being "all out" at the finish. 



But suppose the second race to have taken place 

 on another course, the course itself being up hill or 

 down hill, or as dry and hard as a road, or in mud 

 nearly up to the horses' fetlocks, the 2 lb. difference 

 would remain the same. The relative chances of 

 horses under saich conditions — being a perfect im- 

 possibility to forecast — would be governed by the 2 

 lb. difference, and in the future treated accordingly. 



There was this in the running of Haw/inch and 

 Succoth last autumn, and these horses are handi- 

 capped and supported for future engagements on 

 the hypothesis that a change of course, and possibly 

 altered climatic conditions, will in no way make 

 any alteration. "Where the one is, the other is 

 bound to be," wrote an inspired writer not long 

 since, which was intended to be sagacious, no 

 doubt. 



Of course, it will be understood I refer to the 

 head-beating and the 2 lb. as a matter of common 

 acceptance in the rules, as well as in the practice 



