HORSES 21 



of racing. AYhat I have said in this respect must 

 be taken to apply in all cases where readjustment 

 of weights is supposed to bring horses together. 

 Of the principle of handicapping, the late Admiral 

 Rous used to say that "weight could be so adjusted 

 in racing as to bring a horse and a donkey together." 

 I do not know if the great turf mentor really in- 

 tended this to be taken seriously, or whether it 

 was one of those ponderous flights of fancy the 

 gallant old salt so delighted to indulge in. 



In any case, it could have no practical mean- 

 ing beyond the suggestion that in racing "weight 

 governs all things." Taken at this, my admiration 

 for one who did so much to popularize the great 

 institution of racing is in no sense diminished by 

 the belief I enttrtain, that in this idea of his he 

 was mistaken, it being an incontestable fact that 

 horses almost in all cases run their fastest races 

 when carrying the biggest burden. That a man of 

 his experience and high intelligence should have 

 been as-«ociated with the turf so very many years, 

 and — so far as one can judge — not found this out, 

 surpasses one's comprehension; yet it occurred con- 

 stantly during his time, as it is happening now 

 during ours. 



All horses running in races have a reputation 

 for distances. Thus, we have five-furlong and six- 



