INTRODUCTION. 



In submitting this work to the sporting public, es- 

 peciailly those so well recognized as taking an intelli- 

 gent as well as a lively interest in the thoroughbred 

 and his doings, I desire it will be understood that prac- 

 tical information, rather than literary production, has 

 alone 'been aimed at. 



The work is not to be regarded in any sense as having 

 exhausted the various subjects with which it deals. 

 It is intended, in its inception, as merely the grounds 

 work upon which it is hoped in the future to erect a 

 literary edifice worthy the traditions of the greatest 

 of our national pastimes. 



That a work of the kind was needed, to mark out 

 more clearly the dlistinguishing features of racing, will, 

 I think, be found to have been exemiplified at every 

 step that has been taken throughout the investig'ation 

 of the various sulbjects treated upon. 



