JOCKEYS 53 



been nmeh enhanced by doing this. Some think one 

 tiling and some another, but I never got anything 

 definite or reliable upon the subject, except, perhaps, 

 the following, from one of the old hands amongst 

 the jockeys. Said he: "When a hoise is beat, he's 

 beat, and it don't take us long to find that out when 

 we wants him to finish." 



Generally speaking, I think racing people are of 

 opinion that at the end of a five-furlong race a 

 horse feels more distressed in his wind than else- 

 where, mostly on account of his blowing pretty 

 freely. When, however, you have to remember that 

 a horse having great speed takes 1 min. 2 sec. to 

 2 1-2 sec. to cover a distance of five furlongs on 

 the level, and that the shorter the time, the better 

 and fresher he is at the finish, one dare not be too 

 certain the conclusions arrived at are altogether well 

 founded. 



But there is this also to remember: A horse run- 

 ning at high speed does not breathe from the lungs 

 in covering a distance of five furlongs, his respira- 

 tion being entirely confined to the head and throat, 

 so that his "wind," in the sense in which it is put, 

 is comparatively unaffected by the exertion. There 

 cannot be the least doubt that horses in all cases 

 charge their lungs with as much air as is possible 

 on setting off, as it were, in preparation for any ex- 



