192 HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 



might be termed a low class race horse, such as start in selling 

 races where the weight is graduated by the price. Class is 

 determined by ability to go fast for a distance and carry 

 weight, but the want of class makes the "plater." Still, many 

 good horses go in such races, their owners backing them 

 heavily and then buying them in. 



Play or Pay. An imperative ruling. In all match 

 performances where t^ie amount of the match is placed in the 

 hands of the stakeholder one day before the event comes oft", 

 the race becomes play or pay; that is, whether the match 

 comes off or not the stake is forfeited and all the money goes 

 as wagered. All English races are so declared, and it applies 

 to all trotting and racing matches under American rules. 



Plebeian-Bred. Coarsely bred ; of cold, mongrel blood. 



We thought notliing great couhl come from her plebeian-bred dam.— 

 Training the Trotting Horse, Charles Marvin. 



Plug". A common term for an old or used-up horse ; an 

 awkward, untradable horse ; a lunk-head. 



Plug'g'ing'- The act of stopping horses' ears with cotton 



in order to render them more steady when in training or at 



work ; and to make them less liable to become rattled by the 



noise and confusion often occurring on tracks when horses are 



at work, or during a race. It is a method that does not succeed 



with all horses, and must be employed with great caution. 



A great many horses treated in this manner will act as tliough they 

 were duinb— will not try to go, and Avill stop to sliake tlieir heads 

 when asked to trot. If yon have a horse that yon think will do 

 better with this treatment commence with him gradually. That 

 is, in liis work put just a little cotton in his ears at first, or, wliat is 

 still better, pnt it in his ears while he is in the stable, and let him 

 get used to it in that manner. — Life with the Trotters, John Splan. 



Plunge. A sudden and violent pitching forward of the 

 body, in which the horse throws himself forward and extends 

 the hind legs upward; the exertion of great force upon the 

 propellers to plunge the body forward in an erratic manner. 

 Mr. Marvin says of one of the horses which he trained : "At 

 times she plunged violently." 



Plunger. To lay large stakes; a dashing, reckless 

 better ; a venturesome speculator. 



Plunger. That part of the interior construction of the 

 valve-stem in a pneumatic sulky wheel, which prevents the 

 escape of the air. It consists of a small piston the head of 

 which is beveled in cone-shape, which plays within the cylinder 

 and is fitted between sections of rubber and felt packing. 

 When the air is forced into the tire through this valve-stem by 

 means of the air pump, the piston is forced back, or down 

 against a minute spring fixed at the base of the stem; and 



