HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 205 



hundred years or more to establish that doctrine so as to be 

 generally accepted. The annual publication of 1al)les of " winning 

 sires" began many years before the 8tud Booli appeared. We have 

 now such annual tables extending back lor more than a hundred 

 years, and, from a careful study of the earlier ones, men came to 

 see tliat success, as shown by winnings, came from purity of blood, 

 and not from witle adniixture.— Dr. W. 11. Brewer, Yale College. 

 The standard of admission to the first volume of the Stud Book Jippears 

 to have been simply creditable performance upon the turf, as 

 shown by the Racing Calendar, it being tjiken for granted that no 

 horse could be a creditable performer that was not well bred— an 

 assumption that has never yet been found at fault.— Horse Breed- 

 ing, J. H. Samlers. 



Racing" Plate. A very narrow, light rim of steel or 

 aluminum, weigliiug not more than from two to three ounces, 

 about half an inch in width, and used as a shoe for running 

 horses. The rules of the Turf Congress forbid the use of shoes 

 in races, but allow that of a plate. 



Rack; Racking". A gait which is a modification of 

 the pace, and is often very appropriately called single footing. 

 In racking the fore feet move as in a slow gallop, while the 

 hind feet move as in a trot, or pace. When the horse is going 

 at this gait, we hear the four distinct strokes of the four differ- 

 ent limbs, for each foot strikes the ground singly, and inde- 

 pendent of the others. In making the complete revolution, 

 therefore, the count is — one, two, three, four — one, two, three, 

 four; while in either trotting or pacing the count is — one, 

 two ; one, two. The confusion of terms regarding this gait is 

 occasioned by the fact that the gait itself is somewhat varied 

 according as the horse which racks carries the one or the other 

 fore foot foremost in the galloping action of the fore feet. 

 Hence many have confounded the rack with the pace and itsed 

 the words synonymously. A horse which racks after a slower 

 trot, is esteemed much inferior to one which only changes to 

 this gait after moving at a greater speed. 



Rank of Distanced Horses. AVhen horses are dis- 

 tanced in the first heat of a race, their rank is equal ; but when 

 they are distanced in any subsequent heat, they rank as to 

 each other in the order of the positions to which they were 

 entitled at the start of the heat in which they were distanced. 



Ranks, The. A term used to describe that portion of 

 the field not iqD to par ; those far in the rear of the contending 

 horses; the "rank and file," or common members of the field. 



Rarey Cord ; War Bridle. A simple halter used in 

 giving colts their first lessons in harness where they have not 

 been well broken to the halter, or not handled till two or 

 three years old. It is made of a piece of sash-cord fourteen 

 feet long. Tie a good knot at the end by putting the end 

 through twice before tieing down. Tie a half-knot, (a regular 



