HANDBOOK OF THE TURF. 269 



load In this manner his feet and legs suffer .—Road, Track and Sta- 

 ble, H. C. Merwin. 

 CoiiLimied soundness with toe-weights at a high rate of speed, is a nat- 

 ural impossibility. The fastest trotter, for a spurt, that the world 

 has produced, has been compelled to wear ti)e-weiglils, and after a 

 few wonderful dashes, she is a cripple. Tliey may have added 

 many to the list of fast trotters, but have added just as many to the 

 list of hopeless cripples. In due course of time tlie toe- weight will 

 be remembered only as a <!ruel appliance to overcome antagonistic 

 Instincts in the trotter.— Wallace's Monthly, 1881. 



Tong'S-Across-a-Wall. [Eq.] A phrase descriptive 

 of a seat in riding which depends for its balance upon the 

 stirrup, renouncing all contact of the legs with the horse's 

 body. 



Topping- the Wall. [Eng.] An act by which the 

 horse strikes the wall with his hind feet to send him with 

 renewed effort or spring beyond some object on the opposite 

 side that he did not see till partially over ; and to do which he 

 had not used sufficient power in his s]3ring when he rose. It 

 is an act which is considered evidence of very superior training. 



Toppy. Stylish ; showy. A term used to describe the 

 general appearance and carriage of a horse, as in the expres- 

 sions, " a toppy bay ; " "a pair of toppy grays." 



Tout. A horse watcher ; an agent on the lookout for any 

 information or circumstance as to a horse's capabilities or con- 

 dition, or anything pertaining to the race. Various training 

 quarters are regularly "touted" by men well versed in their 

 business, and the information obtained is given to tipsters who 

 give it to the public either through the columns of the sporting- 

 press, or by means of letters and telegrams. 



Touts, when known, shall be debarred the privileges of the race courses 

 and grounds.— Rules of the American Turf Congress. 



Tottts are thieves who steal stable secrets, either by spying on horses 

 in their gallops and trials, or by bribing servants to betray their 

 masters, and to betray any important information on horses how- 

 ever acquired.— The Badminton Library: Racing, The Earl of Suf- 

 folk and Berkshire, and W. G. Craven. 



Trace. One of the two straps belonging to a harness, by 

 which a sulky or buggy is drawn by the horse harnessed to it ; 

 a tug. 



Track. A race course. Tracks are made straight, oval 

 and kite-shaped ; and also in some cases, of other and peculiar 

 shape according to the condition of the land upon which they 

 are built. The lengths are generally one-half mile, and one 

 mile respectively. The land required for a half mile track is 

 fourteen acres ; for a mile track forty-nine acres, where the 

 homestretch is sixty-five feet, and the backstretch forty feet 

 wide ; and no track should be narrower than this, many are 

 wider. A better width is seventy feet for the homestretch and 



