will, without wearing himself out, gallop over the two 

 and a half miles of the Prix du Cadran with the same 

 action as if he were running a mile dash. 



When we weigh these considerations, can we reason- 

 ably place upon our forefathers the responsibilities for 

 the results which we deplore to-day? Legislation had bfy 

 them, was good in their time ; for a long time it was suffi- 

 cient. We had the simple-mindedness to believe that we 

 were respecting tradition when the underlying condi- 

 tions were changing radically. We stuck to the letter 

 and not to the spirit, and far from recognizing the facts, 

 we have difficulty in explaining the cause. What a serv- 

 ice would have been done to breeding if the creators of 

 the classic races had decreed that, for a hundred years, 

 the distances should be increased each year by ten 

 meters ! 



Increase in height, increase in quality and rigorous 

 selection of individuals having special aptness, were then 

 necessary for the changes which we have just noted to 

 have taken place. 



It will be understood that this evolution proceeded 

 ver}' slowly in the beginning and, in fact, we do not think 

 that before the middle of the nineteenth century, a de- 

 terioration in the model of the race horse could have 

 been noted even in England. It is enough to recall the 

 names of the animals of that time most celebrated as 

 breeders: West Australian (1850), The Flying Dutch- 

 man (1846), Sweetmeat (1842), Wild-Day rell (1852), 

 New-Minister (1848), Stockwell (1849), Rataplan 

 (1850), King-Tom (1851), Voltigeur (1847). 



But once the evolution began, it rapidly increased. 

 The multiplication of short distance races threw into the 

 studs a lot .of mares having in varying degrees, the spe- 

 cial particularities of aptness, and the model, as well as 

 the mechanism, changed rapidly. 



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