358 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



part of a jockey in the riding of a race is at once 

 detected by the questioning eyes which are ever 

 following him as he rushes to the goal. 



What are called " fine hands " are essential 

 to a jockey ; they are the instruments which 

 indicate to him the strength and power of the 

 animal which he is trying to guide to victory. 

 Some horsemen have this gift in perfection, and 

 have known how to use it to the best advantage. 

 Strong horses will occasionally run away with the 

 race, leaving the jockey powerless. In such cases 

 what can a child, weighing perhaps six stone, do 

 but sit still ? It was a maxim of a celebrated 

 jockey that a horse ought to be ridden as delicately 

 as if it was being held in check by a silken thread ; 

 but each jockey in time acquires a style of his 

 own. Some lads are famous for making their 

 opponent believe the horse they are riding is quite 

 out of the hunt; this is "kidding," and they so 

 act as to put the rider of what may be a superior 

 horse off his guard, and having done so, to a 

 greater or lesser extent, they will sometimes by a 

 final rush (if their horse is good enough) win the 

 race, and so obtain the credit of being brilliant 

 jockeys. Old horsemen of the "knowing" type 

 will try what they can with safety, during a contest, 

 to keep their younger brethren from scoring a win, 

 all the tricks of the trade being brought into 

 requisition on such occasions. A first-rate jockey, 

 however, has qualities that are far beyond the 

 range of mere cunning ; he has a firm and graceful 

 seat on horseback, " fine hands," and, above all, 

 he is a good judge of pace, quite able to calculate 

 whether the horse he is riding can last the distance 

 he has to gallop, so as to be sure of winning. 



