XII.— RIDING ORDERS 



A small jockey had just lost a race which he 

 ought to have won, so the story goes, and he was 

 blamed by his employer, the trainer, for not obey- 

 ing orders. " How could I ? " cried the boy, in an 

 agony of apprehension. " This was only a mile 

 race, and you gave me orders enough for 20 

 miles." That superfluity of instruction is not 

 often indulged in at the present time; modern 

 methods are wiser. 



Trainers have not been in the habit of over- 

 burdening me so far as the riding orders are con- 

 cerned. The formula was usually something like 

 this before putting me up on a horse that I did 

 not know : "I can only tell you one thing, 

 Arthur " — the trainer speaking — " he gets the 

 distance " — 2 miles or 3 miles, as the case 

 might be — so then I knew I had to lay well up 

 and see that it was a nicely run race. On the 

 other hand, if speed were the animal's strong 

 point, I should be told to wait and come with a 



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