XXII.— TRIALS 



It is not too much to say that trials are often 

 a disappointment so far as race-horses are con- 

 cerned, that the results expected do not always 

 materialise, and that surprises are constantly in 

 store. If horses were machines a different story 

 would have to be told. Owners, too, are gener- 

 ally sanguine in this relation. As one of those 

 sportsmen remarked, with a twinkle in his eyes : 

 " Before my youngsters are tried I would not 

 take a thousand pounds apiece for them, and 

 after they are tried I estimate their net value 

 at about two-pen'orth of cold gin." Anticipa- 

 tion is usually the fastest " flyer " in one's stable. 

 Many of our gees are swans before we put them 

 through the mill, when the grist they accumu- 

 late for us is infinitesimal. Another owner said : 

 " I tried my horse to beat a steam - engine, 

 don't you know, and I found that he could not 

 beat a steam-roller." It is no use pitching our 

 hopes too high in this direction, because a cruel 



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