Trials 



succeeds in doing so, we have reason to estimate 

 his prospects in a favourable light. He may 

 score at the first time of asking if the enemy 

 does not muster in exceptionally strong force, 

 and assuming that his connections are in a betting 

 humour on the eventful day. I have ridden two- 

 year-olds that have astonished me by the smart 

 manner in which they — dare I say ? — hopped 

 the twig. I should be giving nothing away — 

 not even myself, an inestimable donation — if I 

 wrote a minute description of those trials ; but 

 when the pinch comes I seem to shrink from 

 the ordeal. Certain reticences must be observed 

 in this bright sporting chronicle. As an old- 

 fashioned owner once told me at the races : " If 

 you do not know when to keep your mouth shut, 

 my boy, you will soon have nothing to put into it 

 worth mastication, and that will not be soothing 

 to your gums." Such words of ripe philosophy 

 sank deeply into a young and ardent mind. I 

 think that I have known when to keep my 

 mouth shut, and when to open it with judiciously 

 assorted victuals in view. If only I were not 

 " wasting ! " 



Trials also constitute a valuable educational 

 process for budding jockeys. The latter thus 

 acquire a knowledge of the rudiments of their 



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