146 HINTS TO horsemen; or, 



any recognised great disparity exists between them. 

 There cannot be any very great difference between the 

 speed of two horses, at equal weight, when the one only 

 wins doing his best by half a length, but it is enough 

 for the purpose ; and this little better, or speedier, 

 just makes the difference of perhaps thousands to the 

 owners of the two horses. Thus, the man training 

 his own horses, and in the generalitj'- of cases putting 

 them in stakes where they are likely to be a little 

 the best or a little the worst, makes the difference of 

 losing or making money by his horses. I quite 

 admit, that if in certain company he sees his horse 

 win technically " in a canter," he is quite warranted 

 in trying him in better ; but let him not in such case 

 set it down as by any means certain that his horse 

 will win, for it is in many cases somewhat surprising 

 to see a horse win quite easy in a race run ait a 

 certain pace, not placed in one where the horses 

 are but a little superior. There is in some horses a 

 pace that suits them ; at this they can win compara- 

 tively easy ; increase it, and all their powers seem 

 prostrated — they are nowhere. It is in racing the 



