ANIMALS A T PL A Y 89 



this is the exception. More often defeat causes an 

 exhibition of temper ; and the public have not 

 forgotten the performance of the savage 'Surefoot' 

 in the Derby of 1891, who, instead of responding, 

 to the jockey's efforts to overtake the leading 

 horses, did his best to bite not only them but 

 their riders. But animal enthusiasm for racing is 

 best seen in a dog race ; and, except on the high- 

 road from some Dutch town after market, when the 

 dogs that have brought in the vegetable carts race 

 back to their farms, this kind of contest is never 

 seen in perfection outside the colliery districts. For 

 those who are not privileged to live on the * coal- 

 measures, 7 Mr Barnum's show provided an excellent 

 dog race of its kind. Those who saw the way in 

 which his dogs scoured round the great oval at 

 Olympia, not so much barking as shrieking with 

 excitement, felt that it was one of the most genuine 

 of the performances exhibited. * On one occasion 

 the writer happened to be close to the starting-point, 

 and saw a curious instance of dog 'jockeying/ The 

 race was a handicap, distances of from one to three 

 yards separating the dogs competing, each of which 

 was held by a man who placed one hand on the 

 dog's chest, the other on its shoulder. They were 



* In the summer of 1895, at a show of ladies' dogs held at the Ranelagh Club, 

 dog races were part of the entertainment, which was watched by the Princess of 



\V;iles. 



