112 EVERY MAN HIS OWN TRAINER. 



in the ground about thirty feet apart, laying out their track 

 in that way being oblong shape. 



Very few of their races are like ours — three out of five. 

 They go dashes of a mile and 'a quarter or one and three- 

 quarters, and from that to four miles. As they only go one 

 heat, they often trot a horse two races in one afternoon. 



In classing their horses they do not pay any attention to 

 record, but handicap them according to their speed, giving 

 one say thirty rods the start of a faster animal. In a two and 

 a half mile race they may give one horse a start of a quarter 

 of a mile over another, which is discretionary with the judges. 

 Many times when seven or eight horses start in one race no 

 two horses start from the same place, they will be strung out 

 with a man to each horse with a flag and start all at the same 

 time at the drop of the several flags. 



Another feature of their peculiar custom is, they will al- 

 low one man to start several horses in the same race by entering 

 them in different people's name. A man might have one fast 

 horse and one slow one, thinking his slow one might get so 

 much benefited from the handicap that if he did not win first 

 money with the fast horse he might second, and get first with 

 the slower one. I know one case where my friend started 

 Bob Johnson and Blue Bell in the same race. Bob Johnson 

 had so much the start that he had the race of two and a fourth 

 miles won before Blue Bell got half-way to the wire. 



I can only compare some of their tracks there to our 

 steeplechase courses here — through the field, up and down the 

 hill, round the sap bush and home again. All the difference 

 I can see is that their horses do not have to go over the fences, 

 ditches and water jump as steeplechasers do. 



They are now building some good tracks on the Ameri- 

 can plan. My friend Stein tells me they are building one at 

 Berlin. I sent them a Griffin track machine, which is the only 

 one built which will put a track in perfect order. They expect to 

 have some great races there this year. One of their purses 

 amounts to $7,0U0. They ought to have a large entry of 



