12 Horse Bacing. 



starting, or met with an accident, the honest 

 owner, in addition to his misfortune, would have 

 to pay the whole stake. It would be insane to 

 sacrifice the interests of the horse owner for the 

 benefit of men with a monomania for gambling. 



" Who come like shadows, so depart." 



The first duty of the Jockey Club is to protect 

 the horse-owners, who are the only pillars of 

 the Turf — their welfare is our ''summa lex;" 

 the interests of the betting gentlemen, a very 

 secondary consideration. 



A revolution has taken place in racing during 

 the last fifty years : formerly, the object was to 

 win a great match, and the trial-horses ran in the 

 handicap stakes to ascertain the relative form of 

 the cracks, which were kept for match-making — 

 that is an amusement which requires a quickness 

 of memory and a knowledge of the game. But 

 this general system of handicapping relieves an 

 idle man from the trouble of thinking ; if a person 

 loses a match, he may blame himself; but if his 

 horse is beaten in a handicap, " it is the fault of 

 that confounded handicapper," " who always lumps 

 my horses." A handicap is intended to encourage 

 bad horses, and to put them on a par with the 



